PARSONS CHALLENGE II

many things that we know and treasure in life don't last long, be it good or bad. in the second work i produced a wilting lotus and dying leaves, a representation of the cruel beauty of things. i was lucky enough to know an 85-year old lady while i was in the states. a very nice person, but unfortunately diagnosed with alzheimers. she was the mother of my host/foster mother there. all over the house were pictures of here, ever beautiful and graceful. but there she sits in here wheel chair now, dozing and tired. i have been told many wonderful stories about her, but deep down i can't believe that this aged lady was once the spotlight in so many stories and photos. is this what we have to sacrifice and pay for being human? the priceless memories and experiences we put in so much to collect, now being forcefully taken away from our hands. from the day we were born, we have begun a journey towards death, thought everyone has a path of his own. it is a cruel and sad fact of life, that nothing is immortal. our beauty, vitality and even memories fade, situations and conditions change, people are born and die. so do we cherish this short time we own, make the best of it, and eventually feel the excruciating pain when it leaves you? or do we just leave everything as it is, knowing that i will never last and the effort put in will just be wasted, and feel nothing from the numbness we have become when it perishes?