Seven is the power number and 8 is my lucky number (popular in asian culture)
7. The Rocket-ship: Write about a rocket-ship on its way to the moon or a distant galaxy far, far, away. (02/23/2023)
Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on on the moon flew on the Saturn V rocket with his team. I feel like an asshole because I only remember Armstrong’s name but I don’t remember any of his crewmates’ names that also walked on the moon with him and made the Apollo 11 mission possible. Thinking about the rocket’s adventure makes me sad. Only the top part of the rocket gets to go to the moon and come back to Earth to be hailed as a historical invention showcasing mankind’s collective efforts and ingeniousness to explore outside the Earth. The rocket parts that launched the team out of Earth’s gravitational grasp and into space don’t get the fame. When their fuel runs out and they are no longer useful, they are detached and forgotten either in the bottom of an ocean or into the ever-expanding black void of space.
Sometimes, I feel the same way about people. I have seen workers who do a lot of good work but their boss always gets the credit. If you have a shitty boss, you might not even get appreciated for the work you contribute and they just take it for granted. On one hand, I want to be a good person and give it my all at work and not let other people suffer for my mistakes or laziness. On the other hand, if I don’t feel appreciated both as a worker and as a human being, then why am I going above and beyond for them. At the end of the day, the moment I start slacking or not meeting their work standards, they can fire me and replace me with someone else.
I must confess that after some months of working like that, I was feeling burnt out. Deep down, I want to be a helpful person. I was raised to always help others because you never know what others might be going through. As I am being more and more worn out each day, I had to make a stand before my mental and physical health completely deteriorated. I had to decide whether to prioritize myself or my job, and I chose myself. I refuse to constantly make the extra effort because I don’t get anything in return, no extra promotion or benefits. The other reason I prioritized myself was because if I let my job fuck me up, then it will affect the people I care about, my best friends, my brother, and my sister. I want to be able to make both the time and energy for the people I care about so I had to prioritize myself over my job.
(I apologize for turning this prompt into a rant. One thing led to another so here we are)
8. Dream-catcher: Write something inspired by a recent dream you had. (02/23/2023)
Well, this is the hardest prompt I had so far. I can’t remember any dream I had. I did have this dream a few years ago that I still remember. All I remember was one of my childhood friend from primary school. I opened a door and all I saw was her hanging from a noose with her lifeless body. The moment I saw it, I might have screamed and woken up panicked. I hadn’t talked with her in over 8 years and I get this nightmare all of a sudden. My next instinct was to find her on social media whether it was Facebook or Instagram but no solid clues other than an account that was last used 4 years ago. A part of me is wondering if she really is dead or alive but I have no way to find out. I have met anyone that passed away other than my grandmother. However, I never got too close with her so it didn’t impact me as much. If one of my childhood friends that I was close with, passed away, then I would feel like a part of my life is missing and there is nothing I can do to feel that void. Even if I stopped talking with them for a long time, I would feel a little empty.
Even now where I am halfway across the world and haven’t seen my best friends in months, I still know that I will see them again some day maybe a few months later or some years after. One of my greatest fears is losing the people around me whether its by death or by mutual separation. I don’t know if I will be able to handle that or even permanently recover from it. One of my close friends, Champ, he told me that if I end up killing myself, it would fuck a lot of my friends up including him. I suppose I still have something to live for or something to prevent myself from dying for.
