I can’t say for sure when people stopped caring but when I observe the state of the world around me, I’m intrigued. Did this happen 10 years ago or perhaps 50 years ago? Or maybe 100?

I wonder when was the last time I sat down to evaluate my human experiences, family, friendships, kindness, freedom, creativity, and other such things that don’t matter anymore. I feel I had transcended these things long ago and convinced myself that they didn’t matter anymore.

It was my mistake that I assumed my fancy car would suffice, my latest PC would answer all my burning questions, Google knew my purpose of existence, my well-lit home would erase the darkness around me and make up for the emptiness and warmth in my heart.

Money was never a substitute for human touch. I was mistaken as to who was there when I felt broken and lonely; needing someone to provide me solace and make me feel larger than life. I was wrong to assume that my lifelong learning was only for the sake of a career. How foolish I was while piling debt worth thousands of dollars on my back in the name of providing a good life for my family.

I don’t know who weaved this web of lies and deceived me that this was all for the sake of betterment. The wheel of existence doesn’t cease, it never pauses or resets. I also don’t know when I stopped caring but I do know what it has done to me.

The thing that bothers me now is whether I’m making the world a better place? Is there any improvement in the life of people around me; my family and my neighbors? Am I doing something constructive to save lives, make relationships better, create life, and stay happy and healthy? Am I making the world a safe place for generations to come? Am I making the world more beautiful? What am I doing to preserve the dwindling resources of Mother Earth? Or am I destroying things?

Yes, I am. Only because I have stopped caring, or maybe, I never truly cared. I blindly believed in all the lies sold to me for a better and happier life. Everything my heart could desire or ache for, I have it within reach.

The world around me is starving, homeless people shivering in the cold, getting sick, and dying because they can’t afford healthcare. I have so much in my luxury-laden home, and people have so little that they can barely make ends meet. The world is dying because I don’t care. I don’t have the energy or time to care.

But I want to change, for myself, and for the generations to come. I want to make a change, make this world a better place, bit by bit.

I hope one day when I wake up, I will have a heart that beats for the sufferings around me. Things that once mattered most will regain their significance. Slowly but surely, I will be able to create the world of my dreams.