Imagine you have a watch. It is on your wrist. You hold it up to your ear and hear a gentle, consecutive ticking noise.
Imagine now that you are in space. Basic physics apply. Somehow you are still alive, although you should be dead, being in space.
You look at your watch but the time no longer applies. Spacetime is different, and what need is there for time while in space … alone? Besides, you do not know why you are here, and discovering why seems more important to you than the time.
Suddenly, a new scene. You are in a house. It is a considerably nice house, with a kitchen, a bathroom, even a TV. However, you are trapped. Walk out one door and you are back inside the house. You do not know what is outside the house and you have all the money in the world. How much are you willing to pay to leave the house? You will lose whatever you give up forever. How much are you willing to pay for freedom from a modest life? How much are you willing to pay to take a chance?
Maybe, you won’t pay a dime. You stay at home; you have your watch. Sometimes, you like to hold the watch up to your ear and hear it tick. You stare at its face and watch the hand move slowly in its circle. You wonder, where will each hand be when I die in this house?
For those who do manage to leave the house, I cannot say what is outside it. Some imaginings are only for the individual to dream up.
You are back in space. The smoke in Beijing can be seen from above and you are thinking about how alone you are. Everything you did back on Earth seems obsolete. What was the point? You look back at your watch; you want to know what time it is back home. Your watch does not work up here though. Einstein even said that is not how it works. What would you pay to be back home? What would you pay to be grounded again? To not have to question?
Philosophers had some of the most quirky ideas. One of their theories is called “existentialism.” A Frenchman, Jean Paul Sartre, came up with it. The main question existentialism poses is this: “What is the point?” For example, what is the point of this column? I will tell you now that there isn’t one, but that does not mean you will believe me. You might even try to analyze each word and attempt to find a point. Whatever point you find you will assume to be my argument. However, I might not be arguing anything. I might just be writing whatever jumble of words I think of next. Isn’t it fascinating how our brains make sense out of the letters I type? Isn’t it funny how we try to find out a meaning out of what we say, and of what we do?
I was joking about both scenarios. Money in space? Money to leave a house you can’t escape? Neither situation could happen in real life. Why would money be the only unit of exchange, anyway? Money is only as valuable as whatever amount you determine it to be. Words are the same way.
You wonder how your loved ones are, back at home. Each tick only reminds you of each second you could have been with them.
Maybe you could trade the watch. That could be your argument.
• Tasha Elizarde is a high school senior living in Juneau. Her column comes out the third Sunday of every month. She also writes “This Day in Juneau History” for the Juneau Empire.
