Calvin and Hobbes 

 “Life is like topography” 

The day of the election, I hosted a small gathering. My friends and I sat around my little firepit, taking in the cool November air, with my projector in the background displaying the electoral voting map. There was this innate hope surrounding us, this feeling of underlying joy, that there was going to be a beautiful change occurring that very night. In the midst of political turmoil, hardship, and deep divide, there was this enthusiasm for the future. We largely ignored the screen, playing board games instead and talking about inane subjects; we thought it was obvious who was going to win. As time went on, however, prospects became bleak and our excitement reduced to ashes, until there was nothing but this creeping dread. 

The day after the election I was devastated. Disillusioned. Disappointed. There was this tight, agonizing feeling that wouldn’t cease, this incessant consciousness of a distressing reality that was bleeding through my mind. I was on a flight to Philadelphia, amongst my closest friends, and I smiled and laughed; yet, that anxiety inside of me remained, a constant reminder of a future that seemed wholly worthless. I thought, what must be the point of pursuing something with no value? What must be the point of all the racism, sexism, hatred, and most egregiously, infuriating ignorance that allowed this to happen? What must be the point of living in a country whose citizens didn’t care about one other? What must be the point of anything? The only belief I had at that point was that this pain was going to stay with me, perhaps, forever. 

A week after the election, I was happy. Really happy. I was back home after a wonderful trip with the people I loved. I was looking through photos like a silly teenage girl, thinking of how to lay them out on my Instagram story. I was reading a book I really enjoyed by an old Russian author with convoluted philosophical ideas and brilliant wording that made me smile, writing down my most insane thoughts for my poor AP Literature teacher to interpret. I was with my Mock Trial team and we couldn’t get through our introductions, such a simple task compared to the complex analysis we do, without laughing our heads off on a late Wednesday night. I was signing The Nexus up for a dodgeball tournament, even though almost none of us can throw a ball to save our lives and would most certainly embarrass ourselves. There was this joy, this endearment, this love that I never thought I’d feel again. 

Because, isn’t that the profound truth of living? “Life is like topography, Hobbes. There are summits of happiness and success, flat stretches of boring routine, and valleys of frustration and failure,” Calvin said to Hobbes in the June 10, 1990 edition of Calvin and Hobbes. Our lives will always find itself in high ups, deep, deep downs, and even in flat monotony, and yet, the path never stops or ceases. There may be sudden turns that block our vision of the future, that demoralize us in their unpredictability, but we continue, even if some days, some weeks, some months bring harder, steeper terrains than others; it’s the human experience. This pain, this hardship, this suffering is what makes our happiest moments seem happier, it’s what makes our love deeper, and it’s what makes life worth living.

So, though I don’t know what’s to come and I’m still quite frightened, I don’t find the path in front of me too intimidating. In this mindset as well, I find that these dark valleys slowly transform themselves into beautiful peaks. As Calvin goes on to say: “But, I’m dedicating myself to experiencing only peaks! I want my life to be never-ending ascension! Each minute of every day should bring me greater joy than the previous minute… I’m just going to jump from peak to peak!”