Fireworks make me very anxious. The idea of something existing and then disappearing before my very eyes is daunting. “Disappearing”, you know, like never coming back, like ever! It’s overwhelming for me to picture, a beautiful, vibrant, explosion go into the air, causing everyone to see, hear, and possibly smell it, to just disappear within seconds. I think that for the most part in North America, we can agree that fireworks are usually present in celebratory occasions. That being said, it could be that the end of a firework display represents the end of a happy occasion.
When I was in grade 11, my high school football team took a trip down to Ohio to play a high school football game. We were experiencing Friday Night Lights. I will always remember that trip and how much fun we had. But more than anything, I remember our head coach telling us that it didn’t matter how we played out there that night, it didn’t matter if they were a better football team than us. All that mattered was that we made good memories. I took that to heart. If there was one thing I took from playing under my high school football coach was that at the end of the day, memories are all you got left. Ever since then, I made it my mission to try and remember every happy thing (sometimes the sad things too) in my life.
All good things must come to an end. Fireworks make me anxious because they remind me that no matter how great something might be, it will end. The best day of your life will end, the moment you go to sleep. Everything ends…but the memories won’t. Even though the moment has passed, think of it like this: how lucky are you to have those memories. How lucky are you to have those moments in your life where you felt extreme feelings of passion and happiness. Even as I write this, I’m remembering memories I haven’t thought of in a long time. Maybe you are too.
“Fireworks may vanish but memories will remain”
