The Work of Aging

They say time heals all wounds, but it's more accurate to say that a fading memory numbs them

Oliver Bateman as a somewhat older man (OpenArt AI)

As we start to age, we find ourselves gradually losing the ability to distinguish the dead from the living. This happens not only with acquaintances and distant friends but even with our own flesh and blood. As our receding years bring us close to the void, these lines seem to blur further.

This might sound morbid, but more often than not, it's merely a reflection of the relentless passage of time. Even celebrities — those famous faces we've seen on big screens and glossy magazine covers — slip away into a shadowy realm. Schrödinger's glitterati: can we recall if they’re alive or dead? Who cares; none of us can remember a gosh-darned thing, and the dead bodies of big names pile up behind us as we’re blown forward into the future.¹ As the corpses of one generation of must-see TV icons stack atop the next, these luminaries all wind up relegated to a plane between memory and forgetfulness, one that we ourselves are inching toward each day.