Ants

As I sat outside desperately trying to think of what to write, hoping the quiet midday suburban atmosphere could stimulate some ideas, I was distracted by a single dominating thought: ants. The ants fascinated me. I watched they scuttled across the rough dirt terrain, on a journey to a destination unknown to me. I contemplated terrorizing them with my imaginary rifle known as my index finger. My finger's shadow overtook them as i steadied my weapon. The targets were centered in my crosshairs, and the barrel was loaded. All was in place, and I was about to pull the trigger, but then I hesitated. I pulled back, and struck by an epiphany, I thought about how much we are like ants.

Ants live in communities together, depend on each other for survival, and work together to achieve common goals. They perform acts for one another that could best be described as altruistic. Ants are also incredibly intelligent. They never fail to find their way back home despite my finger wiping out the scent trail they follow. Also, they probably do not realize that they are just a small piece in the puzzle of the world.

After watching them for a while, I had my eyes set on this one ant set apart by a distinctive bright red slash against his abyssal black abdomen. I started thinking about how much I do not want to be an ant. Despite their phenomenal performance as a community, I could not find a trace of substantial individuality even with my ant. They all conformed to a single path, both physically and mentally. As a society, they shared the same goals and the same pathways to that goal. Although I almost changed my opinion upon finding him wandering alone, he quickly regained his sense of direction and headed towards the others. I empathized with him (yes, an ant) as I often feel bound to a prescribed path as well. Just as the ant, i feared that the consequences of being an individual would be getting lost, being alone, and having to survive.

Suddenly, I felt invigorated by the idea of freedom. I cradled my red-tattooed ant into the palm of my hand, ran to the other side of my yard, and then carefully let it down on top of a rock. I felt empowered, almost even obligated, to do something about my constriction after watching the jailed existence of the ants, so I set him free. Hopefully he would feel the same.