The End (or We All Fall Down)

Two quick things before I start on my usual (or, more recently, not so usual) rant and escapade this time:

1. Happy birthday to Harry Potter! He turns 31 today. And also to J.K. Rowling, whose age I will hold back.

2. Yeah, I realize that it has been 29 days since I last posted. To that I say, whoops!

If you know me personally, as I assume most people who read this publication do, you know of my fondness (see: obsession) for the Harry Potter series. If not, refer to the 2nd sentence of this post. Since the ripe age of six, I have drooled over the adventures of this bespectacled hero, and have become famous among my peers for my knowledge of the series.

16 days ago, the final Harry Potter film was released. It was a momentous occasion, but it also marked the end of an era for me. No more books, no more movies, only Pottermore remains to me (and it doesn't look all too great.) I decided, before seeing the movie, that I would need to change who I am, or at least how the world looks at me.

This all got me thinking of the End. Not the End of the World, because we have until December 21st of next year to think about that, but rather Ends in general.

I'm not going to talk too much about the big End, death, because I hope to address that in a topic sometime in the next 29 days. Why are we so sad when something comes to an end, I thought to myself. We all know it will come, and it isn't a surprise, most of the time, so why are we so hung up over it?

Why was I so sad to see Harry Potter go? The old books are still here, the movies haven't gone anywhere. It's just new content that is gone, and if I really craved it, that is what fan fiction is for. No, the reason we all dread the end is because it is when we have to evaluate ourselves.

'Okay,' I thought to myself. 'Harry Potter is no more. I have to dump that image of the Harry Potter kid, or get left behind in the dust.'

People forget easily. Do you guys remember the end of TV shows like Ned's Declassified or Drake and Josh? Remember how hung up we all (or at least, I was) about it?

Three years later, I couldn't tell you what happened in the finale of Drake and Josh. Because the world moved on, and I was forced to.

One of my biggest fears is not being remembered after my death. Yeah, George Washington's name is still spewed about, but no one remembers Clive Davies. Once I come to my end, people will be sad, yeah, but no one will hang  on to me forever.

We hate the end, because the end means we need to let go. We need to change who we were, what we loved, who we love, and how we do things. The end brings change, and change is scary.

The end of Harry Potter has come. I doubt a series, books or movies, will come around like that in a long time. It is time to let go. But not to forget.

Never forget.

Thanks for reading and considering,
-J. Valett