ESSENCE

Stylist: Claire Allen Models: Trinity Bancroft and Jenny Young Photographer: Georgia Capero Makeup: Lydia Rajaoberison Writer: Sophie Sabri Vendor: I just have to have it

Randomness—something simultaneously inevitable, yet oddly fictitious. Perfect pink sunrises that bring on new beginnings exist in the same days that horrific storms thrash the earth and destroy all in their path. Huge metropolises rise as new innovation finds its way through cities amidst chaotic acts of terror destroying places just like those on the other side of the world. Bright-eyed students walk to their university classes just as the late-night workers finally lay their heads to rest. All of it seemingly random, but is it really?

What if you were told nothing is random—never has been and never will be? What if we dare to believe that everything just is?

Let’s entertain this idea: By this thought it stands that the universe is still and ultimately complete. Anything that ever existed, does exist, and ever will exist all happens at once in only an instant. Time simply exists as a human-made construct, linearly divided into pieces, in an attempt to comprehend the vast unknown world we find ourselves in. Although this thought might seem daunting, or simply unrealistic, there is actually great strength and hope that can be reached by thinking this way. If everything is happening at the same time, and not as linearly as we are taught to understand, then the same time that proves to be the root of much misfortune can become easily defeated and molded into something greater. This is best explained in the age-old story of “the elephant and the rope.”

A man walking through a camp notices that the elephants being kept there aren’t being held in by cages or chains, rather only a small rope tied to one leg. He ponders why the magnificent animals with such great strength did not use their power to break the rope. The man then asks the elephant trainer why the elephants stay put and do not try to escape. The trainer replies that the elephants have been tied to the same size rope since they were very young. The small rope actualy held them when they were younger, but as they grew, they still believed they could not break the bonds that bind them even though they possess the strength to. The same situation exists between us and time—we have been conditioned to believe that we are bound by the inescapable concept of time. Perfect pink sunrises, treacherous storms, exciting innovations, chaotic disasters, bright-eyed students and late-night workers all have been, are, and will still be here. If you believe and focus on being instead of have been or will be, then time can no longer be the rope that holds your leg back. Believing that everything is, means that anything you want to achieve is in the universe’s realm of possibility.

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