On Getting Out of Bed: The Burden and Gift of Living

by Alan Noble

Life is an awesome responsibility and burden. The uncomfortable truth is that suicide becomes a slightly more viable option for people when someone they respect succumbs to it. If you give up, it will open up the possibility for others to give up, whether “giving up” means suicide or apathy. You have the solemn responsibility and privilege to bear witness to the goodness of life by living despite suffering. Like the father in The Road whose every action is judged by his watching son, there are vulnerable, frightened people watching you, waiting to see how you will endure. And don’t think you can control who witnesses your life, like a celebrity carefully curating their public image—as if you could contain your life, hiding the shameful parts so that they only affect you. That’s not how life works. You are not your own, and neither is your suffering. In this world you will encounter untold numbers of people in circumstances beyond your knowledge and control. It’s entirely possible that the ones watching you most closely are total strangers.