By Jan Vicente B. Pekas
In these times, slowed down by the pandemic, each day seems to be more mundane than the last. For students like me, the schedule for tomorrow and next week were already set. Virtual classes, eat, sleep, and repeat. And when the lack of variety is present in our schedule, most of us end up looking at the world in a tunnel like vision. Failing to see the importance of a single seemingly mundane day. Completely missing the big picture.
A single block may seem insignificant, but stack after stack, it can be something great. Even when the world was divided after WW2, humanity proceeded to walk forward and chased after the idea of a peaceful world. From the moment progress was made, a block towards peace was put down. Though the road remained long, our forefathers kept at it and simply wiped the sweat from their brow. Even with the setbacks caused by the bickering and conflicts between states, they kept moving toward progress.
It was not long before another generation took over. Though a world divided still remained, progress had been made. The iron curtain that hung over Europe was taken down and the world moved a step closer towards peace. And now, we see the results of our ancestors’ hard work, and see what that single block had become. After stacks and stacks of blocks containing the effort of our forefathers, decades of world peace had been formed. But now, we see their hard work being threatened. In Europe, we see the decades worth of world peace built by our predecessors seemingly crumble away in just a few hours. A chilly reminder of the vulnerability even for something with so much time and effort put into.
As I write this piece, the separatists of Ukraine, egged and materially supported by their Russian masters, along with Russian soldiers, have been firing their big guns at Ukraine targets for several hours already.
As such with ZigZag Weekly’s reality and history. It is celebrating its 26th anniversary with this issue. I do appreciate the employees before me and the supporters who brought life into this company. It would not have existed without the workers before me who laid down the first blocks. And without the readers, this company would not have survived.
The pandemic had already killed many companies, from small to mid-sized, it does not discriminate. Zigzag Weekly is not invincible and will inevitably run its course and meet its final day. But that day doesn’t have to be this day or tomorrow.
The peace built by our forefathers will survive as long as the people who appreciate tranquility still exist. And as long as the readers and employees of Zigzag Weekly continue to see each other’s value, it’s dooms day will have to be postponed.…… and will be postponed again and again.
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