In psychology there's a term called "basic anxiety" - it's what children experience when they realize the world they were born in is a big, big place. It's things like these that make people question the value of their existence, knowing that they're only one of the billions that occupy Earth and their lives weigh nothing. And that's where the paradigm shift of recapitulation comes in, putting a twist to this worldview. To me, it means more than once having gills in my mother's womb. Think of carbon atoms and rocks under the planet's surface. Think of heat and pressure, and little crystals that dissolve, unable to withstand these forces. Think of millions of years. Now zoom out, fast forward: you're thinking about a diamond, brilliant and multi-faceted. That's what humanity is: the sum of generation after generation of natural selection. But it doesn't end there. Think again of that diamond. Think about how each facet catches the light and reflects it at a different angle, resulting in a visual cacophony of color and brilliance. We are each facet. We are the small carbon corners of the same stone, made of the same matter, and together we are beautiful. What recapitulation represents is the fact that we are all part of something grand.

☑ Don't read this list. Do everything here without any intending to.
☑ Forget to reply to my messages.
☑ Put me on the bottom of your list of priorities. Pencil in my name at the edges, then accidentally smudge it with the sweaty side of your fist as you scrawl in something else.
☑ Treat me nicely anyway. Mean it.
☑ Act like you care, but show me I don't matter.
☑ Let me look into your eyes and see what you see: just something lurking at the corners of your vision. Pass me by.
☑ Three years later, run into me and ask me how I am with sincere curiosity.
☑ Live as the reason and reminder that I hate myself when I'm not strong enough to realize it on my own.
☑ Let your love be the moon to my sun: cold, distant, and shining for someone else. Watch me burn out and fold into myself.
☐ Others, please specify: ______________