
Life journey is inevitable that eventually comes to an end for everyone and everything. Life is either short or long. The significance of life is how to spend that experience throughout the lifespan. We are all so different on this planet, but the most unique part is that we all die in the end. In Brian Doyle’s poem, Joyas Voladoras, he shares his life experience by using contrasting figures of creatures to convey his opinion that life is mortal, lonely and hurtful.

Everyone in this world lives a different life and experiences very different things. From the day we are born, we are in control of our fate. We can choose to live a fast or slow life. Life is like a race from the start of a lifeline to the end. We all travel the same distance, but everyone travels at a different speed. The best type of life to live is to enjoy it, and take everything in. This is the equilibrium point because it is the satisfactory point between the slow and fast life.  We want to adore every moment of the two billion heartbeats while we can. “Every creature on earth has approximately two billion heartbeats to spend in a lifetime. You can spend them slowly, like a tortoise and live to be two hundred years old, or you can spend them fast, like a hummingbird, and live to be two years old.” (Doyle) Hummingbirds live a delicate lifestyle. Their delicacy is only temporary which last two years. The tortoise is very robust and lives a lifestyle that outlives the hummingbird. Everyone is very different on this universe, which makes us unique. 

Humans have been around on this planet for many centuries. In that mortal life we have studied many creatures that vary in size from massive to microscopic. We know such creatures exist and we study them until there is no information left. Although, we do not have the knowledge of what is going on in their brains. Humans know that other humans exist but we do not know what each of us is going through. Humans can open up their figurative hearts to other people but they may not know truly what is felt. No matter the place nor the people we are at a dead-end of loneliness. Loneliness is permanent and it comes to stay. Humans try to block out that loneliness but it is only temporary. “We open windows to each other but we live alone in the house of the heart.” (Doyle) There is no cure for life's’ loneliness. We must abide to living with loneliness. We must realize that millions and billions of people are experiencing the same feeling that is felt. It is the only medicine for a chance to aid us when loneliness is felt. 

From the day we are born we have the mindset of how life is going to be wonderfully planned. Humans thought the life plan that would be flawless and a piece of cake. The passing of time and human age affects our heart. Our hearts are damaged and wounded from adversity. There are numerous different ways that human’s travel through on a daily basis that stresses our souls. Our hearts are very tender yet strong enough to temporarily protect humans. “When young we think there will come one person who will savor and sustain us always; when we are older we know this is the dream of a child, that all hearts finally are bruised and scarred, scorned and torn, repaired by time and will, patched by force of character, yet fragile and rickety forevermore, no matter how ferocious the defense and how many bricks you bring to the wall.” (Doyle)

Humans are lonely we must be wise to carve the path of their mortal life. Life takes us on a journey a roller coaster rides. Within that ride we experiences ups and downs that injure our heart. However, it is temporary and only you are the one that experiences it the best. The injuries shape us as human beings. The moral of this story is how being lonely and mortal is impactful. No one can experience our lives better than we do. We can share our experiences or emotions, but no one can understand like we can understand ourselves. On the day we are born we want to try to create an identity for ourselves. An identity that can tell the difference between the regular people we meet every day.  Human beings endure pain every day that comes on a daily, pain that we can temporarily block out on the short-term but not on the long-term. A human lives a lonely life that ends with death.

We remember the dead through the memories that were made throughout the lifespan. Humans grasp memories that could never be reality, memories that are bare inside our hearts, and memories that are shared through the generations. Memories share the past but it wouldn’t be similar to experiencing it in real life. “A cat with a broken spine dragging itself into the forest to die, the brush of your mother’s papery ancient hand in the thicket of your hair, the memory of your father’s voice early in the morning echoing from the kitchen where he is making pancakes for his children.” (Doyle) Humans must cherish the little moments when it happens. When the little things in life disappear we begin to notice it and miss it. Death is significant because it makes us appreciate and realize the things that are gone.

What is the purpose of living if we are going to die at the end? A question that is asked by many people but there are no answer. We strive to make our names out to world because we want to be remembered when we die. The memories that will be engrave to the world and live an immortal life. Passed down generations to generation that will be trending and trending.  To be engraved in memories we must travel through mortality, loneliness and hurtfulness.