The True Trap- Round 4 | Laird Lewis Invitational

This is Chris Drown with WORK Network, and it is time for our opening editorial segment.
What comes to mind when you think of a trap? A small mouse trap? A prison? The utter mundane
characteristics of everyday life?
This brings to mind a very short story. A Little Fable by Franz Kafka. It goes"Alas", said the mouse, "the whole world is growing smaller every day. At the beginning it was so big
that I was afraid, I kept running and running, and I was glad when I saw walls far away to the right and
left, but these long walls have narrowed so quickly that I am in the last chamber already, and there in
the corner stands the trap that I am running into."
"You only need to change your direction," said the cat, and ate it up.
What this story is attempting to convey, is that we all walk ourselves into our own little traps. For
example, this draws a distinct parallel to what we went through as children. When we were five years
old, we could not wait to grow up and live our lives and rush into our jobs which end at retirement, but
as we approached high school, we realized the fantasy was upon the horizon and closing in with
centripetal force. This fable is equitiable to the harsh realities of life. When we are young the world is
infinite, but as we get older, death comes closer and closer until it devours us whole.
But what should we take from this piece of literature? Is our fate inevitable? When the cat says that we
only need to change our direction, the author implies that instead of moving forward at such a quick
rate, we need to turn around, and simply smell the roses. Don't dwell on the moment. Create a world for
yourself where the walls never close in us. While none of us can cheat death, we can all live a life
where we have a world that is not concealing and we can move into the future.
This has been Chris Drown with WORK Network