Fresh

Fresh paper. Blank paper. Nothing feels better than your hand gripping a pencil, resting on the thin white sheet decorated with blue and red lines. As the first stroke of lead hits the sheet, a new start has come to pass, even if only for a story. A new beginning inspired by a fresh, blank sheet of paper that has never been touched before.

Fresh water: pure, simplistic, and wholesome. Pure to the touch, refreshing for the body, cleansing to the soul. Water in itself is the worldwide symbol for sterility as it ensures our health, well-being, and cleanliness.

Fresh starts. New beginnings are always beneficial as mistakes are left behind and new chances are issued. Fresh starts are a great way to cleanse the soul and allow people to correct their mistakes and learn to not make them again.

Paper, water, and fresh beginnings — they’re all new. Or...are they?

Paper is recycled, reused. It is used once, destroyed, and turned into “new” paper that isn’t really new after all. Water, too, is recycled. Raindrops are released from the clouds, collected in puddles, rivers, and lakes, sent out to homes everywhere, used, and reused. New beginnings are anything but new: these “new” beginnings would never come about if another “new” beginning hadn’t come to an end. Beginnings are never new; they’re recycled from other beginnings’ ends.

Maybe, in reality, nothing is actually new.