If you were left behind.....

[ᴛᴏᴄᴋᴀ]

I'm currently reading The Leftovers. I've watched the series, but I caught onto it about 1/3 in and I think I missed a good chunk of it. So I decided to read the book to see if it gives me an understanding of what I may have missed.

One of the characters in both the book and the series lost her entire family; her husband, and both of her kids. That kind of got me thinking of what would happen if my kids and husband suddenly disappeared and I was left behind not knowing what happened to them.

To be perfectly honest, I don't think I could go on. My kids are my life, and not knowing where they were, if they were dead or alive, if they suffered, it would literally drive me insane. But I'd always worry if I did end up bat shit crazy and taking a really long walk off a short pier, what would happen if they came back? I honestly don't know if I could handle that sort of thing, yet most of the characters in the book go through it by finding some way of coping. Most of them are destructive in a sense that even if they aren't physically or mentally damaging to themselves, they're damaging to the people who are still left behind. Could the world even survive such an event without being left in worse condition than it already is?

I've been wracking my brain ever since I started reading trying to think of how I would cope, and I truthfully cannot find any answers. I simply cannot wrap my mind around how anyone could continue on with their life as if nothing happened, not without some sort of nonconstructive method of dealing with it, whether it's drinking and drugs, or simply lashing out at everyone that crosses their path.


What do you think? Do you think the world would end up worse than it is if there was some type of Rapture event? Would you be able to survive it with your sanity intact, or would you go nuts?


I would go nuts, and although I'm not the type of person who resorts to drowning their sorrows, I can predict that's exactly what I would do. I'd probably spend most of my time drinking myself to death, or sleeping my life away to avoid being awake and thinking about what happened. But, I'm an optimist. and a part of me would always cling to the hope that those that were taken would return, which would be the only thing that would keep me from going completely off the deep-end. Every minute of my day would most likely be consumed with the 'what ifs' until it would become an unhealthy obsession, and chances are at some point someone would have me committed. Not exactly a happy future to look forward to.


P.S: Sorry for the morbid topic. To apologize here's a tiny kitten.

 

[Gwazi Magnum]

Do you think the world would end up worse than it is if there was some type of Rapture event?

I think the world would overall end up worse, because of the loss of so many people and so many of the survivors in Grief as a result.
But at the same time I don't see it being the end of mankind either, I feel people would be able to band together, find some sort of strength and move forward eventually.
Not enough that it makes up for the loss, but enough that humanity is at least still moving.

Would you be able to survive it with your sanity intact, or would you go nuts?

At this current moment?
I'd probably be fine, though I lack a significant other or kids atm.

If you fast forwarded to a time where I did and then I suddenly lost them? I'd probably be just as broken as you described you would be.

P.S: Sorry for the morbid topic. To apologize here's a tiny kitten.

Even the Kitten looks sad. :(

 

[ᴛᴏᴄᴋᴀ]

Even the Kitten looks sad. :(

Depression is the mother of all bitches.

 

[Hatsune Candy]

Well given that the house is already usually empty except for me these days, I'd probably be okay on that regard. I've been known to be rather good at adapting when the need arises, though I normally prefer it when I don't have to. Emotionally, though, I'd still feel lonely; honestly, I was never really that fond of my family, but they're the only people I ever really interact with outside of the Internet. And even as an introvert I need some form of human interaction, otherwise I'd just lose touch with reality.

Overall, I could adapt, but I'd be left emotionally scarred for good long while and my level of depression would greatly increased.

 

[Kestrel]

My experience with loss is that most of my grief, once it registers, at some point turns into anger. How things go from there depend heavily on what kind of outlet I'd latch onto, but I would sink my teeth into maintaining agency and moving forward. I'd doubt I'd come out of something like that sane, but I'd do my damnedest to come out alive. I find it hard to predict where things would go from there, assuming I do survive such a world.

 

[Gwazi Magnum]

Actually question about the OP.
Does the Rapture remove just family? Or friends as well?

Because if friends were included I'd probably still break down but differently.

Cause I tend to be able to function well even with most people hating me, but I still require some sort of friend/social group.
So if I lost any kind of friendly individual? I'd break down not in the sense of "My life is over I'm so depressed", but rather I'd start to become very bitter and hostile. Because I'd lack anyone to able to just have fun and cool down with.

 

[ᴛᴏᴄᴋᴀ]

Actually question about the OP.
Does the Rapture remove just family? Or friends as well?

Because if friends were included I'd probably still break down but differently.

Cause I tend to be able to function well even with most people hating me, but I still require some sort of friend/social group.
So if I lost any kind of friendly individual? I'd break down not in the sense of "My life is over I'm so depressed", but rather I'd start to become very bitter and hostile. Because I'd lack anyone to able to just have fun and cool down with.

Friends, family, teachers you had ten years ago. In the book and series it's not discriminatory. It wasn't limited to people who were 'good' or 'bad'. There was no age restriction, on anything. Anyone can be taken.

 

[Gwazi Magnum]

Friends, family, teachers you had ten years ago. In the book and series it's not discriminatory. It wasn't limited to people who were 'good' or 'bad'. There was no age restriction, on anything. Anyone can be taken.

But would that also mean there's a chance some of my friends would stay?
Because after all I stayed, that means at least some people can.

+I didn't mean to imply that anyone was bad. Just that if the only people left were those I didn't get along with I'd probably wouldn't last too long.

 

[ᴛᴏᴄᴋᴀ]

Some family could stay, or they could all disappear. In my case I picked the worst case scenario where the five people who are most important to me are taken away. My friends and extended family could all disappear, but if my kids and husband were taken it'd be game over for me.

 

[Gwazi Magnum]

Alright.
Then to be fair I'll imagine the worst case scenario too.
In which case I'd be pretty bitter after a while.

 

[ᴛᴏᴄᴋᴀ]

Alright.
Then to be fair I'll imagine the worst case scenario too.
In which case I'd be pretty bitter after a while.

I'm just spreading all kind of cheer today. =/

 

[Lea]

To be honest, I've been basically playing I am Legend for nearly half my life so I wouldn't really be as bummed out about it as the average person. Especially if they were getting taken to good a place ^_^ Then again, I'm capable of accepting my circumstances more easier than most so I would probably get over it before I could start to feel any serious type of negative way. Plus, I've already lost people who were extremely close to me so not much can hurt me more than that outside of a rare few. Now if everyone (Really my people) were getting taken to a hellhole where they would suffer endlessly, that's an entirely different situation...D:

 

[Hecatoncheires]

A world suddenly brought to its knees, full of hopeless, broken and confused people?

...I'd start me a cult.

 

[Gonzo]

A world suddenly brought to its knees, full of hopeless, broken and confused people?

...I'd start me a cult.

Oooh. Me too.

They would all have to wear suits and noose ties, though.

 

[chainedfiction]

I wouldn't be able to go on. I just wouldn't because of how I am.

 

[ᴛᴏᴄᴋᴀ]

A world suddenly brought to its knees, full of hopeless, broken and confused people?

...I'd start me a cult.

Somehow I should have expected this, and yet I didn't. My brain is slow today. @_@

 

[Dervish]

Humans are consummate survivors. We've nearly faced extinction before (at one point, the total surviving human race wouldn't even fill a football stadium) and bounced back. We invent, we adapt. We're in a relatively comfortable time in our history where having multiple children isn't a necessity because of high infant mortality rates. We're edging out a life expectancy closer to 100 rather than 30. Very few people alive were around when the Spanish flu killed something like 18 million people.

But when disaster strikes, we always react accordingly. Be it small scale things like a car crash or a large scale terrorist attack, we collectively get our shit together and overcome it. A Rapture would be no different. We all have suffered loss before, maybe not on the scale of what is suggested, but we would adapt. Even if it came to light it was God's work, wouldn't that be a relief in a way? You might be left behind but your loved ones are alive and safe, and there's no saying you can't work at atoning and rejoining them.

Contrary to what popular culture says, when the shit hits the fan, humans have proven time and time again to be more likely to help each other than turn on each other in a crisis. We're a social animal, it's cooperation and community that got us where we are today, and we've been through worse.

We are not weak. We will overcome anything together as a species.

Would I be okay? I think so, emotionally, anyways. Everyone I know is three provinces away and I think being away from them for so long would be easier on me than someone who lives with family still.

 

[Holmishire]

I think I'd have little trouble getting over it. I know how to handle myself alone, and I can always find new people.

Watching people suffer would be far worse to me than having them disappear. However, I have yet to experience serious loss, so it's hard to gauge.

 

[Hana]

I honestly don't know. On one hand, I'm used to being alone even if I *am* surrounded by people. :/ My relationship with my family is a little iffy at the moment due to our differing opinions on where I want to go in life, but if I was the only one left I'd be pretty torn up. But I think I can move on, as long as there are other remaining people on the earth.

If there's one thing about humanity, it's that they're resilient. They've lasted through calamities and through wars, what's saying they can't push through this? (Though I really am not sure about myself, hahaha.)

 

[ᴛᴏᴄᴋᴀ]

Everyone has far more faith in humanity than I do. X_x Maybe I'm a bit cynical, but I see lots of suicide by cop, reckless behavior, and all out stupidity.