PSA - After-death-avatar

The death of a beloved person is always a tragic story. And there is nothing we can do about death being the natural ending of our lives. Some people can’t handle the loss and tend to be devastated for ages. Thoughts like “Why haven’t I expressed my love to this person more often?” or “If only I could spend another day with him/her” make the grief process last longer. So what if we actually could speak and get in contact with an already dead person? You think it is too unrealistic and totally impossible? No is the answer! There are websites which basically collect every information you have ever uploaded on the internet to create an after-life-avatar of you. To put it simply, you become virtually immortal. You can theoretically call and send messages to a deceased person whenever you want. 

This information is surely arising some scepticism, and it should. How can some algorithms ever create an authentic copy of a complex, genius and beautiful creature such as the human being? An avatar, a very weak representation of what you once was, would distract the people from their pain only for a short period of time. Reopening all wounds impede the process of grieving and therefore we should all accept death as soons as possible. Don’t ever forget, the soul of a person never dies.

A day in the life of Emina

A day in the life of Emina, a Bosnian.

A day in the life of Emina, a Bosnian.

On a Wednesday morning I was woken up by my mother’s squeaky voice: “Wake up, otherwise you’ll miss your bus to Travnik”. On a normal day in Graz I would just ignore my mother’s call to wake up and continue the resting. The reason why I jumped out of the comfortable bed immediately was the fact that I was spending my semester break in Bosnia, my native land. I wanted to fully enjoy my trip and make the best out of every precious day which was available to me. On this particular Wednesday I planned a trip to the nearby city Travnik. Even though I had visited this place very often in the past, I was looking forward to enjoying the city and potentially take some nice pictures for my Tumblr profile. I put on some clothes, charged my camera and managed to catch the bus, just in the nick of time. Half an hour later I found myself standing in the heart of Travnik and breathing in the the fresh air of the city’s surrounding mountains.There are no words to describe the feeling I had in this particular moment. I didn’t realise that I was so emotionally bound to this place. Contend and with a smile on my face I headed towards the old town, my favourite place in Travnik. After having climbed the stairs (what a strenuous activity this was!), I finally enjoyed a wonderful view over the city and its suburbs. I spent quite some time there, totally forgetting the existence of  time. I took quite a lot pictures as I was trying to capture the beauty. I decided to move on. When I went out, I noticed a graffiti on a wall which says “Never forget Srebrenica”. It aroused a feeling of anger and sadness in me as it automatically evoked the image of the Bosnian war.

Forgetting this unpleasant thought, I descended the old town and stopped at a place called “Plava Voda” which is very famous for serving traditional Bosnian coffee. I couldn’t resist the temptation and ordered a cup. 

Not only did I get coffee, but a cigarette and a sticky piece of sweet called “Rahat Lokum” too. That’s why this particular coffee place is so popular. Even though I am not a smoker, I lit this bloody cigarette. I mean, who wouldn’t? The time had come to leave the city.

I went to bed with a feeling of excitement. I had spent a beautiful day in Travnik and took some nice shots of the city. It doesn’t matter how often I visit Travnik, there is always something new I can discover and experience due to the country’s rich cultural heritage.