Through an unreachable door that is near enough to see and feel, but not yet close enough to live in reality, makes me feel like I can never turn the knob.

Tick…tock…tick…tock, the sound I hear as time passes and the clock strikes at an unreasonable hour.

The clock glaring at me from above, staring at me, convincing me that time is beginning to waste away.

Merriam-Webster showed that Essence is defined as “the most fundamental nature of something.”

Time is of the essence, but is essence made up of time?

To hold such importance to the concept of time, Isaac Ramirez is currently 23 years old, still in college.

He’s a young adult with no wrinkles and no back pain, but is still struck down with immense pressure that he is slowly running out of time.

A feeling of being stuck, that through an unforeseeable future is the answer.

The answer that teaches you how to move past one’s feelings of dread and prevail through their self-doubts.

As of early 2026, the life expectancy in the United States of America reached 79.0 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

So to be blunt, Isaac has 56 years until the U.S. predicts his timely demise and time will have officially run out.

Sometimes I think that I don’t have what it takes to the point where I imagine if someone were to investigate inside my four-chambered muscular organs, they’d discover that it’s filled with thoughts from others.

And also find that deep down inside my heart is filled with nothing.

My idealization of morals and beliefs causes me to wonder if maybe somebody else wanted that for me instead, that Isaac has been influenced and no longer has an original thought.

That same want coming from someone or something is lacking within me.

I want to be better, I want to achieve greatness, but still, I find myself stuck.

I want dream partnerships with fashion brands and make a living off of doing the things I love to do.

It’s necessary to understand the parts of me that may need help. That feeling exactly when the hour hand has reached its final destination and the clock has struck its last strike, telling me to decide my fate.

I don’t want to let time win, I don’t want to give in and let my negative ideas of myself consume me whole.