Undead

A quick survey of popular fiction is enough to give one the impression that Zombies are all the rage.

There are video games like Left 4 Dead, Resident Evil or even Plants vs. Zombies. There are movies like 28 Days Later, Dawn of the Dead, or even Shaun of the Dead. The mere fact that comic book-turned-television-series The Walking Dead enjoys such critical acclaim is perhaps the best possible sign that Zombies have gone mainstream.

What to make of this? That Zombies make for great entertainment, sure; yet more than this, maybe that we are just a tad engrossed by the idea that one day the Zombie apocalypse will occur, allowing the dead to once again roam the earth.

I was thinking about this recently because it struck me how a lot of people appear to get through their days like soulless zombies.

It happens to the best of us. Sometimes, we just get caught up in the day-to-day that we lose sight of the bigger picture and end up doing things by rote or routine. We become drones who follow the manual because that's what we're expected to do, and sometimes we forget that our work is more than just a job to do -- that it's actually an opportunity for each of us to make a difference. Devoid of enthusiasm, we lose our sense of purpose and meaning, and just go through the motions like empty vessels because, really, we're simply waiting for it all to be over.

So in many ways the Zombie Apocalypse is already upon us. As such, I would surmise that, just like in the movies, it's the few who have the tenacity to fight against it that will come out heroes in the end.