Nothing is permanent; the only constant in life is change. The John Lennon Wall in Prague embodies this perfectly. People are constantly erasing and painting over the past to create a new present that will never be guaranteed in the future.

Since the late 1980’s the wall has been painted with John Lennon graffiti and lyrics from The Beatles. During the communist regime Czech students would voice anger and protest over the dictatorship of Guatav Husak by writing on the wall. Later the wall would become a symbol of revolution. Today, it still embodies universal ideals of peace, compassion, and love.

I add my own piece of the present: “live your dream, wear your passion.” I live my present dream with the wish to live it forever into the future. My present dream of exploring, expanding, connecting, growing, and creating.

We all want to leave our mark on life and on the world we live in. Some do it through technological advances or societal improvements. Others don it by creating a family or becoming a doctor. I don’t know what my future dream will entail, but I do know that I hope to always project positivity in the hopes of facilitating genuine connections, in the hopes of always learning something new.

There seems to always be a guitar player singing the Beatles at the wall. He’s parked in front of the most elaborate and detailed John Lennon mosaic. Since we leave our mark during the week, the wall is quiet besides the strumming guitar player. He encourages us to sing a song with him. While I don’t know the lyrics to most Beatles songs, I join in the chorus of “Hey Jude.”

“Hey Jude don’t make it bad
Take a sad song and make it better Remember to let her into your heart Then you can start to make it better”