Learn About Life With Existential Ezio

While recently procrastinating at work we came across an interesting page on Facebook: Existential Ezio. Started by Delhi-based lawyer Abhiroop Datta, the posts are simple pictures of an action figure {Ezio from the Assassin’s Creed franchise} in different locations of the city, accompanied by an existential thought or statement.

With our interest immediately piqued, we just had to find out why Datta did it. A huge fan of the Assassin’s Creed series {“until they became shit”}, he just always had the Ezio action figure lying across his desk. One day while exploring the city, he found the figure in his bag, took a picture of Ezio, and just penned down the thought going through his head.

“How many dreams have you had to kill yet just so you could keep on dreaming on a full stomach?”

This followed for a few posts, before it snowballed into the Existential Ezio page, partly because of the alliteration and partly because he was earnestly feeling existential at the time {and you gotta admit Ezio has the broody, staring into the distance pose down to a T}.

This is all well and good, but why were all his thoughts dealing with the human condition? The answer was a fairly straightforward one: Growing up. “Even if you don’t know you’re feeling existential, if you don’t know how to explain it, you probably are”, Datta explained. He said he sees it in his friends around him. “I’m getting old, man,” he continued, “I pay taxes, I have bills, I vote!”

Strange, we thought. He’s having the same crisis of being that we’re having, and we very much doubt we’re the same age. And perhaps that is what’s best about Ezio and his existential thoughts, that we can all understand them. Whether we know it or not, as Datta succinctly put, we all struggle with the same thoughts. We all wonder why we’re here, what we’re doing {if we’re doing ‘it’ right}, and where we’re going.

“Bro, I’ve acknowledged the futility and impermanence of scenes you’ve never even heard of.”

It’s not a great idea to ask Existential Ezio if he knows of anything fun happening in town this weekend. Datta told us he doesn’t plan anything. The thoughts enter his head {one of the pesky side effects of being human} and a few days later a post goes up. “The thought definitely comes before the picture,” he tells us.

“Everyone goes through the same thing. Everyone is acting out, from what they are expected to be.” And that is why Existential Ezio is funny and, oddly, comforting. Everyone struggles with life, growing up, and finding their place in this world. And in Ezio it’s good to know we’re not alone.

You can find Ezio and his musings here.