The Mirage of a Virtual Life

The virtual world let us feel like the people we wished to be, without ever becoming them. One person, with empty pockets, walked through a million-dollar mansion. Another became a mother without a spouse. An architecture expert turned psychoanalyst and prescribed a walk in the rain. A swimming-pool lifeguard overflowed with poetry. A bicycle-and-diesel technician in software became a doctor charging a fortune for appointments. A standard-bearer for his religious procession announced that he was an atheist, weary of superstition. Someone far from home, living abroad, became a host for Iran and Iranians and threw a lavish gathering. To put it plainly, the virtual world became a place where we could live the poison of our fantasies. My compatriot, my friend, a part of my own heart: let us not imagine a free Iran online, live freely inside that dream, and lose our thirst for the real road ahead. Let us not settle for mirages and stop running toward the spring of freedom. And one last thing: let us not confuse imagining the struggle to free Iran online with actually carrying it forward. It is easy enough to picture a beautiful Iran. Face reality. Long live Iran. #جاویدشاه