Today is Wednesday, March 19, 2008.
Last year on this very day, I was in Barcelona, probably sipping on a cafe con leche. I spent my 25th birthday in Europe, far away from almost everything and everyone I knew.
Today, I'm sitting in my room, staring blankly at my computer screen. Naturally, this leads one to reflect. I'm not sure what to speak about honestly, but I feel like with any blog a person needs to say something before they usher themselves into another age bracket?
Maybe I could talk about love, growth, the economy or probably Global Warming. Who knows. I have no poignant thoughts on the brain of late.
Maybe I'll blog about nothing in particular, and write a little poem that reflects my state of mind.
One thing I realize about this blog thing, its pretty challenging at times. This thing is supposed to be a sort of online diary, a forum where anyone can hop onto your page and read what you've been up to. Much of what I've been up to, I don't want to say.
Maybe I'm too shy, or a little too reserved when I think of who might be reading these blogs. Does it really matter if I say whatever is on my mind? The most hits i've received in a day are 120. Can my life really be affected if an extra 120 people know a few tidbits about someone they will probably never meet?
Who knows.
I've toyed with the idea of writing another blog, the one were I can REALLY speak my mind. Rant if you will. Talk about my life's frustrations, things that are approaching that sometimes keep me awake, disturbing adult behavior, unrequited love, the works.
But who knows. These aren't things someone really has to focus on are they? We are in the age where people can find out almost anything if they search hard enough. I'm just doing people a favor, and putting it out there before the masses come calling.
I can say without reservation that in my life so far I have seen some pretty ugly things. The dark side of human nature, people and events. I try to ignore these things, but I realize that when some really f-ed up stuff happens to you, it can really sit with you for a LONG time. This sometimes makes me desire to be "normal". But what is normal anyway? I don't think anyone is normal. Half of my relationships are destroyed by the hangups my exes have over their former boyfriends. Do the wrong thing, you become that guy, and you are gone. Caput.
Everyone has their frame centralized based on what happened to them in their life, good or bad. Who is normal? The chick with the eating disorder because she hates herself or the guy who does lines to forget about his friend that killed himself? What is normal?
Each time I hear about people dying on the news I feel nothing. Worse, when people close to me have died and I don't know how to react. How can I? We are in this weird, desensitized world where no one generally thinks past how far they can tolerate discomfort.
I've also seen some amazing things. I've traveled, I've met beautiful people I care and love. I've seen one of the better sides of humanity, the value of family, good friendships, and priceless moments. I've sat on a beach in Hawaii, staring at the sunset, realizing how big the world is. I've heard my father tell me he loves me, looked a hurricane directly in the eye and dodged a few near death incidents. I've had broken bones, and a broken heart. Christ, I still have a broken heart. I've lived eh?
Even though i'm sitting in my room, alone and in my underwear typing this, I have to be thankful.
Yesterday I was walking home. I was feeling like a huge cloud was over my head. This happens to everyone in a major city if you don't have that many people to interact with. Its almost like everyone is a mannequin, and you are walking by everyone in slow motion. You don't hear any voices because you have your headphones on, drowning out the world. You don't see any smiles, or looking into anyone's eyes. You walk straigth ahead, like society's runway model, unaware of anything in the periphery, all you see is that walkway that leads to the photographers.
I was feeling like this. I had just returned from walking around aimlessly for a few hours. About fifty feet in front of me, I saw a man struggling to push his wheelchair up a small ramp that lead to the sidewalk. A passerby helped him and when the man regained control of his chair, I walked past. This man--I have no idea what ailment he had--could only push the wheelchair forwards a few inches at a time. His head rested awkwardly on his chest, and he was twitching. Even so, his eyes seeemed much brighter than mine. I, the person in full control of my faculties had darker eyes.
Immediately I felt ashamed of myself. I felt the need to cry surge within me as I wondered about what I was truly thankful for. What is wrong with you? I said to myself. Even if there isn't much going on right now, you can walk, you can talk, if you get lucky, you can get laid. You aren't living life four inches at a time.
This emotional charge has probably lead me in a spiral of thinking about the past. I've been in a few car accidents, and I've suffered some major injuries in my lifetime. These leave me in a fluctuating state of pain, which I find annoying, but i'm not crippled. Even though I tend to limp every now and then, I can still run if I need to, and walk a few miles every other day or so.
Whoever reads this, I might dismiss this as meaningless in a day or so. Regardless of that fact, it is all i can think about right now. The time your inner voice in the loudest, is when you have nothing to say, and no one to say anything to you. Add a Spring Break time period to that, and you have a regular existential birth about to happen.
Who knows what life means. So what if I was in Barcelona last year, and this year i'll probably be sitting in some Cafe in DC somewhere. I'm not unhappy to be alive. I don't really have that much to complain about. I've realized as I get older that a few things happen:
(a) you see the bad side of people you love, and you can choose to hate them, or get over it.
(b) you will experience the death of someone close to you, sooner or later. No one escapes.
(c) you will fail a few times at things you believe you could NEVER lose at. Life teaches all.
(d) you will have at least one or two major regrets. Things you can never change. Ever.
(e) you will have the choice to call someone to say hello, or tell them you love them, but you won't.
(f) you will either decide to focus on your career as the focus of your life, or take your own steps towards what your life will be. Either way, its fueled by the notion of death at the end of the road.
(g) you will have lots of fun if you so choose.
(h) you will realize your own meaning of life and death, sooner or later.
(i) you will be challenged to change a bad habit you have, or you will lose people very precious to you if you don't.
(j) you will realize the words of your peers when you were a child make perfect sense.
(k) you will fear having children of your own someday.
(l) you will have a moment where you can completely change your life, or stay where you are, knowing it will keep you trapped for years to come.
(m) next year, you'll realize these things all over again. :p
Okay that's not some comprehensive list, but its MY list... and you are reading MY blog...so there! :p
Anyways, lately I've been like "screw it". I'll tell my thoughts within reason. I've been hesitant at times to write because I think certain people might read my blog, but hey, I'm not that important. I get comments from random people in different countries. The people closest to me refuse to read my blog, so I'm safe. I'm still trying to get my sister to read one of my 76 posts.
So ladies and gents, so ends the rant. Maybe there wasn't much point to this. Tomorrow i'll go back to my usual witty re-telling of whatever I do on my birthday. Hopefully it will involve women, drugs and alcohol.
Peace
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