Sunday, December 28, 2008

Sunday Scribblings

This week’s phrase is I Believe

It is not poetic, well said, or an original thought, but … above all else, I believe that our lives are a gift—regardless of who that gift is from—and that we have an obligation to ourselves, to those that have passed, and to future generations to make this world a better place to exist. If we each did one thing everyday, no matter how small, to benefit others out of pure selflessness, we may all find life a little more palatable.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Sunday Scribblings

This week’s phrase was/is “I knew instantly;” a list seemed to be in order:

I knew instantly . . . that the words, my words, would be the escape from the world that I could not comprehend.

I knew instantly . . . that you would leave me a trampled shell of the person I was before walking into that class.

I knew instantly . . . that I could withstand more pain, suffering and agony than most boys of that age.

I knew instantly . . . that my departure was more than a step towards freedom.

I knew instantly . . . that something would get fucked up by my temporary assignment away from you.

I knew instantly . . . that being in your presence would lift the weight that had been crushing me since birth.

I knew instantly . . . that I was a nomad.

I knew instantly . . . that I would owe you my life.

I knew instantly . . . that I would eventually come to hate you, and you me.

I knew instantly . . . that I had made a horrible mistake by not going to medical school.

I knew instantly . . . that I was not as good a person as were you.

I knew instantly . . . that your death would haunt me into adulthood.

I knew instantly . . . that my performance would never match my credentials.

I knew instantly . . . that you would not be the one that got away, regardless of the cost.

What I did not know was that I would be a thirty something adult caught in the endless struggle to be happy.

Monday, December 8, 2008

Sunday (or more appropriately in this instance, Monday) Scribbling

This week’s word is Tradition

Failure, deceit, broken promises, aloofness and physical ailments, the markings of an existence not yet complete. Since birth, he has experienced, known, digested, and accepted the same as his fate. There was a struggle once, a fight against the inevitable, but he is, if nothing else, the product of his upbringing. No amount of classes, lectures, broken hearts, devastation and false starts could break him free of the cycle of his lineage. They are, as much as anything, his birthright. The positive is that he is the embodiment of the tradition laid out prior to his conception.