"Don't get so caught up in the daily grind that you never find any time to enjoy yourself."

What's important? (Summer 2000)

In english class I had an assignment where I had to write three things I feel are most significant in life and why. With my answer I was surprised with what I learned about myself. Ask yourself that same question and just give it some thought. See if you surprise yourself too.

It was an interesting day. I sat looking out the big front window watching the roofers work on the house. All of the sudden a man fell infront of my eyes. He fell from the roof that's two stories high. At first I thought he tried to jump down because his friend kindly smiled asking if he was okay. I thought, "You stupid ass." The man tried to shake off his pain but a minute later when I saw the beautiful color red happily dance down his forhead, I knew something was wrong.

I ran to get the man a towel. I swear it only took less than ten seconds, but when I got back to him, I was surprised to see his face totally masked with his own blood. I ran in the house as fast as I could and called 911. They were quick. About three minutes later I heard the ambulance coming.

When the guy fell, a big heavy twisted piece of metal that hung on the ladder came crashing down against his head causing the wound. It looked serious but the guy tried to laugh it off like nothing was wrong. He was taken away and I have no idea what happened after that.

The point to all this is the question I asked in the beginning. "What is really important in Life?" I know the man with the blood gushing out of his head wasn't thinking about the bills he has to pay, an argument he might be having in his relationship, fast cars, or materialistic possessions.

A lot of people change the way they live and think about life after a traumatic experience happens. It seems like they become wiser, more caring, happier better people. Why do most people have to almost die before they begin to love or respect life, people, and this world? Why can't they break away from the "zombie curse of society" and understand what's important about life before hand? Just something I was thinking about and wanted to share with you.

(The Learning Channel. Winter of 2000)

I was watching a show about World War II on "The Learning Channel." After the war, a Jewish man survived the holocaust and was given a scholarship. He was sent to Seattle on a ship. On this ship, he was in line to get some food. At the end of this line, there was a big basket filled with bananas and another basket filled with oranges. The Jewish man asked another man working behind the counter,
"Sir, should I take a banana or an orange?"
The man he asked said,
"Eat all the damn bananas and oranges you want."
The Jewish Man that was in the holocaust then thought to himself,
"I am in Heaven."

(The Fall of 2000)

This is basically like saying "You don't know what you have until it's gone." This goes beyond that thought though. This is about our personal world of the everyday life. I thought about this while I was walking to my car from psychology class. I was looking at the colors of the autumn trees in the background and thought how awesome they were. Then after a few seconds of admiring them, I simply got in my car and drove away. On my way home I was thinking about the trees and how people in their everyday life (just as I did with the trees) don't take the time to relax and enjoy the beauty of simple things.

Then on my way home I imagined myself teaching a psychology class. As a teacher, I would bring in a big picture of the colorful trees and ask everyone if they like the picture. If students say they liked the picture, I'd then ask them if they noticed that they walk past these trees and see this image every time they go to their cars, just like I did. This is just interesting to me. We can stare at something awesome for hours, but it's not until we have an actual photograph in our hands of what we saw where we can really observe the beauty of what was seen. Sorry if this is confusing.

It's kind of like reminiscing about old times. We always look back and realize how good things were, but at the time, life didn't seem like a big deal. We don't have a photographic memory, but we can still try to appreciate what we see everyday before the photographs are developed. Try to see the beauty of everyday life to put it simply.

I'm not sure what I'm trying to say. So many things in our everyday life are beautiful, but we just don't seem to realize it. I guess I think people including myself would enjoy life more if we took the time, relaxed, and realized how beautiful this mysterious world truly is. I'm tired, my mind is just mumbling right now, and I'm not sure how to explain what I'm thinking. So, I'm going to shut up now. Sorry to put you through this confusing thought of mine.

"Pile up too many tomorrows
and you'll find that you've collected nothing but a bunch of empty yesterdays."
-from The Music Man-