Inspired by Ernie Johnson's (one of my favourite people) "Advice For His Younger Self".
Weather forecasts are like promises that were never meant to be kept. There are days you feel more rain than sunshine - even if it's only supposed to be partly cloudy. Age serves to tell us that no one actually takes pinky swears seriously. The weather man only looks at pictures, anyway - which is a problem, because a thousand words often isn't quite enough.
You love finding the words for things, especially if it's something that you can feel, but sometimes you either can't, or you don't actually have to. Is there a word for when you've so much to say to someone, and yet so little you can deliver? Is there a word for that feeling when you're running after a bus, and it finally stops, but you get on and it isn't actually going anywhere? If we had the words for everything - the right words - then there would not be anymore spaces in between to fill. Or feel.
You can't win all the time - no one ever does. There are times you feel like you've lost even though you've won, and when you feel like you've won even as you've lost.
Humans are sometimes more rants and rockets so if hatred consumes, people take a call to arms, and nobody is doing the work of love - go do it. Because this world is divided along lines and borders but we all share the same lines on our skin.
Beyond the night sky is a spectacular series of births and deaths that we will never see. The world is also a spectacular series of births and deaths that we will never see. When someone's light goes out, millions across the globe will not even know of it - do not accord yourself too much of an importance, and yet know that we all still existed spectacularly, but only as a series.
The most beautiful thing around here is the human smile - that's why you should always make people laugh. The greatest gift of comedy is the smile.
You will find yourself performing autopsies on conversations you've had and yet there are some silences that you'll be happy to be familiar with. Learn to remember them, and maybe, you'll put the coroner out of a job.
Many a time it's the people who make it all worth the trouble. There are those who stand on stilts and walk on water but there are also those who will pull you over the line; the ones that will be the little pick-me-ups when you're nothing but a get-you-down. These people will tell you remarkable things in remarkable ways - they make the best of days.
You love finding the words for things, especially if it's something that you can feel, but sometimes you either can't, or you don't actually have to. Is there a word for when you've so much to say to someone, and yet so little you can deliver? Is there a word for that feeling when you're running after a bus, and it finally stops, but you get on and it isn't actually going anywhere? If we had the words for everything - the right words - then there would not be anymore spaces in between to fill. Or feel.
You can't win all the time - no one ever does. There are times you feel like you've lost even though you've won, and when you feel like you've won even as you've lost.
Humans are sometimes more rants and rockets so if hatred consumes, people take a call to arms, and nobody is doing the work of love - go do it. Because this world is divided along lines and borders but we all share the same lines on our skin.
Beyond the night sky is a spectacular series of births and deaths that we will never see. The world is also a spectacular series of births and deaths that we will never see. When someone's light goes out, millions across the globe will not even know of it - do not accord yourself too much of an importance, and yet know that we all still existed spectacularly, but only as a series.
The most beautiful thing around here is the human smile - that's why you should always make people laugh. The greatest gift of comedy is the smile.
You will find yourself performing autopsies on conversations you've had and yet there are some silences that you'll be happy to be familiar with. Learn to remember them, and maybe, you'll put the coroner out of a job.
Many a time it's the people who make it all worth the trouble. There are those who stand on stilts and walk on water but there are also those who will pull you over the line; the ones that will be the little pick-me-ups when you're nothing but a get-you-down. These people will tell you remarkable things in remarkable ways - they make the best of days.
Keep writing, because it's the only way you know how.
--
It's easy to do all this "Note to Younger Self" kind of thing sounding like you're wiser and clearer about things. The truth is, 18 years hardly gives you all the answers - and perhaps even 80 years won't either. I guess if we had the answers then there would be no need for questions, and no need to do the all the living that could be done.
--
It's easy to do all this "Note to Younger Self" kind of thing sounding like you're wiser and clearer about things. The truth is, 18 years hardly gives you all the answers - and perhaps even 80 years won't either. I guess if we had the answers then there would be no need for questions, and no need to do the all the living that could be done.
