Goodbyes and One Times

(Do you think?)the
i do,world
is probably made
of roses & hello:

(of solongs and,ashes)

                                                              --e e cummings

It is amazing how it all comes flooding back.

Once I was sitting on my bed in my dorm room in college and some big athletic guy had some Asian with a panda hat on in a headlock and the song "We Are Young" by the indie pop band Fun was playing loudly in the room. I had Coca-Cola in my mouth and a Bible in my lap. Someone else was asleep in my floor and some guy I didn't know came in to brush his teeth. Someone outside was screaming Merry Christmas and my phone was ringing.

I thought to myself, In all my ponderings and imaginations, I never in a million years would have imagined this scene in my college experience.

Nothing actually happened the way it was supposed to. In all my composing, I could never have dreamt up such a song. It at once saddens me and thrills me.

So this is life.

And it grew up so fast.

There was never a dull moment. Everyday was a holiday and it was full of adventure, tragedy, and dragons to slay.

What you want to do is think back to each character and remember how you met them and how they changed you.

Life is full of goodbyes and one times. Goodbyes are sad, so are one times. They are memories. But there are no goodbyes without hellos and there are no one times without adventures. I think that's mostly why I'm obsessed with nostalgia and I revel in goodbyes.

I'm faced with the horror of fleeting youth for the first time.

Because tonight we are young, but tomorrow we are not. Anthems aren't something you cue, they are something that happens. They are the moments you sit in and feel and touch but can't keep. This is our story and we have a responsibility to it. It is what we make it.

The truth is, adventures happen to adventurous people. If you keep running away because you are bored or because you can't find experience where you are, then chances are you will never find it. Where you are is the best place. Where you are there are stories untold. It is up to you to tap into them. There are no such thing as dull moments unless we make it so. Everyday has the potential to be tucked away in the annals of the human endeavor. We are the children of God. The brave princes and princesses that are His supreme joy. We have a grail to find, but we aren't to find it with our head down.

Look up.

There's a tree there, climb it.

There's a cave there, explore it.

There's love there, pursue it.

There's a stone there, turn it.

There's life here

Take it.

Goodbyes and One Times are my very breath.