loss

Space Station of Hesitation

“And possibly, the remedy
Is a dose of apathy” -Relient K

I opened the document leading to my ramblings, the ramblings of a book that I’ve promised myself to finish. There are two now. Two starts to two books. Writers block comes and goes. Pages and pages of fragmented stories. I’m not sure how to continue. I start focusing on these tiny little details. I need to just let go and write. Fix the tiny details later. But my tunnel vision gets the best of me. There has to be a cure for this kind of writers block. Focus on the wrong things, the wrong details, the small things, instead of the big picture. When I was younger writing was so natural. Finishing a story was so easy. Now that I’m older my thoughts wander off. I wonder if I’ve lost my touch with words. Perhaps my talent has dwindled. Perhaps. Perhaps not. Perhaps I just need to clear my mind. It’s so clouded lately. Under my cloud covered mind has to lye a line of electrical transmission transferring into something more than just a beginning of a story. Something more solid, something more substantial, something that really shows what I’m made of. I know that it must still be inside me. I need to find a way to clear my mind so that the story can start flowing again. But there are a lot of things that need to change.

 

Change is hard, especially when you have no idea where to start. The message in church today was that if we didn’t like the way that our life was going then we needed to change our minds. I realize that I need to change a lot of things. But I also realize I’m not sure where to start. Truth is that I’m homesick and want nothing more than to have a home close to home. But that’s the least of it, my biggest, ugliest problem is that I can’t stand how much I’ve let myself go. I read this article the other day that said women hate taking pictures because of their weight. It suggested that we, as women, learn to be okay with the fact that we’ve gained weight. But I’m not. I can’t stand the way that I look in photos or in the mirror. I hardly recognize myself. I try not to look in the mirror and recent photos make me feel even more insecure. I honestly think the only way to “change my mind” is to somehow start working on it. I hate running because my knees hurt beyond any explanation. Walking is beyond boring. And there isn’t space for anything else. But I miss my body. I miss taekwondo. I know walking is a start but I honestly hate being bored to death. I know that I can do it… but I don’t know how long I will stick with it. I miss the class setting… and how many calories I burned. And how exciting it was to kick the bag. I just miss it. But it’s not an option so I have to try something else. I miss cute cloths and being able to look in the mirror without shame. I know that now is the time to start. But I also need some kind of schedule. Perhaps it’s time to start making one. Something has to change. I have to change. My body has never felt this weak, this fatigue, this short of breath, or this inferior. So it’s time.

Home

Oh Portland, City that I love,

I missed you more than you could possibly imagine. The memories that we have are paramount. Though I was able to visit briefly I remember why I loved you so. I remember your overcast skies that so beautifully tinted the world around me like a safety goggle secured over sensitive eyes. I remember smiles from strangers, walks downtown, chats with new friends, drives with old friends. But there is one thing that I forgot while I was away, a sense of home. I landed in your radiant city on a tiny little jet plane from somewhere south. I keep trying to convince myself that this new place could be my new home. But as my tiny feet hit the tarmac that Saturday afternoon I felt the one thing that I haven’t felt in quite sometime… I felt home. The adjustment was somewhat strange at first perhaps even a foreign memory of a repressed old feeling. I was skeptical of the caress of familiarity and it took me an hour or so before I recognized what it was. I simply felt home. In the arms of an old friend who greeted me even when I was at the worst. The memories embraced me like a warm childhood blanket on a cold winter day. Secure. Safe. Home. I was home. I had no idea how much I missed my grey skies or my fluffy green trees. Or that cold mountain. Memories… ten by ten they flooded in like the rouge river herself. Glitter on the sidewalks, brilliant bridges high and low, and family (biological and adopted). Leaving my beautiful city wasn’t easy. So I plugged my headphones in and listened to “Painting Pictures of Egypt” just one more time and then another. The theme song of my very soul. I keep waiting. I keep wishing. I keep praying. For something. Something to remind me that I am alive like I once was. Age has brought me a new feeling, a new set of neuro chemicals to make me wonder what on earth is next. This can’t possibly be what life is about. There has to be more. I keep telling myself that it’s the wrong timing, that I must wait… but I have no idea what I’m waiting for. Perhaps if it came now I wouldn’t recognize it just like the song says. Perhaps I’m just not ready. It’s not my timing after all. It’s His timing. My job is to trust Him. To lean on non linear thinking. I’m working on it. I know that I must be learning something right now. But I miss the intellectual times in my life and the physical times in my life… the times where and when I felt like I was on top of the world. I miss my times in Portland. I miss my times educating myself, learning new languages, experiencing new cultures, and breathing in the exciting and challenging moments in life. I know they are still there. But I feel blind lately. Mostly bored. A little disappointed in myself.  What am I supposed to be doing with my life and how am I supposed to be doing it? I miss the people who I used to talk this stuff over with. People like June and Pat and so many others. I miss the people who loved me even when I was vicious and ugly. They made me a better person. I don’t really know what I need at this point. Perhaps joining in on a new class at Real Life or calling an old friend. I’m not sure what I need. I do know for certain though that I need people. The extrovert inside me needs people. But I believe until I can find a “home” again I will have a difficult time meeting people. I need a home. A place where I have beautiful memories and can force myself to relax. But the timing is wrong. For now I will try not to Paint Pictures of Egypt but rather wait on my non linear timing.

-Me

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The Journey with Us

My mid twenties came a lot sooner than I had anticipated. To my surprise I still cannot believe that I am in my mid twenties. Well, I can when I look at pictures from when I was 17, 18, 19, or even 20. I looked so young. I can’t believe how young I looked and how naive I was. Some days I miss my youth more than others, seeing how driven and excited I was about conquering the world. Photographs remind me of my spontaneous  younger self who feared almost nothing. I craved adventure and loved trying new things. Right there next to me were my best friends, being just as crazy. We traveled on road trips, laughed about the boys we liked, and embraced life to the fullest. I often forget about the trials we had back then because they were overpowered with such goodness, and love. But the bad things, as well as the good are what concreted so many unforgettable friendships. The friends I have now are the ones who I went through the most things with.

Today my best friend (since ’94) turns 25. Talk about going through so much together. It’s been crazy how life threw us together during our first year at Colton Elementary School. We were sat next to each other in class by the teacher and have been friends ever since. Even as we’ve been far apart we have gone through just about everything together. But that’s what friendship is about. You’re there through everything.

It’s crazy to think that she’s in NY and I’m in AZ. I remember being kids and going to the Old Spaghetti factory together with her family for her birthday. But we’ve grown up and now we lead our own lives thousands of miles apart… still best friends. As we grow, we mature and as we mature, we become secure. We understand that distance is just a bunch of numbers and does not mean anything for our friendship (especially a friendship that has lasted almost 20 years).  It’s crazy that we’re old enough to have children, to move anywhere, and to do anything. Well… that’s not not entirely true. We have responsibilities that we have to uphold. I suppose it gives us a sense of purpose and direction, though many of us feel lost anyway.

We want to do great things but feel like we don’t have the opportunity to do them… especially with the economy in shambles. I don’t know how our generation got to be such dreamers. We’re generation Y-not? Everyone in gen Y believes that we can do anything, be our own bosses, sail around the world, and live out our dreams. And most of us have become disappointed. We can’t afford to live out our dreams. But we’ve also learned that we can afford to be happy… because no matter where we are, or what our finances look like, or where we are going… we still have each other. Life isn’t about the things we do… it’s about the people who are taking the journey with us.

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