“As surely as the sakura blooms, I will meet my true self.”
-YUI, GLORIA
And so it was. With the coming of the hanami in March, I entered one of the most creatively exciting times in my life. I was living the dreams that had, until this point, been beyond my reach. Things were changing. I was changing them.
August was amazing. Out of last year’s failure challenge came an unwavering passion and unshakeable drive. With the changing seasons, my brother and I made our way back to the Land of the Rising Sun, and I rightly achieved the most important and meaningful goal in my life thus far. Read on, Soldier→
“When I die, I hope the president breaks into primetime for a speech, followed by 24-hour non-stop news coverage of my accomplishments.”
-Dustin Curtis
Welcome to the show. It plays twenty-four hours a day, seven days per week, anywhere I go.
I’m still not sure exactly where I’ll go or what I’ll do, but I can assure you one thing: it won’t be boring. Read on, Soldier→
“Hope is not a strategy. Luck is not a factor. Fear is not an option.”
-James Cameron
Congratulations, You’re !@#$ed
Let’s play financial triage.
In times of emergency in which available medical resources cannot possibly treat all those who need assistance, a system of triage is used. It helps doctors determine which patients to treat based on urgency and likelihood of survival.
Almost a year ago, I decided to play triage with my finances. There wasn’t enough money to go around, and I had to decide what not to pay.
I was going broke. Not just losing money, but hemorrhaging cash very quickly in spectacularly defeating ways. Speeding tickets, 4-digit petrol expenditures, armed robbery, and dodging litigation for alleged breach of contract.
Ouch. Read on, Soldier→
“Logic offers a serenity humans seldom experience. The control of feelings…so they do not control you”
–Spock’s Father, Star Trek (2009)
Know What Matters
“I’ve heard that gas could be at $6 per gallon by summer.”
I hate rumors. That’s one of the main reasons I neither watch nor read conventional news on a regular basis. It doesn’t make any damn difference.
Gas will always ‘be $6 per gallon by summer’. If not, it’ll be $6 by next summer too.
Will it actually happen? I have no !@#$ing clue. And I don’t particularly care. Worrying and speculating will add neither another dollar to my wallet nor drop of happiness to my life. It usually does just the opposite. Read on, Soldier→
“I don’t know where I’m going from here, but I promise it won’t be boring.”
-David Bowie
“What the !@#$ did I just eat?”
And thus begins the long-overdue story of my second journey to Japan.
My first journey – a delightful hodgepodge of cherry blossoms, street prostitutes and self-fulfilling prophesies – will come in good time.
I don’t enjoy writing about past adventures nearly as much as living new ones. The more I live in the past, the more I waste energy that could be spent forging new paths into even greater moments.
As such, I’ll keep this short. The best is yet to come. Read on, Soldier→
“Peace. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no trouble, noise, or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.”
-Lady Gaga
Erika Luna, like most other 16-year-old high school girls, seems happy. As she speaks, the word ‘effervescence’ comes to mind.
“I’m thankful to God for every day I have,” she says. “I am happy.” Truly, she exudes positivity and I can’t help but smile.
She is peaceful, calm and grateful. Her attitude in and of itself is something that brightens the world of those fortunate enough to know her. What’s most inspiring, however, is her unconquerable resilience. Read on, Soldier→
