I've written and deleted the content of this post over twenty times now. I can't find the right words to convey how I feel about this topic and what I'm trying to tell you guys. My original post was slightly over 2000 words, but proofreading it only showed me how incredibly lost I was whilst writing it. I rambled on from one topic to the other without structure or a set idea in mind. I kept writing until I felt satisfied about letting out all my bottled up emotions, but the last thing I want to do is put it up on the web.
After a lot of thought, the title 'Everybody lies' seemed most suitable for this post. This is how I feel:
I feel broken. My childhood friend-- my best friend... no, former best friend, left me about a year and a half ago. It's actually hard to pinpoint exactly when because we've always had an on and off type of friendship since I was never exactly the most thoughtful and selfless person in the world. I did a lot of things I regret, but I don't understand why we stopped talking over something so stupid. Perhaps it's my fault for not trying hard enough to get her back, but when she told me she was through, I took it to heart, and I tried my best to accept it. She was too good for me anyway. She was amazing. An excellent artist, highly intelligent, funny as hell... oh and she was very beautiful. Meanwhile there was me-- bland. There's nothing I can say to describe my personality in a positive light. I'm narcissistic and apathetic, emotionally detached from the world and as so many have put it "heartless".
I knew her since birth. I have very fond memories of our time as children, how we were so carefree and didn't fully grasp the idea of friendship and its importance. There were also a lot of bad memories, but when I try to think back to those exact memories, all I see is a giant blur. I've despised and denied my past for so long that I've completely erased it from my memories. All I know now is that I was an outcast as a child; I was overweight, and kids didn't want to play with me as much as they did with her. I was left out of a lot of activities not only because I wasn't accepted, but because I was also physically incapable of having a normal childhood. I spent most of my time on the computer or playing video games because the real world was so cruel. I established friendships with people online and faked everything about myself for fear that if they knew who they were really talking to, they too would leave me.
I've grown up a lot since then. I didn't turn out the way I wanted to, but I've lied to myself for so long that I've accepted these lies as reality. I tell myself that the reason why people don't want to be friends with me is because they know I won't make time for them, but really, I think I'm too mysterious for their liking; the fact that I don't open up to them is suspicious. I'm hiding who I am and what I've become because I'm lonely enough as it is. If you go back to my earlier post in January (I think it's my third), I say that I really only have 4 friends who genuinely want to hang out with me. Now I have none. Except now it's different. Now I don't care. I don't want friends because with friendship comes trust, and with trust comes lies. And lies end up with someone getting hurt.
I don't want to hurt anymore. It's a very cliche thing to say, but after I lost my friendship with her, I started to drift away from everybody. I figured if somebody who cheered me at my best and comforted me at my worst; somebody who knew everything about me... couldn't even stand the sight of me anymore, there would be no more light at the end of the tunnel.
To this day I tell myself the reason she left me was because of that one incident where we made plans, but I forgot I already had to do something, so I told her "next time", and when my plans for that day were cancelled, I figured I'd take it as a day off to just relax, but when I told her, she wouldn't have it. I had betrayed her.
I tell myself that this is the reason she left me, but I know she's too good of a person to leave for such a simple reason. There's so much more to it, and though I haven't spoken to her in a long time, I will see her again in 18 days.
I just hope she still thinks about me as much as I've thought about her, because I'm terrified of closing this chapter of my life for good. As much as I want closure, I'd still like to lie to myself into believing that the reason for her departure was not entirely on me-- that she had some issues of her own. And hypothetically speaking, if she tells me it isn't completely my fault, I still might not believe it... Everybody lies.
But as long as she's with me, I'm willing to lie to myself for the rest of my life.
Respect
Since the evolution to mammals, we've understood the idea of respect. All mammals understand this idea-- it's universal. Looking at our own lives we see that everybody holds some respect for another person, maybe even multiple people, but the conflicting issue is that what I respect, you may not for whatever reason. But as I mentioned before, the idea is universal. We all know what respect is and why we respect something. To clarify, I'll present you with an example. I respect a comedian named George Carlin, and you may ask why respect a comedian, but it's simple. He is a truthful man, and he agrees with my ideologies, as well as being very hilarious, but it's not only these qualities that earns him my respect-- it's the way he challenges peoples beliefs through intellectual inquiries. He makes people laugh and think at the same time, and lets be honest here, the modern man is either intelligent or stupid; the middle ground is being blurred through years of procreation in environments where they aren't being intellectually stimulated. This leads to an exponential rise in 'followers' who believe in anything they're told without questioning it for themselves.
If you could pick up on the connotations and implications in the above paragraph, you can infer that those we respect influence and shape our outlook on life-- the people we surround ourselves with, the way we think and act, our beliefs and ideologies, our behavior, all influenced by those we look up to. This is what I like to call the CHOICE part of respect, the more modern view of the idea of respect. To elaborate, previous generations would argue that you don't have a choice in the matter, and especially when it comes to parents or elders, you must hold respect for those above you.
Personally, I think it's all a load of horse shit. People need to EARN your respect. It should not be mandatory. But if you put yourself in their shoes, there is only one factor that I think influenced why they believed respect should be mandatory: knowledge. Before mass communication, what would be your source of knowledge? There was no internet, and the only way you'd obtain new knowledge is if you go to a library, and even then you'd have to know what you're looking for; so we can conclude that they respected their elders and parents because they were knowledgeable-- wise. Advice came only from your closest circle, so if you didn't respect somebody, do you think they'd share their wisdom with you? Probably not.
Now that we have a gargantuan archive of knowledge and wisdom known as the world wide web, our elders become almost obsolete. Anything and everything can found on the web, so now we've 'evolved' to beings who can CHOOSE who we want to respect because there is a wider spectrum of people who agree with our opinions and ideas. No more are we forced to assimilate for the sake of fear of alienation. Our elders don't see eye to eye on the younger generations with this, and the way they were raised, their stubbornness will most likely never allow them to accept this idea.
Let me tell you a story, and this is 100% accurate, because I want you, the reader, to understand what I'm trying to say and understand how different we are from our elders.
My brothers and I were discussing the idea of teaching a child obedience; their idea was that the child should respect their parents from the get-go, and when they misbehave, they should be beaten until they apologise and promise not to do it again. Ladies and gentlemen, this is how we break our children. Think about how bad it'll affect their psychological state as they grow up, how much fear they will hold to authoritative figures or speaking up against those who are of much higher status then they are. I told them those very words, and they shook it off, saying that it doesn't affect them mentally; and again this is the older generation speaking. They don't know anything about the human brain or the impact of specific actions on a persons psychological state and mental well-being, all they know is that they're older than you, so they can do whatever they want.
A more modern and conventional method now doesn't involve harsh beatings; the last thing we need is a bunch of adults too scared to speak up against overbearing, power-hungry authoritative figures who pick on the 'little guy' because he's too afraid to stand up for what he believes in. We need to teach the future generations to understand the difference between right and wrong, the difference between voicing your opinion and talking back. In order to do this, we need to raise them on the premise that in order to be respected, you need to show respect.
If you could pick up on the connotations and implications in the above paragraph, you can infer that those we respect influence and shape our outlook on life-- the people we surround ourselves with, the way we think and act, our beliefs and ideologies, our behavior, all influenced by those we look up to. This is what I like to call the CHOICE part of respect, the more modern view of the idea of respect. To elaborate, previous generations would argue that you don't have a choice in the matter, and especially when it comes to parents or elders, you must hold respect for those above you.
Personally, I think it's all a load of horse shit. People need to EARN your respect. It should not be mandatory. But if you put yourself in their shoes, there is only one factor that I think influenced why they believed respect should be mandatory: knowledge. Before mass communication, what would be your source of knowledge? There was no internet, and the only way you'd obtain new knowledge is if you go to a library, and even then you'd have to know what you're looking for; so we can conclude that they respected their elders and parents because they were knowledgeable-- wise. Advice came only from your closest circle, so if you didn't respect somebody, do you think they'd share their wisdom with you? Probably not.
Now that we have a gargantuan archive of knowledge and wisdom known as the world wide web, our elders become almost obsolete. Anything and everything can found on the web, so now we've 'evolved' to beings who can CHOOSE who we want to respect because there is a wider spectrum of people who agree with our opinions and ideas. No more are we forced to assimilate for the sake of fear of alienation. Our elders don't see eye to eye on the younger generations with this, and the way they were raised, their stubbornness will most likely never allow them to accept this idea.
Let me tell you a story, and this is 100% accurate, because I want you, the reader, to understand what I'm trying to say and understand how different we are from our elders.
My brothers and I were discussing the idea of teaching a child obedience; their idea was that the child should respect their parents from the get-go, and when they misbehave, they should be beaten until they apologise and promise not to do it again. Ladies and gentlemen, this is how we break our children. Think about how bad it'll affect their psychological state as they grow up, how much fear they will hold to authoritative figures or speaking up against those who are of much higher status then they are. I told them those very words, and they shook it off, saying that it doesn't affect them mentally; and again this is the older generation speaking. They don't know anything about the human brain or the impact of specific actions on a persons psychological state and mental well-being, all they know is that they're older than you, so they can do whatever they want.
A more modern and conventional method now doesn't involve harsh beatings; the last thing we need is a bunch of adults too scared to speak up against overbearing, power-hungry authoritative figures who pick on the 'little guy' because he's too afraid to stand up for what he believes in. We need to teach the future generations to understand the difference between right and wrong, the difference between voicing your opinion and talking back. In order to do this, we need to raise them on the premise that in order to be respected, you need to show respect.
Extinguished
Though things didn't work out, you'll always be a brother to me. I don't want to dwell on this anymore. I've gotten closure, and I've accepted my present circumstances. My only wish is that I never went out with her. Maybe then we'd still be best friends. Maybe we could have stayed how we were: always joking around, having a good time, messing with each other; and at the end of the day, never afraid to say 'I love you', because that's what true friendship is about: the disregard of societies views on men showing their affection for each other.
I remember when we agreed that we wouldn't care if people called us homosexuals or insulted us for saying 'I love you' because there's nothing wrong with it. There's nothing wrong with it. Cause if you really care for a brother, you wouldn't care what other people have to say about it. Life is short, and you never know if they'll be there tomorrow. So tell them you appreciate the bromance-- your sacred bond. It may seem stupid at first, but if you lost your best friend and didn't tell them you loved them and value your friendship, then you'll live with so much regret... so much guilt; it'll eat you up inside, and you won't be able to do anything about it.
If I could do it all again, I wouldn't have even talked to her. I WOULDN'T HAVE EVEN FUCKING LOOKED AT HER IF THAT'S WHAT IT WOULD'VE TOOK TO KEEP YOU BY MY SIDE... but that means nothing now. I have to live with the decisions I've made; and I deeply regret it so.
I remember when we agreed that we wouldn't care if people called us homosexuals or insulted us for saying 'I love you' because there's nothing wrong with it. There's nothing wrong with it. Cause if you really care for a brother, you wouldn't care what other people have to say about it. Life is short, and you never know if they'll be there tomorrow. So tell them you appreciate the bromance-- your sacred bond. It may seem stupid at first, but if you lost your best friend and didn't tell them you loved them and value your friendship, then you'll live with so much regret... so much guilt; it'll eat you up inside, and you won't be able to do anything about it.
If I could do it all again, I wouldn't have even talked to her. I WOULDN'T HAVE EVEN FUCKING LOOKED AT HER IF THAT'S WHAT IT WOULD'VE TOOK TO KEEP YOU BY MY SIDE... but that means nothing now. I have to live with the decisions I've made; and I deeply regret it so.
Overthinking
Another one of those days where the world seems to lose its gravity and you're floating above ground, trying to fathom the unfathomable. Death. Once you acknowledge it, it consumes you. It'll rob you of all thought and leave you to swim in its vast, unending sea of mystery and fright. To experience death; to understand... to acknowledge and accept that there is simply nothing beyond our short life. Simply nothing. Not even thought. Not the slightest. It's so frustrating... and haunting. It haunts me in my sleep, and in my wake; the anything and everything that will happen in the universe that I shan't experience following my death; it's so frightening.
It's that feeling of going to bed at night, closing your eyes, as if waking up again was a given... as if it was promised. But it isn't, and in this lifetime, it will never be. And like most nights, the lack of a dream goes unnoticed; opening your eyes reveals a new day-- a new dawn. The time in between completely lost. It felt like a second, but it wasn't. You'd been asleep for several hours, but it is only until you've thought about it that you realise the period between shut eye and rising was nothing. Not white, not black; describing that nothingness is almost impossible. It's a void of nothing. And it's what we'll experience after life... for all eternity. Nothing at all, for all the years and centuries and millenniums of the unfolding of the events of the universe, you will only have lived in a small portion of it-- a speck of dust in the ever grand design of our existence and the existence of other living creatures. But you will take to the grave only what you've experienced and learned in your life time and the knowledge you've obtained of your ancestors-- you will take it all to the void of nothing. And it is unrelenting. It does not care who you are; you are nothing. Everything will continue, and you will not.
And the nerve of some people to say not to fear death.
It's that feeling of going to bed at night, closing your eyes, as if waking up again was a given... as if it was promised. But it isn't, and in this lifetime, it will never be. And like most nights, the lack of a dream goes unnoticed; opening your eyes reveals a new day-- a new dawn. The time in between completely lost. It felt like a second, but it wasn't. You'd been asleep for several hours, but it is only until you've thought about it that you realise the period between shut eye and rising was nothing. Not white, not black; describing that nothingness is almost impossible. It's a void of nothing. And it's what we'll experience after life... for all eternity. Nothing at all, for all the years and centuries and millenniums of the unfolding of the events of the universe, you will only have lived in a small portion of it-- a speck of dust in the ever grand design of our existence and the existence of other living creatures. But you will take to the grave only what you've experienced and learned in your life time and the knowledge you've obtained of your ancestors-- you will take it all to the void of nothing. And it is unrelenting. It does not care who you are; you are nothing. Everything will continue, and you will not.
And the nerve of some people to say not to fear death.
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