An Irish Blessing

May the warmth forever envelope us
and never leave us wanting.
May the chill only keep us sharp
and bring us closer to each other.
May the earth ever rise up
to meet your own two feet,
and carry you always.
May the winds blow gently
to fill your heart's wings,
and lift you into the sky.
May light eternally shine upon us
and bless us with its embrace.
May darkness enshroud our sadness
and never seep into our hearts.
May time tick slowly only for us
and allow every moment to be savored.
And may happiness abound for you
and all you may ever meet.

Games

Games, by their very nature, are meant to be fun, right? A quick rifling through dictionary.com asserts that the word itself indeed originated from the antiquated gamen, which meant joy, amusement, and fun. So one naturally assumes that humans invent and participate in games because it is enjoyable to do so. This innate positivity has resulted in games gaining other roles aside from simple entertainment. Children can learn and internalize basic but crucial skills such as reading and mathematics under the pretense of playing a fun game. As people grow, they may also refine and perfect their own skills through games, and boost their self-confidence through victory. People may place material items on the line in a game, sometimes even betting their futures on an unknown outcome. People receive entertainment from participating in such pasttimes, surely enough. Of course, people can receive this joy from a myriad of other activities, such as ruining the lives of others.

People lie and people cheat and people manipulate. We play games with others in order to outwit them, to prove our own superiority, to reap some inane benefit, or merely because we feel like it. We will pierce someone's limbs, string them up on a stage, and watch them dance entirely on a whim. For amusement. We, sometimes for no reason and sometimes for less than a reason, will play games with people's hearts as easily as we roll the dice.

One could say I have a slight problem, an issue, if you will, with this recurrence in human behavior. That would be an understatement.

Alice and Bob are longtime friends with undeniable romantic tension lurking beneath the surface. Bob had a bad day at work and wants to feel better about himself. He tells Alice he loves her, to see how she will react. Alice is overjoyed. Bob does not truly love her.

Already, at my tender age of eighteen, have I witnessed these games being played out. Not all quite so horrible as Bob's gambit, others even worse. I'll admit, I have toyed with others as well, for no particularly good reason. People become cracked and splintered after repeated abuse, just as our game pieces do, so why do we continue? I am still in high school. I, and my fellows, should be surrounded by a positive environment of strong moral convictions, not exposed daily to poisonous moral decay. Maybe I am exaggerating my own circumstances. Perhaps my home is not as bad as it could be, relatively. That is hardly the point.

Why do people, fellow human beings, persist in acting this way? I understand that I am young and trapped within the sheltered bubble of my home suburb. Perhaps I just don't understand how the "real world" works for the complex minds adults possess. However, call me naive, and I'll call you a liar, and you can't deny that. Why can't people just try to be a little more honest with each other?

This I Believe

I believe in humanity.

I have no heartfelt tale to base my feelings on. There is no defining personal experience that thawed my cynical heart and changed my life forever, no single being who influenced me in such a revolutionary way. I simply cast my die in favor of man, with not a glance at the odds. I simply believe in human potential.

People will get knocked, or even beaten down from their aspirations. That's just a given of life. No matter how hard and long you practice or study or prepare, somewhere down the road, there will be someone superior to you, stronger, faster, smarter, sharper, better. Again, I don't need personal experiences to glean that little life lesson from my meager eighteen years. Who can claim to have truly lived without having once drowned in defeat? However, that's what I believe in: the insurmountable natural tendency for humans, no matter how battered and broken, to rise up, dust themselves off, shoot the bird, and keep walking. Some people may call it a gesture of futility, or even stupidity, and shower the defeated with cutting derision, but so too will there always be people in the world who kneel beside them and help them stand. Even if it is only to be bested once more, I can't help but admire the human ability to struggle up a staircase of defeats until you or I or anybody is able to achieve their goals and dreams.

But then the pessimist asks me, "How can you believe in a species so monstrous as humans?" which merits, "The same way you and I exist, brother mine," from the optimist. Humans hurt each other, humans kill each other, and humans destroy each other. I know that.

Humans are the single greatest harbinger of negativity to other humans. I know that.

We spread heinous lies and hide the deepest truths whenever it best suits our own interests. We pull no punches to even the most pitiable and handicapped foe. If a friend, dear or not, comes to us in search of help, we swiftly calculate how best to reap profit from the plight of another. If an entire other country possesses something we desire, we will slaughter any number of people in order to claim it for ourselves, and we will do the same to people of our own country, with not the slightest hesitation.

I can't even log on to Facebook anymore without seeing something that utterly disgusts me, much less turning on the TV and watching local or national news. Humans will sacrifice anything, even themselves, to get what they want.

But, just as all I have said is true, the very opposite holds true just as well. Dark deeds gain their definition from the light. Just as humans destroy life for any reason, or even no reason, so too do humans save it.

I believe in hope.

On Leadership, Again (more specific this time)

Leading a group of the self-possessed, stubborn, and capricious children known as teenagers is an interesting business, to say the least. You go through all of the effort required to be recognized as a leader by the adults, only to have to start all over again in convincing your peers that you are, in fact, more qualified in the many areas that comprise leadership than they are. Every group has a handful of people that believe nobody could possibly be more capable than themselves. Teenage groups have more than a handful, but I have been able to persuade my peers to follow me multiple times. You don’t have to be loud about it, or forceful about it. You just have to show them, show them that they can trust you. They can trust their success in you.

I have been the section leader or at least a higher-up of every ensemble I’ve been involved with. It has been my job to make sure everything is happening efficiently, no matter who I have to work with, and to ensure that any arising problems, whether from the group itself or from an individual, are solved in a manner that does not involve any conflict or controversy from anyone. I know very well that a leader is not everyone’s friend, and I have had to tell good friends off before and get them to take things seriously, but a good leader can do the job without becoming everyone’s enemy and can maintain the group sense of camaraderie that allows the great musicians to perform truly well together. A good leader can spread their own high standards across to everyone, and cause people to want to do well for their own sakes and not some sort of reward. I have done this before, and not merely once.

While it is indeed difficult to earn the respect of one’s superiors, it is harder still to gain the same from those one has been elevated above. A position is formed not from the holder, but from those supporting him. A leader is just the guide, bringing everyone to greater success without regard for personal glory, while also taking full responsibility for the failures and transforming the negatives into new positives. I’ve taken responsibility for many…unfortunate accidents involving both people and collateral damage. I’ve also taken responsibility for any shortcomings of whatever I am in charge of and used them to help those people grow.

Arrogant as it may sound, I do not believe I need to reflect upon the meaning of leadership. I know what it is, and I know that I am a leader.

Don't Smash the Mirrors

Mirror, Mirror,
on the wall
who's the greatest
of them all?

Certainly not you
you silly twit
how could you
ever hope to be it?

But Mirror, Mirror
you promised me
you'd always answer
truthfully

I don't care
read my sheen
you're only the best
if it's in a dream

Mirror, Mirror,
you've lied, you see
why, just yesterday
you said the best was me

Now see here,
you stupid boy,
what would I gain
from such a stupid ploy?

Mirror, Mirror,
I shall call
my mirror-breaker
oh he'll have a ball

I've grown above that,
so do as you will.
Just watch what happens
when you try to kill

Mirror, Mirror,
you'll be no more
I'll watch your pieces
all over the floor

Enough of this.
I will not
be stopped
by you.

A Letter to Nobody

Dear Nobody(s),

It has (not) recently come to my attention that I have lost touch with something. Be it myself or myself, I cannot honestly say, but minimally growing effort is expending itself to the rectification of this problem.

What is going on in here? What has happened whilst I was meaninglessly departed?

I'm walking around for the first time in months. Is anyone still here? I was away before...and alone.

How was I, in the absence? Wonderful. Horrible. Responsibility has reared its ugly head, for realsies this time, and I can't shake it off any longer. To say I've been busy is a bit of an understatement, but I'm here now, at the tender time of 3:51 AM, on a Saturday morning. I'm actually supposed to be waking up in six hours or so to do some volunteer work at school. Did I ever mention that? Despite my misgivings about the Hypocritical honor 'club' at my high school (which Mel happens to be a VP of), volunteering is actually pretty fun. Not really in the so-called 'discovering new parts of myself and growing as a person and having the self-satisfaction of helping others' vein of fun, but just because it's enjoyable to do things with friends. Isn't that funny? Whether it be bowling a worse game than the president, or cleaning up hundreds of cigarette stubs in the streets, or playing Halo off the school network, or sitting like idiots in the blood donation clinic half an hour after closing time, it's still fun. Inner discovery my ass, that's just common sense. That does remind me though; my blood type is O-. I'm a hero o: There have also been school, with my grades and standardized testing and advanced placement hoohaa. That pretty much explains itself though. Serious business.

This place is different now. The lights have dimmed, the chair now uncomfortably stiff. The books are now covered with a not-so-thin layer of dust, and the fire but dead ash in the dark. The young birds once nested in the window have now long since flown away. The pen lays quietly, forlorn but not forgotten. The pile of things to do piles ever higher, but the ink has dried.

Truly,
Will