The Forest Maze

Darkness, then twilight.

You see a wall of foliage before you. A grand wall of frightening proportions, so great that the sunset sky is shadowed by its sheer height. You, however, are not so taken aback by your new, grandiose surroundings to notice that you are alone. Or that there is another wall behind you. And to a side.

Without hesitation, you take a step forward. After all, just sitting there won't solve anything. There don't seem to be any instant-death traps set in the vines, so off you go, not pausing to wonder how you got there to begin with.

Night has fallen, and the walls of your prison begin to glow somehow, just enough for you to see them clearly with the light of a full moon. An eerie mist flows along the ground, swirling around your feet. Thankfully, the hedges keep any wind off, but you can't help but shiver as you sit in the soil after wandering for so very long. The silence of the night, rather than soothe, only further unnerves you. As you gaze up at the lack of stars, something dawns on you. The silence, the solitude...Other than the hedges, not a single living being can be found. Not just other people, but nothing. The word alone fully crashes down upon you as you fall back.

The mist crawls over your body, pulling you down ever so slightly. You try to close your eyes, desiring only to fall into a deep sleep...sleep...but, there is a light that pierces the misty veil. Irritated, you quickly sit up and stare at the source of the intrusion...which seems to be the moon, of all things. Funny, you don't remember it being so bright earlier...remember...ing someone. There's someone you have to get back to...that's right...Silly you. You don't have time to be lost in some maze. The mist dissipates as you rise. As you regain your bearings, you notice a black speck on the moon, but easily dismiss it, as escape is the priority. However, the growing shadow over your own is about to convince you otherwise, when something nails you squarely on the head.

Of course, nothing was going to stop you from getting out of here now, but your newfound lump insisted on you being realistic. Quickly deciding to ponder the maze after you investigate your assailant, you cautiously turn around, only to...

...*you got a flamethrower*

The greatest risk...

...is not taking one.

Sigh...Teenagers

The teenage specimen never ceases to amaze me. What other life form tries so fervently to act as an adult, and sometimes even looks like an adult, but can still retain a mind even more immature than a child's? Maybe that's too pessimistic of me. Maybe a little high and mighty, seeing as I'm a teen myself. But...

I like to think that I put others before myself.

I like to think that I'm not the center of the world.

I like to think that other people's opinions are not said world.

I'm not (the) one to say if what I think is right or not, but I know that the rose-tinted glasses have long since come off; it's hard not to notice things. How we talk behind everyone's back. What we say for no reason. What we do for no reason. What we don't do...for no reason. A guy I know said this, and I've already agreed with this forever, but I don't understand why anyone could ever think it is a good idea to hurt someone. Yet teenagers continue to commit crimes against humanity daily. It's not really a question of who's doing the backstabbing, but how deep they decide to push it in, purely on whim. And how rarely the salve of honesty is ever applied. What really bothers me though, is how little any of us actually stop and think. Think about just what the hell we're doing to ourselves. Oh, which reminds me of a more minor point: silly teens curse far too often for it to ever be taken seriously, right?

I know I'm being too pessimistic, but at the same time, I can't honestly say that I can comprehend all of this. I've begun to pride myself on being a very good judge of character, albeit unconsciously it seems. Out of all the friends I've made and people that I've allowed myself to get close to at all, I've only made the wrong choice once, and she doesn't even know it. Fitting though, in that she happens to epitomize most of my grievances with this troublesome, hormonal demographic.

However, for the sake of not beginning and ending on a negative note...again, here's something positive. Never doubt the capacity of a teenager. Capacity for anything. For all our inherent foolishness, we're capable of much more than we ever get credit for. Capable, perfectly, of that crisis-averting thought, that deep thought, always slowing things down. And capable also of the cure for this steaming pile of...yeah. Capable of love.

That's all that really matters, isn't it?

Maeinng

flower petals drift in the wind
rain lazily washes down
the sun peeks through the morning clouds
mist scatters the evershroud of time
a door opens, letting dark peek in
shall we banish it? the mist asks
the petals reach out, an odd gesture
for in this absence, the shroud returns
what to do, what to do
the mystery of life lives on

Ode to a Stranger

Roses are red
Violets are blue
You are cute
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On Leadership

What is a leader, exactly? One who leads, presumably. Right? One who ceaselessly toils in the line of duty, neglecting personal desires simply for the sake of those one leads, right? One who insists on not turning in a completely generic piece of drivel, not on the off-chance that the piece of drivel will actually be read, but because drivel, in and of itself, is silly. Surely not one who looks up the biggest, fanciest words to include in their drivel, on the off-chance that it is actually read. One who has no concept of free time, because the word free has been replaced by band.

One who stops citing ridiculous examples because they make him or her feel ridiculous.

Seriously though, leadership is not to be taken lightly. It's not some natural-born right, or just another reference for a resume, it's a privilege that, honestly, shouldn't be taken lightly. It's for people that understand the difference between being too stiff and not quite stiff enough, and can easily toe that line appropriately. But more importantly, it's for people that can get other people to follow them. Understanding the people they lead, that's key. Some of the greatest leaders in history have also been the most charismatic in history, but most, inevitably, put themselves before their followers. Many still do. The natural-born leaders are just as prone to falling apart as the uneasy. But that's not the point, is it? The point is for the leader to be there when others fall apart, and to put them back together. To lead, if you will, the whole, and prevent it from falling apart. To build such an atmosphere that, even if something does fall apart, it doesn't get anyone down. Upward thinking. Positive thinking. The kind of thinking that gets you places.

That's what a leader is.

Chains

Recently, I got to thinking about something. Not to say that I'm not normally thinking about something. Heck, it usually takes me at least half an hour to fall asleep every night cause my mind won't calm down and go to sleep. Anyway, I was thinking (and still am) about a single imperfection of the world. Just one. One that trumps all others (and boy are there others). Now I may be wrong, and I already know that some disagree, but the conclusion I arrived at was pretty simple.

There's too much hatred in the world.

Now there are other extremely negative emotions. Dante has seen to it that we are very familiar with them. Lust, Pride, Wrath, Gluttony, Sloth, Greed, and Envy. But these are base sins, an inherent part of every human being. Everyone, from the most warped psychopath to the most reverent priest, has felt at least one of these slithering beasties wrap a tendril around their beating heart. They are just as much a part of you as Honor, Faith, Compassion, Charity, Passion, Trust, and Love. Hatred, however, exists outside these. He does not have a seat at the central table. He is born like an innocent little scrape, nothing anyone thinks very much of. Time then passes, and the tiny wound slowly festers and becomes infected. More time passes, and eventually even the mightiest resistance will crumble to the disease.

Initial sin, or its more worldly counterpart of crime for the less religiously inclined, will almost always come to be as a result of the involvement of one of the cardinal Sins, but will almost always result in some form of hatred. Just like my English teachers would probably 'hate' me for writing such a wordy sentence. See, Hatred is only brought about by other actions. But what about after that? The hatred is now out in the world, just sitting there, and gets a little lonely. So it strives for more hatred. And more. Before we know it, an eternal chain is choking the world.

The natural reaction to hatred is obvious. Some may say that hate is too strong a word, but we all know the feeling, regardless of depth. But stop for a moment, and think. What would happen if we chose the unnatural reaction? As humans, we're all about doing the unnatural anyway, right? Don't give hateful acts a hateful response. I'm not saying everything should be forgiven, far from that, but we have the strength to bear it in all it's unfairness. Don't think about an eye for an eye or vengeance or any of that silly mishmash. Think about how you felt, and still feel, and think about keeping others from feeling that way. This chain may reach through the ages, adding links to itself by the hour, but it can still be broken, and that's exactly what I intend to do.