A Day Outside

On really beautiful days like today (Thursday), I begin to think about the things that inspire me to live. This society is not always the easiest place for one to be in if what one really wants out of life is just to exist. What’s so wrong about that? Why have the capitalist motivations become such a do or die aspect of our society? College: damned if you don’t, financially damned if you do—unless you have enough money up front to blow on this four year getaway without worrying about acquiring $200,000 worth of loans along with your top-of-the-line education . But it is what you make it, of course, and maybe that’s worth nearly quarter of a million dollars worth of debt. Right. Back to my main idea anyway—what inspires me to live (and write poetry) despite being caught in a culture and time in which I could only feel more out of place if I had grown up in an entirely different society and been dropped here yesterday. Days like today inspire me. “Sun is shining, weather is sweet,” as Bob Marley might say. But when it rains I feel inspired too. The time frame of change is what inspires me. I don’t have a favorite season; I just like to experience the in between time. A bender is fun in the beginning, but it’s old by the end. Clearing the film from one’s vision after the bender is new and exciting too, but that excitement always wanes as well. Change is scary. It gets my heart racing. The ever present possibility for unexpected change keeps me nervous and attentive. And don’t forget—we all die someday, so make today the best day of your life until you have the chance to do the same tomorrow.