Recent Discovery: I Am Alive
Just because you are living, doesn’t mean you’re alive
Wasn’t until recently I realized that I am alive. Silly, right?
Not too long ago I went to see a play with a friend. As we settled into our cheap mezzanine seats, she leaned over to me and whispered, “one of my favorite things about the theatre are the ceilings.”
I looked at her confused and said, “what?”
She looked at me and pointed up. “What, you never look up when you go to a theater?”
Instantly, I ran through every theatre I could remember ever going to, piecing together the ceilings in my head. I couldn’t.
This realization stuck with me for the next ninety minutes, an intermission and then forty-five more minutes. I spent the entire performance scanning the space. Taking in as much as I could; the carpet color, the seats, the lights, the color of the railings, everything!
After the show we walked into the lobby and immediately I looked up:
White! Or more like Eggshell… Ivory?
We walked out of the theatre and I looked up. The sky was purple!
Dark purple. A majestic Purple. Lilac? Mauve!
Gray clouds cluttered the sky like I’ve never seen before. There wasn’t a star in sight, yet the sky still had a certain majesty to it. Up until this point I’ve been so focused on what I was walking towards, I never took the time to look around or up.
Around me, Chaos. Folks scattered. The city buzzed. Cars were roaring, honking and screeching. It was intense. There was a pulse that vibrated throughout the sidewalks and in the air. People chatted. Loudly. Some shouted while others didn’t speak at all. Moving in groups, and others in silence. Together it all sounded like another language, still, I was mesmerized.
Growing up I was taught to go to school and learn. Learn all I could. Learn because people have fought for my right to be educated. Learn because a man with knowledge and understanding cannot be stopped in this world we live in. Learn because with an education everything under The Sun can be mine. Learn so I can make Money. Money will make it possible for me to provide for the family that I one day will have.
I listened. I went to school, did my best, took in everything I could …but along the way I forgot to stop and look up. Along the way no one taught me the value in stopping, planting my feet on the ground, and connecting with The Earth. No one taught me to look up.
I forgot that I was alive. I forgot to indulge in the things that I am passionate about. I forgot to spend an afternoon doing nothing but merely checking out the scenery with someone I care about. I forgot to look up and around me at everything the world has to offer.
It’s simple. In this life, we live and we die. That’s guaranteed. We don’t have a choice, but what is up to us is what we do in the middle. When I’m old, and too tired to connect with the world like I once would have when I was young, all I will have are my memories.
