Finding Our Own Adventures

As a kid I was always in love with epic stories of adventure and heros. I became obsessed with Star Wars as a kid, then The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, and even today when I am exposed to these previous obsessions I feel this tug inside of me.

After seeing Harry Potter at midnight I naturally passed out for about 4 hours. During this queer little nap all I did was dream like I was in Harry Potter- a stick in my hand held immediate power and good and evil were clear-cut. I woke up the next morning feeling very...empowered. As I went through my day however this feeling began to diminish due to the fact that my day was incredibly unepic in every way. As I analyzed my life and compared it to all of those stories I had read in books this shroud was thrown over my eyes and everything I saw was tinted grey. A good day was not good enough. A laugh, not hearty enough. As dumb as it was, I started to frown on my life. Where is that adventure I craved?

In hindsight, it was there all along. The reason so many people are drawn to stories and movies is because the lines of good and evil are definite and extreme. Does Frodo take the ring or no? Do Harry, Ron, and Hermoine decide to fight Voldemort or no? And we in the audience sit back and fantasize about what we would do in their situations, most of us thinking that we would take the challenge! There is an adventure to be had, a world to save! But I think now that maybe there is an adventure to be had in all of our lives. Granted right and wrong are less distinct, but in the end the lessons we learn are no less valuable. When we accomplish something difficult do we not feel triumphant? When we let go of someone we love, do we not feel pain? This life is as epic as any novel or tale, we just have to be willing to suck the very marrow out of it.

"Listen- are you breathing just a little and calling it a life?"

-Mary Oliver

I am grateful for my life, and not that I am in college or in music. I just feel grateful to breathe and live. And I am grateful for the control to take my life as far as I want it to.

Off for a few deep breaths and then counterpoint.

Here's to trying to walk the walk and not just talk the talk,

MKH