Things I've Learned

Many things have I learned this past school year. The most important things, though, were not gleaned in the classroom. What were these valuable lessons? Let's review:

Happiness is nobody's responsibility, except your own. Nor should it be based on other people. But other people sure do help! But perhaps, on a deeper level, when one is truly content with being themselves, when they're comfortable with being in their own skin even while around others, lacking complete self-consciousness, is one truly happy. And this type of happiness is the best kind, because it's infectious. It's almost as if these types of people are, in essence, through their body language and geniune interest in others, giving permission to those they interact with to be comfortable with themselves as well.

I will never understand women. Nor will I try to. They were not meant to be understood.

Further to the first item: Since the beginning of this year, I've always found a reason, everyday, to smile. Whenever I found things to be a bit of a drag, I would step back, and realize that things could be worse. A lot worse. And so I smile, despite the shitty times. I can't really say it poetically. So I will finish with a quote from a very good movie I watched recently... And if you know where it's from, let's hug.

"Sometimes, when we lose ourselves in fear and despair, in routine and constancy, in hopelessness and tragedy, we can thank God for... cookies. And, fortunately, when there aren't any cookies, we can still find reassurance in a familiar hand on our skin, or a kind and loving gesture, or subtle encouragement, or a loving embrace, or an offer of comfort, not to mention hospital gurneys and nose plugs, an uneaten Danish, soft-spoken secrets, and Fender Stratocasters, and maybe the occasional piece of fiction. And we must remember that all these things, the nuances, the anomalies, the subtleties, which we assume only accessorize our days, are effective for a much larger and nobler cause. They are here to save our lives. I know the idea seems strange, but I also know that it just so happens to be true."