Experience

It's clear that I have been neglecting to write lately.  Lets just say I had a huge mind cramp.  For every sentence I would type, I would delete two just as quick.  Writers block, mind freeze, brain fart, you can call it what you will be the honest response would be, I just wasn't inspired.  I had nothing on my mind.  Nothing worth mentioning or I felt like talking about that is.  Up until a couple days ago, I was in this funk.  A long, 20 something day funk.  I wanted to get out of it.  I had to get out of it.  And the most unexpected thing happened.


Have you ever met someone, maybe a person you have known for a little bit or maybe even a complete stranger and everything just clicked?  Things started making sense. Your days were getting better.  Your head was becoming clear.  Inspiration was seeping in and your view on things changed completely.
Well, when I think about life and living, I am "one of those" who feel as though everything happens for a reason.  And whether you believe it or not certain people are placed in your life to help or change you along the way.  It is up to you to seize the opportunity and to notice when that exact moment happens.


Now, in every moment in life, I have come to notice that the most important thing is those first 20 seconds of meeting someone.  Within those first 20 seconds you have already decided or shall I say judged who this person is.  Are they worth talking to any further?  And sometimes, just sometimes, is this the person I was meant to meet?

Well earlier this week, June 24th 2012 to be exact, I met that person.  I was stopped on the street by this beautiful German brunette, Franziska.  She had stopped to ask for directions or maybe some pointers on where to see "something cool" in the city (Bam, my 20 seconds has started right at that moment).  Unfortunately, being new to the area myself I had no idea.  So Franziska asked where the city maps were located.  This was it 10 seconds left, and I made a great decision, I told her I would take her to those maps.  Long story short we exchanged numbers and made plans to see each other that next day (I would have stayed with her that whole day but I had to be in work within the hour).  Little did I know that, that Sunday was the start of my best week living in California to date.  It wasn't only because she was such an attractive female that made her special but it was everything else that came with it.  She is 23, already traveled to 19 different countries and just has an amazing outlook on life.  Also she is one of the smartest people I know, speaks multiple languages, has knowledge on so many different topics on other countries histories and she is a social butterfly.  I won't get into details about the times I spent with her but I will share the main reason why this blog entry exists in the first place.

Experience.  Yes.  Simple word, I know, experience.  Franziska told me on more than one occasion that I need to experience new things.  Different foods, cultures, countries, sights, everything life can through at you, just experience it all.  Here I was thinking moving 3000+ miles away from home was experience enough.  But once I really thought about it, for the most part I was still doing the same things I was doing back in Rhode Island.  I believe it was Eleanor Roosevelt that once said, "The purpose of life is to live it, to taste the experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experiences."    That is how everyone should live.  It is such an easy concept but it took a stranger from another country to make me realize this.  So to anyone still reading.  Do not sit back and just coast through life.  Get in there, get dirty, experience everything that life has to offer because if you don't, one day, you'll regret it.

So a very special thank you to a great friend Franziska, The First 20 Seconds and my first of many new experiences.

Live YOUR Life

Someone told me that I should watch the One Tree Hill.  Well I took her advise.

One Tree Hill was a show struggled year after year.  Not with fans but with the network it was on.  The show survived nine seasons on basically a year to year contract, never knowing when or if it would be picked back up for another season.  OTH has one of the largest fan bases of any current TV show.  However it was more than just a TV show.  It actually taught any viewing audience member of any age life lessons.  The show dealt with everything from single parent homes, love, teen pregnancy, drinking, drugs and violence; all in all it dealt with everyday struggles that any teen/young adult goes through today.  Each episode was filled with great quotes that if actually applied could change your very way of thinking.

One of my favorite quotes comes from One Tree Hill, which ended the series this year after nine amazing season.  I believe it was quotes twice throughout its nine seasons.

“Take a look at yourself in the mirror, who do you see looking back?  Is it the person you want to be?  Or is there someone else you were meant to be, the person you were meant to be but fell short of?  Is someone telling you, you can’t or won’t?  Because you can.  Sometimes happiness doesn’t come from money or fame or power.  Sometimes happiness comes from good friends and family and the quiet nobility of leading a good life.  So take a look in that mirror and remind yourself to be happy because you deserve to be.  Believe that.  And believe that dreams come true every day.  Because they do.”

As I read this quote over and over again I find that it can truly apply to ANYONE.  When you do look in that mirror are you seeing that person that you wanted to be?  The person you strive to be?  Or is there really someone looking back at you.  Someone that makes you ask yourself, who are you?  Where and when did I lose my way?  Am I there person I am today because people have shot down my dreams?  Because they told me that it will be too difficult to reach certain goals so I gave up and just settled for something less then what I know I am capable of.

In my eyes this quote is spot on.  You should do things for YOU.  Not for others and not just so you can blend in with the rest of the crowd.  If being a doctor or actor or chef is something you want to be, then go after it.  Become that of which you desire, don’t listen to the people who are telling you its too hard and you CAN’T do it.  Most of the time people just say those things because they don’t want to be alone in the mundane life they lead.  No matter who you are, what your past has been your future is always bright you just have to believe in yourself.  Do whatever makes you happy.  “So take a look in that mirror and remind yourself to be happy because you deserve to be.”

Racing Mind

At times, like anyone else, especially now I sometimes feel stressed or just need a moment to clear my head.  For me the best way to clear my head is to get out of the house and just walk.   Not in any specific direction or with a destination but just walk.  Taking it all in, the air, my surroundings, everything I can.  Right now, because of where I’m currently living my walks are within the Hollywood area of Los Angeles.  I like to watch people, in the most non-stalking type of way possible.  I always wonder to myself, what are they thinking?  Do they notice me noticing them?  Are they going through problems or are they happy?  Or are they like me and just wondering the same thing?  I tend to think a lot, probably why I don’t get much sleep, my mind is always racing.  My Papa always called me a day dreamer because I would be anywhere and just drift off into deep unconscious thoughts.  The mind, it’s such a crazy thing when you think about it.  With a single thought your moods can transfer from one extreme to another.  You can be the happiest person in the world or you could be carrying around the deepest, darkest of feelings.  And when you look back at the moments where you had these thoughts, was it someone that put you in these moods?  Was a stranger, a family member, a friend, or maybe a friend that you wish was more.  Whether or not you realize it, there is always someone you can think of that will turn your mood around.  Take a second and think of that person.  You got it?  Now make sure they know how you feel.  Because the one thing you’ll never get back is that moment you should have said something but didn’t.

The Blank Page

As I look at a blank page, I think, what could be?  The page can truly become anything you desire.  It’s a clean slate, and the possibilities are endless.  It can be short or go on forever.  There are no rules.   Of course there will be times when it gets rough and it becomes difficult to write.  But then you will have those moments when things make sense, words are typed, sentences and pages are formed.  And when you really think about it, it is almost the same as life.  As we are born into this world, the world becomes our blank page.  The possibilities for our lives are endless.  It can be short lived or go on for what feels like forever.  Of course there will be times when it gets rough and things become hard.  And then you will have moments of clarity where everything makes sense.  But one of the greatest things about living life is any moment can be your blank page, your clean slate, a fresh start.  I sit here right now, at twenty-five years old.  And I am just now starting on my blank page.  Do I know where I am going?  No, not really.  But in my own personal experience, it’s not always about the destination but about the journey.