Ephemeral (The Story)

So not only will I be using the blog to make psychological ramblings, I will also be using this as a public outlet for my writing. It can be anything from short stories to poems to parts of a longer writing piece (aka novels)

This particular one is a writing project I started about a week ago. Titled Ephemeral (No, the title has nothing to do with the blog), the story will be produced in chapters every Wednesday KST. If for any reason I miss the deadline, it is because I'm a bad person.

The story will be posted in segments here. I'll also announce updates on the blog. If you want to jump to a part, just use the convenient Command/Control + F key and type the part 1 you want to find.

So, without further ado.

Click me.

Two Lights

And if you find out he's coming home
When I come 'round the corner
I know that it's all right
Just leave me two lights
Two Lights by Five for Fighting

If you don't read between the lines, and maybe get a bit of background knowledge, you probably wouldn't understand this pretty cryptic song.
If you take the lyrics at face value, the song can sound... kind of depressing. "Tear out my heart, feed it to lions," "Show me no mercy, spare me my pride" etc. The words just seem to resonate misery and desperation.

And yet, the chorus always has one choice stanza. One that throws all the sadness out the window and replaces it with a cheery message. It's the one at the top of the page, mind you.
Why do I focus on this song? Disregarding bias (because if bias was the reason, I would not be talking about this song), the song is a pretty good message for hope. The protagonist's son has departed for who knows what. While the protagonist is terrified at the thought of losing his son, he (the protagonist) hopes that everything will be all right, and all he needs is one signal - two lights. Light, the universal symbolism for hope.

The song fights between the downtrodden nature of the man's concern and the repeated rise of hope. It communicates that no matter what happens, we should look for "two lights" because it means everything has finally come together for good.

The Plant is Greener

I remember back in third or fourth grade when I got these magical beans during this event at a museum, and the first thing I wanted to do was watch the beauty grow. Of course, these beans were probably ordinary beans, with the exception of being multicolored and having small text on it that said... stuff. It was something that was probably intended to be a compliment, but I don't remember

We planted the seed and waited for it to grow. It didn't do anything for a week. Then afterwards, a little sprout came up. After only a few more days, the little sprout evolved into a large plant, complete with leaves and it started floating away from the pot.

Plants are an amazing source of fascination of life. They start as a seed, sometimes small, sometimes somewhat large. These seeds look as capable of giving life as a corpse. Yet, miraculously, they grow and evolve into this strong plant that showers the world with its beauty (sometimes... maybe not the corpse flower...)

Try planting a flower seed and watching it grow. It'll be quite a surprise to see it grow from a seed to a flower. In the same way, all people start small; it's up to the nurturing of others to make them strong and amazing.

Wake up and realize what you're saying

Sticks and stones may break my bones
But names will never hurt me.

This maxim, often taught to children, is a parent's way of warning the child that they shouldn't react to provocative names and insults. But names sting. A lot.
Do you really know how much impact your words have? How do you know your harmless joke at the expense of a person is actually harmless to them? How do you know when you casually comment about someone's actions, they don't take it personally?
Society is incredibly naïve about the issues with bullying. As people, we don't do a good job of making sure the harmful words stays inside. And what's worse is that we don't understand how painful a sharp comment stings. Having your reputation stomped on is more painful then any amount of punching, kicking, and shoving.
Why? It demoralizes you. It makes you look like people dehumanize you and think that you're just a toy to throw around for their amusement.
And what do these smart alecks do when they realize you express your hurt about their words? They make things worse. They target you and find more ways to attack you with words. They enjoy your reactions, and think that they have the right to reap your emotions.
Why doesn't anyone do anything about this? Because people are amazingly good at hiding their hurt. Once the initial reaction passes, they stuff their hurt in a little barrel in the back of the attic of the heart, and pretend that the attic isn't there. But the barrel leaves a foul stench, one that lingers. But humans do a good job keeping their heart houses clean and smelling fresh, so that no one knows the biting smell of pain when they visit the heart house.

Sticks and stones break bones, yes. But if we don't realize names will and always will hurt, society can't do anything but just let that pain continue to collect.

Time to spend, time to waste, time to make haste?

"Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. But today is a gift. That's why it's called 'present'"

Says that turtle dude from Kung Fu Panda. It's a pretty interesting quote, but it ultimately boils down to that old maxim, "Make the most out of your time."
I guess the way you see it, life is a slot machine. Say you have a test, and your pumped because you finally studied and you're confident you can finally do well and-
And then you get in a car accident and get hospitalized.
Or let's say you're gonna ask out that really cute girl/guy and you don't really know if you can do it and you think she/he will say no and oh my god why am I doing this and-
She says yes. Happy ever for now for you.

Can anyone really predict what life is going to throw at you? Probably not. There's always a random bit of random that can make your life anywhere from somewhat different to oh god its an apocalypse.
Many people hold regrets of the past in their hearts. Many more worry about the future. I say don't worry about it. Just sit back and relax in the now. Back then isn't exactly going to punch you in the face any time soon. Tomorrow, on the other hand, might and you just aren't expecting it.

Hi

So... this blog has my ramblings.
... And whatever interesting stuff I decide to put on here.
... Yeah, I suck at intros.