humanity
For better or for worse, relationships reveal the core of the human condition.
BOY, WAS I WRONG
As a young child, I will always remember what I thought and truly believed was the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Being raised Catholic and attending Catholic school, I believed in my young innocence that the world was different; that everyone got along together. That people were kind, helpful, honest, and would never hurt anyone.
By Alvin Rivera 4 years ago in Humans
The in Between
Life is about the journey not the destination. I repeat, life is about the journey NOT the destination. In life we make plans, goals to try and bring ourselves happiness and purpose. Our goals could include; traveling, post secondary education, buying a home, marriage, children and so on. And we work hard to try and check those goals off our lists (which are usually pretty lengthy). We put all of our efforts into them to achieve what we are looking for, joy. And can you guess what happens? We try so damn hard to find joy that more often then not we lose it. We search so hard that we become lost. And the truth is, that life isn’t meant to be planned. It’s not a linear path and it certainly doesn’t listen to us. Life simply just happens. Whether want it to or not and whether we are ready or not. And it is happening. Happening all around us and constantly buzzing with moments waiting to be made. But sadly we miss those moments, we don’t even acknowledge them or even know they exist because we are fixated on our plan - on how our life is supposed to be and what it’s supposed to look like. Then we blink and that moment, that buzz of opportunity is left unexperienced. I’m not saying don’t have goals and I’m not saying don’t try and accomplish those goals but what I am saying is to look up. To smell the damn roses. Did those roses just smell nice and you moved on? Did you get stung by a bee while smelling them and turn around? Did you see a butterfly and follow it through the field? Or did those roses lead you somewhere? Somewhere you didn’t even know you needed or wanted to be. We imagine our perfect package of a life. We pick out the wrapping paper, which bow to put on top, how big or small it is, and what goes inside. And then we just stare at it, waiting to rip it open, longing for the purpose it will bring and the things that we expect from it. Little do we know if we just took our eyes off that package for just a second and look around we would see billions of different ones. Packages in colors you didn’t even consider that you love. Decorations you never knew existed. Filled with desires you never knew you wanted. And how could you know any better? How would you know you wanted the forest green wrapping paper with a big yellow bow? How would you know you didn’t even want the package? And how would you know you loved roses if you never smelled them? We simply wouldn’t. Because learning those things requires experience. It requires living and learning. It requires saying yes or no. It simply requires looking up. Open your senses, use them and listen to that buzz of opportunity because it’s loud and it’s waiting. Life is waiting for you to zig zag, to loop back around, to swing, to fly, to dance, to sing, and to just be. Because life is the in betweens, it’s the unknowns, it’s the roses and it is all around you. There are endless flowers to smell and they are waiting for you to claim the moments and memories that they will bring. To fulfill that joy and purpose that you so desperately seek. Because life doesn’t always come in the package we expect but it comes and if we are fixated on what we expect we miss out on what we need.
By Madison Baigent4 years ago in Humans
TWELVE SOULS THAT ENTER YOUR LIFE
The twelve souls that enter your life can be a blessing or a nightmare. These people enter your life for a purpose and are not a coincidence. They will make you stronger or weaker, make you laugh or cry, make you love life, or hate life in general. Some of them souls you want to stay forever, and others you wish they went to hell and never come back.
By Alvin Rivera 4 years ago in Humans
WHO VISITED?
After a long, frigid winter, it was now springtime in my hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. My family was planning a vacation to the Caribbean for some fun in the sun and warm weather. Needing to be at work, I was unable to go and stayed home alone. It would be so great to be alone, or so I thought. The family would be gone for two weeks. Before leaving, my Dad told me how to reach them, flight numbers, and return date. My family loaded up the car and left for the airport, and everything was going fine until the following week.
By Alvin Rivera 4 years ago in Humans
Waiting Patiently
I’m waiting for the guys from the City to come back and pour concrete in the sidewalk mold they constructed last week. I’ve always known the sidewalk doesn’t belong to me, but it’s technically in my yard, and they didn’t even bother to tell me they’d be tearing it up to fix something below it. I guess maybe when the good city of Aurora decides to fix a problem, they figure their benevolence is in the fact that they don’t make the homeowner pay for it, maybe?
By Christa Leigh4 years ago in Humans
The young people living in Beijing Shanghai start to buy cheap foods at morning market
The price of vegetables is a dust-up. "coordinate beijing, september in the daily excellent buy the western blue flower, a (300g) only 6.5 yuan. open today to see, the same category, the same weight, but the price rose to 13.8 yuan. the pony wondered.
By Lee Mingye4 years ago in Humans
Coffee and Cigarettes.
I enjoy my coffee and cigarettes day today. I do need to stop smoking cigarettes though. I want my pot however I gotta wait till I renew my medical marijuana card in which my goal is to renew that bush in February or March of 2022. I gotta do it if I desire to continue reefer smoking due to being on papers for 5 years, I complete probation in January of 2023, I cannot wait to complete my slavery to probation and not have to worry about it any longer a long 5 years.
By Angelina F. Thomas4 years ago in Humans
My mentor, the pianist
30OCT2021; 1754, SAT How fitting that I literally just finished another meal with one of my all time fav mentors and I began this piece on the 54th minute of the hour. My battle in Basic was 2/54 INF, and this handsome killer could've easily been my senior drill sergeant in a parallel universe.
By Nefarious Darrius4 years ago in Humans
THE GREAT ESCAPE
Back in the old neighborhood, a baseball pick-up game of the neighborhood kids was about to take place in the parking lot of the Budweiser beer distribution warehouse next to my house. They were old buildings with a wooden loading dock full of empty wooden beer kegs and empty beer bottles. Next to the beer yard, as we called it, and behind my house, was a Pentecostal church in an old yellow brick building facing the street behind us.
By Alvin Rivera 4 years ago in Humans
