A New Season

Spring is here. The season of renewal, of starting life anew. How poetic for me. I feel like I just woke up from a bad dream, and suddenly five years have gone by. Trying to get my health in order has been no simple task. I had been telling myself to not worry about how long it takes, as long as I manage to come out healthy on the other side. Yet, now I look around and realize how fast time has gone by while I’ve been taking it slow. I can’t shake the feeling that I have to somehow make up for lost time. No matter what I’m doing, I constantly get the feeling I should be doing something else.

Then I realize that this is all somehow familiar. Maybe not as strongly as now, but I’ve felt this way before. It’s as though I need to learn the same lesson over and over again. As if I was forgetting something I knew before. Somewhere along the way I had forgotten difficult lessons of the past. Somewhere along the way I had lost my way again.

I find myself at a crossroads. What now?

“Where are you supposed to be?” “Are you where you’re supposed to be?” I find myself asking these questions. When I stop and think about it, the closest I’ve ever been to having a satisfying answer was in Japan. But even then, I had doubts. I would sometimes ask myself, “is this really where I’m supposed to be? Am I really doing what I should be doing?” The world is such a big place – I could be doing so many different things. Maybe it’s only natural as humans to constantly search for greener pastures. And the grass is always greener on the other side. It’s so easy to take what we have for granted. The search for a better and better paradise is always ongoing. Perhaps the only solution is to become paradise. They say the home is where the heart is, and if that is true, then my true home is right here, with me always, beating inside my chest. My problem isn’t the place I’m in. It is me.

At least now I know this from before: It is always worth it to start over. Always. Even when in the depths of despair, choose rebirth.

It’s time to build myself back up from nothing again. How many times have I done this before? It should be nothing new, but it never gets easier. It’s time to choose a direction. It’s time to choose who to be.

Spring has come once again,
I think about you now and then.

Cloudy skies, bleeding heart,
Wish we never had to part.
Muddy paths, icy streets,
Where is really home for me?
I walk this path on my own,
Feeling somewhere far from home,

Did I leave my heart somewhere?
This burden is so much to bear,
Holding onto something of some kind,
In my head, on my mind,
Maybe I can leave it all behind,
And return to you someday.
Become strong and walk away,
From all I know, once again.
I think about you now and then.

Gloomy days, and cloudy skies,
Anxious thoughts and teary eyes,
Dirty roads and melting snow,
On this path, I walk alone.

Starting over one more time,
Leaving everything behind.
I do it all with you in mind.
Home is where the heart is,
but where is mine?

In front of me, two paths to choose,
Time is short, but I’ll wait for you.
The lake reflects the trees above,
Will you ever know my love?
Renewal blooms from those trees,
Could that be the same for me?

Rainy weather, lonely hikes,
Longer days and shorter nights,
I dream of seeing you again,
I think about you now and then.

Where am I supposed to be?
I think it’s time for me to leave.
I close my eyes, and make believe,
The truth is that you’re all I see.

Has it all been too long?
All this time, have I been wrong?
Places to be, places to go,
Calm yourself down, try taking it slow,
Just one step at a time,
But no matter what, time still flies.

Will this weight ever get lighter?
I miss those days that were brighter,
I wasn’t ready to say goodbye,
But now begin a new chapter in life.

Spring has come once again,
But ultimately, in the end,
I still think about you now and then.

What Happens Next?

Turn your fear into faith. Hope for the best, do your best, free yourself from worry, regret nothing.

A few years ago my health took a turn for the worse. And a couple years into declining health, I wrote the following:

Last time I went through a crisis like this, I thought, ‘I’m the toughest person I know,’ and I managed to push through it. Through the problems, through the surgeries, through the pain. But I’m not so sure I’m that tough anymore. I’ve come to realize I’m just someone who can’t give up. No matter how much I want to. And I’ve never wanted to more than now. Something deep inside me just knows that’s not an option. I’ve been straddling this line between “I don’t want to do this anymore” and “I just have to get through this.” But I do constantly wonder, is there a light at the end of this tunnel? I still can’t see it yet. It’s been so long and I still can’t see it yet.

I’ve struggled with this for about ten years now, but nothing’s been worse than these last two. Not my previous surgeries, not what caused them. This is the hardest it’s ever gotten. The most difficult it’s ever been. The pain. The lack of energy. Feeling like I just can’t do anything. Helpless. It’s rough.

Yet, before this whole episode, I remember someone asking me how I could have so much hope for the future, and it really caught me off-guard. I didn’t understand. All I could think was, ‘how could you not?’ I don’t get the concept of not having hope. Why would you wake up in the morning? How could you? When it comes right down to it, hope is the only thing we truly have.

Turn your fear into faith. Hope for the best, do your best, free yourself from worry, regret nothing.

Even though it was years ago, it feels like this is all still right behind me. But I am doing better now and it’s time to move on. I have spent a lot of time reading and keeping up with current events, as well as continuing to study what I focused on in university: Societal systems of control – propaganda, media, culture, religion, psychology, philosophy. What guides or pushes society in any given direction, and how? How does the world really work? To move on, I must write. These are the topics and questions I will explore and investigate in upcoming blog posts.

If you follow the news or recent events at all, you may think the world is going to hell. The West is in a death spiral. And with the overwhelming amount of information out there – both true and untrue – it can be extremely confusing and exhausting to parse. You may not realize it, but we are in the midst of a spiritual war – a war for your mind.

War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. Sickness is health. Why does it seem like these statements can so accurately describe the narrative of our current times? Is everything really so backwards? How did we get here? I’m reminded of a core principle of propaganda: Everything in this world is neither good nor evil, but public opinion makes it so. This means no matter what good or evil outcome is desired in the world, warping public opinion makes it possible to accomplish. You can convince the masses that evil is good, or good is evil through propaganda. Things may seem bleak, but whatever problem we find ourselves in, there is still hope. So how do we turn this around?

Plato argued that a unified narrative was required for a stable society. Currently, we have internet algorithms giving us a plethora of narratives so different that they are nearly impossible to reconcile. It is difficult to have a meaningful conversation with someone when you can’t even agree on basic facts. We are basically speaking different languages at this point, and everything is falling apart. It’s a modern day tower of Babel.

I will be discussing this and so much more in what’s to come. I wish to deep dive the problems plaguing society. They say a lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on. I aim to be that truth that has finally put its pants on.

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