Just Thought You Should Know

Today's Track: Wrote a Song For Everyone--Creedence Clearwater Revival


First, yes, I do in fact realize that it's been a while since my last post. For the last few days, I've been a bit under the weather. Well, alright, to be perfectly honest, my real problem was a sudden shortage of inspiration. I considered filling the blank space with some half-hearted commentary on the latest media drivelling, or perhaps chronicling mindless “day-in-the-life”-type stuff. But, to begin with, nothing terribly interesting had been happening in my life, and other people always seem to get angry when I try to follow them around and write down stuff about their lives. And it is my firm conviction that there are already far too many bloggers out there playing at being underground journalistic juggernauts. I couldnt possibly compete with the good ones, and I won’t imitate the leser ones. Therefore I had very little to say.
Sometime yesterday, I got a notion for another snarky “Philosophy For Humans” piece. I got sidetracked, however, and it was really late before I got a chance to deal with it. Then, before I got it posted, I got involved in some personal things, and my blog quickly paled to insignificance. I had planned on putting up the post this morning, maybe throwing in a few really good Richard Nixon jokes just for variety. But I’ll tell the truth. It just suddenly doesn’t seem worthwhile at this point. As I have been informed, my writing falls far short of actual cultural/social significance, and I’m fine with that. But some of the things I talk about are of more importance, at least to me, than others. And of all the things I have to say, all the things I feel like I should say, even if only for myself, “World Peace in Three Easy Steps” (the other bit’s title) just didn’t seem to carry all that much weight.
I have something I want to share.
Whether or not it’s of any worth I leave to you to decide. In either case, I ask your leave to wax profound for a while.

At one time or another, everyone has had this experience, in one form or another.
Search your memories, you’ll know what I’m talking about.
Maybe it was a childhood crush on the little boy down the block. Or perhaps a starry-eyed infatuation with the golden-haired Venus in blue jeans in your homeroom class. Could be there was some very special person close to you that you always thought about, or it might even have been some cute stranger you met once or twice. Maybe all you feel is that quiet little tingle at the back of your heart. Or maybe it’s a great, all-consuming fire which fills your every waking moment. It matters not whether you’re twelve or 112. Oh, it works on us in different ways at different times. When you’re young, you’re convinced that it’s the great Shakespearean romance, passion for the ages. As you age, and, supposedly, grow wiser, you may not feel quite like floating barefoot above the clover anymore. Or, then again, maybe you do. Whatever it is, you’re in love. So, you think to yourself, do something about it. Be it a passed note, flowers from a secret admirer, or, more simply, just walking up and asking him/her out, just do something. But you don’t. You assure yourself that you have good reasons. Or you tell yourself that you have no chance, so there’s no point in bothering. Possibly you’re just scared: scared of denial, scared of exposing your feelings, scared of your feelings themselves. For whichever of these reasons, or so many more, you say nothing. You just go on wringing your hands, writing poems no one will ever read, and languishing in your rose-petal dreams.
But life never hesitates, does it?
The days just keep right on going, and one day you look up and realize that nothing is the same anymore. Things change, people move on, and chances get missed. And you spend the rest of your life wondering: “What if?” Maybe you forget, mostly, or maybe it’s with you every day. But from time to time it comes back. If I’d done this... If I’d said that... If...
It’s not pleasant, is it? To take a line--woefully out of context, but valid nonetheless--from Christopher Stasheff:

Hell is not knowing.

Life is all what you make of it, I’ve always heard. I can’t speak to that, for I don’t really know what that’s meant to mean. But what I do know, or at least what I believe, is that whatever life is, it’s all about the choices we make. And it’s the missed--or ignored--choices that hurt the most. Sure, it hurts to have your heart broken, to embarrass yourself, whatever. But how much worse it is, years later, to have that little helpful voice at the back of your mind which reminds you that it might have been different?
Yes, it’s happened to me.
More than once I’ve held words inside which might well have brought me happiness if but invested. I know, that’s difficult to believe. Yet it is true. I, the Thousand-Word Wonder, Lord High Potentate of Verbosity, have found my words to fail when they were most important. How many of you can say the same?
And now I’ve come to the end, almost. But I just want to leave you with a few simple words.
If you have something to say, say it. Now. There will be no better time.
What you’ll regret most are the chances you never took, and all the times you have to ask yourself: “What if?”
And last:
If you love someone, tell them so. There’s too much bad in the world to shy away from one of the good things. And if you think they know, tell them again; no one ever got tired of hearing that they were loved.

Go and live life, friends.
Pax vibiscum

For you who have not heard the song I noted above, there’s a simple reason it was chosen to accompany this post. In it, John Fogerty, songwriting genius, says this:

“Wrote a song for everyone; wrote a song for truth. Wrote a song for everyone, and I couldn’t even talk to you.”

I’m sure some of you, having once listened to the song, might be tempted to debate the relevance of the rest of the song, but that line was worth the price of admission.