"Leave those bad ideas in your troubled head today"

Some borrowed words from talented friends (who don't know their my friends, but surely would be if only we could get to know each other...).

The search for Life is a difficult one.

"And I keep looking for that blindfold faith,
Lighting candles to a cynical saint
Who wants the last laugh at the fly trapped in the windowsill tape.
You can go right out of your mind trying to escape
From the panicked paradox of day to day--
If you can't understand something then it's best to be afraid"¹

Though I think the pursuit of reality should go something more like,

"when you love the truth enough you start to tell it all the time

and when it gets you into trouble you discover you don't mind."²

And when you get frustrated in your search,

when the trivialities of life seem to be all that exists and

everything feels meaningless,

just "hear the chimes,

did you know

that the wind when it blows

it is older than Rome

and our joy

and our sorrow."³

Learn to be content because

this life is all we've got.

And "if no heavy breath blew up these lungs

while dirt and wet spit hung in the air,

well we're still here."⁴

It seems to me that if this is what we've got,

if this life is the frame and

what you see is what you get,

that still there is meaning even if only for itself.

"'Cause everything must belong somewhere."⁵

An anthem to our visit,

a summary of how our lives relate 

to this whole massive universe,
is held well in this:
"In truth, the forest hears each sound,
Each blade of grass as it lies down.
The world requires no audience,

No witnesses, no witnesses."⁵

“No doubt the universe is

unfolding as it should.”⁶

Indeed, I desire to be allowed to exist in my identity

as a "child of the universe, 

no less than the trees and the stars."⁶

I desire to dwell in my identity that exists only in my relation to others, 

but that has been shaped by every

experience, thought, love (left or lost), desire, heartache...

: everything that makes life interesting--

that makes life worth living.

While I still want to pursue progress

(whatever that means),

I would love to "leave the novelist

in his daydream tomb"

or the "scientist

in her Rubik's cube,"

or even "let the true genius

in the padded room remain."⁵

I think contentment is hard to find.

I also think it's important.

Avoid stagnancy,

seek contentment,

strive for excellence.

And in all of that,

"Be cheerful.

Strive to be happy."⁶

¹Classic Cars - Bright Eyes

²People - David Bazan

³Cleanse Song - Bright Eyes

⁴Heavy Breath - David Bazan

⁵I Must Belong Somewhere - Bright Eyes

⁶Desiderata - Max Ehrmann (a poem among songs)