Something Useful

Hey young folks,

Yes, I'm writing to you. I lived long enough to have regrets; these regrets come later in life once the realization of time becomes real. I've written on this blog about all sorts of things. I've written about my life, my world view, artists I admire and ideas I'm playing with. I don't know why I even do this practice of blogging. I guess I do it, because I can't afford a shrink.

So, that's where we're at; I'm the consummate bohemian. Alas, I don't have a trust fund, but many bohemians do. Take my word for it; I lived in Brooklyn long enough to learn that. I'm not bitter about that though. I'm grateful for having this struggle; the folks removed of struggle have an existential struggle far worse. I do have some insight that can only come through making many decisions. Younger people haven't made as many decisions, and their folks did much of their planning. I lived and chose to live on my accord for at least a decade now. I can tell you that decisions have consequences, but that's obvious. I can also tell you that indecision carries an equal weight. Time passes, and with every decision and indecision we walk down roads. These roads cannot be undone. They stand as monuments to the people we have become, and they reveal the glaring errors we made. Regret from not having done something is bad enough, but regret from wrongdoing will haunt your dreams until the end.

So, you're young and filled with kinetic energy. You are beginning the trek, and the roads are plentiful. Choose your roads carefully. You naturally lack the wisdom, and that's appropriate. How can you know the right road? Well, there is a cheat there. You may look for breadcrumbs left by the ones who walked before. Maybe that's why you continue reading this entry. There is a way to help you pick the right roads, and it may include asking for some breadcrumbs. This is where I am doing my small part for you. I have had folks help me along as well. You too, in the future, will hopefully help the fresh travelers.

I could write platitudes, and write drivel about seizing the day. Instead, I'll leave you with this: Follow your gut, but have some humility as well. If you balance your instincts with the voices of reason around you then you might just end up somewhere good. Now, you also have to weigh the contents of this entry with the author of it. That may be the most difficult task to execute. We all don't have the most optimally calibrated bullshit detectors. Weigh what I write with a keen scale, and use that same scale to decode the world. Maybe, I'm no good to utter a word of advice. Maybe, I should just shut up, and draw funny pictures. I'll have to consider doing just that. I'm many things, and they are often contradictory.

I'm an artist, a wrestler and a man who has been down some roads. I feel like I put myself in quite a tangled path. I feel like I traveled the roads drunk on the passions that subsumed me. So, now I stand somewhere on a mountain finally sober enough to realize that I drank it up. I drank up romanticism, fairytales and hogwash. I became a boozehound for the adventure, but never saw the romance in practicality. I drank up the impractical, and that led me here. I'm sober now, and need to make some adult decisions. So, what's an artist-wrestler-bohemian to do? Nobody is in sight. I'm on a mountain, and I can't see a clearing. I believe I must become clean as a whistle. I need to reject romanticism and the drunken haze of passion. That's where I'm at. I suggest you temper your passions a little, and balance it with your head. Use your coconut to get yourself up the mountain; refrain from using your coconut to make pińa coladas. Drink up life, but drink it up responsibly. It's a dynamic game, and the choices are many. Choose wisely, fresh travelers. Choose life...