Souls Aren't Soldiers

I don't believe in nations. I think the reason behind all the wars and negativity taking place between countries today, is because of existence of countries.

We sing the national anthem everyday.
We're told to take pride in our country.
We're told that the only way to become glorious is to give all we can for our countries.
We're told to fight for our country.
We take pride in our soldiers, we're told to become soldiers.

As The Killers said, 'I've got a soul, but I'm not a soldier.'
We're not, though.
Most of us, are only souls. We can't withstand being soldiers.

Society says we're not allowed to like other countries. Being proud of a country we aren't born in to is a crime. Countries are supposed to bring people together, instead they tear people apart. They tell us our countries give us freedom, but freedom isn't free.

However, I know the idea and existence of a nation is essential for an organized world. Without nations, we'd be a muddle of orgranisms without passports or citizenships tied to our names. We'd be lacking identities and organization.

I may not believe in nations, but I do believe in democracy. I believe in equality. I believe everybody should have the equal amounts of rights, no matter where they're born into. I believe that if we're required to have nations, we also require nationalism. We require unity. We need something or someone to bring us together.

We need art, culture, beauty, and traditions.
We've got enough success. We don't need new scientists, we need lovers of people and music.
Bring out the dreamers and the singers, the painters and the writers. Bring out the thinkers and philosophers, the kids that get along with everybody.


We need to believe in nations. We need to believe in the WORLD as a whole, not just a nation. We need to be more than competitors for success. We need to help and hand.

If we just take the time and understand other countries and cultures we wouldn't be this way. We would be a more tolerant, more peaceful world. The sad thing is, every time something or somebody is different from us, we toss our snotty noses in the air and judge. Humans are powerful creatures, with powerful minds. The think is, we need to learn how to use our power for the good.

After all, with great power comes great responsibility. We've got the power, we just need to learn to be responsible. 

Twisted Seasons, Twisting Life

The green pushed out of the brown, into life. The brown, twisted, dark, and grey is appreciative. It finally has some color, it's something new. It is no longer a colorless, almost dead wood. No, it has become spring itself, personified of course.

Spring heated itself to summer. The green melted into a dry brown, only to be given its color back through rain. Sweat trickled down the trees, on to the ground. Sleepy eyes flickered, sleepier backs stretched. Smiles and water and sweat mixed and intertwined and melted. Flowers popped up, and down, with the monsoon.

Rain splashed, rain poured, rain was personified into cats and dogs. Rain came into the ears, the eyes, the house. It carried with it the happiness and joy of summer. It brought the tears and cries and pain, home. It cleaned and washed and scrubbed, more than any Spring Cleaning ever could.

Dry, crackled leaves stooped crying for water. They called and called the rain that would never come. Dry throats, drier tongues. Dirty shoes, dustier suns. Dry cold, and thick jackets, all found their way home. Red cheeks, cracked lips. Every super market has run out of lip balms. The sold are busy, palming the way into life.

Cold sky, wet clouds, and twisted brown becomes dead again. The harsh sun, cold as ever. Evolution is taking place. Numb nose, red ears, clatter along with the teeth. Dead flowers, a funeral for all. Dead trees and the dead grass, begging for a burial that isn't frozen. The bears sleep, and the hares moan. Who does not want this on going blizzard to end?

The green pushes out of the brown, into life. Twisting and turning, interrupting the sullen. Twisting and turning, joy seeps in. Twisting and turning, slowly and steadily, the seasons twist out your life. It's spring again. 

Be Rebel With A Cause

James Dean.
Audrey Hepburn.
Brigitte Bardot.
Elizabeth Taylor.

These names hold the identities of people we have never personally known, and will never get the chance to know. These names are the names of people who are considered to be legend-wait for it-dary. These people are who teenager then and now strive to be. These names are always linked with a face or attribute. These names will never truly be forgotten.

Who wouldn't want to be as cool and intimidating as James Dean?
Who could refuse a face like Audrey Hepburn and a body like Brigitte Bardot's?
Who wouldn't want to have the historical eyes of Elizabeth Taylor? The eyes the world will forever remember.

Cuba Gooding Jr.
Helen Hunt.
Geraldine Page.
Art Carney.

These are names of people who aren't remember. The usual teenager can not link these names with a face or a movie. These names are forgettable. It doesn't mean that they weren't good at acting. It does not mean that they didn't make a difference. It doesn't mean that they were not good people. It does not mean that they didn't matter.

Yet, these four individuals and many, many more have died and will never be remembered.

Don't we all want to be remembered? Don't we all want to leave a mark in this world before we leave? Don't we want to matter enough so that our names are remembered, our faces idolized, and our features admired, even after we die?

So, what does it take to be remembered? Why do we want to be remembered in the first place? Why can't be just live our life and be content with being forgotten. Sooner or later, everything will be gone. Human kind will vanish and leave no trace of ever existing. If it will be all gone, then why are we so intent on being recollected of after death? Why do we write, create, and work so hard if it will all amount to nothing? Why shouldn't we just spend our lives eating fast food and watching reality TV, because what does it matter anyway?

Why should we work so hard if we might end up being a Helen Hunt or Geraldine Page? Not coddled nor remembered. 

Humans like risks. It's a risk. Life is a risk.
It's a risk to give the world your best. You may not get anything in return, or you might get everything.
It's a risk to make friends. They could really hate you, but they could love you too.
It's a risk to love and be loved. It's a risk to be a parent, a risk to be a child. It's a risk to be a girl working. It's a risk to be a boy working. It's a risk to send that email or text message that could change your whole life. It's a risk to pick up a book or watch a movie. It's a risk to travel or drink coffee. It's a risk to live.

Through living, you could either lose it all or gain everything.
It's a risk worth taking.

Geraldine Page may not be remembered by most, but she should be. Why? Because she took the risk. She followed her dreams, and even if it never lead anywhere or became anything...the risk she took was a  big one, a courageous one.

So take the risk to live. Take the scary risk to live your life the way you want it. It could be a total waste, but it could be worth it all.

You might be as cool as James Dean after all. Go ahead be a rebel, but stick to a cause. 

Things You've Never Thought

            As a teenager and a person, I know how much one can think. I can only imagine the number of thoughts that cross our mind in a second. We think so much, so frequently, we can’t keep track of everything we’ve ever thought. Even if you write down everything you think you are thinking, you miss a lot. However this fact of the universe is peculiar as who we are is directly proportional to the thoughts we’ve thought and the happenings we’ve experience.  The bizarre thing is that we can never know exactly what we are thinking during every single moment of the day. Thus, we can never exactly know who we are. There is only one reason that every single person is different from another; no two people can ever think the exact same things.

            There are a lot of different types of thoughts that our minds form. We contemplate just about everything in between the existence of god to whether our neighbor thinks we’re a noisy household. Thoughts are very judgmental things. With thoughts, one tends to critic oneself and all of one’s surroundings. This means we judge and examine everything from our pimply faces to Miley Cyrus’s new haircut. We give our opinions on things we shouldn’t have an opinion on in the first place. Through the currently famous book “The Secret”, many of us have found that to get what you want out of life, you must control your thoughts. This is easy to say but hard to do. Initially it seems like a good idea. However, every yin must have its yang.
            There are many things we think unconsciously. These thoughts make us who we are. If we were to control and shape our every thought, would we ever be able to be our selves? Our minds think such weird, complex thoughts. If we changed those thoughts into thoughts of the happy, driven person we want to be, will be ever be ourselves? Is controlling our thoughts like performing plastic surgery to our brains?

            There are many things that you’ve never thought of, that I have. There are many things I’ve never thought of, that you have. You and your mother will never have ever thought the exact same things. However, the thoughts of you and your brother may have more common thoughts. Your thoughts and your dog’s thoughts will be less common than you and your brother’s. You and your friends will most likely a majority of your thoughts in common. However, the thoughts of two organisms can never be the same.  By never, I mean never as in never, ever. I’m not Justin Bieber; sometimes the saying ‘Never Say Never’ is utterly false.

            Have you realized that a book is just a long, complicated thought of the author? The things you’ve got to memorize for your next history test are just the thoughts of somebody who lived not so long ago. The idea of beauty and the things that are considered ‘facts’ are just thoughts. Everything the human kind thinks or has thought it knows, is just the compilation of all the thoughts that a human has ever thought to pursue. Therefore, education is just a long thought process. If a person acted upon every thought a brain has ever thought, human kind would have so much more knowledge.
            The thing is that thoughts create everything and anything we’ve every known. However, in today’s world, instead of thinking one is simply told to memorize another’s thoughts. That is a horrible, horrible form of education. We should have the right to think and question everything and anything around us. Our freedom of thought is almost non-existent at one point. In school, they say they’ll teach us everything we’ll ever need to know. That’s a lie. Sure, teachers teach us of the French people’s fight to freedom, they teach us why the sky is blue, how a rainbow is formed, and why stars twinkle. However, they never teach us the single most important lesson that we need in life: how to think. That however, isn’t exactly an entirely true statement. They teach us to think in a certain way. They teach us that you have to add in order to multiply. They teach us how to think and then problem solve. However, they never encourage us to question what we supposedly learn or memorize. They never tell us why a certain type of person is ‘beautiful’ while another is ‘ugly’. They don’t tell us how a person’s beauty level is decided. They don’t teach us to disagree with something that is already stated true. They encourage questions, but discourage the search for answers. For example, if I ask why ‘red’ is called ‘red’ and not ‘blue’, ‘orange’, or ‘filiw’, I will not get an answer. If is ask what color the sky is the answer will be blue, but that’s a lie. The sky can be many different colors during many different time frames. However, we teach our children to accept answers that are unacceptable. Why?

            If thoughts are the reason we are who we are, and questions are thoughts, and if we are not taught to form either creative or correct questions, does that mean we’ve become people we aren’t supposed to be? Does that mean that we’ve already been tricked into doing plastic surgery in our minds? It’s a known ‘fact’ that the mind is the one place in which we have complete freedom. Is that a lie, because our minds are already so much influenced by other minds that they can never truly be free? These are questions I cannot answer. These are questions I may never be able to answer. These are questions I was taught not to answer.

            Times are changing though. In classrooms today, it’s more about thinking and less about mugging up. My parents were told to write and write and write the same words of a language in order to be fluent in it. Today, I am told to understand the roots of words in order to learn a language. It’s more about understanding everything around and about you, instead of memorizing the thoughts of people that are probably currently dead. Therefore, I can rightly state that human kind is indeed advancing.

            Sometimes I wish I were born later in time. I would have more opportunities to become myself. There would be a more correct, moral form of education. I would be able to think my own thoughts more fluently than I currently am. All in all, it’s hard to think thoughts that you really think. It’s hard to become yourself when everybody else is telling you not to. However, you must. You must because as Oscar Wilde once said, “Be yourself; everybody else is already taken”. Therefore, you must work your hardest to be yourself. As easy as that sounds, it never is.