Be.

To whom it may concern,

Life is hard. It is just down-right tough. It gives and it takes. I am not sure if that ever changes. I read a quote the other day that read something like, “Life will always throw you curveballs, just keep fouling them off. The right pitch will come, but when it does, be prepared to run the bases.” While on the surface this quote does appear to be incredibly cheesy, cliche, and straight out of a Hollywood classic, I still think it holds an incredible amount of meaning.

Once upon a time I included in a letter not so different from this one, that according to my experience, human beings are relationship oriented specimens. We are life-forms that were molded at birth to interact with one another. We are taught to share and to speak. On our own we are lost, powerless even. We have no reason to share with one another or to speak with one another. On our own we are only left with questions; questions that are almost always impossible to answer. With questions comes uncertainty, and with uncertainty comes fear. On our own we are fated to what David Foster Wallace called our “default setting.” But together, we thrive, and not in the usual definition of the word thrive. When human beings flock to each other they gain access to things like confidence, encouragement, love, sadness, pain, jealousy, anger, and happiness, and logic. They gain the ability to utilize their mind in such a way that would never be possible on their own. The ability to access any one of these things is a gift. To have this gift bestowed upon you means you are alive. You are living, and not living in the literal “heartbeat” sense of the word. I didnt understand it for the longest time, but in my immediate experience to feel is to live.

One thing that I believe is important to note is that once this gift is received, the journey does not stop there. No, this is not your average gift. It is not a gift that you will undoubtedly store in the back of your closet and forget about for 6-8 months. This gift is a skill, and just like any other skill it must be honed. Being completely in touch with your place in the world (and therefore directly the people around you) and accessing your emotional and logical skill set is a process. One that is lifelong. It is easy to forget that while our own feelings and thought processes are immediate and self-centered, they are not always righteous. While you may appear to be the outright center of the universe, I can almost certainly assure you, you are not. Mistakes will happen and be learned from. People will inevitably arrive and depart. Happiness will ensue for as long as you allow it do so.

Here’s to being alive.

Regards,

A student of the process.