Random Musings

 "Between writer's block; the distraction that is Twitter; and this guy who keeps brushing against my computer on his way past and disconnecting it, I feel as if the world has conspired to ensure I don't post this."

I suppose that the world had conspired against my post because I typed that sentence a week ago before proceeding to stare at a blank screen till now. But guess what, the Muse has smiled again.I woke up feeling young and carefree. Yes, it was a gloomy Friday morning and I still had a 2 hour long test to sit for, but life felt ultimately good. But no matter how good I feel, I will never be reduced to living by the motto YOLO. Same goes for declaring TGIF jubilantly on every other Friday. I will not be reduced to this state because I firmly believe that those two acronyms show just how far gone Generation Y is. Yes, you'll only live once. Big deal, so will everyone. The fact that its taken you 18,19,20 something years to realize this fact doesn't make it any less obvious. And as for TGIF, I settle my argument by quoting one Robin Wood:  "If it's Friday and you don't tweet "TGIF" is it still Friday?"

But not everything about being young and affected irks me. In fact, most of it intrigues me. It intrigues most of us. There seems to be a buzz about it in music, books, television, movies... I bet you all remember Jay Z's 'Forever Young'... ingenious, to not only live forever but to live forever young...

The there's The Band Perry's  'If I Die Young'. The ultimate paradox of immortality. Dying young and leaving a beautiful corpse. The thought makes me sigh whimsically. Don't get it twisted, I don't want to die young. That romantic idea is for people who live short, beautiful lives... like fireworks. They are beautiful; explosive; they stand out; but they burn out equally fast. Some of us, on the other hand, are like a slow fire. Slow, sure, constant and long lasting.

But the ultimate 'being young' song has got to be 'Here I am Alive' by Yellowcard. It wraps up what it means to be young and carefree. To make mistakes and forgive yourself easily. To fall and jump right back. To have the clarity to listen to your heart amidst all the distractions and noise.

I know that this has come off deep and philosophical. Yes, I can be that way sometimes...okay, most of the time. I blame this particular bout to a wonderful book that I just finished reading called 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' by Stephen Chbosky. And no, the book had nothing to do with building a case for loners like I did here. It was about, well...being young. All the aspects: love, friendship, loss, making mistakes and more importantly, saving up good memories for those bad days. I felt as if I had lived a thousand lifetimes just by reading about one year of Charlie's life. What stood out most was this quote:

“And in that moment, I swear we were infinite.” 

And I suppose that's what being young is REALLY about. If we can find such moments and live for them, we'll always be young. Like hell, we'll die young... and as impossible as it sounds, we'll live forever...young.

Have an awesome weekend and I hope you stumble upon such moments... and if you really have to chant YOLO, at least do it with a little class... In Latin perhaps... Carpe Diem would be a perfect alternative.