Same Old

The Friends You Never Lose  

        A friendship forged by age, Kukua and I have known each other longer than I can even remember. Though the time of our friendship flourished when we were in the first grade, the memories are so vivid, they burn like it was just yesterday. Day after day, rain or shine, I was always at her house, or she mine. Though I don’t remember the context of our discussions, we would ramble on and on, as you would expect from a couple of ecstatic seven-year-olds, and welcome the silence as we stared in anticipation at our favorite cartoons. Back then, life was simpler, when a slither of loneliness began to twitch the hairs on my back, she was there, slippers clapping as she climbed the short flight of steps, knocking on my door. We were like lost siblings who always found our way towards each other, till I strayed way too far from the pack.

What a Great Time We Live In

It Could Be Worse

“Things could be worse. You remember that, and you go on with your life.”

—Kevin Bacon

        From the joke in the classrooms to the next door pandemic, COVID-19 dictates our lives. Besides the people infected, whose lives we concern ourselves with all the same, regardless of who you are, a person who has been infected, or one who has not, we all share the same struggle. From that family trip, that was a year in planning, to the art class you planned on saving for the last. The time will pass and with them these opportunities. Though what do they really mean? After all, it is a simple memory, what joy could it really bring you, and even so, why should it bring you joy?

Diversity

Different in Our Own Right 

“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in.”

—Isaac Asimov

        No matter how hard you try, there is always someone better. Someone who can take your best class, sports, art, or hobby, and simply outperform you in every way. Some people take that personally; some try to dispute it, some use that as motivation to eventually surpass those who cower over them, but I accept it. Though the question is now, what am I then? Everywhere you go in life, there seem to be expectations, benchmarks people require of you to surpass. Places where people put you to count you out, to erase you from the question before it is even asked to caress their egos in disbelief. Though in this reality, the society we live in doesn’t care for our feeling, but for who suits it more. Everything seems to be a contest in life, but I have no idea what we are competing for. The only things that seem to be apparent are the expectations.