Catching Z's

Recently, sleep has been something I lack and wish I could have more of. It's hard to get eight hours in the busy schedules we have now, what with all the responsibility we have, not to mention those darn electronics keeping us up with backlit screens that don't allow us to fall asleep. I've tried many different remedies for falling asleep (some of which actually worked), but found that the most effective thing was to keep a regular schedule of bedtime-if you go to bed different times every night, your body gets thrown out of wack and can't recover enough to be rejuvenated in the morning, nor can it allow you to fall asleep quickly, because you either fall asleep too early, or too late. Sleep seems to be one of those things we sometimes take for granted: we need it to recover and restore our bodies, so why do we slack off and starve ourselves of that much needed restoration? We should all take a leaf out of the children's books and start sleeping a little longer.
So, in a slightly more "wordly" sense, sleep allows people such as me to create and imagine other worlds in our dreams. Sometimes, they aren't always beneficial, and oftentimes, with our horrible invention of alarm clocks, we interrupt dreams we surely didn't want interrupted! Dreams, at least in my opinion, may be only the problems and obstacles (and joys) we are facing at the given time, and the way we deal with it, but they also show us the fantastical version of ourselves-what better medium to create stories from? My advice to those sleep-deprived zombies out there is to eat a few less arms and catch a few more Z's.

A World's End

Today I thought I'd take a new spin and type up a poem I wrote a few years ago.

Two pairs of footsteps echoed in the deserted side street.
Two teenagers; a fate coming that they would soon meet.
Both emitting white fog from their mouths, hands enclosed in each other's.
This battle, the sounds of screams and shouts; with their footsteps; they smother.
A battle scene comes into view, blood spurting, clouds bursting, both sides
drenched in watery red.
And then a man in billowy white robes,
holds out his hands, holds out his hands,
To the people, and tells them to bow.
And they do, even the boy and girl:they bow,forevermore, or at least for now.
A siren blares, and then is silenced.
An ugly creature with red horns and tail comes from the earth, the core, with fiery hot hands, and the head of a boar.
The man in robes reaches a hand out, the peach, tanned flesh marked with
A small scar in the back and front, wounds of a death, and the creature called Lucifer holds his breath.
Lucifer then does a thing most unpleasant: he lifts his own hands and tells all the
people, "Get up now, or I shall kill you all!" And the boy and the girl try not to feel small,
But
bow lower still, the smell of sweet grass filling their nostrils.
The wind whips around and the sun is a-bursting, the houses and roads have been ripped
from their places, hungry and thirsting.
And then, the man in white robes speaks to the small people on the grass. He says to remain with their backs to the heavens, but the creature named Lucifer does not let this pass. He throws fire
with his fingertips, straight at a man crouched nearby, who screams, and melts into the core, the place where Lucifer had once been before. The celestial valleys, so black with silver stars, are twinkling.
The boy who had been running a long time ago, sees the stars, sees the stars, but only through his eyes; he will not look up, even if he hears the screams of much more innocence dying. Lucifer and the man named Messiah have a battle and the people stay crouched.
Then, the creature is ripped from its body, and there in its place is a white-clothed man, slouched.
He has wings of gold, and does not look old, and the people stand up, by the man in white robes.
The battle is won, Lucifer, evil, hatred are done, and those who have sinned
will never commit again.
A hole appears in the sky; a great set of doors.
The gate is gold, and the man in white robes says to follow him, and the people, even Lucifer, follow him through, to a land high above the earth we once knew.
The world is now gone, but the people have bowed, they still live today, with wings and halos in a place
So a-crowd.

The Sphinx's Riddle

What goes on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening? A man, who crawls as a baby in the "morning," or beginning of his life, walks on two legs at "noon," or during the middle of life, and finally walks on three legs at the end of his life in the "evening," with a cane. This is a metaphorical depiction of how we humans grow in the most basic sense, presented in the famous "Sphinx's Riddle." It's interesting to see that we do in fact go through these three stages, whereas not many other species do-possibly none. Recently, I've been going through some immediate family stresses (the typical rebel child's need to get what they want), and I've found that this riddle is ironic in that it shows that no matter what you wish things could be, man starts out as a child on all fours with most care coming from mom and dad, grows to stand on his own two feet and becomes self-sufficient (to a certain extent in this day and age) and matures a bit, figuring out the "way of man," and then eventually must rely on a crutch-not necessarily a physical object, but every single person will have a point in their life where they need to lean on someone, and that is the "evening" part of one's life. When it starts to get dark, they must have help to carry on. I rather enjoy the way life puts this specific chain of events together, even with man possibly unaware of its presence. The "morning" part of man's life revolves greatly around teenagers and the puberty-induced stresses that come with that, not to mention the I-know-everything-and-should-get-my-way-because-I-said-so attitude that is so prominent in these adolescents. No wonder later on they need a crutch-beating your stick over another person's head usually results in being swept off your feet, cold to the ground!

One Foot in Front of the Other

This last weekend has been a busy one for me, as I participated in two walks; (one I did, and the other I volunteered to help with) both of which I had to get up early for. Helping out certain charities and people in need was not the issue I had, but rather the cold-both days were invariably chilly, especially Saturday, of which it was windy, but even Sunday where it looked like it might get warmer, but instead stayed very cold and dreary. This weekend, I learned a valuable lesson. During the March of Dimes/March for Babies, I found that simply walking and donating money to poor premature infants and infants born with birth defects and the like really is renowned in its thinking that we can save a life-we have the ability to save those babies. And on Sunday, during the Cherry Creek Sneak, I learned from a rather exuberant and animated "go-getter" that we were changing the world by exercising. Interesting perspective, is it not? But both of these days taught me that I love to volunteer and help people out, and do things for others instead of myself. I enjoyed seeing all the different faces and smiles and ways people would greet or thank me for handing them their post-race goody bag. I now know just what we need to know when we wish to progress forward: one must simply put one foot in front of the other, and soon they'll be walking out the door.

New Frontier

New prospects, new worlds, new times. Things are constantly changing, but just now, I feel myself entering a new frontier. It's ironic how, in my life, often things line up with each other and are congruent-such as the fact that I'm learning about John F. Kennedy in AP U.S. History and his administration was called the new frontier, and I'll be getting a job this summer, to come after the two I have just had these past couple months. New things are abounding, and not only for a human like me, but also for the nature around me. Trees are blooming, and when you look out the window, you see not dead brown and dull gray, but vibrant pinks, light, pretty blues, rich greens, and plenty of textured colors. Ah, spring! Indeed, it is a new frontier, a time to celebrate. Also, we just went through Easter! That is a most wonderful time to celebrate, as it is a time to celebrate the time that Jesus arose from the grave, and gave us salvation for our sins. Now is the time to sing and dance, for the Lord is come, and we shall all rejoice our new freedom!

New Frontier

Happiness

Happiness; what a cheerful and bright word. It's what we humans long for, strive for, and live for. Happiness. What is happiness? It is different for everyone, and comes in so many different forms. It is a butterfly floating on a distant breeze, a lark's chitter in the tall, tall, trees, and it is the golden feeling in a smile. What does happiness do for us however? What purpose does it serve? Well, it creates a sense of finality, as though the world is finally right. It can turn a frown upside-down and evil into sunshine. Ah, but if only the world were quite so beautiful and simple. You see, happiness often competes with sadness, in the great battle of human emotions. You must balance the cheerful, wonderful side, with feelings of despair, loneliness, and longing for something else. Happiness and sadness really (unfortunately) go hand-in-hand, and therefore we must battle the tears and frowns to turn it upside down. But how? Doesn't it seem difficult to just shove aside the sadness and put on a smile? That seems fake and forced, to me. So what can we do to make the sadness go away quicker and the happiness last longer? Simply put, there is no one answer, but there is one possibility: we all have it in us to make ourselves and others around us happy;it is simply the matter of choosing whether or not to use that gift, and use it well.