Keep the fire inside of you kindling Don’t let it get snuffed out By fallen hopes And blurred out rainbows carefully concealing the storm And buildings burning to the ground
Find something to fuel your fire And keep you alive For if the stars inside you stop being bright You might stop emitting light And blinding your monsters
Burn for what you know And I promise you will find more wood to eat away with all your heart Burn for what you don’t For this is the only chance you get
Don’t pretend to save your fire Till you lose it Rage while you are alive Hang on while you can Hold on for the cosmos And don’t worry if you drift into insanity For I promise I will get you back But you need to promise me Your fire won’t die.
‘We’ve all come far from where we started. It’s been a long ride and we have more of it to go, for a journey can never end. Through it all, we’ve changed our favourite colour, developed opinions, gotten better at a few things and have clung on to a few things.’
Ben sighed and stopped typing. It was too much to take in at once. He stared at the letter he’d broken his head upon, and read it once again.
It was a letter from a close college friend, Michael, who insisted they meet up for a reunion. They had spent endless hours together, going on road trips, dancing to songs during parties, and life had brought them here.
He’d lost touch with Michael since the latter had moved to another state, but it seemed like a good time to meet according to him. His letter said:
“Let’s meet up and it’ll be like the old days with the guys! We can spend a weekend together, reminiscing old memories and making new ones.”
Ben was busy typing up something in an online journal he liked to keep, trying to collect his thoughts. He resumed.
‘The things we cling on to help us get where we are. Whether it’s a comfort song, or a diary, or a bracelet, we all have that something we can always rely on. And even if we’re not at home, that thing reminds us that home is not far, for we hold it in our very hands.
‘When we look back at these things that we don’t realise we still hold, it makes us feel human. Makes us feel like we are whole, once again. It seems unreal that we have come so far and done so much. It’s almost like we are in a dream, looking at out selves and wondering how our journey made us who we are.
‘Because every moment we share, every weird laugh, every twinkle in our eyes, sums up to this. Every choice we unconsciously make, every thing we have done and read, brings us to where we are. It’s beautiful to think about.’
Ben looked at the letter once again, with tears in his eyes. This was what he had clung on to. His friendship with people who never let him go, the joy they shared that fueled his fire, that had kept him going.
He called Michael and told him he would be there for their meet-up, and wouldn’t miss it for the world. Michael must’ve wondered why Ben’s voice was shaking, or why he thanked him two times, but he could hear his smile through the phone.
The roads in our lives are hopelessly tangled. Even the greatest of people cannot navigate through the maze of roads and find a suitable path. There are too many options, too many ways our story can turn out to be.
We know we have to pick one at the end. We know we have to decide and stick to our decision, or we won’t get anywhere. It’s unsure whether we’ll be able to change paths, but we have to get going. Or we’ll lose time.
Some of us will think through each road we can see and pick out the one which looks the best. We might not like it a lot, but we make our way through. It becomes monotonous, but it’s worth it.
Some of us will pick the one we like the most. It will be a tougher road, but our love for it keeps us going. We don’t know where we are headed, but are glad we are headed that way with something familiar.
And yet all of us end up someplace different and unexpected. Most of us either love the road, or think it was the best option. A few do both, but we still end up doubting the paths we’ve chosen. We still end up wondering what life could’ve been if we’d chosen another road. However, the best thing we can do is trust our selves to be our best self. Trust ourselves to guide us the right way, and make sure we have a journey about which stories can be told.
We’ve walked our roads And come to the end of our paths Having spent our lives Beside people we love And things we appreciate When it comes to turning away
We glance at a life that used to be But isn’t anymore Because of conscious choices we’ve made And ways we wanted to go
We can’t turn back time And relive the memories And hope to outlive our pain
After the strenuous journey Across muddy ridges Up steep mountains Against raging seas In the scorching desert Down the waterfall We reach the end of our roads
And are forced to part With those most dear to our hearts Not knowing if our paths will cross again Unwilling to blame this on fate and destiny And just hoping that this is not the end Of everything.
Like many others have done before I walked my road and to life I swore I’d leave behind pieces of myself On my way, on my path or else I wouldn’t find my way back again
It’s a tough journey towards something When you don’t know what is coming Your way to scare and haunt you And the only thing you can think to do Is keep the pace up and hope that keeps your fears at bay
I struggled to read torn and faded maps Faintly showing me safety and traps That lay ahead of me and threatened me To make a wrong move and slowly Inch towards the inevitable end that we dare to obey
I always know I’m being watched, tracked Every step I take is a choice, be defended or attacked I’m losing myself with every passing second Losing my bearings, losing my sanity and Descending into the darkness humans were told to stay away from
Will I be able to collect the pieces I shed Or will everything be no more and dead Once I retrace my steps and decide to go Back where I started and will I know Who I was, who I am, and who I want to be, or will all be lost?
Before us lies an opportunity for new beginnings. A chance to let go, and hold on to new things. A reminder that change is constant, and the most we can do is embrace every step it takes.
Everything is blurry, we don’t know what will happen tomorrow. But we know we have a choice. We can either keep wondering, keep predicting, keep regretting. Or we can embrace the present and agree to ride the gushing rivers with life.
Sometimes, you will have reason to slow down. To stay fallen, to wallow, to lie back. It won’t be easy to get back up. Every inch of you will want to remain where you are and not try. But at those times, remember that you are human. We are all imperfect in our own ways. Embrace your falling down, and use that to get back up again.
As you take your steps and inaugurate this beginning, embrace the novelty of this experience. Embrace this chance. Embrace your life, and move forward.
There are some things I cannot explain Why my mind, why my brain Why the world, and why to me The questions go on Asking me and only me Confusing me and draining me of words Ideas that override letters That cannot be expressed For worse or better But are rather preserved unsaid Hanging in the air Meant to be understood And they should Or else these wouldn’t be good I’m grasping on to the last shreds Of sense in myself Searching for someone I used to be But now that’s not me The me is speechless Freaking out Wondering what will happen one day And it shouldn’t But what if it may When there are no words left To shout out Only air to fuel me Nature to nourish me Insanity to keep me from dying.
We all start life with a bunch of building blocks. Every day we put one block on top of the other, and watch it become a larger structure. It has always been like that. Pick up a block, and place it. It was time-consuming, but consumed you. Some people would end up with whole towns, while others still struggle to balance blocks.
We are all proud of whatever we’ve made with our blocks. But sometimes a storm finds its way to our small village of blocks. We think our town will withstand the wind and rain and harsh weather. We stand by it and defend it, and do whatever we can to keep it in shape.
However, nature has its own very nature. It breaks down your cities and buildings which you spent years perfecting. It shatters your dreams and hopes and leaves you in the left over rabble of your city.
Some people decide to stop dreaming. They decide to move on the hard way. To let go of all beliefs, dreams and hopes because they believe nothing has a purpose anymore. And nor do they.
Some people will mourn their lost cities and slowly start picking up blocks and rebuilding. They know it is painful, and might not be entirely fruitful, but they still cling on to some hope that everything will be alright. They know they are responsible for their life and they gradually start shaping up a better town.
It’s tough to gather up blocks and look at something you made, broken. Something dear to you, something that was precious, something that you loved.
Milomi's world 