Listening...

Back from my brief hiatus from the "page", and I am brimming with tales to tell! I think the most important thing that happened this weekend was that I realized inspiration is out there everywhere if you only look for it. This weekend I came across several new people, places, and events. Perhaps in the past they would have slid right past my eyeballs, but since I've started this blog- this daily dedication to writing (and that wasn't even the point!)- I feel my senses of observation have been sharpened. People I may have written off as weird and avoided, I found myself talking to and questioning, in an attempt to figure out where they are coming from. What great inspiration for characters in a future novel, or for a future rewrite of myself!

The most interesting character I came across this weekend who seems to keep creeping into my thoughts was a young guy who sat next to me on my planeride to Chicago. From the moment my eyes opened as I awoke from my coping mechanism used to deal with turbulence, my nap in other words, until the moment we landed, he forcibly intrigued me with stories of his life. I heard about his job with the military, his ex-girlfriend of three years, his sister's abusive relationship, and his financial situation, among other things. The first thing I noted about this guy was his penchant for the word "gay", which he enjoyed using to label almost everything. I couldn't help but laugh after the twentieth time. He also liked to say the F word at such a volume that I worried the people around us wouldn't be laughing. But the thing that struck me most about this person was that he was obviously at this dead end in his life and was desperately searching for a way out, even if that meant latching onto a stranger who showed no interest in conversation. But being personally familiar with being stuck, I just couldn't help but want to help.

He told me of how his ex hurt him by dating someone else immediately after she had broken up with him, and that his solution for this was to beat up his replacement, and her. He related how he found out his sister had been slapped by her current boyfriend, and how his plan of attack for this situation was to "put him in a wheelchair". And, he meant it. Now, normally I might have quickly written this kid off as a psycho. But what got me was the way, after he had said his part and gotten himself all worked up, he looked over to me with these sad eyes and said, "Is that what I should do?" And it hit me. He really had no idea how to handle these situations. He would tell me how he felt the only answer to whatever problem he had just unloaded was to shell out some sort of violence, follow it by saying, "that's probably not a good idea", and then ask me, "is it?" And finally, he outright questioned, "what do I do?"

I mean you can imagine how my mind raced after this chance meeting, wondering what our country, or even world, has created with its glorification of violence. We set these kids up to pass the FCAT, yet give them no toolbox to pull from when they undoubtedly hit these types of personal roadblocks. It's sad. Say he does decide to "put [someone] in a wheelchair". What will become of him- this young kid lost behind those pleading eyes?



This is only one of my many photos from my trip. With the magic of photography I was able to capture the fears overcome, the highs reached (literally), and the music experienced. Though it has been my habit to post only photos and thoughts from that particular day, I feel the pull to post more from my weekend adventure. Tomorrow the journey continues...