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note to self: i’ll be there for you, always

written june 6, 2021. Photo by Kristine Cinate on Unsplash I have always looked for myself in other people. I think the idea was that they would somehow hold the pieces of me that I felt were missing. That maybe, if I wrapped my identity up in theirs enough, we would somehow make a whole person. It's not healthy to live like this, but I did it anyway — burning through relationships and searching for something I couldn't quite name. It was never enough, not to be myself, but it was never enough to latch my identity to other people, either. I got close, several times — I thought I had reached the pinnacle of self discovery. I thought I had completed myself. But in the end, relying on other people to help build yourself is never a viable way to do things. It's only recently that I've started to become comfortable with the idea of being enough, as I am, on my own. Several years ago, in this same position, I would have searched for another person to attach my identity onto,

before i die

When King Lear dies in Act V, do you know what Shakespeare has written? He's written "He dies." That's all, nothing more. No fanfare, no metaphor, no brilliant final words. The culmination of the most influential work of dramatic literature is "He dies." It takes Shakespeare, a genius, to come up with "He dies." And yet every time I read those two words, I find myself overwhelmed with dysphoria. And I know it's only natural to be sad, but not because of the words "He dies." but because of the life we saw prior to the words.

Your life is an occasion. Rise to it.

~Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium

1. See fireflies.
2. Ride in a hot air balloon.
3. Publish a novel.
4. Dance on bubble wrap.
5. Fall in love, get married, & raise a family.
6. Steal away to Ireland (and Scotland... and London... and Australia...)
7. Ride a motorcycle.
8. Go to an Owl City concert.
9. Own a typewriter.
10. Make Mason jar candles.
11. Watch my brother play a football game in a stadium at night.
12. Visit New York City.
13. Meet Celtic Thunder.
14. Dye my hair red.
15. Write an 100,000 word long novel.
16. See the ocean.

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