Keepin' the Home Fires Burnin'

It's strange how one year turns your life around. You see things differently, skeptically and with suspicious caution. You adopt new ways of thinking, feeling, reacting and thus, prioritizing. Your optimism is dulled by reality's dispiriting situations and for once and for all you ask yourself, "Why does it have to be that way?" Yet you stick to your guns because throughout the march, you learned that the only thing you can count on is your gut instinct.

I have reunited and come across old faces from the past. Some look kind and familiar while others are simply the latter, yet their marred spirit is detached from what surrounds them and at times, I think that that might lead to their soul's demise. I pity such people who I have come across because they will knowingly live something that won't bring them true happiness, something that they classify as a divine and romanticized illusion when in fact it's the only divine element that we can attain here on earth.

What surprises me is when someone who I lost touch with reaches out amidst the graying clouds I am in. It can be a simple, curious and selfless email or text message. It's heartwarming and gives me hope. It's the same kind of feeling you get when you hear a genuine chuckle. It's wild, pure and reverberates contagiously in your warmed insides. It feels like home.

PS I dedicate this post to a true friend of mine who has the ability to decipher and spell out my thoughts to the point simply by the tone of my voice and the light in my eyes. For that, I will always love you. Know that.

MP3's...
The Beatles - Here Comes the Sun
Fine Young Cannibals - She Drives Me Crazy
Grateful Dead - China Cat Sunflower
Grateful Dead - Shakedown Street
Jimi Hendrix - Pali Gap
Janis Joplin - To Love Somebody
Edward W. Clayborn - Your Enemies Cannot Harm (But Watch Your Close Friends)
Louis Armstrong & Ella Fitzgerald - Dream a Little Dream of Me
Frank & Nancy Sinatra - Something Stupid

at 8:30 AM