Greatness and Goodness

"Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them."

William Shakespeare - Twelfth Night

“Dobby has heard of your greatness, sir, but of your goodness, Dobby never knew.” J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

We often idolize people who do great works. Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, Helen Keller, Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King Jr., Neil Armstrong, etc. People who have overcome great odds and changed the world. Single individuals who pave the way for the rest of the human race to follow suit. And all of these individuals have one thing, one word in common: 

Drive.

"No" simply wasn't in their vocabulary. They had every reason to give up; especially when they faced odds that logically should have defeated them. Yet they took their failures and built successes out of them. They defied those who told them that the effort wasn't worth the heartache of failing and came out on top in the end. They, in short, showed us how to live. 

Yet, the ones who stand out even amonst those who do great are the ones who also do good. They give their all, even their own lives, in the selfless servitude of their fellow man. They sacrifice their own needs and desires daily to better the lives of others. These are the ones who truly show us that each life, each person, no matter how great or small the world thinks of them to be, they matter. No life is lived in vain in the eyes of those who are equally good and great. And it is through the selfless sacrifice of these few individuals that the world is changed into a better place. If even for a little while, their light is the rose that grows in concrete.

So, it is my challenge to you, as I place this challenge upon myself. Don't just be great. Be good, as well.

The Blink of an Eye

A childhood friend of mine died yesterday. We hadn't spoken much since graduation (maybe a handful of times, at most), so I'm not suffering as much as his actual friends are. It's just...sudden. I don't have much information on the matter, so I won't be going into any deals. Also, in respect for the family and friends, I won't go into it. The only point I would like to make is this: he had a birthday a few days prior and I didn't bother to wish him a "happy birthday". And now he's gone and the opportunity is gone forever. 

Now, you can easily say that I had no way of knowing he would be taken so soon; but that's my point exactly. One day he's here and the next he's taken. It would have taken two seconds to say "happy birthday" and I didn't. Life serves steep lessons sometimes. This is one of them. 

We all have this preconceived notion that we'll live forever. Or die old. Or have warning of our own demise before it happens. The harsh truth is that none of these are guaranteed. Nothing in life is. Life, rarely at best, goes the way we expect it to go. We are entitled to nothing in this life and yet we take every day for granted as if there's another one waiting for us when we go to bed at night. The truth of the matter is that there is no guarantee that we'll even make it to bed when we wake up in the morning. Zero guarantee that the day you awaken to will be a full one. 

My point is this: you only have a set number of days and no one, especially you, knows when your time is up. So make the most of the fraction of life you have left.

Hello, Darkness, My Old Friend

Two things: First an apology for being gone so long. Even though 2015 is really barely just begun, we're already in the second month and so much has already happened. This year is meant to be one of drastic changes and it will not take any prisoners in the process. If you're not willing to ride the wave, you may find yourself swept up underneath it.

Second, I have a lot on my mind. Too much on my mind. Instead of risking a second night of insomnia, I figured I instead to put words to screen so I can actually manage to get some rest. Fingers crossed, anyway. However, I won't be disclosing much of it due to the fact that so much is up in the air at the moment. Yeah me.

So, to begin, I would like to point our that The Sound of Silence is my favorite Simon and Garfunkle song. It always has been, as well. The title of the blog post is straight from it. The tone is haunting and bleak. It is filled with loneliness and longing. You can almost hear their hearts aching with every word that they sing. Yet, on the same coin, it is a song of poetic beauty. They see the false prophets of profits that the world has forged for themselves and the two singers do not seek to follow the same path. They hold fast to a bittersweet integrity that has been long forgotten by the world. Instead of speaking empty words, they echo forth the sound of silence. They know they are truly alone and they fully accept their fate.

At times, this has been a hard blog to write. To be completely honest, to bare my heart and soul each time, to allow you a glimpse into the inner recesses of my mind; it takes sacrifice. As Ethan Hawke so eloquently put it recently, "It doesn't come for free." I am, in full honesty, here for you as I am for myself. I know my own bittersweet melody is the crying voice of others, as well. And if I can give voice to the beaten and broken-hearted; then let my words ring loud and true.

In closing, dear readers, I am here for you. You are not alone and know now that your silence is a sound that echoes across the world.