I heard a bird singing out my window this morning.
It sang the song of revolution.
The call of one, both small and meek,
Shouting out to the bigger ones for help.
It sang the song of long-suffered pain,
Sang the song of the ardored worker.
It sang the song of the starving child,
Sang the song of the loving mother.
It sang the song of mankind's struggle,
Sang the song of the life-long slave.
It sang the song of the wishing follower,
Sang the song of an aspiring leader.
I heard a bird singing out my window this morning.
It sang the song of evolution,
The call of many, myriad and strong,
Shouting proudly to their ancestors before them.
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Monday, October 14, 2013
A Poem - Kishacoquillas
This is a poem I wrote quite a while back for someone I once knew. It was based on a dream that I awoke from late one night. I picked up a notebook and wrote it on the spot. "Kishacoquillas" is the name of a creek, a tributary to the Juniata River, that runs through Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. The name is a Lenni Lenape phrase meaning "snakes in their dens." There's a certain spot along that creek in near the town of Burnham that this poem is based on.
We stand alone among the stones,
Just you and I together.
The swollen creek flows on before us
To a watery blue forever.
We take apart the rocky bank,
Taking it stone by stone,
And toss it all into the creek
As we stand together alone.
No one else is watching us
As we stand on the stony shore.
The only thing we have is each other,
And could we ask for anything more?
Not a word is spoken between us
As we stand side by side.
We skip the stones across the water
And sink them in the tide.
And in this heavenly dreamscape,
Not a thing makes a sound,
Nothing but the flowing creek
Kishacoquillas
We stand alone among the stones,
Just you and I together.
The swollen creek flows on before us
To a watery blue forever.
We take apart the rocky bank,
Taking it stone by stone,
And toss it all into the creek
As we stand together alone.
No one else is watching us
As we stand on the stony shore.
The only thing we have is each other,
And could we ask for anything more?
Not a word is spoken between us
As we stand side by side.
We skip the stones across the water
And sink them in the tide.
And in this heavenly dreamscape,
Not a thing makes a sound,
Nothing but the flowing creek
And the smooth stones we've found.
How long could we stand here, my friend?
Could we ever be dissevered?
But if we ever left, I pray
I'll only be remembered.
How long could we stand here, my friend?
Could we ever be dissevered?
But if we ever left, I pray
I'll only be remembered.
How calm we are as we stand alone.
Sometimes after a while,
With a stone in my hand and care in my eye
I give you a gentle smile.
Any troubles that we've had before,
All have been forgotten.
And as we stand alone by this creek,
"The snakes are all in their den."
I see your beautiful face
As you raise another rock,
And as you smile, my spirits rise
Like thundering waters at a lock.
Where will we go on from here?
Will we leave our special place?
Should the waters ever drive us out,
Remember me just in case.
Should life ever break us down,
And time eternal kill us,
I'll wait for you on the stony banks
Of our cold Kishacoquillas.
Sometimes after a while,
With a stone in my hand and care in my eye
I give you a gentle smile.
Any troubles that we've had before,
All have been forgotten.
And as we stand alone by this creek,
"The snakes are all in their den."
I see your beautiful face
As you raise another rock,
And as you smile, my spirits rise
Like thundering waters at a lock.
Where will we go on from here?
Will we leave our special place?
Should the waters ever drive us out,
Remember me just in case.
Should life ever break us down,
And time eternal kill us,
I'll wait for you on the stony banks
Of our cold Kishacoquillas.
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Hard Times Come Again No More
There's an old song people used to sing in days when things were scarce and spirits were low. It's a sorrowful song, all ragged with pain. The lyrics go:
Let us pause in life's pleasures and count its many tears,
While we all sup sorrow with the poor;
There's a song that will linger forever in our ears;
Oh hard times come again no more.
[Chorus:]
Tis the song, the sigh of the weary,
Hard times, hard times, come again no more
Many days you have lingered around my cabin door;
Oh hard times come again no more.
While we seek mirth and beauty and music light and gay,
There are frail forms fainting at the door;
Though their voices are silent, their pleading looks will say
Oh hard times come again no more.
There's a pale drooping maiden who toils her life away,
With a worn heart whose better days are o'er:
Though her voice would be merry, 'tis sighing all the day,
Oh hard times come again no more.
[Chorus]
Tis a sigh that is wafted across the troubled wave,
Tis a wail that is heard upon the shore
Tis a dirge that is murmured around the lowly grave
Oh hard times come again no more.
[Chorus]
It's been a song that's been in my head in the recent past. I suppose here I'm going to give an update to anyone who may have been curious of how I've been doing in my recent fights with depression. Admittedly, over the past few weeks, it's been rough. I could manage to get through my days (except for the daily need to sleep an extra 1.5-3 hours in the middle of the day), but at nights I'd just fall apart and collapse into a pile of scrap metal. All sorts of emotions would enter my mind: jealousy, anger, frustration, loneliness, sadness, desire for solitude, desire for even the meagerest company. Things could fly all over the place. At times I'd beg the world to leave me be. Sometimes I'd go for a walk out to a grove of trees and just sit there until the feelings passed. Other times, I would desire only not to be alone. I'd text anyone to ask if they wanted to get together and spend some time that evening. Sometimes it worked, other times it was just not meant to be. Of course I could never tell anyone directly how I was feeling. Aside from this blog, word of my depression almost never meets air. I suppose I'm ashamed of it in a way. Perhaps it denotes weakness in me. A man doesn't post about his feelings on Facebook or tweet about sadness... do they? What's more, I never wanted to be a burden on anyone. I never wanted to post something and have someone get bummed out because of how I was feeling, or talk to someone and make them also feel it. Thus, I've kind of painted myself into a corner. I sort of locked myself into my head with only a few tiny cracks left for me to breathe through. It wasn't a particularly enviable arrangement. Sometimes when I was low and finding little escape from it, I'd think of this song and let the chorus play over in my mind. "Hard times, hard times, come again no more." It was a wish I'd sing to fate. Over the past week, however, things have been getting better. My doctor and I took a few measures to get things back on track, and fortunately now I've been considerably more stable. I'm able to get through my day in good spirits, I don't have to sleep around midday now, so now I can get even more work done, and my nights remain stable and strong. At last, I feel like I can get around to doing what I need to do and knocking out the problems that approach me in this life at college. I still internally sing that song, I will admit. "Many days you have lingered around my cabin door, oh, hard times, come again no more." However now, I don't sing it as a dreading and begging wish. Now, I sing it as a hopeful wish for days to come - almost as if to shake my fist at the hard times that may come.
Let us pause in life's pleasures and count its many tears,
While we all sup sorrow with the poor;
There's a song that will linger forever in our ears;
Oh hard times come again no more.
[Chorus:]
Tis the song, the sigh of the weary,
Hard times, hard times, come again no more
Many days you have lingered around my cabin door;
Oh hard times come again no more.
While we seek mirth and beauty and music light and gay,
There are frail forms fainting at the door;
Though their voices are silent, their pleading looks will say
Oh hard times come again no more.
There's a pale drooping maiden who toils her life away,
With a worn heart whose better days are o'er:
Though her voice would be merry, 'tis sighing all the day,
Oh hard times come again no more.
[Chorus]
Tis a sigh that is wafted across the troubled wave,
Tis a wail that is heard upon the shore
Tis a dirge that is murmured around the lowly grave
Oh hard times come again no more.
[Chorus]
It's been a song that's been in my head in the recent past. I suppose here I'm going to give an update to anyone who may have been curious of how I've been doing in my recent fights with depression. Admittedly, over the past few weeks, it's been rough. I could manage to get through my days (except for the daily need to sleep an extra 1.5-3 hours in the middle of the day), but at nights I'd just fall apart and collapse into a pile of scrap metal. All sorts of emotions would enter my mind: jealousy, anger, frustration, loneliness, sadness, desire for solitude, desire for even the meagerest company. Things could fly all over the place. At times I'd beg the world to leave me be. Sometimes I'd go for a walk out to a grove of trees and just sit there until the feelings passed. Other times, I would desire only not to be alone. I'd text anyone to ask if they wanted to get together and spend some time that evening. Sometimes it worked, other times it was just not meant to be. Of course I could never tell anyone directly how I was feeling. Aside from this blog, word of my depression almost never meets air. I suppose I'm ashamed of it in a way. Perhaps it denotes weakness in me. A man doesn't post about his feelings on Facebook or tweet about sadness... do they? What's more, I never wanted to be a burden on anyone. I never wanted to post something and have someone get bummed out because of how I was feeling, or talk to someone and make them also feel it. Thus, I've kind of painted myself into a corner. I sort of locked myself into my head with only a few tiny cracks left for me to breathe through. It wasn't a particularly enviable arrangement. Sometimes when I was low and finding little escape from it, I'd think of this song and let the chorus play over in my mind. "Hard times, hard times, come again no more." It was a wish I'd sing to fate. Over the past week, however, things have been getting better. My doctor and I took a few measures to get things back on track, and fortunately now I've been considerably more stable. I'm able to get through my day in good spirits, I don't have to sleep around midday now, so now I can get even more work done, and my nights remain stable and strong. At last, I feel like I can get around to doing what I need to do and knocking out the problems that approach me in this life at college. I still internally sing that song, I will admit. "Many days you have lingered around my cabin door, oh, hard times, come again no more." However now, I don't sing it as a dreading and begging wish. Now, I sing it as a hopeful wish for days to come - almost as if to shake my fist at the hard times that may come.
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Home - Change
This is a continuation on my previous entry. Forgive me for how long it's taken to write this up.
By the time I returned Friday night from a lovely evening with my old friends, it was roughly 11:30 PM. Since arriving back in Juniata County from school earlier that evening, I still hadn't been to my house. When I returned home, it was almost like stepping into some odd, distorted world: one that resembled a world you once knew well, but it now stood foggy, misshapen in a way. Things still held their general shape and size, but small details had changed upon my entry.
However, my worst shock was met when I entered my room. I found numerous things out of place, items moved and opened, and objects removed from my room entirely. A floor lamp was gone, as were campaign pins of Kennedy and Obama that had adorned my curtains. My curtains, also, were gone. Needless to say, my fury struck down on unwitting Christian and Addison with the vehemence of (insert some arcane and ominous sounding biblical reference here; Egyptian plagues, fire and brimstone, what have you, et al).
Once I'd finally gotten all settled and returned all my possessions to their rightful place, I settled down into my bed. It was uncomfortable compared to my bed at school. Most of my pillows were up at State, and I only had two now (I strangely enjoy sleeping with A LOT of pillows, like six or seven). Instead of sleeping under my usual comforter, I slept under a spare sleeping bag, all unzipped and spread out. It was not the good old home sleeping experience I once enjoyed. But as I laid there, staring at the ceiling and walls, attempting to repose in my uncomfortable resting spot, thoughts of other changes that I've seen began striking my mind:
By the time I returned Friday night from a lovely evening with my old friends, it was roughly 11:30 PM. Since arriving back in Juniata County from school earlier that evening, I still hadn't been to my house. When I returned home, it was almost like stepping into some odd, distorted world: one that resembled a world you once knew well, but it now stood foggy, misshapen in a way. Things still held their general shape and size, but small details had changed upon my entry.
- There was an inordinate amount of children's shoes lying helter-skelter in a pile by the door, all unorganized and lacking any state of decorum or decency.
- Dirty dishes abounded across the counter by the sink. I could tell who had accrued the most of them too. My 12-year-old brother Christian has this odd penchant for putting a disposable plastic straw in every beverage he drinks. He also has the aggravating idiosyncrasy of never reusing a glass. He merely finishes one drink and goes on and dirties another three or four throughout the day. A fair amount of soiled glasses and plastic cups, all festooned with a colorful plastic drinking straw, held reign amongst the other dishes.
- Baby gates cordoned off each staircase in the house, a safeguard for my infant brother Quinn. He had recently learned to crawl, and at a vivacious speed, too.
- The blue-carpeted stairs which led to the Benner children's bedrooms on the second floor were cluttered and littered with the various belongings of Christian and my 7-year-old sister Addison. The two have a most perturbing aversion to actually taking any of their belongings to their rooms when they are told to do so, so they naturally lay them pell-mell across the bottom-most stairs. Many a toy and trinket have been shattered under my unsuspecting tread due to this practice.
- The floor of the upstairs bathroom was covered with a fair flood of Christian's clothing, tossed without regard to cleanliness or organization.
- The toilet paper roll in the bathroom had been hung backwards.
However, my worst shock was met when I entered my room. I found numerous things out of place, items moved and opened, and objects removed from my room entirely. A floor lamp was gone, as were campaign pins of Kennedy and Obama that had adorned my curtains. My curtains, also, were gone. Needless to say, my fury struck down on unwitting Christian and Addison with the vehemence of (insert some arcane and ominous sounding biblical reference here; Egyptian plagues, fire and brimstone, what have you, et al).
Once I'd finally gotten all settled and returned all my possessions to their rightful place, I settled down into my bed. It was uncomfortable compared to my bed at school. Most of my pillows were up at State, and I only had two now (I strangely enjoy sleeping with A LOT of pillows, like six or seven). Instead of sleeping under my usual comforter, I slept under a spare sleeping bag, all unzipped and spread out. It was not the good old home sleeping experience I once enjoyed. But as I laid there, staring at the ceiling and walls, attempting to repose in my uncomfortable resting spot, thoughts of other changes that I've seen began striking my mind:
- A girl who graduated before me, unable to manage her course-load, dropped out of college.
- Two of my classmates, neither attending college, both became engaged after the girl was kicked out by her parents. An awkward living arrangement was made with the fiancee living with her in-laws-to-be.
- A barn, one I always passed by and held as a common landmark, was torn down and destroyed.
- A strange, awkward, implicit relationship was being held between one friend and another.
- One friend had been sworn into the Air Force and was awaiting assignment.
- A boy I went to elementary school with but moved to a neighboring town in eighth grade was now in a local prison for simple assault.
- Many of the old groups of friends that I was once part of no longer associated or weren't quite the same.
- A favorite teacher from high school retired.
I know that changes happen. Everyone knows that. It's just striking when they happen so quickly, right before your eyes. Some are more sudden, yet more trivial. Others are more gradual, yet more fundamental. This, I suppose, is what time brings.
My sincerest regards,
Brandon
My sincerest regards,
Brandon
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Home - Bliss and Joy
This past weekend, I decided to spend a little time at home, back in Thompsontown, PA and away from the college life at Penn State in University Park. My main reason was to attend a picnic held by the Perry-Juniata Penn State Alumni Association so I could receive their $500 scholarship they awarded me (hey, it'll pay for some books, won't it?), but I figured it wouldn't be too bad to just relax back at home for a little while before my final exams.
I spent Friday evening languishing away in my dorm until my mother, an RN at Lewistown Hospital about half an hour away, picked me up after her shift. On the drive back home, little was on my mind. I was sort of like a radio set to an empty station, kind of just receiving static instead of meaningful sound. That evening was the second-to-last night of the carnival in McAlisterville, a town just over the hill from my little village of East Salem (mailing address is Thompsontown). I'd scarcely had a summer in my life where I'd not gone to the McAlisterville carnival, running and gallivanting through the midway and kiddie rides with my youthful and effervescent friends. However, this year had been different from those of my youth. I'd already missed Dutch Days, another local carnival and tradition in a neighboring town. Whether or not it left a hole in the collective experience of my friends, I cannot say. However, for me, the effect was bigger than I let on with most. While I was here at State, I found myself wondering, "Do my friends notice I'm gone? Do they miss me? Am I still important to them?" This is nothing against them, it's just something I find myself wondering at times. To an extent, I figured my friends had managed pretty well without me, yet even so, I wanted to see them again.
Before I even went home, I had Mom drop me off in McAlisterville. As I made my way into the crowded and lively carnival grounds, all packed with the drawling geriatric inhabitants of old Juniata County along with their various generations of offspring, I looked how many would picture a college student. I was wearing black Adidas gym shorts, admittedly a bit too short. Under a thin blue hooded jacket, a blue tank top was emblazoned with the name of my new home: "PENN STATE." Beneath the frumpy and wrinkled cover of a sun-and-water-faded North Face hat (yes, I know, North Face is stereotypically college kid material...), my hair was a little longer than I would have preferred, somewhat resembling a disheveled brown mop. As I walked a walk with, I will concede, a little too much swagger than there should have been, I casually dangled an Arby's large cup of Sprite in my hand. I was probably the image of a freshly-into-college kid, back home for a bit, and all drunk on collegiate pride. Some days I look back at myself and I think, "Good lord, I'm a twerp at times." Eh, these things were comparatively small. Who am I kidding, I'm probably the only one who noticed... I'm too hard on myself.
I began scouting out who I could, letting my eyes wander through the crowds. With each little flick of my eye across the lake of faces, I'd catch underclassmen from high school, the odd volunteer fireman here and there, a few distant relatives, my beloved old chem teacher. This was old Juniata County. Doesn't matter how provincial and backwoods it may be, I love it. I love it so dearly, and it will always be my home. Home. That's a curious thing. How do you know a place is your home? Because when you come back, before you can even realize what's happening, you're practically tackled to the ground by the running embrace by a dear friend from years past. That's what first made my mind click in, "Ah, yes. I've missed this so much." With that first big bear hug, the endorphins in my brain clicked on, and for once in a fair amount of time, I felt some genuine happiness. With a true smile on my face, I asked her how her business venture, a small cafe in the area, was turning out. As she brightly replied as to its success and her friends around her attested to the delicious heaven that is the milkshakes she serves, her new boyfriend stood beside her and put his arm around her. I graduated with him, a nice fellow. I was happy to see them both together, genuinely happy. It brings me joy to see good people from a good place having a good life.
Giving my well-wishes and imparting a goodbye, I turned away and began searching the place for more of my old friends. I didn't have to go far at all to find them. Within but a few minutes, a whole group of them found me. Two that I used to spend a lot of time with began racing to me, trying to beat each other to hug me first. When one hugged me first, the other hugged me over and over again to even it out. I loved this all so much. I missed feeling things such as this. There are few things in the world that bring me more joy than getting a hug from one of my dearest and most trusted friends when we've not seen each other in ages. Friends abounded that night. Memories swarmed my mind, however, they were not the sort of bittersweet and sad memories I may have expected earlier. I instead felt a genuine happiness. There was a happiness that existed in seeing the joy in the face of Juniata County children as they ran and played amongst the carnival as I once had. There was a tranquility that existed in hearing that sort of Juniata County drawl, a special sort of twang, though plagued by grammatical errors, that is only spoken correctly here in ol' J-County. There was a bliss that existed in playing manhunt again on the side-streets of McAlisterville at 11 o'clock at night with your closest friends from your high school years.
This was the happy phase of my time at home. I felt lighter than air, and all was sweet and gleaming. Yet such emotions were not quite meant to last in their entirety in my mind. However, that is for me to write about on another night.
Good night, all.
My sincerest regards,
Brandon
I spent Friday evening languishing away in my dorm until my mother, an RN at Lewistown Hospital about half an hour away, picked me up after her shift. On the drive back home, little was on my mind. I was sort of like a radio set to an empty station, kind of just receiving static instead of meaningful sound. That evening was the second-to-last night of the carnival in McAlisterville, a town just over the hill from my little village of East Salem (mailing address is Thompsontown). I'd scarcely had a summer in my life where I'd not gone to the McAlisterville carnival, running and gallivanting through the midway and kiddie rides with my youthful and effervescent friends. However, this year had been different from those of my youth. I'd already missed Dutch Days, another local carnival and tradition in a neighboring town. Whether or not it left a hole in the collective experience of my friends, I cannot say. However, for me, the effect was bigger than I let on with most. While I was here at State, I found myself wondering, "Do my friends notice I'm gone? Do they miss me? Am I still important to them?" This is nothing against them, it's just something I find myself wondering at times. To an extent, I figured my friends had managed pretty well without me, yet even so, I wanted to see them again.
Before I even went home, I had Mom drop me off in McAlisterville. As I made my way into the crowded and lively carnival grounds, all packed with the drawling geriatric inhabitants of old Juniata County along with their various generations of offspring, I looked how many would picture a college student. I was wearing black Adidas gym shorts, admittedly a bit too short. Under a thin blue hooded jacket, a blue tank top was emblazoned with the name of my new home: "PENN STATE." Beneath the frumpy and wrinkled cover of a sun-and-water-faded North Face hat (yes, I know, North Face is stereotypically college kid material...), my hair was a little longer than I would have preferred, somewhat resembling a disheveled brown mop. As I walked a walk with, I will concede, a little too much swagger than there should have been, I casually dangled an Arby's large cup of Sprite in my hand. I was probably the image of a freshly-into-college kid, back home for a bit, and all drunk on collegiate pride. Some days I look back at myself and I think, "Good lord, I'm a twerp at times." Eh, these things were comparatively small. Who am I kidding, I'm probably the only one who noticed... I'm too hard on myself.
I began scouting out who I could, letting my eyes wander through the crowds. With each little flick of my eye across the lake of faces, I'd catch underclassmen from high school, the odd volunteer fireman here and there, a few distant relatives, my beloved old chem teacher. This was old Juniata County. Doesn't matter how provincial and backwoods it may be, I love it. I love it so dearly, and it will always be my home. Home. That's a curious thing. How do you know a place is your home? Because when you come back, before you can even realize what's happening, you're practically tackled to the ground by the running embrace by a dear friend from years past. That's what first made my mind click in, "Ah, yes. I've missed this so much." With that first big bear hug, the endorphins in my brain clicked on, and for once in a fair amount of time, I felt some genuine happiness. With a true smile on my face, I asked her how her business venture, a small cafe in the area, was turning out. As she brightly replied as to its success and her friends around her attested to the delicious heaven that is the milkshakes she serves, her new boyfriend stood beside her and put his arm around her. I graduated with him, a nice fellow. I was happy to see them both together, genuinely happy. It brings me joy to see good people from a good place having a good life.
Giving my well-wishes and imparting a goodbye, I turned away and began searching the place for more of my old friends. I didn't have to go far at all to find them. Within but a few minutes, a whole group of them found me. Two that I used to spend a lot of time with began racing to me, trying to beat each other to hug me first. When one hugged me first, the other hugged me over and over again to even it out. I loved this all so much. I missed feeling things such as this. There are few things in the world that bring me more joy than getting a hug from one of my dearest and most trusted friends when we've not seen each other in ages. Friends abounded that night. Memories swarmed my mind, however, they were not the sort of bittersweet and sad memories I may have expected earlier. I instead felt a genuine happiness. There was a happiness that existed in seeing the joy in the face of Juniata County children as they ran and played amongst the carnival as I once had. There was a tranquility that existed in hearing that sort of Juniata County drawl, a special sort of twang, though plagued by grammatical errors, that is only spoken correctly here in ol' J-County. There was a bliss that existed in playing manhunt again on the side-streets of McAlisterville at 11 o'clock at night with your closest friends from your high school years.
This was the happy phase of my time at home. I felt lighter than air, and all was sweet and gleaming. Yet such emotions were not quite meant to last in their entirety in my mind. However, that is for me to write about on another night.
Good night, all.
My sincerest regards,
Brandon
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
The Beauty of Solitude - That Strange Feeling of Oneness That Exists in a Dark Room at Half Past One in the Morning
Good evening, everyone. As I type this first sentence, it is 1:04 AM, July 31st, 2013. If you've been observant, you may have begun to notice that I do a lot of my writing in the later hours of the night. While this may not exactly be beneficial to my circadian rhythm, I've found that this practice has some advantages that would go unutilized at other hours. In a time like this, when the fireflies have come to a cessation of their nightly phosphorescent festivities and the moon rises high into the sable blue-black of the dome of the sky above us, I find that my creative and expressive abilities come to a zenith. I don't know exactly what it is. All I can offer is that at a time like this, my mind feels somehow lighter. It's not light in a way that would mean it's disoriented (or empty and lacking weight, mind you), but it's light in a way that it feels swifter and more maneuverable, freer and more open.
As much as a late hour can do for my expression, there's still a component that needs to be there as well: solitude. I suppose at times I can be a little introverted. Sure, most times I love to be with people. I like communicating with people and talking to people and listening to people. I hope to base my career around people, after all. But yet there comes a time at least once in every day where I need a hiatus from people. It's not that they've done anything wrong necessarily; it's just that I need some time away to just be with... me. I need to be able to think for a little while without influence. I need to be able to pace the floor in a single circle for twenty minutes if I feel like it. I need to be able to talk out loud to no one but myself. Does that make me odd? "Oh, wow, this guy likes to talk to himself, he must have a screw loose." Relax, folks. Talking to one's self (in the appropriate time and place, of course) is not a sign of schizophrenia. Admit it, you do it yourself sometimes. Everyone does it at one point or another. It's our minds way of letting us express our ideas to ourselves. We as humans, obviously, have the gift of speech and the use of words. We have the beautiful ability to take these thoughts in our mind - these nervous impulses in the depths of our cerebra, worked up to the cerebral cortex and processed in the Wernicke's area - and transform them into words that permit us to transfer these thoughts out onto the whole of civilization if we so choose. It truly is a thing of beauty. Your mind is constantly thinking, constantly processing information and ideas. The release of these ideas is a natural thing. Talking to yourself is a natural way for these ideas to be released. If you can take control of it, it can be something you can use to your advantage.
When you're alone somewhere, you have the freedom to release any idea in your mind without the judgement of anyone but yourself. The sorts of things that your mind can process in such a state are simply breath-taking at times. In my times of solitude, I find myself falling into streams of thought about human nature, patterns in history, metaphysics, or even love. And it always happens right in that certain time of night, that time where my eyes are heavy but my mind is active. It's a strange but almost divine-feeling state of mind.
Unfortunately, I've not felt that state of mind as frequently as I would like.
Here at Penn State, it's hard to be alone. Though it's only the summer semester, there are still people everywhere. I of course share my dorm with my roommate, so there's only so much privacy. I can't really take a walk to a secluded area, because there are almost always people walking about. I can't exactly try to be alone on a walk at night either because, really, it's a little odd to see some bearded fellow out walking around campus at one o'clock in the morning talking to himself. That's not exactly the sort of person I'd like to be, thanks.
All this makes me miss home. I was the only inhabitant of my bedroom, so I was free to ponder and contemplate as I pleased, all in the peaceful, quite sanctity of my own space. If the space of my bedroom wasn't enough, I lived in Juniata County, Pennsylvania, where there were more cattle than people. It was so easy just to take a stroll out in the hills and fields, even at nighttime. Granted, I had the possibility of running into a bear or a coyote in such an event - not the case here in good ol' University Park - but I was still up to the intriguing but highly unlikely danger of it all. It made my pondering seem more noble, I guess.
Point of all this rambling, wee-hour-of-the-night ranting is this: free thought to yourself is a beautiful thing. If you don't consciously and frequently do it, try it sometime. You'll find yourself re-having old conversations. You may find yourself coming up with witty responses in arguments that you had last week. You may find yourself coming to a logical conclusion as to why your girlfriend wants to wear a fly-fishing lure in her hair (yeah, I guess that's the thing now). You may even find yourself writing a new life philosophy. Ladies and gents, private thought is wonderful. Some night when you're alone with nothing to do, play the album below, sit back (or pace the floor until you wear a circle in the carpet), and just think aloud. It's easy.
Good night, all. My thinking and pondering for the night is complete.
My sincerest regards,
Brandon
As much as a late hour can do for my expression, there's still a component that needs to be there as well: solitude. I suppose at times I can be a little introverted. Sure, most times I love to be with people. I like communicating with people and talking to people and listening to people. I hope to base my career around people, after all. But yet there comes a time at least once in every day where I need a hiatus from people. It's not that they've done anything wrong necessarily; it's just that I need some time away to just be with... me. I need to be able to think for a little while without influence. I need to be able to pace the floor in a single circle for twenty minutes if I feel like it. I need to be able to talk out loud to no one but myself. Does that make me odd? "Oh, wow, this guy likes to talk to himself, he must have a screw loose." Relax, folks. Talking to one's self (in the appropriate time and place, of course) is not a sign of schizophrenia. Admit it, you do it yourself sometimes. Everyone does it at one point or another. It's our minds way of letting us express our ideas to ourselves. We as humans, obviously, have the gift of speech and the use of words. We have the beautiful ability to take these thoughts in our mind - these nervous impulses in the depths of our cerebra, worked up to the cerebral cortex and processed in the Wernicke's area - and transform them into words that permit us to transfer these thoughts out onto the whole of civilization if we so choose. It truly is a thing of beauty. Your mind is constantly thinking, constantly processing information and ideas. The release of these ideas is a natural thing. Talking to yourself is a natural way for these ideas to be released. If you can take control of it, it can be something you can use to your advantage.
When you're alone somewhere, you have the freedom to release any idea in your mind without the judgement of anyone but yourself. The sorts of things that your mind can process in such a state are simply breath-taking at times. In my times of solitude, I find myself falling into streams of thought about human nature, patterns in history, metaphysics, or even love. And it always happens right in that certain time of night, that time where my eyes are heavy but my mind is active. It's a strange but almost divine-feeling state of mind.
Unfortunately, I've not felt that state of mind as frequently as I would like.
Here at Penn State, it's hard to be alone. Though it's only the summer semester, there are still people everywhere. I of course share my dorm with my roommate, so there's only so much privacy. I can't really take a walk to a secluded area, because there are almost always people walking about. I can't exactly try to be alone on a walk at night either because, really, it's a little odd to see some bearded fellow out walking around campus at one o'clock in the morning talking to himself. That's not exactly the sort of person I'd like to be, thanks.
All this makes me miss home. I was the only inhabitant of my bedroom, so I was free to ponder and contemplate as I pleased, all in the peaceful, quite sanctity of my own space. If the space of my bedroom wasn't enough, I lived in Juniata County, Pennsylvania, where there were more cattle than people. It was so easy just to take a stroll out in the hills and fields, even at nighttime. Granted, I had the possibility of running into a bear or a coyote in such an event - not the case here in good ol' University Park - but I was still up to the intriguing but highly unlikely danger of it all. It made my pondering seem more noble, I guess.
Point of all this rambling, wee-hour-of-the-night ranting is this: free thought to yourself is a beautiful thing. If you don't consciously and frequently do it, try it sometime. You'll find yourself re-having old conversations. You may find yourself coming up with witty responses in arguments that you had last week. You may find yourself coming to a logical conclusion as to why your girlfriend wants to wear a fly-fishing lure in her hair (yeah, I guess that's the thing now). You may even find yourself writing a new life philosophy. Ladies and gents, private thought is wonderful. Some night when you're alone with nothing to do, play the album below, sit back (or pace the floor until you wear a circle in the carpet), and just think aloud. It's easy.
Good night, all. My thinking and pondering for the night is complete.
My sincerest regards,
Brandon
Friday, July 26, 2013
The Certain Joy in Being a Usual Teenager
Today was another rough day. The depression has been addling my mind and driving me down quite a bit, I think even rougher than it has in a long time. However, I'm tired of thinking about the effects of this hellish disorder, and I don't want to weigh any of my potential readers down with any of the same. I want to talk about something different.
To any of you who know me, you know quite well that I typically don't act like a usual 18-year-old (thus the title of this blog). I don't really go out and party, I'm not a particularly heavy/frequent drinker, I don't mess around with any girl but my significant other, and I don't listen to anything on the radio these days. I'm not really like a lot of teenagers these days. I'm kind of reserved, chilled-out, and old-fashioned. Some people even say I was born in the wrong century. I must say, that goes extremely well with the fact that I'm a Civil War reenactor. I guess I'm somewhat of an anomaly in today's day and age. I call older people that I don't know "sir" and "ma'am," I go out of my way to hold doors for ladies, I always remove my hat when going indoors, and -- if you watch me very intently -- you'll notice that when I first meet someone and go to shake their hand, I put my other hand behind my back and bow slightly. Regarding the bowing while shaking hands, I actually didn't notice I did that until someone pointed it out. It really shows how ingrained in my mind that sort of old-fashioned, respectful behavior really is. I shouldn't be 18 in 2013. I should be 24 in 1862.
Before I started college, this sort of old-fashioned behavior about me almost had me sequestered and separated from my friends sometimes. I never really cared to go to a lot of parties, they just never really connected with me. I never tried to act like I was above them or anything, I just could never really get into them. The night before I left for college, I remember I went to a party back home late at night. I wasn't really all that crazy about being there, but I figured I needed one last awkward hurrah before I embarked for the next chapter of my life. Everyone started drinking as the night progressed. That's not really a problem for me, I'm not one of those people that will preach at you to stop drinking. That's all cool by me, that's your choice. But really, there's a difference between drinking like an adult and drinking like a teenager. Unfortunately, teenagers, as can be expected, drink like teenagers (e.g., drinking straight vodka en masse with a chaser of hastily mixed pineapple juice and whatever cheap liquor you could sneak in). The people at the party, all mostly people a year or so younger than me, got wasted pretty quick. There was drunken dancing, inebriated affections, and roaring laughter at trivial things. One girl I didn't know tipsily tried to brag to me about how she was pursuing a not so prestigious degree at a sub-par college. Needless to say, I wasn't particularly impressed. I just kind of awkwardly sat there in the middle of it all, soaking in the alcohol-perforated air and observing everyone's behavior, almost like a sociologist at work in the field. In the end, I simply looked at it like this: they were having fun and enjoying themselves, I wasn't. It's not a question of one of us being better than the other, our minds are just constructed differently, simply that.
That's generally the main occasion I use to symbolize my relationship with the general attitude of my generation. However, sometimes there are gaps in the thick awkwardness that permeates that relationship. Sometimes I look at people dancing, or singing, or partying, or just having fun, and I think, "Huh. I should try that some time." Sometimes these gaps in the awkwardness comes at large occasions, other times at small occasions. The smaller occasions always seem to connect with me the best. For instance, this evening, I was yet again laying on my bed in my dorm while my buddies Matt and Steve were hanging out across the room. Matt was interested in how to "wop." I'm still not really sure what that is, but I guess it's a kind of dance. After watching a short instructional video, he started wopping right there on the rug in the middle of the dorm. I have to admit, for a skinny, hairy, Jewish white boy from the more affluent hills of Pittsburgh, the guy's got some smooth moves.
I look at little things like that, and I think back to times where I've just cut loose and did something silly and fun like that. I remember going to proms where I'd start raving like a maniac and dancing until my rented tux shirt was soaked. I remember at my senior prom, I took my darling Megan with me, and we absolutely lost it. We were both head-banging to Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," screaming in each other's faces to "You Shook Me All Night Long" by AC/DC. It was one of the happiest nights of my life, and I am so blessed to have been able to share that with her. It makes me think that beneath my hardened, old-timey, crusty old shell, there's actually a capacity to cut loose and just live life like it's a big party. Though I'll always believe that propriety, dignity, and social finesse are an important part of a successful life, there are few things more integral to a life in general than the ability to just let yourself go; to just run wild and a beautiful night with the only person in whole wide world that you love; to be able to swing them back and forth in a hot, poorly ventilated gym to the greatest songs of twenty and thirty years ago; to be able to not give a damn in all the world for what anyone thinks and just be able to love and have fun, right there in the midst of a couple hundred of your peers. That's what life can truly be about at times.
No matter how serious of a person you are, even if you're an old tight-wad like I can be sometimes, you can never forget that that is what truly makes life beautiful. The spice of life is every now and then living like you don't care, living like life's a party, living like tonight's the last night to ever be. Don't relegate yourself to the corner all the time. You don't have to go out and get wasted and make an ass out of your drunken self, no, not at all. But every now and then, don't be afraid to just get out there on the dance-floor and just be whatever you want. Every now and then, play some stupid, shallow Top 40 song on YouTube and just dance in the middle of your room to it. It's things like these that add a sort of beauty to life that can't really be replicated with many other things.
My sincerest regards,
Brandon
To any of you who know me, you know quite well that I typically don't act like a usual 18-year-old (thus the title of this blog). I don't really go out and party, I'm not a particularly heavy/frequent drinker, I don't mess around with any girl but my significant other, and I don't listen to anything on the radio these days. I'm not really like a lot of teenagers these days. I'm kind of reserved, chilled-out, and old-fashioned. Some people even say I was born in the wrong century. I must say, that goes extremely well with the fact that I'm a Civil War reenactor. I guess I'm somewhat of an anomaly in today's day and age. I call older people that I don't know "sir" and "ma'am," I go out of my way to hold doors for ladies, I always remove my hat when going indoors, and -- if you watch me very intently -- you'll notice that when I first meet someone and go to shake their hand, I put my other hand behind my back and bow slightly. Regarding the bowing while shaking hands, I actually didn't notice I did that until someone pointed it out. It really shows how ingrained in my mind that sort of old-fashioned, respectful behavior really is. I shouldn't be 18 in 2013. I should be 24 in 1862.
Before I started college, this sort of old-fashioned behavior about me almost had me sequestered and separated from my friends sometimes. I never really cared to go to a lot of parties, they just never really connected with me. I never tried to act like I was above them or anything, I just could never really get into them. The night before I left for college, I remember I went to a party back home late at night. I wasn't really all that crazy about being there, but I figured I needed one last awkward hurrah before I embarked for the next chapter of my life. Everyone started drinking as the night progressed. That's not really a problem for me, I'm not one of those people that will preach at you to stop drinking. That's all cool by me, that's your choice. But really, there's a difference between drinking like an adult and drinking like a teenager. Unfortunately, teenagers, as can be expected, drink like teenagers (e.g., drinking straight vodka en masse with a chaser of hastily mixed pineapple juice and whatever cheap liquor you could sneak in). The people at the party, all mostly people a year or so younger than me, got wasted pretty quick. There was drunken dancing, inebriated affections, and roaring laughter at trivial things. One girl I didn't know tipsily tried to brag to me about how she was pursuing a not so prestigious degree at a sub-par college. Needless to say, I wasn't particularly impressed. I just kind of awkwardly sat there in the middle of it all, soaking in the alcohol-perforated air and observing everyone's behavior, almost like a sociologist at work in the field. In the end, I simply looked at it like this: they were having fun and enjoying themselves, I wasn't. It's not a question of one of us being better than the other, our minds are just constructed differently, simply that.
That's generally the main occasion I use to symbolize my relationship with the general attitude of my generation. However, sometimes there are gaps in the thick awkwardness that permeates that relationship. Sometimes I look at people dancing, or singing, or partying, or just having fun, and I think, "Huh. I should try that some time." Sometimes these gaps in the awkwardness comes at large occasions, other times at small occasions. The smaller occasions always seem to connect with me the best. For instance, this evening, I was yet again laying on my bed in my dorm while my buddies Matt and Steve were hanging out across the room. Matt was interested in how to "wop." I'm still not really sure what that is, but I guess it's a kind of dance. After watching a short instructional video, he started wopping right there on the rug in the middle of the dorm. I have to admit, for a skinny, hairy, Jewish white boy from the more affluent hills of Pittsburgh, the guy's got some smooth moves.
I look at little things like that, and I think back to times where I've just cut loose and did something silly and fun like that. I remember going to proms where I'd start raving like a maniac and dancing until my rented tux shirt was soaked. I remember at my senior prom, I took my darling Megan with me, and we absolutely lost it. We were both head-banging to Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," screaming in each other's faces to "You Shook Me All Night Long" by AC/DC. It was one of the happiest nights of my life, and I am so blessed to have been able to share that with her. It makes me think that beneath my hardened, old-timey, crusty old shell, there's actually a capacity to cut loose and just live life like it's a big party. Though I'll always believe that propriety, dignity, and social finesse are an important part of a successful life, there are few things more integral to a life in general than the ability to just let yourself go; to just run wild and a beautiful night with the only person in whole wide world that you love; to be able to swing them back and forth in a hot, poorly ventilated gym to the greatest songs of twenty and thirty years ago; to be able to not give a damn in all the world for what anyone thinks and just be able to love and have fun, right there in the midst of a couple hundred of your peers. That's what life can truly be about at times.
No matter how serious of a person you are, even if you're an old tight-wad like I can be sometimes, you can never forget that that is what truly makes life beautiful. The spice of life is every now and then living like you don't care, living like life's a party, living like tonight's the last night to ever be. Don't relegate yourself to the corner all the time. You don't have to go out and get wasted and make an ass out of your drunken self, no, not at all. But every now and then, don't be afraid to just get out there on the dance-floor and just be whatever you want. Every now and then, play some stupid, shallow Top 40 song on YouTube and just dance in the middle of your room to it. It's things like these that add a sort of beauty to life that can't really be replicated with many other things.
My sincerest regards,
Brandon
Thursday, July 25, 2013
An Evening with Depression - A Strange State of Mind in Which All Things Are Dreadful and Yet Thought-Provoking
I suppose this is my inaugural post on my blog. As of yet, I haven't really let my deeper thoughts out to people. I'm making my first post about something I don't typically entrust to the common person. Most of the time, I keep my depression pretty under-the-radar from people. During the winter of 2012-2013, I was diagnosed with major depressive disorder. Along with the depression, there have been the effects of anxiety, and a professional I am seeing is even thinking it may be a form of PTSD. I may look like everything's fine on the outside, folks, but on the inside, there are things that I'd probably never want tell anyone about.
This evening has been a tough one. I'm attending summer session at Penn State University in University Park, Pennsylvania. It's a pretty nice place, really. I love the sense of community here, I love the academia, I love the school spirit. Though unfortunately I've not been as social here as I would ideally want to be, I still find ways to enjoy myself. I spend time with my roommate and my friend from next door. I've been spending a fair amount of time reading in some of the more idyllic places on campus (the garden under the cantilever of the Millenium Science Complex is such a wonderful spot and allowed me to immerse myself in the lion's share of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World). However, despite all this, this evening still managed to be a tough one.
This evening has been a tough one. I'm attending summer session at Penn State University in University Park, Pennsylvania. It's a pretty nice place, really. I love the sense of community here, I love the academia, I love the school spirit. Though unfortunately I've not been as social here as I would ideally want to be, I still find ways to enjoy myself. I spend time with my roommate and my friend from next door. I've been spending a fair amount of time reading in some of the more idyllic places on campus (the garden under the cantilever of the Millenium Science Complex is such a wonderful spot and allowed me to immerse myself in the lion's share of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World). However, despite all this, this evening still managed to be a tough one.
I never really externalize anything that I feel when the effects of my depression/anxiety/what-have-you hit me, and tonight wasn't much different. My buddy from next door -- a big, happy-go-lucky kind of guy named Steve -- came over and was watching videos with my roommate -- a lanky, quiet, but still good-humored guy from Pittsburgh named Matt. They're both great guys, and I sincerely consider them my friends already. However, while they were enjoying themselves with YouTube, Vine, and whatnot, I was off someplace else. Physically, I was just laying on my bed, glancing out the window, and running my fingers along the plastic slats of my window fan (almost like I was daring the gray blades of the fan to come and bite my fingertips like the vicious dog that lives in the backyard of the house down on the corner in our childhood). Emotionally, however, it was like I was adrift on a tiny raft in the middle of the Pacific.
My emotions consisted of the following ingredients:
2 cups (heaping), loneliness
1 1/5 cup, self-doubt
My emotions consisted of the following ingredients:
2 cups (heaping), loneliness
1 1/5 cup, self-doubt
1 1/5 cup, being convinced that I'll never make new friends here
8 fl. oz, irritation at things I shouldn't be irritated at
2 handfuls, "God, I wish I could just go somewhere and do something."
1 tbsp, guilt
1 pinch, pure granulated "Why the hell doesn't this medication work"
Mix all together and heat at 8000 °C in the "General Depression Symptoms Oven 5000 by KitchenAid."
OK, I'll admit, even I chuckled at that. But all joking and metaphors aside, I was in a pretty rough state. For some reason, I felt incredibly distant from everyone here at Penn State. I felt like I would never make any friends here. For some reason, I kept getting this vibe that people didn't like me, that I was for some reason weird, or unattractive. This bothered me so much that I went to the bathroom down the hall and trimmed my beard because I thought it made me look too old and unpopular. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm proud of my beard. You can tell I was messed up.
Even after this trimming, I came back and laid on my bed, still glancing out the window. I'd see people outside Simmons Hall, all walking with all their friends. There were sporty, attractive boys wearing $70 Hollister shirts or over-sized sports teams tank-tops. Their hair was cut short, without character or flair. All the same. Their faces were rusted into a sort of self-confident, self-sure sneer. These sneers were clearly found attractive by the sporty, attractive girls who walked with them. They all wore shorts too short and shirts with neck-lines too deep. "Hey, boyssss, take a nice look at my ass and my tits. Welcome to college, boysss." Though I inwardly resent things like that, there are times -- times like today -- where I think to myself, "Dammit, why can't I be like that? Why can't I be a complete dickbag with no regard for the respect of women and not a care in the world for my education? What the hell are ethics? What the hell is modesty? Those things don't matter when I've got all these friends." I think that the way people my age act is at times really, truly stupid, but at the same time... I'm inevitably drawn to it. It's almost like a moth to a bug-light. It's a damnably stupid move to go towards it, and yet... It's so beautiful, so alluring, so tantalizing... And then I stop myself and notice the electrified metal frame around that pretty light. I notice the charred exoskeletons of all my little bug buddies who went toward that pretty purple light and got fried because it was all a joke. Keep your path, Mr. Benner. You might be a moth, but you're a smart moth. Keep moving.
I found myself falling into more of an inward struggle as night fell. The loneliness persisted, and though my two friends across the dorm were enjoying themselves and having fun, I couldn't feel that I could be a part of it tonight. I hid myself under the guise of typing a paper for my rhetoric class. In reality, I just had my laptop open and was completely zoned out, lost in a sort of psychological twilight zone. That tends to happen, FYI. With this cocktail of depression, there are times when I just sort of lose focus and get drawn off into la-la land. Of course, it's not la-la land, it's sadness-and-misery land. Then, to put it colloquially, the shit hit the fan. My girlfriend and I had an issue involving the administration of a comedy page we run on Facebook. There was a mistake made, and there were some momentarily serious issues I had to address. We had a sort of falling out for the evening over it. Now, not only was I sipping that bitter, bitter cocktail (or rather cake, I suppose) of emotions from earlier, I was tossing in a few extra spikes of anger, guilt, sadness, and frustration. By the time things settled down, it was after midnight. She and I both decided it was best for us both to cool down for the night and said good night to each other.
This leads me to where I am now. As I type this sentence, it is 2:09 AM (EST) on July 25th, 2013. For the past hour-and-a-half or so, I've been laying here, basically a stagnant pool of emotion. The pool is full. It's all there: all that sadness and frustration and loneliness and worthlessness. But it's not going anywhere. It's not hurting me. It's just sitting there, stagnant. I feel that as long as I am conscious, the stagnating will persist. I find that the only thing that can really release me from the effects of my depression is sleep. Thus, I will press that ever-trusty reset button and turn in for the night. In conclusion, forgive me that this was all so long and rambling. It's been a long and rambling sort of night. Hope you've gained a degree of insight into what actually happens in my mind.
8 fl. oz, irritation at things I shouldn't be irritated at
2 handfuls, "God, I wish I could just go somewhere and do something."
1 tbsp, guilt
1 pinch, pure granulated "Why the hell doesn't this medication work"
Mix all together and heat at 8000 °C in the "General Depression Symptoms Oven 5000 by KitchenAid."
OK, I'll admit, even I chuckled at that. But all joking and metaphors aside, I was in a pretty rough state. For some reason, I felt incredibly distant from everyone here at Penn State. I felt like I would never make any friends here. For some reason, I kept getting this vibe that people didn't like me, that I was for some reason weird, or unattractive. This bothered me so much that I went to the bathroom down the hall and trimmed my beard because I thought it made me look too old and unpopular. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm proud of my beard. You can tell I was messed up.
Even after this trimming, I came back and laid on my bed, still glancing out the window. I'd see people outside Simmons Hall, all walking with all their friends. There were sporty, attractive boys wearing $70 Hollister shirts or over-sized sports teams tank-tops. Their hair was cut short, without character or flair. All the same. Their faces were rusted into a sort of self-confident, self-sure sneer. These sneers were clearly found attractive by the sporty, attractive girls who walked with them. They all wore shorts too short and shirts with neck-lines too deep. "Hey, boyssss, take a nice look at my ass and my tits. Welcome to college, boysss." Though I inwardly resent things like that, there are times -- times like today -- where I think to myself, "Dammit, why can't I be like that? Why can't I be a complete dickbag with no regard for the respect of women and not a care in the world for my education? What the hell are ethics? What the hell is modesty? Those things don't matter when I've got all these friends." I think that the way people my age act is at times really, truly stupid, but at the same time... I'm inevitably drawn to it. It's almost like a moth to a bug-light. It's a damnably stupid move to go towards it, and yet... It's so beautiful, so alluring, so tantalizing... And then I stop myself and notice the electrified metal frame around that pretty light. I notice the charred exoskeletons of all my little bug buddies who went toward that pretty purple light and got fried because it was all a joke. Keep your path, Mr. Benner. You might be a moth, but you're a smart moth. Keep moving.
I found myself falling into more of an inward struggle as night fell. The loneliness persisted, and though my two friends across the dorm were enjoying themselves and having fun, I couldn't feel that I could be a part of it tonight. I hid myself under the guise of typing a paper for my rhetoric class. In reality, I just had my laptop open and was completely zoned out, lost in a sort of psychological twilight zone. That tends to happen, FYI. With this cocktail of depression, there are times when I just sort of lose focus and get drawn off into la-la land. Of course, it's not la-la land, it's sadness-and-misery land. Then, to put it colloquially, the shit hit the fan. My girlfriend and I had an issue involving the administration of a comedy page we run on Facebook. There was a mistake made, and there were some momentarily serious issues I had to address. We had a sort of falling out for the evening over it. Now, not only was I sipping that bitter, bitter cocktail (or rather cake, I suppose) of emotions from earlier, I was tossing in a few extra spikes of anger, guilt, sadness, and frustration. By the time things settled down, it was after midnight. She and I both decided it was best for us both to cool down for the night and said good night to each other.
This leads me to where I am now. As I type this sentence, it is 2:09 AM (EST) on July 25th, 2013. For the past hour-and-a-half or so, I've been laying here, basically a stagnant pool of emotion. The pool is full. It's all there: all that sadness and frustration and loneliness and worthlessness. But it's not going anywhere. It's not hurting me. It's just sitting there, stagnant. I feel that as long as I am conscious, the stagnating will persist. I find that the only thing that can really release me from the effects of my depression is sleep. Thus, I will press that ever-trusty reset button and turn in for the night. In conclusion, forgive me that this was all so long and rambling. It's been a long and rambling sort of night. Hope you've gained a degree of insight into what actually happens in my mind.
My sincerest regards,
Brandon
Brandon
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