Ten Minute Break: interesting

You could be boring.

You could stop doing all the things you do to get along with other people. You could stop drinking, smoking, and staying out late. You could sleep early, stay sober, and simply say no.

You could let all the opportunities slide away, far from your grasp. The chances to meet new people, make new friends, and hopefully get laid. You could relinquish many of these chances for one purpose: to gain a firmer grasp on what you know you want.

You could do what you've always been strongly against, which is to cut out the extra, get rid of the mixing, and make an attempt at purity.

But you wouldn't really be going against your principles (to mix, to embrace impurities, and to always stay connected). You'd simply be wiping the slate clean. Clearing off the desk.

The externalities are important, but it is also important to know which outside influences actually make contact with the heart, the soul, and the mind. It is easy to get confused. Look back and ask yourself, what have these elements done for me and my wants? Framing everything this way, things become a little clearer.

I once wrote an article and tried something different with it. I wrote roman numerals between every paragraph, trying to play with chronology and narrative. It might have worked, but I simply hadn't put enough thought into it. The theory was there, but the execution was lacking. My friend asked me again and again, what do these roman numerals do? He told me they were annoying and that I should remove them. I think I sort of grasped what he was saying when I asked him, "Is it pretentious, and therefore useless?" Is it pointing, but never really moving towards the place? Is it holding a cigarette in one hand, a glass of scotch in the other; is it loud and aggressive, pushy and insistent; is it quiet, reserved, and ultimately shallow?

You could be boring.

And love it.