February 8th 2009

Public Library

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Life has a way of telling you things.

Often in subtle ways but very rarely with such audacity.

Palahniuk's Invisible Monsters had been collecting a fair amount of dust on my bookshelf. I had borrowed it among a dozen I intended to devour over the coming month.

Upon flipping the cover I came across this post-it that someone had conveniently placed inside. What was more surprising was the contents of the message on the post-it.

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They say it takes a minute to meet someone.

An hour to appreciate them.

A day to love them.

But an entire life to forget them.

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I don't know who you are.

Nor do I really want to know.

I do not know your pain.

I do not not know of your reasons why.

But what I do know is that you have spoken your truth.

You've helped me realize something I should have figured a long time ago.

Not just within the content of that message.

But something more inherent and transparent to all others but me.

Where are you?

The frailty of human interrelations and the sweetness of such finite moments lay as the standard exchange for the privilege of such fleeting emotions in return for a life of regret and unwanted circumstance.

To replay each minute, hour, and day in which we met, appreciated and loved. You say to me it takes an entire life to forget. But I say an entire life is much to short to even begin to comprehend the depths of such exchanges between two that are in love within a single framed moment in time.

We evolve within each other. Sooner than later... we become one.

But here we are.

Apart.

... an entire life to forget them.

Thank you mysterious stranger~

"The brick walls are there for a reason.

They're not there to keep us out.

The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something."

From "The Last Lecture"

Dr. Randy Pausch

(p 51-52)

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We were sitting on the curb of Ring Road in front of Felicitas. Min Gyu sat there staring at the dark expanse of sky with stars that crowned our heads that night.

I remember telling him about my visit to the Dean of Chemistry that very afternoon. How I would be unable to take Biochemistry 300. How my dreams of becoming a medical doctor were being blocked by this man that would not let me register for this course.

With all the liquid courage he could muster from our imbued beers at Felicitas, he told me that he could see me doing nothing else.

Min Gyu... you stood up as my best friend that night.

I never forgot the lessons I had learned from Biochemistry. The Dean eventually took a chance and let me in. It took a lot of convincing and the spewing of many empty and false promises. But in the end... there was a way.

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"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity."

From "The Last Lecture"

Dr. Randy Pausch

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There is no such thing as "luck".

There is no such thing as "the best thing".

There is only destiny to fulfill.

When you shed enough blood, sweat and tears. The rest will simply follow. Build your foundations in prayer. Buffer your requests with action. Your blood, sweat and tears are the currency with which you pay for the realization of dreams and the fruition of life's possibilities.

How bad do you want it?

How far will you go to achieve your dreams?

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Be the hopeless romantic.

Sing those obnoxiously optimistic songs.

Smile with reckless abandon for each and every convinction.

Then smile for no reason.

Jump into puddles.

Never just simply put popcorn into your mouth.

Always lob it in.

Fart without abandon or discretion.

Burp like you damn well mean it.

Paint this damn world red.

And weep at its sheer beauty.

Love...

Foolishly lose it.

Then cherish its finite traces in your memory.

Follow your heart.

Strengthen it with your mind.

Then let your soul take you there.

But always remember...

Live hard...

... but dream harder.