Youthful Life: X

The 20s are all about saying see you soon. Departures and goodbyes don't get any easier as you get older. In fact I would argue that they only become more and more difficult as your relationships become deeper and more substantial. Getting to know people on sincere levels of authenticity, vulnerable, and honesty is something I have to cherish and value the older I have become. Letting them go for both us of us to move on have never been more tumultuous. We grow. We grow up. We grow out. The kids are alright.  "It is both a blessing and a curse to feel everything so deeply" It wasn't until recently that I come to understand some semblance of what my parents meant when they said that they spend every waking moment thinking about us [their kids]. Through work, running errands, and even their relationship as partners at the back of their minds, if not the forefront, pass our faces and our plights. With five us, it must sometimes be overwhelming to have so many peop...

The 20s are a about getting perspective. It is a refreshing thing to remember what matters most to you. It's so easy to get caught up in the everyday chaos of life and lose sight of the essentials. Take a look around and recognize how absolutely overwhelmingly big the world is. Pause, and think to yourself what makes your world go round. The tough thing is both points of view mean something to each and every one of us. It's a twisty turny wild ride - hold tight. It seems like there are infallible truths that I hold on to. It's these facts that I believe to be true about the world. Life never ceases to amaze me with how unpredictable it can be. Even more so is how much I find myself wanting to hold on to those pieces of truth even though I know they are not impervious to the everyday haphazard occurrences that I encounter. As someone who finds themselves clinging on to the safety and reliability of routines, in so many ways, coming to terms with actualities of differe...

The 20s are all about rallying. People love to have something or someone to rally around. It's what we do. We organize, come together, and throw our support behind things and people that we care about. It's an awe-inspiring phenomenon to see in full force à la protests, boycotts, and sit-ins but also in small ways like groups of people hanging out, videos going viral, and successful fundraising efforts. There is something to be said about being part of those groups, but even more so what does it mean to be part of that centrality. That's where it becomes regency. As a kid I imagined myself almost always to be a prince. I never wanted to be king, just a prince. I liked the extravagance of royalty, the power that implicitly comes with it, and the recognition that comes with it. I loved playing Age of Empires - a strategic came about conquering civilizations in everyone's disturbingly violent way ... warfare. Many a Friday night in high school was spend firing cannons...

The 20s are all about figuring out how to be okay. We spend so much time trying to make everything perfect or to go a certain way when we could save time and effort in being content with things just being okay. Not absolutely amazing but not horrible either, just an average day. I know we're supposed to strive to make everyday worthwhile, but that doesn't necessarily mean being out of this world legendary. That's completely unrealistic and that leaves us pursuing an unattainable goal instead of relishing in the great things that happen to us each and everyday. Why then do find ways to complicate things? Why do we hold back when it comes to just being ? What have we got to lose? It's the same dumb excuses. This week was inclusive language where some of my campus's organizations challenged the community to examine not only the language they used but the effects of those words (ghetto, fag, gay, biddie, raped, retarded, A.D.D. etc.). Take it back to Tuesday (aka t...

The 20s are all about finding the good in everything. It can be so very easy to become in college. It's hipster this, anti-mainstream that, and down with the government, anarchy rules, young, wild and free everything. Some people say that college is where you unlearn the social indoctrinations we've endured through our K-12 education. All the historical heroes that were once saints turn out to be patriarchy proponents with deep dark unsightly secrets and half the time were just attributed with an accomplishment as opposed to actually having done it. It's the world you've lived in for the entirety of your life is nothing but one big-ass lie. It's no wonder that some of us have trust issues, and yet we still have to go with it. How do we get back to that carefree optimistic outlook? What stops us from being happy? No matter how hard we try, we can't avoid it forever. We're running out of reasons. There are so many times where I just want to go crazy. I d...

* This is the 300th blog post. Thanks to all those who read "the Youthful Life: Goes College" - I greatly appreciate it. Giving advice with my own brand of humor and sharing stories of my ridiculous teenage life has been an amazing time. Continue to read up, and I'll keep writing. Yours truly, Joey O. Being a teenager is all about working hard and having time for fun as well. I'll be the first to admit that I really do not do much of that second part. With all the classes, homework, reading (does that count as homework) and club obligliations I have, I just don't have time other than sleeping or eating to relax. Is that a problem, uhm, hell yeah. All work and no play makes Joey a mess for the entire day. Get ready for how to destress, have some genuine fun during the school week and sweat it on out. It's high time we let loose a little. There are so many things I do that not only bring me stress like Annie's "90210" season 1 freak out mome...