Braxton

I heard sirens last night around midnight and I didn't think anything of it. They meant nothing to me, however those sirens were the sound of a family's life changing forever.

Last night a group of kids were being kids, driving around being reckless and there was an accident. This accident was a tragedy, a loss of a young life. A car lost control and rolled and Braxton was taken from us.

Braxton was supposed to have a life and go to college and have heartbreak and find out he can't stand his Indian physics teacher who barely speaks English. He was supposed to make mistakes and have adventures and get married and have kids and teach them things. He was supposed to change and grow, have a full life. .. .. But this world is a sad strange broken place. Happy endings have become a rarity and things don't go how they are supposed to.

While Braxton's story was cut short, the story of his family and friends still goes on. And what gets me the most is that forever in their stories will be this gapping hole where a whole person was ripped out. This tragedy will become a focal point of these people's life, it will be the thing they look back to, the thing they will think of everyday, the thing they wish they could take back. But once pages are ripped out, or ink is splattered across a page, they can not be undone.

As humans we find ourselves asking why, why does this happen, and perhaps there was no reason why this happened, but letting this happen and not attempting to draw meaning from it is an insult and a waste.

So from this tragedy I have derived my purpose. I will live my life to the fullest and extract all I can from each day. I will do the things Braxton was not able to. I will not go to bed angry and I will tell those who I care about what they mean to me. Life is fragile and always changing, things and plans should not be put off because we are not promised any amount of time.

I suggest you do the same.

Tell someone you love them

-Justin

Summer

Why is the youth of today so full of sadness? Why are social networks overflowing with words that cry out for help and song lyrics expressing depression? Why do we weep for our summer and drag ourselves through the week to every weekend?

We are broken because we aren't free, we are stuck chasing "the dream" fed to us, get good grades and read lifeless books because they will get you to college were you a free to be happy, but wait focus in college because a job is necessary for happiness, get your job and get your wife and pay your taxes because you are stuck here and your youth has abandoned you.

We are children who are meant to be learning trough our OWN experiences, not being force fed the overdone reused description of adventure. We need our own stories, our own adventures, our own mistakes. How does one acquire life experience and originality when our most impressionable years are signed away to someone else?

We've had our wings cut and feet shackled and we are stuck. But don't be discouraged, because the year is ending and summer will save us.

Make a pact that you will be different, you will have adventures and scars and stories to tell. You will have a life that is your own, forget those who try to stand in your way. Be different, be happy.

Summer is coming

Toninfinityandbeyond

Juan

Mistakes

Derby Kansas

A small place where kids are raised. A place with Sunday schools and playgrounds. A place where news spreads at the speed of light. Even the weather is mild (thanks to the Indians).

Derby is small and comfortable and generally nice. It's been a nice place to grow and to learn but I feel like I have outgrown my home.

In no way do I think I am better than Derby, and I'm not deluded to think that I am an adult who has a life plan and aspirations to read the newspaper and wear suspenders. I know that I am still a child, but when does a child become an adult? Does living 365 days make you exactly one year wiser? Because I know many adults still immature and I know children wiser than most adults.

Age is just a number (I hate numbers) it means nothing, what is truly important is what you do in the days between each age. What you invest your time in, who you invest your time in.

This idea is what brought me to the conclusion that I need more experiences. Not even necessarily good ones but experiences that break me and change me because I need to grow. I need to get out and learn new words and meet new people. I need to learn how to deal with insurance companies and change a tire and drive stick. I need to get stuck on the side of the road without a phone and a realistic fear of being murdered. Maybe I need to make mistakes.

At the end I want stories to tell and scars to show, I want a full life.

Gonna travel the world

- Juuuuuustin

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(I realize this is half incoherent and scrambled, but it's been awhile I'M SORRY OK, I don't feel like rewriting or reading it again. Hashtag sorry not sorry)

Perception

Here we all are, doing things to make people we don't even like think we have our lives together. We spend our time polishing our resumes, and painting on a look of happiness and success. For who? Other equally confused people?

We care more about how we are perceived than how we truly are. I would rather have a life of misinterpreted good intentions than a life of selfish motives disguised by their inherent goodness.

This society of competition and scramble for "success" has ruined any chance of reaching out for help. And it's gross, it's gross that a child can't tell their parents that they feel broken, it's gross that friends can't tell friends that they need help. Why the hell are we here if it's not to help each other? We're here to grow from each other and fix each other, we're to help each other make it through this loud place we are in.

I'm tired of trying to look like I know what I'm doing, really I have no idea who I am or who I want to be. I don't know what I want to do with my life I don't know where I'm going, and I'm ok with it. I'm just a person with no idea where he's going I'm guessing at every turn, sometimes it feels messy and disorganized and sometimes sad but if I've ever learned anything, it's from Mrs. Frizzle.

"Take chances, make mistakes, get messy!"

Don't live inside the box, sometimes even if you know it is a mistake, you don't really know it is a mistake until you make it. And you can't learn if there is nothing to learn from.

I don't remember what I've written, maybe there's something good in it?

I'll leave you with my favorite Tumblr quote

"Not all those who wander are lost"

Thanks for listening... Reading? Go back, read this out loud ......

Thanks for listening

- JuAn KeEm