There are thousands of ways to define death, and every single version is valid and plausible. My personal definition of death is simple- it’s when you’re no longer alive. Which begs the question, what does it mean to be alive?
When you’re truly alive, you’re a wild child with thousands of different emotions whizzing around your head like you just broke a beehive. You show off your scraped knees like they’re fancy cars, you sing too loudly, you stare right into the sun. You do things because you feel like doing them, because you want to, simply because they can be done.
I should say that I’m not encouraging you to adopt unhealthy habits or engage in illicit behavior, please, for both my sake and yours- don’t. But I am saying that we all should start slashing down our fears. Our fears of being stung, going bankrupt and getting heartbroken typically end up doing far more harm than actually getting stung, going bankrupt and enduring heartbreak. It’s these fears that tell us not to go camping and experience the beauty of nature, because, well, we might get stung! These fears are the reasons why we work long hours (to evade bankruptcy) and become naturally untrusting to those who show us affection (fear makes you think: I won’t be heartbroken if I don’t have a heart!) As a result, our fears turn us into the worst versions of ourselves- unloving slaves to work that never go out. And, are we really alive when it gets to that point? Our fears do more then harm. They’ll kill us if we let them.
I’m gonna finish off with something lighter. You know that saying that “life is a box of chocolates”? I know you’re rolling your eyes, but just bear with me for a minute. There’s a lot of truth to that. Life is gonna be the longest thing we’ll ever do, and even so, so much stuff can be left undiscovered. I think that yes, life is a box of chocolates, and they’re all there for your sampling. You might come across some trashy flavors, but it’s not likely you’ll have to eat them again. You don’t know what to expect, but there is a 50/50 chance that the chocolate you’re eating is good or bad. You shouldn’t agonize over which chocolate is the tastiest or which one has the most calories. You should just try to eat as many chocolates as you can before you get full.
Sometimes, your instinct will just tell you to do something. Like an idea will pop into your head, and your brain will just force you to follow it. In your intuition, you know that this idea just feels right. This phenomenon happened to me on the day this photo was taken, where I dyed my hair four different colors. Yep, four colors. Cyan, Blue, Hot Pink, and Magenta. It sounded crazy at first, and the more “logical” side of my brain completely rejected the idea of me going through with this style, but the other part of me was just nagging me to do it. So, I succumbed to the latter and decided to have my hair cut short and dyed. It was daring for me to pull off crazy hairstyles like this, but it gave me a rush of adrenaline and the sort of chill that I liked. In the end, it worked out really well. I was incredibly pleased with the vibrancy of the colors, and how none of them damaged my hair. For a while, my hair was a reminder to do more daring things and trust my instincts.