Youth’s Value

Being old is becoming increasingly underrated. How young you are does not determine how experienced you are, as there could be an elderly person that has faced little to no hardship in their life while there is a child that has undergone wars and family problems. That doesn’t necessarily mean that they are wiser and more experienced, but they do know things that the elder doesn’t know. The elderly can sometimes be stubborn because of their seeming conception on life, but with the changing times, no knowledge is permanent. On the flip side, children are considered inexperienced and are not called upon for help, as their small body and little strength would not fare well in dangerous situations, but there are definitely time when a child can help. For example, an innocent problem that needs some silly resolutions would need the help of a child. Imagination and creativity blossom in the young years, but why is that considered silly? It’s not as if the most successful people think out of the box. Being old and being young are two opposites that both need some more respect. 

Countless of people consider their most beautiful time during their early 20s, as their skin is much nicer than it will progressively get. Youth drools out of people around that age, but why is it valued? Why do we feel the need to look younger and vibrant? Why aren’t wrinkled considered beautiful? It is most likely because of the problems that are associated with age that make this so. Age means creaking bones and lack of energy, but a more active mind and more potential energy. Though retirees have the easy life, it is still riddled with problems like aching bones and demolishing health. Everyone has problems that deal with age, but the ones elders face seem much harder and are less favorable than having emotional issues or family problems.

Children strive to grow older and more mature faster because it seems like there is a lot of freedom that is associated with age, but in reality, responsibility arrives and freedom seems like nothing. When you are responsible, rather than an outside source telling you what to do, you have an inward desire to please, qualify, or even survive. You are free from restraints that tell you to do something at a certain time, but you are not free when you are required to do something by yourself. Looking forward to this time is something many children do, but it would be better if they just enjoyed their childhood rather than look to the future.

The teenage years are often described as “the best years of my life”. This is most likely because there are not that many things required out of you, besides school, and you can still get away with a lot of things. Parents can clean and finance for you, and you are able to live life as an adolescent with more freedom. With these great things, some downfalls must come. Teens are just transitioning to the adult life and are starting to bear the weight of being held accountable for their own actions. With their own set of thoughts, you can no longer be considered cute when a mistake is made. Being liberated also means that when some serious things have to be done, it is not always done. Also known as the rebellious stage, teenagers often confront their parents as restricting, which is not true. All parents wish for their children to be happy but stay within their limits, which means some rules for these years. 

An adult is in the middle stage, no longer able to pass as a child or get senior discounts at museums. It is often the time of the most responsibility, with kids that need to be taken care of or parents that need to be pleased. Finances, social lives, and children worry these people the most, and they want to either be a child with no responsibilities or an elder with even less worries.

Each age has its turmoil, but really we should be grateful as each one passes us. The perks and downfalls of each age are not always apparent to us, but looking back, they are. Every year teaches us with new lessons, and every age provides new experiences, and regretting won’t help at all. Living for the future is much more pleasant than regretting the past. On that note, I remembered a little passage from who knows where, and it goes like this, “To have fun, you need three things. Energy, money, and time. When we are children, we have the energy and time, but we do not have the money. When we are adults, we have the money and the energy, but we do not have the time. When we are old, we have the money and the time, but we do not have the energy.” 

But I’m Innocent!

Can one no longer stay a jewel
a beautiful, glowing bead?
Is there some torrented mischief
in every single seed?

Can we no longer not know things,
and still get on just fine?
Do we need to be perverted
every single time?

Is a child no longer precious,
divine, just or nice?
Are we all supposed to know
every grain of rice?

Can we be pure and gold
with every word we say?
Is innocence even possible
especially today?

Appearance Shouldn’t Matter

How we look is something we worry about constantly, looking into windows to check if our hair is perfect or pulling out little mirrors in the subway to check our makeup. Of course, this applies to males too, checking to make sure they look physically appealing, but why? Does anything artificial and exterior really matter in the end? We all die and become skeletons, each and every one the same to an untrained eye. Even the next day, or in a few hours, we can totally change what society thinks about us by simply taking off makeup and changing some clothes. Nothing is permanent when it is exposed to the elements, so why should we treat it like so? Though it can form a lasting memory, more impressions of character and morality are formed after the initial meeting. So why are people attached to the concept of a perfect body and a perfect complexion?

Fashion is an especially major part of appearance. From shoes to dresses, major money can be spent over something that will disappear in a few decades. Every change in the industry is to provoke the desire to spend or plan on spending. Thrifting can lead to less spending, but cutting the care for appearance leads to even greater income. YouTube and the Internet is changing the way clothing is distributed and potentially leading to a more speedy delivery system, leading to more and more wants. In addition to clothing, there are accessories such as hats, jewelry, and shoes, anything other than items to cover the body. The changing varieties only added to the desires. Women seem to get the worse end of the deal, their fashion sections double the size of men’s, the temptation being twice as great. The men have sporting goods to worry about, however, their shoes ranging from $50-150 when the only difference can be the label. Of course, when men have to get fancy, their suits and ties can cost a lot of money as well. Both sexes have to worry about appeasing each other, though that’s not how it should be.

Other material things are also utilized to make others jealous of lives that are different from ours. Cars and mansions, video games and furniture, all to show everyone that they were fortunate and that they were better than someone else. The material things seem to be more important than proving that our personality is moral and that we are good people. Does impressing friends with video game high scores or lavish houses really mean that much to us that every spare coin we use is to those causes? How can toy guns or trophies help change the world or achieve any goal in life? As a pastime, they are great ways to pass time, but to use every moment of our existence on those petty standards is absurd and should be stopped, but how can it? The addictiveness is certainly beyond measure, and the qualities that make it so are never ending.

How can we help it if people judge us at interviews on how we look? Why does the ideal employee look as nice as they work? Dressing up for something does show it a certain degree of respect, but can a casual look be achieved without offending anyone? Though getting dolled up may provide a certain level of self esteem, it does mean that society should label the well dressed overachievers and the underdressed underachievers, when it may be the opposite. Albert Einstein’s crazy hair was his trademark, and it didn’t seem like he cared for it when presenting his theories of physics, which leads me to conclude that super achievers are the ones that earn respect through their work and not their appearance. If you can amaze someone beyond understanding and do so while looking sloppy, it doesn’t matter how looks contributed, because they didn’t. 

In conclusion, what we look like and what we see others as should never be used as a standard. The attractiveness of someone could mean that they do not understand this principle, and consider the more beautiful people the good people.  How we judge others should be based on a deeper understanding of their character, which would lead us to most likely admire them.

Underworld

A queen of severed reign,
a king of ravenous crown,
a scepter of dark feign,
down and down and down.

Castles of infinite wealth
but unpleasant voices found,
stuck in eternal health
but crying sobs drowned.

A king and queen upset
with infamy renowned
no pleasantness met
down and down and down.

Asphodel

I tread with lighted toes
on something unseen and bitter.
There I dread with heavier souls
to await my fate with litter.

The world is dark and constraintful
yet I stand solemnly alone.
in a field hauntingly beautiful
and chilling to the bone.

Many stand next to me
shoulder by shoulder we wait.
Constantly awaiting to be free
of our life’s cruel mate.

Waiting for eternity and over
for judgement unknown.
Oh how some wished not to be sober
or over the fields flown.

How we wished for shortcuts
such with our souls sell
for even the ferocious mutts
are in this subsection of hell.

Anti-Semite

PRECAUTION: The following words do not represent my thoughts, just a different, hated perspective.

The sound and noise startles me
but I am not afraid
to say what I really see
that your rope is frayed.

What malice and what sorrow
do I put in these here
to hate you all the morrow
when my time is near

Such a bead of purity
lends me such delight
and with much ferocity
I punish thee with might.

I cannot feel this feeling
or repent this deed
this heart in me is not beating
I am dead indeed.

The Current Unimportance of Love

Finally, another essay.

Marriage is considered increasingly unimportant, divorce becoming a common part of life. Making wise choices in a love life is no longer considered valid, but rather trying every breed seems to be what is in fashion. For example, so many articles have been written about great sex positions or things of that sort, when really the process of reproduction is just that, and not to enjoy it as much as you can or to have pain. Marriage is generally considered a commitment, especially for life, but that isn’t always the case. Time as short as a month can determine the decision of marriage, and it frequently isn’t the correct choice. As many as seven times can example the unlucky lover to society. Divorce can be good in many cases, but some precaution should also be used when agreeing to marriage in the first place. Before marriage, how many times has someone made love? One night together seems much more important than proving that you might be a good match and worthy to live with for the rest of your life. People have started to have sex at a very young age, and it’s shortly after puberty hits so that the decisions are not correct.

The Greeks believed that there were four types of love. Philia is the most basic of love. This is the love between friends, also known as friendship. This love can be chosen from the billions of people on this earth, and can be shared with everyone as well. It is the most common type of love, and not one many admit to all the time. But friendship is a great love, and loyalty is a result of that. There is nothing wrong with this type of love, and can be forged in many ways. Storge is the love between family members, and nothing quite like it can be connected with anyone other than kin. This is probably the first type of love to be experienced, as when you are a child, a parent is someone you look to, a sibling to play with, and other extended family member to learn from. Storge can prove to be lifesaving, and bonds a strong feeling of belonging to your being. Agape is unconditional love, for family and friends alike. This is when you are willing to do anything, even die, for the love to last, and the other person feels the same. This type of love is rare, and devoutly spiritual people may believe that one who unconditionally loves everyone is enlightened. Eros is the last type of love, and the most superficial. This love is sensual and the false love that everyone adores. Many things can be achieved with Eros, but ultimately, it is misleading. The four types of love are what constitutes the filling feeling of warmth in this world.

The first stage of modern love is the dating, or meeting for the first time. This may be the one that has the most uncertainty, and the one with the most tries. People have started to have fun with how they meet people, either by blind date or online agreements. Desperation to conform or please someone erupts as these new methods are experimented with. Success has occurred to the minority of these dates, defined by true love or marriage. Couples at the first stage have even started at ages as young as kindergarten, when their parents value these relationships as cute and so adult-like. The value of a kiss really means nothing at this point, but only the first one matters. Romantic people are no longer frequent, and wild events erupt. The dating can be the most intriguing and wonderful part of a relationship, as it doesn’t require living with the person and seeing them all the time. The second stage, in my opinion, of modern love is actually falling in love, Eros or Agape. Once the couple has fallen in love with each other and they have determined it is lasting (for however brief it may be) they may move on to marriage. How marriage is viewed is only as a third stage of love, but it can be the most tumultuous. Once a couple starts to deal with problems that affect both of them together, arguments can start, but if it is Agape, they will work it out, themselves valuing their love the most.

Amorous love can transcend through genders, as LGBTQ people are becoming ever so frequent. Homophobic people do not understand that love is love, no matter the attraction. If two people truly love one another, they may be together as they like, if they happen to be the same gender or different genders. The absurd nature of homophobes exceeds all logic and enters stubbornness, each and every one “disgusted” by LGBTQ behavior. However, many have supported these people and protected them from the people that hate them. Marriage is for two people that love one another, and some straight couples seem to have less love between them than gay couples do.

Whatever the type of love, it should be cherished as a strong bond between two humans, linking two souls in ways unimaginable by human words. Love cannot be broken, smashed, or even faded, as long as both sides of the relationship are willing to work for their happiness and make it last.

Concentration

I do not wish to offend
or even to depress
but I only wish to see the bend
and earn my own recess.

Success might be the end of me
or the goals I have worked so hard for
but if I could just truly see
it would benefit all the more.

So my heart is not in hurting
especially not to rupt
but this is what I’m saying
can you please shut up.

Another old, cute poem