THIS I BELIEVE

“Tell me a secret,”. This kind of vulnerability is molded from years of pressing one another into a stringent, cold pan of a relationship. But not ours. An instant snap, a click, a spark of something more, that I would never give anything less to. Something so flexible, yet indestructible. We ramble in foreign languages together. We are spontaneous together. We trust each other. We are honest to one another. And ourselves. I noticed this shift far after it became noticeable, so I began way behind to begin with. But I think we both did. Because we were actually living. You should care about what other people think in order to grow, not to demean yourself. Be cautious but don’t take any precautions. Stop adhering to what mandatory’s rhetoric dictates. Find something worth living for. The car was warm when I lowered myself into the blackness and onto the seat. “What’re you up to?” he asked, for probably the thirty-seventh time. Why is ‘nothing’ an acceptable – or even expected - response? At almost any given point in one’s life you can say ‘blinking’ or ‘breathing’ or in the very least ‘living’. Or can you? How often do you actually feel your heartbeat, or someone else’s? Or breathe in the one am air that is just so fresh? Or drive down the roads you’ve never been? Or ask your crush to get engaged to you? Okay, maybe not that last one, unless your life is an awkward teen movie. Like mine is. I blurred out his flaws with a magnifying glass over my own. It was one thirty am on a Saturday. We watched the moon. We talked about our lives. For the next date we spoke in accents and dressed up to go to Borders. At the Gristmill, alone, we watched a philosophy video clip. We were falling fast and hard, as if there was no consequence. Being a romantic is reviving and the spontaneity can render you in awe at what you may find. But there is a downside: embarrassment. What happens when a girl with her heart on her sleeve meets a boy who asks her to speak her mind? Well, I’ll tell you: a chance at something real. I believe in honesty, both to yourself and to others. I believe that it is better to not hide your character in fear of what other people may think because that is who you are and you should never be ashamed of that. Living a lie is a waste of life. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I believe in pulpy orange juice. It’s natural. Why strain out what makes you who you are? Why filter yourself to fit some selective personal preferences? Imagine living unrestrained. Think about how refreshingly zealous that could feel. Be more than the change you wish to see in the world and don’t just wish the world would change you. Have conviction. Start embracing the idea of pulpy orange juice.