Life is an interesting, unpredictable, puzzling, amazing journey. It is filled with memorable fun times, as well as inescapable hardships. One that gives us moments of clarity, along with moments of endless insanity. Our journey is on a windy road, at an unclear time with no known destination.
This journey is like a roller coaster you didn’t expect to sit down in, but there you, next to all your friends, family, acquaintances, enemies, lovers, exes, everyone. And as this coaster begins you can’t help but look around as they all get ready for the first drop. Some raise their hands. Some hold on, swearing under their breath. And some flat out don’t seem to notice as they daydream into the clouds they ascend towards.
As for me, well I just give my vocal cords a run for their money.
And what perplexes me the most is that no roller coaster is made equal. Descending from the front, I watch as so many people push their faces to the seat ahead of their own. Pushing and shoving the other passengers in their same row, the arrogance of needing the wind to hit their own face first is relentless. Yet only a few look down and realize the only way to the next row means leaving everything behind and leaping before the next loop de loop. And even fewer are willing to try.
And as so many of these people continue to push and shove throughout the ride, with no real progress ever made, the people in the very front continue to smile with ignorance. It’s not their fault. Who would think to turn around when the only direction they are told to look is ahead?
Privilege is odd. Life is odder. Because until the roller coaster is redesigned, and columns become rows, life will never begin equal. But until that day, I challenge you to think and to relax. Because what only a few realize, is that just because you have the clearest view, doesn’t mean it’s the most enjoyable. Sometimes the whiplash, the bouncing, and the extended sense of zero gravity from the back can create a joy that is never talked about, but only felt.