Passengers

"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born." -- Anais Nin

Friends. They are there when you need them, and not there when you do. You fight, you cry, you laugh, you hug. You hate them and love them at the same time. What makes a true friendship? What keeps us together after months of not speaking or years of friendship? Is it common interests? Common beliefs? A fear of losing the past?

Friendship shouldn't be hard. If you love the person enough, there is so reason to not take a moment out of you day to call or, especially nowdays, send an email, a text message, or a facebook poke. In the four years of university, I've lost about 90% of the friends I had in high school. But I've kept the ones I felt were best for me. But how much control do we really have in chosing our friends? How much of it is fate and how much of it is perseverence?

I have a friend who I met when I was 16. We became close over the last two years of highschool (as it is easy when you have lockers next to each other) but as he stayed in town and I went away we lost touch. Even after I came back into town, we didn't see each other much. But over the last three years we make a point to email each other every few months, catching the other up on what is going on in our lives. We get together and grab coffee, we complain about school, we pump each other up and let the other ask for pity.

So what is keeping us together after all these years? On paper, we shouldn't still be friends. He went to a different college, works a full time job, likes heavy metal, hanging with his girlfriend and jamming. I went to university, spend my time in the library, don't work during the school year and spend my time relaxing in front of the TV to mindless entertainment. Even in our small city, I've only crossed paths with him once, accidently. But I still consider him one of my best friends.

This is where fate comes in. I hate the word and the concept of it, but I find it hard to ignore that maybe some people are just meant to be in your life. And when they are, it's easy. Easy to care, easy to love, easy to forgive, easy to send that message. If it's not, then maybe that person was only supposed to be in your life for that given amount of time. I think that's okay. I don't think it's something to fear. I think if they're meant to be in your life forever, if that world that is created when they first enter it still exists, then living in it won't be difficult. One thing to remember though is that it takes two people to sustain that world.

The Beginning

"But all endings are also beginnings. We just don't know it at the time."

- Mitch Albrom, The Five People You Meet in Heaven

Life moves fast. It seems every day passes without a second glance. We go through the motions without a second thought. But every once and awhile we are stopped dead in our tracks and think "where the hell am I?" No matter the age, whether you be 18, 25, 34 or 55, we always think we should be a certain place in our lives. College, career, married, financially sound. If we're not there, we see ourselves as failures and try to figure out what went wrong. As much as we strive to hit our end goal, once we get there it terrifies us.

Why? Why does the prospect of finally reaching our goals scare us beyond belief? Perhaps it is because when we reach something, that means the search has ended. The end is what is scary. As I'm currently less than two months away from graduating university, I've had this thought a lot in the last six months. The one place I've been going to for the last 18 years of my life... the one part of the my future I could 99% guarantee on is coming to an end. So now what?

I'm finishing a degree that I enjoy, but that question is constantly brought up when I tell people it. Now what? To be honest, I have no idea. And if one thing is coming to an end, then I must have a plan for another beginning. But why? Life happens. It just does. We may not like endings and beginnings may be scary, but they happen every day. Each day, something begins and something ends. A friendship. A thought. A belief. To get us through these days, we often turn to music. Lyrics that enlighten us. Lyrics that move us. At the root of it, words.

There are a certain set of words for every occasion and that is what this blog will be about. Quotations that have been said over the centuries that we repeat on a daily basis. Last words spoken with a dying breath. Some funny. Some heartbreaking. Some thoughtful. Some insightful. I'll start each post with a random quotation, either from history or a book, movie, or song. I'll ramble for a bit and see what happens. I'll share my thoughts and maybe you'll disagree. It'll be fun if you disagree. But in an age where communication is getting shorter, I'm hoping to bring words back into the equation.

While one aspect of my life is ending, another beginning is just around the corner. It's going to happen whether I like it or not. And like a book, I may know the gist of what may happen but I don't know what those first few words will be. I don't know if I'll enjoy the first chapter. I don't know who will show up. But if we knew that, what would be the point of picking it up?