Memories, Mountains, and Meteors

Last night we laid in the grass and watched the meteor showers from the Spanish mountains. We counted shooting stars while sharing love stories gone wrong. I told her that I’m a hopeless romantic who’s never been in love. Asked her if that was a bad thing. She replied, "I don’t think it’s good or bad, i think it is what it is.” Okay, cool. Do you believe in soulmates? Yes, she replied. Told her that I'm a writer & this exact moment reminds me of one of the scenes from my novels. I showed her the Orion galaxy and told her the correlation between the pyramids in Egypt. “OMG! Tell me more!" she pleaded, tugging on my grey hoodie. So I did. I pointed to the Sirius galaxy and told her my soul originated from there and that I’m only here to observe. And now my soul is calling me to Morocco. As the Universe would have it, she had just left from there and gave me a list of places to visit upon my arrival. So we laid there on top of her scarf, still star-gazing. I told her I wanted to create my own constellation; instead, she created one for me; holding up the ‘peace’ sign to match it. I then found a new set of stars and named it after her; Vee’s Constellation. So now, no matter where I’m at on my journey around the world, all I'll have to do is look to the cosmos to feel her energy & remember that midnight hour that we spent under the light of a thousand stars. I’ll probably never see her again, but I’ll never forget her.  ‪#‎WheresReis‬

 

Dear 20 Year Olds

I had a revelation. An epiphany almost. So, if you're gonna do it, now's the time.  You're in your 20s. You're young. You have nothing but the future to look forward to. If God says the same, you'll have your whole life ahead of you. So make mistakes. Make love. Make-out with a stranger. Make friends ... or enemies if need be. Have dreams. Have house parties. Have sex. Have options. Pull all-nighters. Be selfish. Be WILD. Be adventurous! Be free! Even get drunk and have a bar fight. Get lost. Lose yourself. Lose your mind. Be a young fool. No one likes an Old Fool. Be late. Be wrong but think you're right. Be irresponsible. Be a MESS. Go to college, dropout, then go back again. Be indecisive. Have 5 different career paths. Have 6 different excuses. Fall in love. Then fall right back out. Be a hopeless romantic. Be a free spirit with a wild heart.

Live in the moment, on the edge. Travel. See things you've never seen. Do things you've never done. Backpack through Europe. Take pictures. Take risks. Take drugs. Be careful. Take your time. And after you've done all that, you will have found yourself; your purpose, your passion, your calling. You'll know what you want, what you don't want. You'll know what you'll tolerate, and what you won't. You'll have done it all, so you won't feel like you're missing out on anything. You're career path will be that much more clear. Your life will be that much more fulfilled. You'll have acquired enough knowledge, skill, and experience that it takes to instill some sort of values into your children.  And then ... you'll be ready to settle down and have a family. And you'll have nobody but that 20-year old kid who made all those poor, selfish, unforgettable decisions, to thank for that. So, create some good laughs, reminisce on some memories. Do a lot of dumb things. Make a few bad choices. Because you know what? Those bad choices also make good stories.