Today I had a revelation.
It says right there on my profile that I am a nine-to-fiver. That's not really true. See, I do work an eight hour shift in an office, but we are a 24/7 service so we have rotating shifts. I'm on graveyard at the moment, midnight 'till 8AM, so after my shift today I hooped on a train and went downtown. I wanted to check the roleplaying store to see if they already had Eclipse Phase. They didn't.
So I walked out, bought a Madman and an Ellis on the comic shop to quench my thirst of nerdy entertainment and took a deep long breath and let myself be carried away by morning in the city.
I love living near a huge city, I love people, I love feeling all those stories developing around me.
And then, maybe because of sleep deprivation, I had my big revelation. I realised everybody was beautiful. That Asian kid messing with his iPod, that indie dude, that old black woman, those Italian tourists... Even the ugly people were beautiful.
I tried locking eyes with everyone. I wanted them to see me reflecting their beauty, to realize that somebody loved them.
Story time:
There once was this princess who felt unhappy.
She hated everyone she ever met. She felt as if she was going to cry every second of her life until she ran out of tears.
And then, one day, she kicked the most beautiful stone that ever existed and out of it came a lizard that was dressed with all the colours of the rainbow.
"Thanks for freeing me," said the lizard. "I can now grant you one wish."
"I wish for nothing," said the princess. "My dreams are as dry as my eyes, each one of my tears took away a piece of my soul and now I am nothing but an empty shell."
The lizard was not worried. "I'll tell you what," she said. "I'll grant you my own heart's desire and, in exchange, you'll grant me a wish one year from now."
The princess simply nodded. Having no soul meant she made no decisions.
"Fine. Then I wish that from now on, everyone you meet will smile at you. They will feel so happy about seeing you that they will give you a sweet, honest smile."
And from the on, they did.
Step by step and smile by smile, the princess soul returned. Every time she met someone, she would be loved just a little bit. Every smile made one of her tears return from the place where tears go to die. And tear by tear, her dreams were also returned.
One year later, the lizard came back.
"Oh, lovely lizard," the princess said. "I am so happy! You would never believe how much your gift has made me appreciate life! I can't wait to repay the favour!"
"OK," said the lizard. "Then pleas go ahead and kill yourself, you worthless bitch."
The princess was stunned. "What?" she asked.
"You heard me. I am a vengeful lizard and you did kick my house when you were unhappy. I just wanted to make my revenge worthwhile. That's the only reason I wanted to make you happy."
"Stop!" said the princess. "I'll grant you the same wish you granted me! You'll be happy once again pretty soon!"
"That won't work, you cunt," said the lizard. "The only people who ever gain happiness from those around them are selfish pricks who are unable to create their own."
And then there was this huge deus ex machina and everyone started loving everyone because the writer had just realized that his make-you-happy drugs had just worn off and he was trying to overcompensate for his huge Zoloft withdrawal.
Story time over.
Thank you.
It says right there on my profile that I am a nine-to-fiver. That's not really true. See, I do work an eight hour shift in an office, but we are a 24/7 service so we have rotating shifts. I'm on graveyard at the moment, midnight 'till 8AM, so after my shift today I hooped on a train and went downtown. I wanted to check the roleplaying store to see if they already had Eclipse Phase. They didn't.
So I walked out, bought a Madman and an Ellis on the comic shop to quench my thirst of nerdy entertainment and took a deep long breath and let myself be carried away by morning in the city.
I love living near a huge city, I love people, I love feeling all those stories developing around me.
And then, maybe because of sleep deprivation, I had my big revelation. I realised everybody was beautiful. That Asian kid messing with his iPod, that indie dude, that old black woman, those Italian tourists... Even the ugly people were beautiful.
I tried locking eyes with everyone. I wanted them to see me reflecting their beauty, to realize that somebody loved them.
Story time:
There once was this princess who felt unhappy.
She hated everyone she ever met. She felt as if she was going to cry every second of her life until she ran out of tears.
And then, one day, she kicked the most beautiful stone that ever existed and out of it came a lizard that was dressed with all the colours of the rainbow.
"Thanks for freeing me," said the lizard. "I can now grant you one wish."
"I wish for nothing," said the princess. "My dreams are as dry as my eyes, each one of my tears took away a piece of my soul and now I am nothing but an empty shell."
The lizard was not worried. "I'll tell you what," she said. "I'll grant you my own heart's desire and, in exchange, you'll grant me a wish one year from now."
The princess simply nodded. Having no soul meant she made no decisions.
"Fine. Then I wish that from now on, everyone you meet will smile at you. They will feel so happy about seeing you that they will give you a sweet, honest smile."
And from the on, they did.
Step by step and smile by smile, the princess soul returned. Every time she met someone, she would be loved just a little bit. Every smile made one of her tears return from the place where tears go to die. And tear by tear, her dreams were also returned.
One year later, the lizard came back.
"Oh, lovely lizard," the princess said. "I am so happy! You would never believe how much your gift has made me appreciate life! I can't wait to repay the favour!"
"OK," said the lizard. "Then pleas go ahead and kill yourself, you worthless bitch."
The princess was stunned. "What?" she asked.
"You heard me. I am a vengeful lizard and you did kick my house when you were unhappy. I just wanted to make my revenge worthwhile. That's the only reason I wanted to make you happy."
"Stop!" said the princess. "I'll grant you the same wish you granted me! You'll be happy once again pretty soon!"
"That won't work, you cunt," said the lizard. "The only people who ever gain happiness from those around them are selfish pricks who are unable to create their own."
And then there was this huge deus ex machina and everyone started loving everyone because the writer had just realized that his make-you-happy drugs had just worn off and he was trying to overcompensate for his huge Zoloft withdrawal.
Story time over.
Thank you.