greatness

 The sun drains towards 0% as we sit on the dock over the lake and wait for an orange haze to fill the sky. Each day dies into a blossoming night, but here the temperature doesn’t drop very much. There are days I am desperate to leave, and others that I am in love. This, I suppose, is the human condition… we are prone to ups and downs. Often violent. Violent joy. Violent despair. What a turbulent existence for a turbulent species racing at high-speed towards its own extinction.

The flies hover beside us cautiously, for they sense the spider webs for which I am grateful. I see a tiny spider dancing excitedly upon its carefully crafted web as it waits for food to land. They serve as a metaphor for a role reversal in human society. The spider might be the big bad boss awaiting the talented, educated, ambitious individual to land and be trapped in the web.


A gondola sails by with the pilot singing a sunset song. A couple on the boat sip wine as they are serenaded… and a couple to my right sip wine as they clap and cheer the song. The doctor says I drink too much. So, I assume, that applies to everyone. In this case, I am not drinking. I am the only one.


The days are grey and fade into a monotonous blur. Perhaps I have experienced too many extraordinary things in life to peacefully coexist with most these days. Or, perhaps, it is just the coming of age and the knowledge that most people are lost in the pursuit of greatness, a greatness that, for most, never comes. In fact, one could argue that greatness is being true to oneself and simply being genuine… being an individual, compassionate and free.







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