and so it Begins
I just thought of something, something very important.
Just go with this one and finish reading it.
I was sitting in my car, listening to music when Cream's "White Room" came on and I was transported to another place, another time. I just closed my eyes and I could see it. I was laying on the grass with a vaguely familiar girl. It was sunset and I was at peace. I knew I should've been troubled by the horrors of Vietnam and the increasingly radical and violent protests. I knew I should've been concerned with what I was doing with my life.
I wasn't. I was at peace. I had found a special place and I was happy. Lost in a moment otherworldliness.
I opened my eyes, all gone except these lingering thoughts.
Was I born a generation too late? Or was I learning something more, something that I only saw a few minutes later while thinking about this experience. I was glimpsing who I was by way of proxy almost. It was odd, but I felt like my brain had found a way to show me the path.
I often compare my experiences and try to, I don't know, feel how it would've felt to be young and truly idealistic. To not give a damn about what you do, because that almost communal sense of a large group of people doing a just and right act was wonderful. I feel that with the way our country is headed, with pressures clamping down on society, that we may see this again. It might not be our generation--and a shame if it isn't, we need a cause--but the anger is building again and if our society, culture, politics, and economics have gone through multiple revolutions, some violent, some (relatively) peaceful, why can't it go through another one?
It is up to our generation to make this change, or at least get the ball rolling. Every single day, almost every one of you takes the freedoms laid out in the ideals of our forefathers for granted. Why? Because you haven't seen the other side. Then again, neither have I. But there are some freedoms granted to us in documents that, well, shouldn't have to be. They should be inborn and accepted by all at all times. End this religious intolerance! Stop this petty political backstabbing and slandering! Stop treating people like consumers, citizens, animals or numbers! Treat them like human beings that have all the same rights you do!
Don't let people speak hatred to you, but when they do, preach only love. Not peace though, I really believe that peace is something that humanity is not quite ready for; something horrible is going to happen before we finally understand the true value of peace. I hope that something is not our Revolution. It might be though. I would be honored to be part of the generation of Americans that taught the world this lesson, but I fear it won't be a pretty picture that is taken.
I am not preaching violence in any shape or form. I do believe in defending my freedoms and my right to have them though and if they are taken from me, I will do anything I have to do in order to restore them. I want to believe that the beautiful ideal of a peaceful and loving world will be reached without any violence; my gut and intellect don't share that ideal. I don't think there will be outright war, but civil unrest will make '68 seem like the sweetest dream in comparison. This, this I will fully endorse and even propagate! I will not go down without a fight!
Join the Revolution! Don't go down without a fight! Protest the actions of your government! Tell yourself, “I WILL BE HEARD!” and believe it! Spread this message to the world! Repost it wherever you want! Put it up on bulletin boards, real and virtual. Send it to news sites, I don't care. As long as the message is heard, I will be happy. Just let the people know who is bringing this message to them; I am not afraid anymore.
I am not just another background voice anymore. This is my course of action. This is not the last time I will speak, but until then, make yourself heard!
Thank you and goodnight,
Richard Walls
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You know, this started out as a completely different idea, but I just started playing with everything and this is where I arrived.
Originally, this was going to be a piece on how, in order to find yourself, find who you were 30 or 40 years ago when your parents were 18-23 and what kind of forces in the world molded them into the people they are. This will give us a better idea of who we, as a generation and as individuals, have become.
Damn, even this is taking me into thinking about the Revolution. I think I might have found a calling...
Just go with this one and finish reading it.
I was sitting in my car, listening to music when Cream's "White Room" came on and I was transported to another place, another time. I just closed my eyes and I could see it. I was laying on the grass with a vaguely familiar girl. It was sunset and I was at peace. I knew I should've been troubled by the horrors of Vietnam and the increasingly radical and violent protests. I knew I should've been concerned with what I was doing with my life.
I wasn't. I was at peace. I had found a special place and I was happy. Lost in a moment otherworldliness.
I opened my eyes, all gone except these lingering thoughts.
Was I born a generation too late? Or was I learning something more, something that I only saw a few minutes later while thinking about this experience. I was glimpsing who I was by way of proxy almost. It was odd, but I felt like my brain had found a way to show me the path.
I often compare my experiences and try to, I don't know, feel how it would've felt to be young and truly idealistic. To not give a damn about what you do, because that almost communal sense of a large group of people doing a just and right act was wonderful. I feel that with the way our country is headed, with pressures clamping down on society, that we may see this again. It might not be our generation--and a shame if it isn't, we need a cause--but the anger is building again and if our society, culture, politics, and economics have gone through multiple revolutions, some violent, some (relatively) peaceful, why can't it go through another one?
It is up to our generation to make this change, or at least get the ball rolling. Every single day, almost every one of you takes the freedoms laid out in the ideals of our forefathers for granted. Why? Because you haven't seen the other side. Then again, neither have I. But there are some freedoms granted to us in documents that, well, shouldn't have to be. They should be inborn and accepted by all at all times. End this religious intolerance! Stop this petty political backstabbing and slandering! Stop treating people like consumers, citizens, animals or numbers! Treat them like human beings that have all the same rights you do!
Don't let people speak hatred to you, but when they do, preach only love. Not peace though, I really believe that peace is something that humanity is not quite ready for; something horrible is going to happen before we finally understand the true value of peace. I hope that something is not our Revolution. It might be though. I would be honored to be part of the generation of Americans that taught the world this lesson, but I fear it won't be a pretty picture that is taken.
I am not preaching violence in any shape or form. I do believe in defending my freedoms and my right to have them though and if they are taken from me, I will do anything I have to do in order to restore them. I want to believe that the beautiful ideal of a peaceful and loving world will be reached without any violence; my gut and intellect don't share that ideal. I don't think there will be outright war, but civil unrest will make '68 seem like the sweetest dream in comparison. This, this I will fully endorse and even propagate! I will not go down without a fight!
Join the Revolution! Don't go down without a fight! Protest the actions of your government! Tell yourself, “I WILL BE HEARD!” and believe it! Spread this message to the world! Repost it wherever you want! Put it up on bulletin boards, real and virtual. Send it to news sites, I don't care. As long as the message is heard, I will be happy. Just let the people know who is bringing this message to them; I am not afraid anymore.
I am not just another background voice anymore. This is my course of action. This is not the last time I will speak, but until then, make yourself heard!
Thank you and goodnight,
Richard Walls
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You know, this started out as a completely different idea, but I just started playing with everything and this is where I arrived.
Originally, this was going to be a piece on how, in order to find yourself, find who you were 30 or 40 years ago when your parents were 18-23 and what kind of forces in the world molded them into the people they are. This will give us a better idea of who we, as a generation and as individuals, have become.
Damn, even this is taking me into thinking about the Revolution. I think I might have found a calling...