And I stood on the cliff / I stand on a precipice
It's interesting to think how a single moment can change your life. We might not recognize that moment when it comes -- it might be an involuntary action that decides the shift for us.
But it might also be voluntary. We might stand there and see the gap before us, and know that the only option we have left is to jump. To fly into the face of that change, whatever it may be.
This is one of those. The push of a button, and my application to Stanford is submitted. The push of a button, and there's nothing more I can do about it. The push of a button, and it's out of my hands and into the hands of Fate and admissions directors.
All of this with the push of a button.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I don’t know how you could be interested in history,” Holly said. “The future has always been more intriguing to me than the past.”
“But without a past, we wouldn’t be where we are in the present, and without the present, we can have no future.” Holly still wasn’t convinced, so Jasen continued. “Think of it as a story-except the main character isn’t just one person, it’s many. In fact, it’s a group of people, or even humanity as a whole, depending on the level you study it at. Yeah, it’s a bit plot driven, but every now and then a character comes to the forefront who is so thrilling that you just have to follow their story through to the end, see where they’re going. And then you dip into that same society years after that character’s death, to see if they really mattered, had some sort of lasting impact.”
Holly suppressed a laugh at the hopeful look on Jasen’s face, the way his eyes were glazed over slightly in thought. “Do you intend on being one of those characters? The ones who stand out and dare to make a difference?”
Jasen shrugged. “I guess it would be nice. But it would be hard, too. You can’t change the world without changing yourself, and you never know beforehand if you’re going to like that change or not. You just have to jump into the wind and see where it takes you. Sometimes it helps you soar. Sometimes it blows so strongly you can’t make it off of the ground. But either way, it’s the decision to make that leap that really matters. After that, anything can happen, and you’d better be ready for it.”
Holly did laugh when Jasen finished, but it was a chuckle of concession rather than amusement. “You really have put a lot of thought into this.”
“It’s life. Who hasn’t?”
“You’d be surprised.”
~from the portion of Azuria which I've written so far
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Too late for second-guessing,
Too late to go back to sleep.
It's time to trust my instincts, close my eyes...
...and leap!"
~"Defying Gravity"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I stand on a precipice
I struggle to keep my balance..."
~"Goodbye Until Tomorrow"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"There were oceans to cross
There were mountains to conquer
And I stood on the shore
And I stood on the cliff
And the second before I jumped,
I knew where I needed to be!"
~"I'd Give it All For You"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Is this where I need to be?
I guess I'll push the button and find out.
But it might also be voluntary. We might stand there and see the gap before us, and know that the only option we have left is to jump. To fly into the face of that change, whatever it may be.
This is one of those. The push of a button, and my application to Stanford is submitted. The push of a button, and there's nothing more I can do about it. The push of a button, and it's out of my hands and into the hands of Fate and admissions directors.
All of this with the push of a button.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I don’t know how you could be interested in history,” Holly said. “The future has always been more intriguing to me than the past.”
“But without a past, we wouldn’t be where we are in the present, and without the present, we can have no future.” Holly still wasn’t convinced, so Jasen continued. “Think of it as a story-except the main character isn’t just one person, it’s many. In fact, it’s a group of people, or even humanity as a whole, depending on the level you study it at. Yeah, it’s a bit plot driven, but every now and then a character comes to the forefront who is so thrilling that you just have to follow their story through to the end, see where they’re going. And then you dip into that same society years after that character’s death, to see if they really mattered, had some sort of lasting impact.”
Holly suppressed a laugh at the hopeful look on Jasen’s face, the way his eyes were glazed over slightly in thought. “Do you intend on being one of those characters? The ones who stand out and dare to make a difference?”
Jasen shrugged. “I guess it would be nice. But it would be hard, too. You can’t change the world without changing yourself, and you never know beforehand if you’re going to like that change or not. You just have to jump into the wind and see where it takes you. Sometimes it helps you soar. Sometimes it blows so strongly you can’t make it off of the ground. But either way, it’s the decision to make that leap that really matters. After that, anything can happen, and you’d better be ready for it.”
Holly did laugh when Jasen finished, but it was a chuckle of concession rather than amusement. “You really have put a lot of thought into this.”
“It’s life. Who hasn’t?”
“You’d be surprised.”
~from the portion of Azuria which I've written so far
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Too late for second-guessing,
Too late to go back to sleep.
It's time to trust my instincts, close my eyes...
...and leap!"
~"Defying Gravity"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I stand on a precipice
I struggle to keep my balance..."
~"Goodbye Until Tomorrow"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"There were oceans to cross
There were mountains to conquer
And I stood on the shore
And I stood on the cliff
And the second before I jumped,
I knew where I needed to be!"
~"I'd Give it All For You"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Is this where I need to be?
I guess I'll push the button and find out.