Posts Tagged Bowling Green State University

The Beta-Alpha Male

"We're young and in love, heart attacks waiting to happen. So come a little closer, tell me it's all in our heads."

I’m sitting here, the glow of my computer lighting up my room. I know I should go to bed because I feel some sort of sickness coming on, but screw it, sleep is for the weak.

I Love the winter months. I feel that I was most self-aware during this season in past years. I can clearly remember the coldness of the Sandusky air numbing my cheeks as I played guitar to an empty audience in my grandmother’s garage. My fingers were numb. It literally hurt to play, but dammit, the show inside my head had to go on.

The weird thing is that there are people out there who know how I feel. My friend Will was programming and recording music while I was, yet we were an hour apart. (He was Beta before it was even called that. I have a serious appreciation for those who get the most out of the Internet and have that presence.) I don’t think I’ve ever met a person in my life that shared my exact feelings about music. There’s more to it than money. It’s about the memories that are made both while listening to it and while making it. The organic writing process is something to die for. The hour-long jams where you completely lose yourself on the fretboard…I miss that.

I miss the way I was. I was so sentimental before. I felt more original and less of a phony. (Insert Holden Caufield reference here.) I used to write my feelings out. The late-night phone conversations are missing in my life. I need to get to know someone new. I miss the thrill of getting to know and understand the depths of a person. There’s a few people out there I’d Love to talk to, but I’m too scared to actually initiate anything.

Yeah. Me. Scared to talk to someone.

I miss staying up all night on the phone or having the vibrations of a new text wake me up in random intervals. “No, you’re not keeping me up :)”

Right now, Taking Back Sunday, Hawthorne Heights and Escape the Fate are making me incredibly nostalgic. I remember the first time I heard them before I knew who they were. It was in the winter of the past years mentioned previously.

I remember heartbreak vividly. I remember tears freezing in my eyes. (“How does it feel when tears freeze when you cry.” Literally came on as I finished typing this.)

I wonder if there are anymore bleeding hearts out there. Was that just a phase in my life? Was my sentimentality something I need to outgrow?

God, I hope not. That lifestyle was so satisfying.

There has to be someone out there whose bedroom is being lit up by their computer screen who’s just dying to tell their story to someone new. If this person is you, talk to me. I’m a good listener.

Getting to know someone new is what I live for. If I had it my way, I would travel the country, sharing the drinking traditions of each person or group I came in contact with, all the while talking about the crazy shit we’ve been through, the stuff we’ve seen … the people who have gotten away.

If you’re looking for a friend, I’m here.

Whoever you are.

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Speak With Substance, Avoid Superficial Conversation

I have come to the realization that our common conversations have become incredibly superficial and lack depth and substance.

While watching the film “God Bless America,” the protagonist, Frank, goes on a tirade about this subject. “Nobody talks about anything anymore. When was the last time you had a real conversation without someone texting or looking at a screen or a monitor over your head?”

Why do we shy away from talking about our feelings, aspirations, religious convictions and/or things that aren’t entertainment or sports? I’m not saying there is anything wrong with popular culture-based talks or sport chats, but try and think critically about what you have seen and speak original thoughts. Don’t just spew what you read online or heard on TV.

Some of my closest friendships were spawned from spontaneous, personal conversations. One doesn’t have to pour their soul out to a stranger, but opening up shouldn’t strike fear into their heart.

Everyone has a history. Every individual has a unique story. Each person you come across probably possesses the memory of an experience that you would find intriguing.

There aren’t many things better than those long, all-night conversations with someone. The ones in which you can feel the friendship forming into a long-lasting bond. The ones where you think “I should probably go to sleep,” but your friend has you so encompassed and on the edge of your seat that you throw the ideas of morning exhaustion out the window and listen onward.

You’re completely engaged. Your phone doesn’t matter.

When you listen, it feels great for both parties. You retain the knowledge about this person and feel a deeper connection with them, while they feel special and unique because they have someone who will actively listen to them without texting mid conversation.

We live in a society where all of our thoughts and ideas are posted on social media, yet we can’t talk to people. Social media seems to be taking the “social” aspects out of our daily lives.

Instead of posting about how angry you are at your professor or subtweeting about your friend, try talking to them about it. Hell, they may even commend you for taking the initiative to attack the issue head on. Instead of posting a Facebook status containing lyrics that you relate to, bring the song up in conversation with the person who inspired the thoughtful connection. The song will never sound the same again.

Feelings. Dreams. Personal history. These are the things we should be talking about, not Miley Cyrus’ new haircut or what your ex said about you on Twitter.

Superficial chatter is a plague. It keeps us from talking about stuff that truly matters. These issues get overshadowed by “pop-politics.” There’s always the typical conversations about abortion, the death penalty and gun control, but why don’t we talk about the conflict between the University’s Faculty Association and the Administration or the on campus smoking ban that is being discussed?

It is doubtful that we can control the hot topic issues of the nation, but we can have a say in the problems that are in our own backyard.

I strongly urge everyone out there to strike up a real conversation with that one person who catches your eye in the Union or the girl who sits by you in class with the sweet Attack Attack! bookbag or the professor who makes you feel like a human being and not just another kid in class.

It’s the last week of classes. Take a chance.

What’s the worst that can happen? They could look at you weird and you will never have to see them again.

What’s the best that can happen?

You could have a new friend for life.

 

 

 

 

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The Threshold

I’ve driven down your road, looking for our past feelings,

I’ve thought about who we were as I stared at my ceiling.

It was a weight off my shoulders when I heard you had changed.

The process progresses when I see you’re not the same.

 

There’s no shame in believing in Always and Forever,

When the weight on your shoulders is that of a feather.

But as we grow older and our hearts mature,

Our affection gets colder from the pain we have endured.

 

The four walls of your room have heard our testimony;

All the promises we made and the Love that you showed me.

But our feelings have went dull and the testimony fades,

And your voice echos through my head, transcending from happier days.

 

It’s not irrational to believe in true Love,

It’s not ridiculous to believe in a power above,

But when reality shows its face and forces you to act,

Love and faith go dormant, while nervousness manifests.

 

The paths that we followed, the thresholds we’ve gone through,

Are still in existence, unlike the trust we had abused.

I miss the way we were, our kisses, our quirks.

The thought of you alone forces tears to emerge.

 

It’s not weak or shameful to cry for a loss of innocence.

Naivety goes up in flames and burns like incense.

But when mourning consumes your life and darkens your day,

It’s time to abandon the old roads and explore a new way.

 

The notes that you left are now encased in ash.

The memory of you is now engrained in my past.

But no matter hard I try; no matter how much I pray,

Seeing your smile will always brighten my way.

 

The point isn’t to become bitter, but appreciate the sweet.

To look for those great qualities in everyone you meet.

Don’t forget our memories and I won’t forget you.

I won’t forget the roads we traveled and the passages we’ve gone through.

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