Game Changer

by Neal Shusterman

That’s what we do, isn’t it? Build ourselves a comfy web of reality like busy little spiders, and cling to it so we can get through the worst of days.

Oh we’re getting deep right from the start huh?

But I’m not fast. I’m not graceful. I’m not “poetry in motion.” I’m more like a poetry slam.

HAHAH ME

There are choices we make, choices that are made for us, and things we ignore long enough until all choices have fallen away.

Oooooof gonna be thinking about this one for a while.

We are so limited. As a species. As individuals. Not only can’t we see the future, we can’t even see the present for what it is. We’re too clouded by the things we want and the things we fear. But worse than any other blindness is that we can’t see the consequences of our actions.

THAT PART

“I’d rather live in a world where hope’s alive but sick, than a world where it’s already in the morgue.”

Yeah, sadly, you can—because even though the particulars change, ignorance is a cockroach you can’t kill no matter how hard you try. It hides in dark, fetid places, then darts out into the open.

You might think your own personal apple has fallen far from the tree, but that tree has roots you don’t see until you trip over them.

Oh this…. Gonna dive into this later

We vilify the difference in others; we glorify the differences in ourselves. We put “them” in a box, then create our own boxes. To define ourselves so we don’t get defined. To find our tribe and defend it from the others. But that basic human need for identity is, and has always been, a double-edged sword. Because the closer to our feet we draw that line in the sand, the more we see everyone else as the enemy.

!!!