People say that eyes are windows to the soul.

If that’s true I wonder what people see when they look into mine

My hopes? My dreams?

My past? My present?

Every pitter patter

Every yes, no, maybe-so

Every echo...

                         echo...

                                        echo...

in the recesses of my mind?

 

Most likely they will only see blinds

Because like most

I am stuck in the maze of my own making.

Always searching.

Take a right and maybe you’ll find happiness

Left, perfection

Forward, success.

I am taking twists and turns

Searching for shortcuts

And I will backtrack.

Looking into the past

Sifting through dust and ashes

Hoping to find what I need

But usually I find myself back where I started

Empty handed.

 

Most of us are stuck.

So we delve deeper,

Picking up anxiety, depression, and stress along the way.

Weighing ourselves down.

We try and carry the world

Thinking that “maybe this time, I’ll get it.”

 

We’re so caught up in this maze.

Caught up in our search.

That we forget about the world around us.

We can’t wait for the next stepping stone

College, marriage, job, kids, retirement

We forget that each step is just one closer to oblivion.

We forget that we all have a 100% chance of dying

That we will all one day rest six feet under

The ground that we stand

we will decay

be a part of the soil and eventually

become fossil fuels

ghosts of the people that we used to be.

We will be used to fuel lives.

In a billion billion years

we will be the fuel to people’s spaceships

Hell yeah.

 

And that’s what we’re forgetting.

That in a billion billion years we will be forgotten

That our lives won’t matter

Who knows if we’ll die today, tomorrow or in a hundred years

If we’ll die in a car crash or in our own beds.

So we need to live now.

Burn bright

Start forest fires

Appreciate the little things

The way the light reflects off of dust

The way your mom says noodles weird

“Noodoos”

The smell of rain

That smile

That breath of fresh air.

Don’t give up on your goals

Strive towards them with the determination of a soldier

But always remember

That sometimes

You need to stop.

Close your eyes.

Take a deep breath.

Open the windows.

And see.