the.jl.experience

There are many things that I miss. Maybe it’s because I am getting a bit too busy, and don’t have the time to do the things I miss, or simply don’t have the opportunity anymore due to age or position.

I miss watching cartoons and not being judged for it. As a kid I watched cartoons all the time, and even then my mother would pester me about how grown ups don’t watch such things. There is a simple brilliance to cartoons that create the best escape for kids. I am going to be a little prejudice and say that cartoons today, do not hold a candle to the ones I use to watch. The cartoons I watched taught me how to be a gentlemen, what a perfect world would be, how to act courageously in times of hardship, and how when a girl teases or hits you they want your genitals. Like “Inception”, these beloved cartoons implanted in me the idea that the real world, was imperfect. That people were rude, obnoxious, and ruthless. But GOOD should always triumph. Always. And it’s your responsibility to make that happen. Oh how I miss my cartoons…

I miss the thrill of having 120 kids depend on me for guidance. This might seem like a self-ego thing, and in part, it is. But I miss how I used to be able to help shape peoples lives for the better. Giving my insights and thoughts in an open atmosphere that I help create. To help kids realize their potential and providing them with an attitude hypercritical of my own. Although I am still doing such actions, I wish I was still in a position to push it as hard as I used to. To show these kids what real devotion was. What real tenacity looked like. So, in turn, they could evaluate and emulate to a greater effect. I miss the freedom of frivolous peer leadership.

I miss reading. In general. I used to read all the time, however since the dawn of the internet, my reading abilities have gone down. As a kid I was fascinated with mythology. I loved reading about dragons, ghosts, knights, and legends. Arthurian legends were my thing. I read everything I could about King Arthur, the Knights, and Camelot. Getting lost in a world of chivalry and danger was fantastic. Now, all I read are workshop pamphlets, job training guides, and the odd blog. How sad. I fear for my creativity.

I think most of all, I miss the friendships I used to have. The brotherhoods, the comradery, and the cliques. I miss all their faces that I don’t see anymore because I am terrible at keeping in touch. It’s hard to understand how you can go from seeing each other every day, to not seeing each other for years, if ever again. And when you do see each other, it’s awkward. You are strangers again. But we will always have the memories we made together my old friends.

… and that is what I cherish.

J