My last blog entry was written by my stepson Arthur as described in the preamble to that entry. This entry was written by Robert Mayer, Arthur’s twin brother. Robert actually wrote this piece shortly after Arthur wrote the last one, but things intervened so that he did not give it to me until this Thanksgiving day. That, of course, gives me something special for which to be thankful.
I am a human being. Domain Eukaryota; kingdom Animalia; phylum Chordata; class Mammalia; order Primtes; family Hominidae; genus Homo; species sapiens. But I am more than that. I am creative, stubborn, inquisitive, tormented, ecstatic, determined, and more. I am an explorer, an artist, a scientist, a fighter, and a student. I am a brother, a son, nephew, and a grandson. I am the captain of my ship, the owner of my soul. But I am more than that. I cannot be classified by words any more than a color can be described, for I am me.
What is my purpose? To live. To learn, to laugh, to cry, to run, to fight. To see, to love, to feel. A life not lived is not a life worth living. There is no point in moping about when there is an entire world, right outside. Everyone can make a difference, they just have to choose when.
“Family: Fam•i•ly | ‘fam(ə)lē |
Noun (pl. families)
1. [ treated as sing. or pl. ] a group consisting of parents or children living in a household.
2. A person or people related to one and so to be treated with a special intimacy” (dictionary definition)
My family consists of me, two cats, my twin brother, an older sister, my mother, my father, and my stepfather. It also includes multiple aunts, uncles, two grandmothers, three cousins, and a stepbrother (who I have not met) and his family. How do I fit into this? They love me and take care of me. I reciprocate. The second definition for family states this. But that is incomplete, because words and phrases cannot convey the pure, illogical emotions that humans have for each other.
This is also what shapes the American voice. To paraphrase a famous science fiction character (on a trek to go where no man has gone before), “Emotions are highly illogical.” And this is true. Emotions can drive people to destruction, to act in ways that they might regret later. But emotion also drives people in more positive ways. If people don’t like a situation that they are in, then they can go to insane lengths to change it. Had we not had emotions, then “the USA” would still be “the British Colonies.” In other instances, a small group of people can overwhelm a much larger one, often using little more than sheer determination. When any sane, logical person would have given in to the odds, a human will keep fighting, even if it’s the last thing they do. This is what America is based on: Those brave, illogical, insane human beings that fought off the British so many years ago.
This can, however, cause people to believe that situations are in their control, even when all the evidence says otherwise. This can often times have unfortunate repercussions, so I try not to do that. Instead, I find out if I can control the situation, or figure out who can. If I can’t, then I do what I can to prevent it from getting worse.
When I can’t do anything about a situation, then there isn’t much that I can do, other than waiting it out. If it’s bad grades, then I just have to study harder. Once the situation is over, I can find out what I can do to prevent from happening again, such as remembering to do assignments and turning them in.
In conclusion, who I am is everything. It determines not only the obvious of me being me, but also my purpose, my family, my voice, my beliefs, and my reactions.
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