My favourite film critic Roger Ebert once said: 'I believe that if, at the end, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do. To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try. I didn't always know this and am happy I lived long enough to find it out.'
Yeah, I know this quote doesn't really relate at all to graduation but you know what? I love this quote so you're all going to have to bear with me.
Most people I know seem to be sad that we're finished with high school, and I can understand why. What the fuck are we all going to do now? It's the unknown we fear the most, and I feel this anxiety surrounding the murky future sometimes takes precedence over the past. I'm writing this to remind you that hey, it's scary losing that structure we had in school, but you shouldn't forget the truly great times we had.
Right now, take a breath. It's going to be okay. If you're scared about what happens next, don't be. There will always be something somewhere that fills you with an indescribable, exhilarating feeling. Take time to find it. And when you do find it, chase that little sucker. Sure, you might trip and stumble along the way, but fuck it. Just get up and keep going. It took me eleven years, a bunch of unfinished stories and a few inspirational people to find that something and I don't remember feeling this happy in a long time. So please don't be anxious; you'll get there.
Even before I knew of Ebert, I think I understood this quote. I tried really hard to cheer people up and make them laugh even if I was feeling shitty myself, because there's nothing better than seeing someone you care about smile. I don't know if you were laughing at me or with me, but fuck it, you were laughing and that's all that matters to me.
Of course, you can say the same vice-versa. I can't tell you the amount of times I've had a shitty morning listening to Eminem on my iPod and staring out of a bus window only to have one of you assholes make me smile from ear to year. I went from wanting to write depressing Bukowski poetry to laughing my butt off, so thanks you guys, thanks for stunting my creative growth.
In all seriousness though, I've had fun these past six years. Sure, there were ugly spats and seriously emotional time periods, but I think I came out of this relatively unscathed with a renewed sense of optimism, and I hope that you can also feel this way.
I never really looked foward to the future, but now I do, because people like you have given me the courage to do whatever I want. I think I've finally grown into the person I was always meant to be, and I hope that those of you who haven't quite found her yet don't give up.
Thinking about the future now, it seems like it's full of endless possibilities. Of course, this optimism will probably wear off, but I'll never stop chasing after my dream, and you shouldn't either. Thanks for the memories, but more importantly, thanks for being my friends. I'll always hold you in my heart, even when I'm dying of some bacon-related disease in my early thirties.
Cheers for the six years amigos; I love all your faces and I really did try to fit in Ebert's quote as best I could but it kinda failed, didn't it? Ah well, it's a nice quote anyway.
(I feel it's the norm to shove in a cheesy friendship quote so here goes)
'I am glad you are here with me. Here at the end of all things, Sam.' - J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
TL;DR - I hope you're all really fucking happy in the future. Holla at me anytime.
:'''D
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