JSYK17: Lately...

Lately, the clouds have laughed at us. The cruel things show their faces only when the heat gives us no hope and then flee when the chill of hope returns. The brown death all around us jeers along with them in perfect chorus as we shiver at the sound. But still, they laugh at us and the winter goes on.

Lately, my jar has been empty. What used to to be a burning passion for life has slipped, again, into a state of being. Not doing, just being. I go through the motions of life simply, waiting for something to knock me out of it. Waiting for a penny to make my jar less empty.

Lately, I've been noticing. The little things that people do without even thinking fill the void where I used to be. I observe things that others thought everyday: new nail polish, a clean floor, a stray tear, a hair cut, a unexpected kind word, a hand gesture. All the things catch my eye and dazzle me. The only person that I don't notice having them is...myself.

Lately, I've been bored. That is against my policy. Every moment counts and a second waisted in another reason to look back and wish I hadn't. Maybe it's the emptiness, and it will soon go away. Maybe I have to work to make it disappear.

Lately, I've been thinking. Listening closely to what people say and learning. The cogs in my brain begin generating thoughts unknown to me, but glistening in their beauty. I've thought about everything from politics to people, religion to secrecy, love to loneliness. And, even sitting here, my thoughts are very distant, thinking of... anything!

Lately...