an ode to summer passed

A man never really appreciates his freedom until it is taken away from him. He takes it for granted, abusing it and never really using it to its fullest potential. Once that freedom has gone, you realize all of the things that you wish you had done and the times that you wasted. This summer was an amazing time, and now that I look back on it, I had one of the best summers of my life. I do not think I took my summer for granted, I pretty much used every day to its fullest, living it on step at a time. A number of profound things happened to me this summer, things that have made me better, and things that made me realize how lucky I am that I have the friends that I do. First, I realized that there is no God. I had been feeling this way for most of my life, I was always more of a rational thinker and that obviously does not play into the Catholic church's goal of the mysticism of an invisible being who controls your life. I would not say that I am a full blown atheist though, more of an agnostic. As much as I know that there is no God, I cannot help but feel that there is something that connects us all. I believe in the human spirit, in its ability to persevere and its worth in the scheme of things. The second profound thing that happened to me over the summer was that my love for literature and the written word was rekindled. I am writing again, for myself and for nobody else. That is one of the main reasons that I started this blog, as a forum for me to just write and not worry about the constraints put on my creativity; the classroom. I have begun reading again, the joy of which I had completely forgotten up until this summer. Books and writing, my long lost loves. This is what I want to do with my life. I want to be able to tell stories, write for pleasure, and have people enjoy what I write. For me, I cannot see myself doing anything else. I want to travel all around the country; all around the world looking for new ideas and meeting new people. I want to further my intellectual discovery and realize what I was meant to do. The third profound occurence in my summer life was the discovery of plain old debate. There is no rush that you can get quite like the one you get from the heat of a good argument. Most of my experiences this summer would not have been possible if it were not for a friend who has the testicular fortitude to challenge things that are wrong, and to speak his mind about these things. If it were not for his guidance, my intellectual rebirth would not have been possible and I most assuredly would have spiraled down into the high school normalcy that plagues almost every high school in the nation. I have a new outlook on life, loftier goals, and a better sense of what needs to be done in my life. I hope to accomplish my goals, and I hope to be able to have the strength to push through the pain and do something. This summer taught me an important lesson, one that I shall never forget. Do not lose sight of the things that you love, they are the things that will truly make you happy and make your life worth living.