today

The Beatles had Yesterday, Annie had Tomorrow and Rent has No Day But Today.

The saddest thing about aging is coming to the realization that nothing is ever truly what you had imagined as a child. It's that moment you realize that hard work and desire isn't enough to succeed. It's your first heartbreak. It's when your eyes are opened to the fact that your parents are people, not superheroes. It's finding out that they never do tell you what happens after "happily ever after." It's discovering that people actually do things to hurt other people. It's when the fanciful, wistful dreams you had will never quite materialize the way you hoped for.

Fortunately, just as the myths of Pandora tell, we have hope. These days I'm learning that we all invest our hope in different forms. There are those who believe in God, who hope in an omniscient being to provide good in an otherwise bleak world. There are those who believe in the Earth, in a natural and organic way of life, ever cyclical, ever connected. Then there are those like me, who believe in people, that no matter how terrible, how cruel and appalling, there shines light from the human spirit. I choose to hope in people, and an inner good that lays within, that simply needs to be nurtured, encouraged, cherished.

I'm complaining too much these days. Each 24 hours holds much good, fear, laughter, evil, hope, deception and love. It's not about yesterday, nor is it so much about tomorrow, but more of the now. Perhaps there should be more of yes. Yes to adventure and journey. Yes to pain and growth. Yes to here and now and this and us. To live without fear and mostly without regret. To live with optimism and hope. To live for today...

...well, maybe till 2012.