We're still alive.

We've just been super busy, as any student at Tech can attest to. So suck it, doubters.

Anyway.

My topic for the night is emotions that simply should not or cannot be outgrown. There are certain emotions that you should never be too old to feel, and passion is one of them. It's one of the fundamental emotions every human being should experience. Because if you don't, I'm sorry, but you are a dry, shell-like, sad, SAD excuse for a human being. And I don't just mean passion in relationships. I mean passion for your activities, passion for your friends, passion for your family. I don't believe in half-assing things, because if you do, it's not worth doing them in the first place. If you truly love something or somebody, that person or thing should do nothing less than hatch butterflies in your stomach and send your heart soaring. It should do nothing less than make your breath catch in your throat and make you want to sing. It should do nothing less than bring tears of joy to your eyes when you think of how lucky you are to have it. There are people who infuse passion into every aspect of their lives, and there are people who just don't feel strongly about a lot of things. I feel like as long as there's one thing-just ONE thing- that you don't feel like you could live without, whether it's food, music, sex, knowledge, whatever- you're experiencing a smidgenny modicum of joie de vivre. And that's important.

The second emotion that I, for one, never want to outgrow, is curiosity. Whether you're eight years old or eighty eight years old, life should never lose its thrill. And consequently, you should never lose your sense of wonder for life. This isn't the same thing as naivete- obviously people should become wiser as they age. But at the same time, the older a person gets, he or she should have a keener sense of the fragility of life and should therefore be able to appreciate it more. An eight year-old is fascinated by the emergence of a butterfly from its cocoon because he's not exactly sure how it happens and wants to find out. An eighty year-old should be fascinated by the butterfly because he knows how it happens, understands what a miraculous process it is, and appreciates the beauty of it.

The last emotion that is IMPOSSIBLE to outgrow is fear. One of my favorite quotes is from Home Alone (great movie, by the way, everyone should watch it), when old man Marley turns to Kevin and says, "You can be too old for a lot of things. You're never too old to be afraid." Everyone's got boogeymen in their closet that they're too afraid to face. The only difference is that the kids may actually know how to deal with their fears better than adults do. It is, first of all, common knowledge that the boogeyman will not pose any danger if one sleeps with the closet door closed (apparently the boogeyman is too dumb to know that you have to TURN the doorknob). And this is when kids start thinking that maybe if you hide your problems long enough, you'll be able to escape from them forever. However, the little people also know that just in case the boogeyman is able to escape from that Lego- and moth-infested hellhole of a closet, a beam of light will vaporize him immediately. And maybe this is the juvenile equivalent of facing your fears head-on, rather than hiding from them or pretending they don't exist. But bottom line, your age really doesn't matter. Everyone is afraid of the possibility of monsters under their bed. Everyone is afraid of the unknown. Fear stalks humans throughout their lives like a relentless beast, teeth and claws bared, waiting for the slightest slip in vigilance. And irrational fears are always the most persistent kind. But as one ages, he or she should be able to deal with their fear rather than allow it to paralyze them, the way kids do, and they should be able to move on with their lives or realize they have to live with their fears.

Unless the fears in question involve cortisone shots, conga lines in old age homes or erectile dysfunction, in which case, paralysis and sheer abject terror are completely understandable.

~*Heat*~