I am unsure of the whereabouts of my former self.

Lost in a daze of societal-culture-infused opinions of others

- gears & levers, pulling & directing my flow through the choppy & uncertain waters we call now, here,

life. 

That person is still here though. As much as we may try to bury or forget that adolescent mind, 

- that person still exists. We will carry it with us always. 

- - - - - - - 

But that premature mind is to us the way a cocoon is to a butterfly.

- Our consciousness & our ever-expanding mind are held together by a fragile body, susceptible to dangers all around us. Even more in this period of time than ever,

because the dangers are not all natural. A lot of those dangers are being perpetuated by our own species amongst a world they do not fully understand.

This means we must be very much more aware than the butterfly.

Without the perspective we once had through the eyes of our cocooned mind, we could never truly evolve. The perspective we were once ‘limited to’ has been replenished with an entirely new, constantly evolving perspective of a more sophisticated, philosophical & organic genre.

- - - - - - -

Still, however, our perspective remains limited, without all we’ve learned (or can learn) from our former selves.

The more knowledge we gain & the grander, farther-reaching our perspective, the more we starve for connection & love, still.

There’s more we must learn.

That person we seek to outgrow must not be mistaken for a fool, because we are all fools, still.

You & I are in this together. Searching, prodding, picking up & putting down.

We’re involved, reaching out, pondering the future, the universe, 

- so curious, compassionate, loving, grateful, humble & true to ourselves, amongst others who are still trying to feel their way around in the dark.

- - - - - - - 

An evolved perspective is not of one, but a catalogue of truths about this life, our existence & our responsibility as ambassadors of this planet, our environment & each other.

It’s not easy, but the reality we view from the sciences & tools available is only achieved by dedicating ourselves to the truth, revealed through beyond the bright & deafening sights & sounds of the lies provided by those who refuse to leave the cocoon. 

Yet, as I said before, our perspective is still limited. Because without a conglomerate community cooperating on the same level with the same goals & aspirations, the sky may be, for now, the limit.

Understanding the dangers & lies to be generated in the times to come will soon reach an end, 

when irrationality & ignorance run out of fuel to generate blind persistence. 

- - - - - - -

We must,

- embrace the people we once were, to understand the artificial inhibitors in place in our lives along with the lives of others, as to not judge, but act as consultants & educators throughout moments during our various locations within this existence,

our individually created moments of time & space. 

We owe this to ourselves because there are many more out there, like us, who have been misguided by no fault of their own

& buried their human curiosity, inquisitiveness & natural instinct under a plethora of doubts & untruths,

- but we know how they arrived there in the first place. This gives us more than we need to be patient educators instead of frustrating ourselves with questions & confusions we already know the answers to & reasons for.

- - - - - - -

However,

there are moments in time when all of these thoughts we have, all of these words we try to convey, simply aren’t good enough, are they?

- - - - - - -

Our minds may evolve, but the distances we travel during our time ‘cocooned’ varies from person to person, 

mind to mind. 

environment to environment. 

There is an element or should I say, a ‘chemical’ exchange that is necessary for the health of all life.

Love. In one way or another, one phrase, method, explanation,

- love.

Without it, we cannot progress. We cannot live. 

- - - - - - -

But it does come with its limits as well. It has boundaries. And there are even more alternative, unnatural obstacles our species has produced, that distance us from 

feeling

seeing

understanding

experiencing

love.

No, it’s not what our privileged corner of the world would call ‘fair’

- but we are humans. 

Although we may not be the most advantageous of species, 

we certainly have earned our place amongst the animals & this thing called ‘nature’ we tend to take for granted, yet we do not exist without.

All we’ve achieved as a species in such a short fragment of this planet’s history,

yet we produce petty barriers that actually separate us from experiencing

LOVE.

- but we are humans.

We’ve come this far. We may not be in the place we set out to be, but that’s a difficult task when there has never been a clear direction.

Especially when most of our species remain too enthralled by the perspective they’ve been conditioned to accept while inside their familiar & comfortable cocoons.

- - - - - - 

Our former selves are calling out to us. Except, as a collective consciousness, our former selves are a multitude of bits that make up all life.  

All life, no matter its place in time & space, are reflections of our former selves. 

The earth universe has a story it wishes to tell.

It calls out to us from all directions. 

As creatures of curiosity & the tools in which to pursue it, 

we study the ground beneath our feet from days since passed,

The fossils of ancient travelers,

the memories & contemplations of those whose languages were recorded,

the current species & their place along the evolutionary tree,

the flexing & groaning of our home planet & mother star,

the traveling light from the cosmos, awaiting the reception of an interplanetary traveler

- calling out to us from all directions.

So we study, we analyze, we understand, 

we evolve.

- - - - - 

We have come so far in a mere blink of time. We cannot let anything stop us now.

The failings of our species are not our baggage to carry. We need more than just our own two shoulders.

We need others,

we need love.

No matter what we do, who we become, who we wish to become, what we wish to happen in our lives or wish would’ve happened in our lives,

we need love.

We need love if we wish to pursue our desires, passions & curiosities in the first place.

We need love if we wish to achieve our desires, passions & curiosities afterwards.

After we’ve achieved what we set out to, we still need love to live.

What a life. Where other species require specific inhibitors to influence others, independent of their inner workings, simply to go from one place to another in a minor fraction of their existence from sunrise to sunset,

we humans, require & recognize love through various organic mechanisms of our being, which permit us to live & thrive.

That fact, among all others, is impossibly beautiful.

- - - - - - - 

Understanding this, all of this, is the basis for dealing with all things, past, present & future. 

You cannot successfully, truthfully, harmoniously exist in this life without this understanding, neither can I, 

without love.

- - - - - - -

You & I,

search for it through sound waves & photons of light via moving/pictures & music. 

You & I, 

rummage through our past & present, attempting to recover or decipher it.

You & I, 

yearn for it in our most private & intimate of times.

You & I,

crumble inside when the presence of it is so scarce & lacking around so many individuals unwilling to understand it themselves.

You & I, 

feel utterly helpless at times amidst a confusing swarm of external forces clouding our paths to it.

You & I, 

have felt it before, in fragments & brief waves, 

only for them to vanish back into the rough tides of our lives.

You & I,

experienced it once,

- together.

- - - - - - 

Somehow, between a time when astronomically large chunks of rock slammed into one another in rapid succession

& this present time, when we have set sail for new worlds as we navigate through those same rogue rocks from the past,

we experienced love during a millisecond of a quarter of a billionth of a fraction belonging to space & time on this particular planet during the course of this epoch & lifetime, together.

Through all the chaos this planet has gone through, 

through all the chaos this universe is still enduring,

through all the hardships our own species has created for itself,

& amongst all the foolish choices we’ve made & all the uncertainty we still have,

we managed to arrive at a point in time in this life, together, 

& experienced love, together.

- - - - - - 

There are so many problems to be solved. So many questions we have of life & alternatives we present & discuss to assist in a better course or action.

There are so many complexities & oddities we still have yet to understand.

But amongst all of it, love is the only thing that remains true, honest & unfailing. 

It is not easily accessible, although it remains all around us.

- - - - - -

Love generated between two people does not come without its hardships.

In this time of insanity & misguidance, the boundaries & hinderances that keep us from the type of love we experienced, 

feel like waves crashing over us, while we wonder how we’re going to make it to dry land, or at least a place of peaceful waters. 

But we are humans.

We’ve gone through worse. We’ve tackled the fiercest conditions & created even harsher ones. 

- - - - - - 

We must respect & nurture our desire need to be loved. Nowadays it’s spread out so thin that it’s difficult to recognize & piece together,

but we did. 

And if there’s anything we can grasp in plain sight, it’s that love, like happiness, is best magnified when shared.

If none of this translates correctly, understand this:

I LOVE YOU.

And for as long as this body & mind are able,

I want to love you for

all space & time, 

across vast distances,

in this existence,

holding your hand. 

Come with me, 

we’ll brave the tides together.

You,

me,

& our former selves.