When I was 20, I moved Up North
and took a job as a reporter.
It was an easy choice,
having been a fast-food employee.
In hindsight,
it completely changed
my life–
irrevocably.
I started college,
and I learned to write.
I reported and learned
about communities.
I smashed knowledge
into my brain.
Books, thoughts, philosophies.
In so many ways: dumber to smarter.
Regardless, it was a selfish choice.
I left behind family and friendship.
I rearranged my life completely,
and changed who I was.
I am thankful for the experience,
but I remember times of intense
loneliness, and dark nights,
smoking in an autumn yard.
I remember the cold in the winter,
and how it grabbed me round the collar,
like a ghoul’s frozen hand dragging me
into a lifeless void.
When spring finally thawed,
I remember walking, still looking,
and not finding signs of life
outside of work and school.
I am better for it in retrospect,
but it was the hardest choice of my life.
I will never forget the experience,
or how I felt on those empty days.
It goes to show that pain
can be vital to your
success.
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