What is Life | Teen Ink

What is Life

December 17, 2012
By NinjaW GOLD, Indianola, Iowa
NinjaW GOLD, Indianola, Iowa
14 articles 66 photos 11 comments

Tell me. What is the meaning of life well worth living?

Little Victories?


New ideas. Accomplished goals, a passed test, an A on a five point quiz. Successfully trying a new brownie recipe. Mac and Cheese. New pens and notebooks. A pair of good socks. Waking up in the morning, going to sleep at night. Rain. Cool weather. Colored leaves. A smile in the hallway. Finishing a hard book. Starting a new one. Being happy.


Or the world around you?



The smell of a new book. The feel of an old quilt with so many memories. The soft rustle of new leaves or the bright chill of winter. Toes in the sand. A storm’s breeze and lightning cutting the sky. The smell of hot bread in an old kitchen. Mountain air. The plop of a rock into the water. The sound of a lawn mower in late spring. Fresh cut grass. The sound of birds. Packable snow. Rustle of hands in a box of crayons. The scrape of a rake in leaves, a shovel in snow.


Maybe Childhood?



Ice crystals as precious commodities. Hot chocolate’s worth. P13 movies. Fishing with Grandpa. A dime being like ten dollars. Hair bows. Brisk weather coats. Climbing trees and falling. Stitches. Playing ball late at night. Running in the rain in the middle of the street. Stick teepees. Long braids. Marbles. Ghost stories. Sitting by the fear defrosting. Fear of closets. Short toilets. Sitting in the back of the bus. Imagination becoming real. Four square. Tag. Long division. Wet winter boots. Leaf piles big enough to fit ten. New light up shoes. Trying to fit in. Picking garden beans and eating them under the trees. Making applesauce. Eating applesauce. Watching Grandma sew. Too big shoes. Mom’s makeup. Adventures.


Then there is Growing Up.



Middle school. The “movie”. Fear. Hormones. Crying at funny. Laughing at sad. Finding oneself. The Lunchroom as omnipotent and a battle ground for social standing. Lamination being so cool. Science as a socialites world. The Populars, the Jocks, the Nobodies, the Underachievers, the Cool Kids, the Preps, the Geeks, the Band Nerds. Questioning of everything of everyone. Some answers, but not many. Realization that everything is changing and fast.


Freshman year. More fear. More confusion. Lots of new. Upperclassmen. Wow. Football games. Competitions. Clubs. All new. Bottom of the food chain. Feeling of being swallowed whole by the sea of bigger kids. The lunchroom’s decreased importance. Rubber pasta. Moldy chicken.

Sophomore Year. Feeling of being so important. Knowledge. Still at the bottom. PE. Freshmen. Biology.

Junior. Upperclassman. Less worries. More worries. Next year. That is going to be me.

Senior. IT IS ME. Future. More fear. More confusion. More questions. Freshmen= annoyance. That WAS me. Be nice. Last year. All will change. Again. More and more questions. Lots. More than normal. Wanting. Hoping and lots of dreaming.



So then is it dreaming?

Future. College. A house. A big porch. Porch swing. Flower garden. Books. Lots of them. The smell of cookies in an ancient oven. Traveling. Gaining. More dreaming. More doing. Working instead of wanting. Loving instead of hating. Hopefully leaving pettiness behind. Looking always to the future while loving the past. Realization of everything. More questions, still no answers.


The author's comments:
Not sure if this goes with this section or not but this came up to my mind!

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