The Living Dead

"Balance in life is the key to happiness." (my brother)

How true is that. Now if you could kindly forward to my attention the formula to this simple mantra I would greatly appreciate it.

Decent salary (nothing to brag about but large enough to live off of AND pay off my traveling and 'living' debts), phenomenal benefits, a good staff (great actually - the kind you hope for), work that makes your day go by at a reasonable pace and a generous amount of vacation time to top it all off.

So what's my problem again?

Right....inspiration and imagination have once again become frivolous and unexplored. Put back on the proverbial shelf. No dust has settled but its a beautiful sunny day and I can see the tiny particles glistening in my apartment almost mocking me. Slowly floating and dancing in the air eventually coming to rest lightly - as if only momentarily - on those things that took me years to clean off and once again admire.

So do something about it, right? Maybe I'm just a lazy shit but there is something so uninspiring and draining about the day-to-day. Even my level of reading has taken an embarrassing step in the wrong direction. Ok ok - so I have no problem exploring ALL avenues when it comes to literature but my choices recently and 'next on the list' choices have started worrying me a bit. I even find myself when renting movies continually reaching for the light romantic comedies, or even just light comedies.

I need to snap out of it. Time for a change. A new outlook? A new book? A new indy movie? A new newspaper? I need a kick start and I need it fast. Not that I believe that I would ever truly 'lose myself' and become one of millions of 'successful' walking dead in this western world. A post I wrote just this summer mentioned how not having a job strips you of a level of dignity that you require to feel like a substantial citizen. I now have a job and I have replaced that wondrously fresh feeling that was my writing, my reading and my inspiration to do what I truly loved with societal dignity. Hmph.

I guess I still need to keep searching for that key. I know where the door is, now I just have to open it.

The Book Thief

"It was a year for the ages, like '79, like 1346, to name just a few" Mark Zusak (The Book Thief)

It's 1939 and you are following little Liesel, a German girl who survives the holocaust and the horrific atrocities surrounding her by stealing books.

Zusak thrusts you into a dark and dangerous time while being led by the soft, warm hand of a beautiful little girl. Poor, starving, and often terrified, Liesel represents the overpowering strength and love of the human spirit. Zusak's play on words make this book not only interesting to read but inspiring to digest. Zusak's use of metaphors is unmatched by any other author I have read to date. His words seamlessly dance on the page. A children's book (young adult) with momentous power to leave a reader of any age touched, heart-broken, horrified and bewildered.

The worst thing about this book is the back cover - no justice was done and had a good friend not recommended it I may not have ever found out what a beautiful piece of literature this really is.

Ponder

"I sometime think that the size of our happiness is inversely proportional to the size of our house."

Gregory David Roberts (Shantaram)