I once had a guy, or should I say, he once had me…

According to the translator’s note, Norwegian Wood is “just” a love story, and that it was sort of an adventure, a challenge, for Haruki Murakami to write this kind of straight, simple story. Still, I was left speechless. I was drained of thoughts, and emotions – reading it did that to me. It wasn’t particularly overwhelming. The events that unfolded in the book felt natural, like they were supposed to happen. Any other turn of events would just be ridiculous. And I know I understood what I just read. However, as I stare at the back cover of the book, it was as if I knew nothing.

Don’t get me wrong, it is an amazing book. Murakami’s challenge proved to be a success. The kind of truth conveyed in this straight, simple, “just” a love story is the best kind you can get. I couldn’t put it another way. It’s the kind of truth everybody can connect to. Just like how anyone can to each of the characters in the novel. Because, unique as everybody is, in the book and in real life, we all have a tiny bit of everything inside of us. And through this small ounce of similarity, we connect.

I listened to the Beatles’ Norwegian wood just after finishing the novel. They’re two different things, yet they both evoked similar feelings in me.

…and when I awoke I was alone, this bird has flown.

What’s your freedom worth?

What is your freedom worth? Money? Some kind of absolution, forgiveness? Truth? Answers?

For all types of victims, justice; a child, a parent’s permission; a hopeful suitor, the truth.

“With freedom comes responsibility,” said Eleanor Roosevelt. Ironically, in this land of the free, freedom comes with a price. Maybe it has to do with how society formed through the years. There’s a chance that a very long time ago, someone put a price on someone else’s freedom. Or, it’s just the way it is. No matter the how’s and the why’s, in a world where freedom is supposed to be more than just a right entitled to all, it became a privilege.

What’s your freedom worth? For me, it’s worth sermons, and an ounce of my self-esteem.

A Constant Reminder

A Constant Reminder, a photo by ithinkstrange on Flickr.

*Some of the doodles in this page, I copied from the internet because I didn’t know how to draw one – like the car.

I made this a while back, when time stood still for me. It has drawings and statements of my wants and needs at that time. Some, as I look at it now, I never wanted in the first place but I was compelled to accomplish – though I haven’t really done anything yet; some, I might never accomplish; and some, I constantly achieve.

And I watched the snow so rapidly fall from the sky, yet ever so lightly touch the ground – it was beautiful.