Let’s suppose that you were able, every night, to dream any dream you wanted to dream, and you would, naturally, as you began on this adventure of dreams, you would fulfill all your wishes.  You would have every kind of pleasure during your sleep, and after several nights you would say, ‘Well, that was pretty great.’

I knew a guy named Mogi Kenzaburo, we played little league baseball together in the 2^nd grade.  He wasn’t very good, in fact he was quite terrible.  One play, Jorge Alvarado of the Tigers hit a molasses slow grounder down the third base line and Mogi swiftly kicked it back toward home plate and yelled “GOAL!” then proceeded to celebrate with himself.

Just himself.

As I and the rest of our teammates groaned in disgust, the girls in the stands swooned over his misconception between baseball and soccer.  This is because he batted 1.000 with the girls.  If nothing else, it was impressive to witness, even at a young age.  I’m sure (more so hope, to put on my full display of jealousy front and center) his batting average went down since then.  We lost touch after the 3^rd grade, I was that kid that moved every other year.  But I did see Mogi did well for himself into his adult years – attended the University of Oregon, snagged a nice job, met a nice girl, and eventually learned the difference between a shortstop and a goal post.

Instagram tells me that they never married, but they did have a daughter fairly young, who has now logged 8 total years into this world and, get this – plays second base for the Epiphany Eagles – the same team we suited up for when we were kids.

Cue “The Circle of Life” by Sir Elton John, please.

But now let’s, uhm, let’s have a surprise, let’s have a dream which isn’t under control.  Well, something is gonna happen to me that I don’t know what it’s gonna be.  Then you would get more and more adventurous and you would make further and further out gambles as to what you would dream and, finally, you would dream where you are now.

Do you know what Instagram also tells me?  Instagram also tells me that Mogi has cancer, and has been battling for his life for the last two years.

Cue “The Circle of Life” by Sir Elton John, please.

Mogi’s Instagram shows his best days and his best days only, though I have more than enough understanding about cancer that when it’s not so good, the last thing you want around you is a camera.

This brings up that age-old question, why do bad things happen to good people?

Because life isn’t fair?  Well, I think we all have a cold, hard grasp of that mundane perspective.  Let’s take another route, and see this from a different vantage point of what life actually is rather than isn’t.

Life, is free.

Life is free to love, and free to hurt.  Free to give and free to take, free to build then free to crumble.  Life will see you, then will ignore you.  You will gain and you will lose.  At the end of it all we can only hope that our time is well-balanced between the bright and the dark.  Because too much pain is a bad thing, right?  Guess what, so is too much bliss. And perhaps this was never the point – rather than attempt to find the beauty in struggle, understand that struggle implies peace, and that already makes it a beautiful thing.

My childhood friend Mogi is dying.  But you know what?  Mogi is still living, too.  I too, am dying and living.  And so is the person that ran just passed me, and the person that’s right in front of you, and the people in this building, the person in the room next to yours.  The people in the elevator you’re with and the driver of your rideshare you took earlier.  Everyone you’ve ever met, and everyone you’ll never see in your entire life are all dying, and all living.

If you awaken from this illusion and you understand that black implies white, self implies other, life implies death. You can feel yourself, not as a stranger in the world, not as something here on probation, not as something that has arrived here by fluke, but you can begin to feel your own existence as absolutely fundamental. What you are basically, deep, deep down, far, far in, is simply the fabric and structure of existence itself.
–           Alan Watts 

You are free to spend life as you may; bunt single implies goal.
–           Michael Arce