Ladies and gentlemen at this time please extinguish all smoking materials because the captain has turned on the “No Smoking” sign. Your seats and tray table should be locked and in their full upright position. Prepare for take-off to the sun and let’s pray our wings don’t melt. Today we fly over an ocean of fears and through a haze of the unknown. We will fly in search of clarity and in search of knowledge. In search of something that matters.

Feel the grime on your skin and the dew in your hair. Your bare feet, now black from a sleepless night, slap the pavement as we walk. It is early? or extremely late. The sidewalk ends at a neighborhood park and we’re all climbing the jungle gym at its center. We find a seat. We talk. Talk about how insane it was that we layed on a front lawn all night, and not once did a neighbor or cop or parent disturb us. Talk about how surprising it is that there still are neighborhoods this safe. Talk about the god we see in the world. Talk about a lack of one. Talk about the status quo and the social norms- parent’s expectations. Talk about outcasts? no, don’t worry, we’re just teenagers.

We’re at the highest point of the Suburbs of America. Everything is so clean and neat, and we all feel like we’re in Pleasantville.

Look at us, it’s six a.m. and we’re all undone. Our lashes and curls have fallen; we have almost reached hysteria because our brains are making more connections than there are atoms in the universe. You’re covered in goose bumps as the morning’s crisp embrace gradually approaches. We are enveloped in the scent of grass and dirt and the perfume of our mistress? her name is Night. It is six a.m. and we are all mad because Night has stolen our sanity. We all laugh at how small we are. We’re all just an ant pile in a world full of piles. All of them just waiting to be stepped on. We’ve become Babylonians, speaking nonsense at this point.

And then it happens.

Without an introduction.

And we all become silent.

Staring as the sun yawns awake like Van Gough would have painted it. It is captivating and overwhelming and it’s almost like we’ve witnessed a miracle. Now you realize a few important things as the rays brighten the scene and hit your face just right. Realize that we have reached maximum altitude. Realize that every single day ends, and that no matter what, you can’t stop it. Realize that as that sun rises, your slate is wiped clean and today it is time to do something. Every time that sun rises its time to do something new. Realize that a hundred tasks yesterday still means none today. Every day, do something. Run. Work. Dance. Sing. Cry. Scream. Paint. Sweat. Think. Stomp. Watch. Curse. Kiss. Fight. Imagine. Walk. Damage. Chase. Clean. Discover.

Realize that last night you were absurd, but today you can be something new. Today you can be happy and successful? you’re in control.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for flying. We have landed.