The Opposite of Loneliness

Possibly one of the reasons I enjoy writing so much, is because reading has been a love of mine since I was a little girl. I remember shelves of mine being filled with books. Picking just one out to read every night may have been my hardest task. Occasionally, I will try to dedicate blog posts to book recommendations. Some may call me a nerd. (mostly Easton) because of how much I read. I am embarrassed to say I started this 200 some page book and finished in one day. I borrowed the book from my roommate titled "The Opposite of Loneliness." It is a collection of stories and essays from a Yale graduate by the  name of Marina Keegan. Marina is one of the most excellent writers I have ever read. Sadly, she passed away in a tragic car accident not more than a week after her college graduation. As a tribute and memorial for her, her teachers, professors, parents, and various other loved ones composed a collection of some of her best fiction and non-fiction writings. I have not had a book or anything really inspire me as much as her writing in this book did in a very long time. Through this book, I asked myself how can I change the world when I'm not even 20 years old yet? I don't think she ever thought that her words would impact people all throughout the world as much as they have.

She writes about the Opposite of Loneliness and how if there was a word for that, that would be precisely how she is feeling. There are some amazing people surrounding me every single day, but I can't help but think that there is more out there than just working to get through school to potentially end up with another job that you have to work more at. For what? What are we doing this work for if there is no overall purpose benefitting our community and this world. The world is going to end. One day that bright, shining, mega star we call our Sun is going to stop shining. One day, our sunshine is just going to shut off. Why do we worry so much about tomorrow when it isn't even promised to us? A quote from one of Marina's poems left me thinking. "Do you wanna leave soon?" No, I want enough time to be in love with everything.. and I cry because everything is so beautiful and so short." This got to me. We spend so much time preparing for the rest our lives and we forget to remember that life is shorter than we think it is. I hope that I can impact someone, just one single person through my writing the way Marina has impacted me.

This just proves to me that words are so powerful. I don't even care if people think I'm cliché, or stupid, or not interesting enough to have this blog. I am doing something that makes me happy in hopes that one little thing I can contribute to this Earth will be able to help someone in the long run. This world and the people in it are too beautiful and special to let their lives be wasted by the tasks we let consume our days. We are special.

XO- Sydney Lauren

P.S: My teacher asked if she could use the essay I turned in for an assignment as an example for the class, I almost cried no joke. It's amazing the support I'm getting and the feedback I get for my writing. So thank you all!
http://theoppositeofloneliness.com/