A house made of stone

I recently realized something. Something about being human.

We face the inevitable-- death of loved ones, dissolved relationships, unexplained heartache, illness, accidentally turning the TV channel to a reality show, etc. And I realized that we have to arm ourselves--or at least I need to, given the fragile mass that I so often prove to be. It's merely requisite for survival. How else can we cope if we don't make ourselves of stone just a little bit? How else can we protect ourselves if we're not just slightly armed to the teeth? Often I've tried to make myself of stone. But it has just ended up being that paste of mud and sand that collapses--crumbles--dissolves--when any kind of rain falls. (In this case, metaphorical rain is an unfortunate thing. I love real rain, however.)

To say "make ourselves of stone" is not to suggest being an insensitive mongrel who is an emotion-starved brick wall with a tough-guy creed. It is simply the suggestion to deal with life like a rock star. Not the Kurt Cobain-fated rock star. And not a meteoroid kind of rock star that is hurtling toward Earth at an alarming speed. But the rock star who suits up in leather (or pleather) pants and counts the band off--1, 2, 3!--and deals with life as it comes because they're just a little bit tough inside and they know how to rock the metaphorical pants off of things. That's all.

But though we may need to build a wall or two for protection, we can't be too guarded. We have to let people in whilst being strong, all at the same time. A challenge, no? At the risk of sounding like a Dungeons and Dragons nerd or the lyrics to a cheesy Peter Cetera** song, humans need to build and maintain their own personal fortresses, all while letting their guard down at the same time. Our walls need to have doors, in other words. And... I just visualized a castle with a drawbridge for some reason. Wow, that IS nerdy.

So, perhaps I'll drink some metaphorical hard cider (because I've heard the real kind is gross) and start rocking the pants off things. Metaphorically, of course. Hear, hear.




**Peter Cetera is synonymous with cheesy. So I guess that was redundant.