I'm still not what I'd call a "great writer" yet. I say this because I know this. I love writing and I feel very passionate that it can and will take me somewhere someday, but for now I'm just another reader, another observer. I observe the work of others and I stumble upon realizations that are brutally inspiring.
Back in 2008 I got into Spielberg's "Band of Brothers" and the thought of what it would be like to be a participant in the first world war blew my mind clean out of my skull. I couldn't properly explain the effect the real-as-life series had on me, but it gave me chills every time I tried to write about it and my respect for veterans was magnified ten fold. Now that Spielberg's new series about World War 2 entitled "The Pacific" is coming out, one episode a week, the same thing is happening all over again. It churns up so much in me about life, about the original values and morals of humanity, and how people's minds have changed so drastically over the years that it's hard for me to grasp how a guy like me would handle things if I had to live way back in the 1940's/1950's.
The thought that if you were to hop into a time machine and head back to the era of the original world wars, that were justifiably fought for the future of how we now live on earth. If you went back there with the mushy-ass mentality of life that you've received through passive evolution, you'd be a fuckin' pussy!
But if you actually grew up back then, and you were stomping around at the age you are now, you'd be one tough set o' balls!
It's the do-or-die aspect that really humbles me. And it's a factor of life that most of us are never forced to put to the test. I'm very thankful for that, but a part of me can't help but dwell on the "what if."
When a person has to do everything within their entire being to find a way to stay alive, they open up a part of themselves that is as natural as nature itself. I think that's called the will to live. And it's way beyond what we refer to as living or surviving today.
Sometimes I don't know how, why or where I come up with these thoughts, but they are strong and spontaneous and they must be relevant in some way to somebody. It's my inability to understand exactly what I'm digging at and what it means that makes me feel that I've got a long way to go with my writing. And also because I still use cliched scenarios like time machines.
