At 23

Listening to Sitti’s rendition of At Seventeen, I got the urge to write something like, At twenty-three. (Since I'm turning 23 soon)

“I learned the truth at seventeen. That love was meant for beauty queens.”

I also learned some truth but not at seventeen. At twenty-three, I learned some truth that love was not just meant for beauty queens. Of course, love will never be only for beauty queens. Love is meant for all. Even romantic love is meant for all. But what is important about love is not just the romantic love. Love should be lived everyday as it is the only measure of life – how much love you’ve given.

“At seventeen I learned the truth. And those of us with ravaged faces, lacking in the social graces desperately remained at home.”

At twenty-three I learned the truth that not because you’ve got ravaged faces you’ll lost social grace and remain at home. I don’t have a ravaged face but I often remained at home (not desperately though). Simply because home is the place where you can think, reflect, and realize what to do about life. I lack social graces because I choose not to socialize that’s why I’m not desperate.

“Inventing lovers on the phone who called to say, “Come, dance with me and murmured vague obscenities.”

It’s not that I invent lovers on the phone at all. At twenty-three, I invent things in my mind – dreams I want to fulfill in time. I try to imagine myself – imagine myself in a condition where I am happy and fulfilled (somehow). It feels like, there’s a lot of things I want to do and I simply can’t do all of them at present. For now, one way to achieve bliss is to imagine having achieved all these dreams. I guess it’s a good way of persuading my self to continue striving.

”Remember those who win the game lose the love they sought to gain.”

The game of compromise is always a failure. You cannot venture in to a job that offers big compensation and forget that it isn’t what you really want. In turn, you’ll find out your lost – and you lose the love (dreams) you really wanted.

“We all play the game, and when we dare to cheat ourselves at solitaire…”

We all play the game of life. I’ve learned that the only dare we can make is to gamble in order to achieve something better – it could be harmful but often results are decent. To cheat ourselves is another thing. Yes, it’s gambling – but the outcome for sure is harmful.

I highly recommend Sitti's Album if you want to set a smooth mood.