"I wanna know—have you ever seen the rain?"

I.

Growing up, I was the kid who listened to oldies and walked around humming Billy Joel's "Only the Good Die Young." I was sure that Billy was talking about me. Catholic. Bright. Generally very good. And, I guess I figured, the message was pretty clear—I would be young, but maybe if I was always this good, I wouldn't have to worry too much about being old.

It's not that I thought I would die a horrible death before the first sign of needing to take responsibility. But it just seemed like being a "good kid" was my thing. I never had to worry—everything always fell into place. And when it came to thinking about the future, I just didn't really think about it. I could enjoy everything, and the only something I had to work towards was getting into a good college. No need to make any big decisions.

In any case, I never imagined I'd make it this far. People were always saying to me, "you'll go far." But I never really never thought I'd make it this far.

Across the ocean far. Away from the ocean far.

I never really thought about it at all. And, maybe I'm still young, but I'm not sure I'm still good. And I'm not sure that that's not good. In fact, I think it's much better.

........
II.

How is it that we measure the significance of a moment or an event or a thing?

We instinctively label some as bigger and more important and more significant than others.
Above all is our health, and our jobs. "At least we all have our health," was always a phrase thrown around the dinner table before meals.
But, sometimes, we're not healthy. Like, sometimes your Dad has a heart attack. And sometimes that can be a miracle.

Maybe we should throw around phrases like "at least we have our flowers," at the dinner table.

When you walk along the street do you let your fingers brush over the leaves? Seeing them is a piece of the picture, but do you notice them? Do you take a minute to feel them? Have you thought about what a miracle it is to feel anything at all?

Maybe it's not enough to wonder why. Why are we here. Why are you there. Why did this happen? Maybe questions don't get us to the answers. Maybe there's another way to be curious. Maybe there's a way to wonder without actually wondering?

I believe that we're following something without even knowing it, but we're so caught up in measurements. From our weight, to the wait, from our job to our house to our salary to our...