A while ago there was a Black Mirror episode about a guy
Who lived in a screen-covered room alone, and day and night
all the walls that were screens played commercials, and he would be punished for closing his eyes.
21st century’s a quarter past and pixels are on the rise,
Every pocket, purse, clutch, backpack – pixelated walls torment us all, different kinds and sizes, under the guise
Of progress, convenience, technical innovation;
Technology is a bullet train so fast it ends up leaving the elderly and underprivileged at the station.
I’m more of a “touch grass” person than the type
to gush over a machine’s details, the next model coming out, or the like.
It’s a living, for sure, but tech/life balance is key,
Feel the wind in your hair, with your hands free, and you’ll see
that being surrounded by commercials and machines all day was never meant to be. – RSM
Poison Ivy and The Metallic Dress Shop
The last few years or so I put another layer of joy into my familiar repertoire;
A ‘what if’ from my past came true, and I was elated.
This is left field, but I always wished of a world where fancy, rechargeable, metallic dresses were a thing, and my bestie Mary Jane had told me she started working at a place that sells exactly that!
Me and MJ go back since high school, so when I first pulled. up to her new fancy job I couldn’t believe it –
I had to be over 21 and show ID to get in. In the middle of the day. Weird. The vibe was eh to be honest, it looked like an Apple Store in there.
She was wearing a metallic, cylindrical, futuristic dress that needed to recharge after a few wears, she told me.
I was glad to see Mary’s glow up, she said the money was good and she’s been wearing these new dresses every day.
One time I stopped by and she introduced me to her coworker, Ivy.
She donned futuristic clothes just the same, but had a fiery look to her. She just seemed so… concentrated. Not a bad thing, Ivy was cool people, the three of us started hanging out after work sometimes. Then a lot more.
I started wanting Ivy around all the time, so much that even MJ gave me a side eye about it every now and then.
Ivy had me wrapped around her fingers like a vine. Things were great, things were golden, things were also terrible, things felt numb, things were too dependent on Ivy being around for me to have a good time.
Ivy was fun! She knew how to be discreet but still had a wavy vibe anywhere, anytime.
Eventually we started spending so much time together that I seldom felt like I could evade her gaze, but I wanted to be under her gaze all the time. Euphoria had trapped me.
We had adventures together, the 3 of us, but burning holes through lungs, pockets, and one’s ability to cope with life ain’t worth it, and trust me, Ivy had pretty expensive taste.
I sat down with Ivy and MJ, tension noticeable between them, and had to make a tough choice – I let Ivy know we couldn’t really hang anymore.
MJ and I have had ups and downs, but I’m glad we’re back on the same page. I understood eventually why the side eye or shade of other kinds were thrown.
I realized Mary was looking out for me.
Ivy took it surprisingly well, she’s not losing any sleep over me with all her other metallic, rechargeable dress loving friends.
Mary and I are as tight as ever, but I don’t visit the fancy dress store she works at anymore. We just chill on our own, just like old times. – RSM
West Coast Waters
Waves of misery nip at my bright, sandy shores,
Like gravity, they’ll always be around,
Threatening my homeostasis with cold, wet feelings
as they boomerang endlessly – an emotionless, rhythmic back and forth;
But when I face the crashing, icy waves at the beach
I’m reminded that the border between the familiar and the ideal is getting through the uncomfortable.
As I wade in these waters I feel impatience, fear, and hesitance wash away, dissipating into the Pacific.
The same waves that sink ships can uplift your heart, mind, and soul, when any of them have gone adrift;
The feisty waters may at first yell “fight me!” but it’s just a test,
to see if you’re up to the kind of rough play the ocean is up to most days.
‘Rejuvenation’ doesn’t do the feeling justice;
I shed a layer of the world every time I find myself within the passionate seas that float alongside SoCal –
the worries get lifted out of me by the water, and carried away by the breeze. – RSM
A Laser-Focused Job
“Tip toe tip toe STOP.
Don’t. Move.
GO GO GO GO wait!!!!
RUN! NOW! WAIT, NO STOP!!!”
“Can’t you see there are motion detection lasers EVERYWHERE, agent?! One false move, and this whole operation is FUCKED!”
“Tread carefully…
I can be your guide, but getting through this is on you.”
“OK. Get past this hallway and the safe should be around the next corner.”
“Great. Get started on the door now.”
“What’s taking so long!? The alarm can only stay disabled for a few more minutes. Hurry!”
“Amazing! Grab the payload and get to the pickup point now!”
“BE CAREFUL WITH THE LASERS! They’re still on!
You only have a minute or so to leave the building!!”
“Great work, agent, you completed death-defying stunts and foiled state of the art bank security with ease. You got what we needed, and got out on time. Oh, and you’re alive, too.”
“Lower your heart rate and get some rest. Same time tomorrow.” – RSM
Haikus Part 5
Bare feet on aged wood;
Serenity, before me.
The sun shines. I smile.
–
Ignited a flame
That dissipates all worries.
Released sacred fumes.
–
One day comes and goes,
One thousand days inch along.
Every second flies.
–
I still can’t stay still.
Bursting with raw energy,
I try to unwind.
–
Natural cures help.
Artificial cures buy time.
Internal peace heals.
–
Patience is priceless.
Do not trade it for anger.
Hold onto this gift.
–
Traveling grows minds.
Meditation goes inward.
Practice both in life.
–
Breathing is the key.
It is our minds that are locked
by our emotions.
–
Overthinking leads
to distrust of one’s own thoughts.
Let thoughts pass along.
–
Planes pierce through the sky
but the sky remains unchanged.
Clouds still float, birds soar.
Glitter Bomb Your Fears
They come at you suddenly, relentlessly,
Without warning, your heart rate spikes,
A cold sweat forms, and whatever that thing that scares you the most presents itself:
Your biggest fear. The ‘bogeyman’ in your life.
Whatever form a boggart would take for you if you were a student at Hogwarts.
Instead of running from it, fighting it, or resisting it, have you ever tried trolling your fears instead?
Fight fire with jokes. Reduce feelings of your impending doom with Grade A mischief.
Meet potential failure with a confident smile.
Think of your biggest obstacles as Batman – but you’re The Joker.
Play pranks on your worst anxieties in your mind, and watch how differently this will paint your world, and how much better stress can be managed day to day.
Be the Bugs Bunny you wish to see in the world. – RSM
Next Stop
It is in finding our way that experience is gained.
Life isn’t just about seeing where the next stop takes you along this train –
Sometimes it takes all of our strength to take all the love, all the pain, and just sit on it until your stop is here.
All the pent up judgment, all the angst, all the nervous excitement, have it trudge upward along, seemingly in perpetuity, until your station arrives in all it’s glory on this metal circuit of inpatient riders.
Your stop is here now. The world is yours. RSM
Be Less Productive
Bob Marley once said “Money is numbers and numbers never end. If it takes money to be happy, your search for happiness will never end.”
We spill ourselves over every day trying to ensure our livelihoods,
Only to see the goal posts right in front of us move – like a carrot dangling on a fishing line.
Fuck the rat race.
As we circle around this giant blue ball and it rotates around the sun and spins
this ‘Choose How You Survive’ game we’re in won’t let us win,
Inflation frustrates us, long hours drain us, new waves of challenges keep us on our toes – even when we’re laying down.
“And we’ll never be royals…” Lorde sang,
But it’s not like I’d want to be,
My dreams don’t come with castles and guards with big, silly hats –
I just hope to live in a more forgiving, caring, all people-focused world eventually,
Where self care is the norm instead of a personal form of activism.
Until then, I’m just going to seize my moments to be less productive –
I’ll give myself some pause when I can by just pressing pause on my neverending to do list.
Find time to show love to yourself.
Bob Marley said it best, probably with a smile on his face:
“The day you stop racing is the day you win the race.”
-RSM
Peace Through It All
Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, or however that classic code goes, it shows
the principal of balance –
that, at times, life comes in opposites, to embrace each up with each down, letting each turn take you toward something different.
Having no expectations is a real ‘code’ I use in life to adapt, show love to myself and others, and to get through life itself.
If I were digging for happiness somewhere, it would be wherever peace begins to peak out of the ground.
Happiness can grow when peace is assumed as the norm, when peace blends in with the air.
The same way we all breathe every day, let us find peace through it all – throughout the hard times especially, whenever we can fit it in.
Peace is the key that unlocks our best selves, our best lives, and puts out our wildfires of stress like it were blowing out a candle.
From the Sega Genesis days til now and beyond – embrace the unexpected, and tranquility will find you. – RSM
Contemplating at LaGuardia
As the beautiful dancing fountain projects city scenes so serene, I’m in between –
It feels like I’m playing catch with friends and fam across 2 different places
When I really miss feeling like I’m on some sort of team.
I don’t mean to take for granted what I have in this life,
I actually just wish I had it all a lot closer to me. People wise, I mean.
A trade off is coming, and I’m beyond willing and able,
But it won’t be easy, and there’s a lot to be grateful for what you’ll be exchanging for the formerly familiar.
It doesn’t sound like you, but it is.
“Well, I guess this is growing up” is what first comes to mind, and “…even children get older, I’m getting older too…” follows right behind,
I’m trying to make the best choices and stay at peace, but the uncomfortable is inevitable if you want to grow in this life,
and I just honestly hope that at the end of every day for everyone, things will be alright. – RSM
Rubén Sebastián Muñiz | ∞ 