Matthew // Normal HappeningsLeave a comment

Always Arriving, Never Arrived

Going to the beach is just what people in Alabama do over spring break. Strike that, it’s what people in half the country do over spring break. That’s why the typically small town of Gulf Shores, Alabama gets overrun by beach dwellers across both Alabama and other states. A colorful cornucopia of license plates trail the cars parked in constant bumper-to-bumper traffic. It comes down to a simple fact. What’s the closest white, sandy, and most importantly warm beach from Birmingham, Alabama? It’s Gulf Shores.

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Matthew // Normal HappeningsLeave a comment

A Romanticized Notion

You’ve been here before, and here you’ve returned to this very spot. At a crossroads in life, you find yourself unhappy with what you’re becoming and the places you’re headed. You stare out, deep into the night, and waves of discontentment suddenly come rolling in like breakers into the side of a cliff. You’ve traveled the same roads over and over again, wearing them down along with you. You’re ready for a change.

As you look up at the blue sky that you used to love, you think of how you once found happiness, but it was so long ago you can hardly remember how it felt. You were in love once, with a person or a place or a calling. Your future was so bright. But now responsibility doesn’t feel as grand as it used to be, and neither do the people you feel compelled to be responsible for. Looking for an escape, your mind suddenly opens to the possibilities. There’s a great big world out there, you think, rife with opportunities to take away the pain and give me something I can appreciate. I can find peace and comfort, abandoning this drudgery of a life for something I truly love. I don’t have to take this anymore. Continue reading “A Romanticized Notion” →