I love walking.

         I love walking. I am really good at it. And before you question being good at walking, I mean I am good at getting around and enjoying myself while doing it. All you do is move your feet right?

         I love walking because I get to think. And nothing can really stop me from thinking about whatever I feel like thinking. If you were to ask my friends, they would all tell you that I think far too much. I also walk a lot, so I suppose there is a correlation there. And I will think about the things people usually think about when they get a discernible amount of free time to themselves with little to do but ponder themselves: girls, work, music, sports, friends, family. The usual stuff..

         At 21, it is pretty difficult to solidify an answer to the question: Who am I? So, I think about that a lot. I walk a lot, so I guess I am a walker. Except when I think of that term "walker" I think of zombies, so I don't much care for it. I don't want to be a zombie, they are lifeless and droll. To keep from being called that, I sometimes run for no reason. Even if it is completely unnecessary. I don't want to be uninteresting. It is a legitimate fear of mine, to become so incredibly boring that no one has time for me. So I will spontaneously run, as if to keep from becoming a mundane zombie that is current city life. Walk to the bus, walk to bart, walk to work. I correlate walking with those scenes in tv shows and movies, where all you see are crowds of people with rather depressing looks walking on the enormous sidewalks, all repressing their desire to stop walking and go do what they want to do.

         I get a lot of looks, when I burst out in full sprint. Especially near a school, it makes me laugh every time because I always get that one chick that looks moderately concerned and glances behind me to see if there is a commotion, only to see some other person just as confused as her. She shrugs and I know what they all think when they see me. Why? What a weirdo. Makes me think of Calvin and Hobbes. I'd rather be from another planet than this one. Apparently Earth is the only planet not named after a god. Not that that makes any difference about my desire to be seen as different or a "weirdo from another planet", I just thought I would include that. It is a legitimately interesting fact. I want to be weird, probably due to an insecurity revolving around my own self-esteem. Probably. But who doesn't have that issue? I just choose to deal with it by running for no reason. Legit.

         But back to my eternal question. Who am I? Quick tangent, can we ever figure out who we really are? We change so frequently and radically that is it really possible to put the head on the nail and say we are "this"? When, honestly, 4 months from now I will be "that". Maybe that's why the question is so fun to ask, because we know it will change. Currently, I am a lot of things. So which one would I want to use to define me, for today at least? Do I use the thing I am today, or what I am semi-permanently (or at least for a longer period of time)? For example, today I am incredibly optimistic, as opposed to Tuesdays, where I am slightly realistic. Wednesday I am a pessimist and Thursday, I go back to being optimistic. Or do I use something that will never change? I am a son, brother, friend. I guess the last one might change, depending on how much of a devil's advocate you want to be. Or use something in between? My work title? A barista? Or maybe how a friend would define me, seeing as that consistently changes depending on their moods, but usually varies between a few: selfless, loyal kid or douchey, quiet dick. I suppose that would change depending on my mood too. And if that's the case, then that isn't who I really am.

         I am confused, I know that much. There is a lot of injustice in the world, that confuses me. Why SOME vegans get super mad at regular joe's for eating meat, that also confuses me. Why my room gets dirty when I spend so little time in it. I can't talk when I see really pretty eyes, that confuses the hell out of me. Oh! Why dogs hate cats, I never got that.. Seriously though, I felt like just talking to strangers the other day. So I tried to, and no one wanted to talk to me. That was both confusing and a little disconcerting. I kinda feel like society has grown far too judgmental. And before you go, "Oh you just now noticed?", I am 21 and have a very optimistic view of people. I wish and expect the best in a person, before I really talk to them. So yeah, it is surprising when someone gets up from there seat in bart while I am in mid sentence to them, to go across the train and sit somewhere else. And before you talk back AGAIN and tell me it's me. I would like to point out that you just agreed that society is judgmental. Jokes on you, dude. You are confusing. I know that what I want isn't very confusing, you help me know that, at least.

         I don't know if I inspire people or make people think differently. I like to think that I do. I like to think that that homeless lady that couldn't afford the bus, that the two dollars I gave her made her think a little differently about strangers. Or the regular that gets iced coffee every. Single. Day. Felt a little bit more at home when I gave it to him for free. Course, I am tooting my own horn here, trying to make a point that if people were unreasonably (or is it?) nice more often, prejudice might actually be a minority in the common characteristics talked about in current societal cultures. Like, I hate how most of my friends immediately tied homosexuality with San Francisco when I moved here. Why is being gay automatically more notable than how genuine someone is? Because I have yet to meet a dishonest homosexual. No one minds that bit though. That burned a little hole in me. If the opposite sex called out to you to wink at you, what would you do? I would probably look and smile back. So why is it so frowned upon to do the same, but to a bro or sis that does it to you? Sorry, mild rant. I hate prejudice, gets my knuckles red.

         I love walking. These are a lot of the things I think about while walking. But hey, if you got this far, try and do me a favor. Compliment people, random people, on a regular basis. It makes them feel good, I promise. You can do it in a flirtatious way, or just out of sheer admiration to something, but find something notable about them and let them know. Like for me, I make it a goal to compliment at least one stranger per hour. And you look at that goal and think, just one? Do better, friendo. I love walking because I see people and think about people. They dunno I am thinking about them. Maybe they do, but at that moment they don't. I mean, really they have no idea how often I think about my family and my friends. You guys should try that too. Think more about the people you love, instead of yourselves. You might notice a change in how you treat them. Oh, and yeah, I winked back at that guy. Would you like it if you complimented someone and they chose to ignore you and your appreciation?