Sitting in my living room last night, I was both shocked and disheartened to hear about the passing of Leo Charles, a fellow classmate and WRAS-cal from GSU. I spent very little time with him and had only a few full conversations with him, but I know he had a unique personality and a joyful spirit that will be truly missed very much by so many people. From the outside, he seemed to have it all–he was a good-looking young man with a college degree, supportive family and friends, and even his fair share of fame (he was a bassist in his very own band). He went out all the time and from what I can tell by talking to others, he seemed to also have made a significant and positive impact in the lives a lot of people. Like anyone else, I also know that he had his fair share of life’s problems; but a couple of nights ago he made the decision to end his life, and now I can’t help but wish there was something I could’ve done to help.
This just goes to show, once again, that nothing is ever as it seems. You can never compare your life to anyone else’s because people only reveal what they want you to see. You can seemingly have everything, but if you don’t have peace in your soul then you cannot be happy. The same is true the other way around, because even when everything seems to be falling apart, peace in your soul that comes through faith is the only thing that will give you strength to carry on. Another thought that I just can’t help but think is that this could have easily been anyone else, like a close family member of my own. God knows that if I ever had or will have any one wish I can make in this lifetime, it is for the long, happy, healthy lives of my closest loved ones, and this is as true at this moment as ever before.
With all this on my mind, this morning I went to Khane to reconnect with my faith and strengthen my own peace of mind, and I have to say it felt AMAZING. If I do not know anything else, this is what I know to be real: I know who I am, what my life is all about, and that I come from and return to the one and only great power of God. As for the world, all I know is that there will always be good and there will always be bad, people can be crazy but you gotta love them anyway, and that life short–this is why it is so very important to live fully in every moment, appreciate the little things, and have absolutely no regrets.
Rest in Peace, Leo Charles.
“We talk in rhymes, when darkness chimes, the only serum to cure dead minds, the only poison that in bed lies, the troubled servant, killing time.”
“I suspect the truth is that we are waiting, all of us, against insurmountable odds, for something extraordinary to happen to us.”
“Black bird singing in the dead of night, take these broken wings and learn to fly. All your life you were only waiting, for this moment to arise. Black bird singing in the dead of night, take these sunken eyes and learn to see. All your life you were only waiting for this moment to be free.” -The Beatles
Book: Go Ask Alice
Richard Cory by Edwin Arlington Robinson
Support: To Write Love On Her Arms