A Letter to Inspiration

I was tagged in a note by a friend on Facebook a little while back, and I feel that this particular note is worth sharing with my faithful blog followers. All two of you :D. So here it is.


A Letter to Inspiration
By Theodore Oing


To my inspirations:

By the time you may read this, most of us will have graduated already. Within the next week or so, about half of us will be gone on trips all around the country, perhaps even the world. We've made it though, through this day of freedom and independence, and also of farewells. Mark the day: May 15th, 2010 is the day when our lives as we know it ends. But nothing truly ends, does it? They just start anew.

"Aeternum vale, nemo nisi mors." It's Latin, and the literal translation means "farewell forever, till death do us part." I was going to save the in depth explanation for when the book I've been writing would've been finished, but due to a recent intervention the night before graduation, I decided that this was the best time.

Graduation day may very well be the day where most of us will say good-bye to the people we've grown up with, because a great deal of us will inevitably spread out across the country, whether it's in the deserts of the West Coast, or maybe the frigid areas between the South and the North. Some of us, of course, won't be moving around and choose to stay, but either way, we'll inevitably say our good-byes.

This day may also mark the day where none of us will see each other again, after all, we're about to start a new life, reborn into the real world where the world's problems are now our problems. For me, I'll be saying good-bye to both people I've known for years, and others that I've regrettably have only begun to know. Yes, there are things like Facebook and cell phones that bridge the gap so that it's never truly 'farewell forever,' but call me old fashioned, but nothing compares to this feeling of being with the person face to face. Now it's the issue of the next phrase that creates a paradox, "till death do us part."

How is it that we can all say "farewell forever," and then follow up with "till death do us part." Let me ask this, how are we able to feel the presence of someone who has died? The simple answer is that it is essentially, undeniably, the supernatural feeling of love. As it is said in Latin, omnia vincit amor: love conquers all.

Love conquers adversity.

Love conquers hate.

Love conquers death.

The meaning is then changed from "farewell forever, till death do us part," to "farewell until love doesn't exist." You see, all of us aren't truly connected by presence, nor are we truly connected by technology; we're connected by the soul, and the essence of the soul is love. Without this feeling, we could never hope for peace, only for war, and without the feeling, the greatest acts committed by the world's heroes could never have been achieved. This is, essentially, the explanation that I've derived so far.

So, now we're about to enter the new life, probably saying our last good-byes to the people we've come to know as we leave for our new life, and perhaps we'll still be connected in a way because of our love for the people, now what? We live again. Maybe you're going to go to study at a place with 60,000 people, or maybe you're like me, who chose to study in a place with less than 3,000 people, either way. Whichever one you may choose, you're going to meet new people and start new relationships.

I urge all of you now, however, to do what you love in hopes of obtaining happiness. Success in life is not determined by the number of acts that you've achieved, nor is it based on the popularity gained; success in life is based on how happy you feel living life. Whether you want to study life, math, engineering, art, religion, history--whatever, do what you love, and wake up each day smiling. Sure, we'll hit trenches that'll take us over the edge at times, but keep the people you love close as well so they can pull you out of those dark times.

Now, I want to take the rest of the time I have to thank all of you who have helped me out physically, mentally, and spiritually. It's been great, especially the last few days. I never truly realized everything that I've been missing and the extraordinary people that I've only begun to know. For everyone that may read this, keep in touch so we could see what we'll turn into in the near future. I know I'm not the best at saying good-bye, or even giving out my last words of possible inspiration, but I want to congratulate all of you for making it this far, whether you are an alumni or about to be, and I wish all of you the best of luck with whatever the world may throw at you. Carpe diem, the world is ours.