Blog #2

Read "Finding your Howl" by Jonathon Flaum here.


In Flaum’s article, he recalls a story from a fifth grade classmate about a tiger in a zoo. The story discusses how the tiger is strong and can jump great length, so he plans his escape from the zoo. Once the tiger musters up the courage, he jumps out of the cage…only to awake in another cage in another zoo. Flaum wants the readers to know that the tiger story is undoubtedly true; “there is no where to run”. The tiger has became apart of the cage that is in-turn also apart of the zoo. The cage is a prison, but it is also where the tiger has to live…so it is a home. The tiger can’t just leave, he must travel through dark depths of his foundation, until he reaches the light at the end of the tunnel on the other side. To find new perspectives, new views, and new environments, we, like the tiger, must rid ourselves of what we know to be “true” boundaries, like the cage, and open ourselves up to the unknown, like the tunnel.

“All those things that weren’t supposed to happen? They happened. What happens next is up to you.”
- Hank Moody

    This quote speaks to me not only because it was spoken by one of my favorite actors, David Duchovny, or because it was spoken by one of my favorite characters, Hank Moody, but because of what it means. Hank puts it plain and simply: bad shit is bound to happen. So much in our everyday lives, we expect things to happen the way we want. Then, when things don’t happen the way we want, we get upset about it, like life owes us something in return. The fact is, shit is going to happen regardless. There isn’t a rulebook that life plays by, things just happen. Instead of hoping for the best, we should prepare for the worst. This is how I live my life.
    Making it successfully through life depends greatly on your actions, but mostly on your reactions. Most likely, you won’t be able to be successful in life alone. You have to work together with others. While people like to hope they can depend on others (and definitely, people surround themselves with people they can depend on),  it won’t always work out this way. Because you have to depend on others, you also have to prepare and expect others to fuck up. Being successful means if you take a hit, you take it in stride and come back even stronger than before.
    I depend on my friends and family for my success. I know sometimes these friends and family might mess up, and it’s up to me to take whatever comes at me and use it to my advantage. Hank’s words echo in my head every day.