Katlin Strzelecki

                                “Roosters call out, dogs bark

                                 This is all we know.

                                 Even the wisest men don’t know where these voices come from

                                And can’t explain why roosters call out and dogs bark

                                When they do….”

In Lost in Place, Mark takes this passage with him to see Mr. Shen to ask him to explain to him what it means. But Mr. Shen tells Mark that there’s not an exact meaning, and that because we are constantly changing and growing older and becoming wiser, there’s no way to define it.  Mark goes on to say that neither he nor Mr. Shen understands the meaning of life, but yet Mr. Shen is happy and Mark isn’t. It’s the uncertainty that Mark is uncomfortable with which reminds me of how Peter Carpenter talked to us about embracing discomfort.

                 You’ll be thrown in and out of good and bad situations your entire life, but it’s how you handle what’s thrown at you that define your character. You need to embrace it. A lot of people were offered this opportunity of the bridge program, and honestly, if I can do it, they could have made it this far as well. It’s all about knowing yourself and letting karma take over. When I saw people legitimately giving up and leaving because they were homesick or getting kicked out for stupid things, it made me more angry than anything.

                It’s one of the most critical times in all of our lives. It’s the time where we need to stop relying on mommy or daddy for everything, and actually grow up. You can’t escape forever from becoming an adult, but it’s when you refuse to take charge of your future that makes you a coward. You choose your happiness and when you choose to freeze time and stop the growth of yourself, you are choosing to be unhappy.

                Mark couldn’t understand the quote because he couldn’t embrace the idea that the unknown isn’t scary. It’s just as common as everything else in our lives to not know what’s going to happen next. So many people spend their whole lives in fear and unhappy because they can’t have a guarantee about what the next moment will bring. It’s when you realize that you’re in a relationship with yourself your entire life, and if you’re not happy with yourself, then you’ve found the relationship you need to work on.

                It’s scary as hell not waking up in the same room you’ve always had or falling asleep under the same roof you’ve grown so comfortable with. But it’s when you can do those things with a smile on your face that you start to grow up. When you can confidently say that you have a purpose, and even though you may not know what it is yet, you’re being proactive and happy with the unknown and positive about the uncomfortable, that’s when you deserve to be treated like an adult.