Anxiety

Anxiety is a fidgety character. Always on the move and never completely satisfied with the situation.

He was born into this world by his mother Worry and his father Stress. His mother had babied him since the beginning and was always over protective, while his father remained tense and never seemed to have enough time.

As a small child, Anxiety developed friendships with Fear and Dread. The three quickly became inseparable.

When you encountered one of them, the other two were always close behind.

When Anxiety hit puberty, he discovered girls, one in particular.

Her name was Content.

Content was always happy, always calm, and always satisfied. Anxiety realized that she was everything he'd always wanted and he became envious of her nature.

And the feeling of those familiar butterflies swarmed his stomach every time she passed him by.

Sadly, Anxiety only continued on through life with his two best friends.

Yes they were constant downers and kept him away from the fun things in

life, but for some

reason Anxiety just couldn't let them go.

So now here lays Anxiety, alone and restless in a twin size bed, crammed into the corner of his tiny one roomed apartment. Fear and Dread bang on his door and for once, Anxiety doesn't rush to answer.

He knows that he's trapped.

Within the feelings of his own mind.

A Poem by Martin Williams

Shallow Dark

In the shallow dark

Confessing emptiness

To the emptiness

Afraid

That my life has meaning;

For then my sins

have meaning

My good

Has meaning, and who

Carrying the weight

Wouldn't rather choose

The stillness of a tree

Surrendered perfectly

To life's slow law?

Remember

People remember what they care about, they remember the things that show them great interest. Sometimes we remember that girl in class who always seemed to forget to wear a bra, over remembering our homework assignment for the night.

Usually we'll remember lyrics to a song that played once on the radio than remember something practiced for hours, like that stupid quadratic formula .

Most of the time you'll remember that huge hairy mole on your teachers face instead of whatever it was they were trying to teaching you. If we don't care to remember something, a moment, a formula, anything, that probably means it wasn't significant.

People remember what they want to remember.

I decided that this first post would be dedicated to Ms. McKenna. She taught me lessons I'll never forget and spoke words of wisdom that I'll always remember. I'll always remember the way she walked, her voice, her handwriting, I'll even remember some of the homework assignments she gave out two years ago.

I cared deeply for McKenna as a teacher, her style of teaching was remarkable and you knew that she generally cared for all her students as well. She was one of the only staff at school that showed her appreciation towards the voices of students. She always heard what we had to say and would actually do something about it. Our questions, concerns, and opinions were always matters she was willing to take on.

Everything Ms. McKenna taught me has stayed with me, and for that, I'd say that woman deserves a freaking gold metal. She influenced most all her students and left a remarkable impact on those who listened to her wisely. If you ever had her as a teacher then you know that she was an incredibly independent and strong woman who had experienced a lot. She fought constant battles for herself, her students and her classes everyday. And she gave off a confidence that I've only dreamed of achieving.

I cared about McKenna, that's why I remember her.

I cared about her assignments, that's why I remember them, I cared about her feedback and advice, and so I remember those too. The fact that one literature teacher changed my view on life is something worth remembering.