I’ve been off school for 3 days now. All my time by myself I have wasted, I haven’t even done the stuff I planned on doing. I don’t really know what to do. I’ve spent my pre-exam vacation up now. I guess I’ll study. Well I’ve described my life in horrifying terms before. Most of it is spent anticipating dread or sitting alone waiting for some new dread to anticipate. When I think about how much time I am afraid (I use fear in an equivocal way, sometimes just meaning stress or worry or anxiety or frustration) I realize that my life will never be empty. I was thinking of going over the last things I was afraid of and got through. Hmm. Dentist, Essays, Work (I become very devout on the car-ride to work, for some reason it always makes me afraid).
Tomorrow I have to take my G drivers test. Driving tests for me always go terrific – by terrific I mean they induce alot of terror into my life. They are up there with Dentist and Driving somewhere far away, and airport customs in my list of fears. So I have brewed over all that could go wrong tomorrow, and all the worst things that could happen. Even tonight, I’m just hanging out with an old friend and I’m afraid because I won’t know what to say or do.
But if there’s anything that I’ve learned in all of this, it’s that actually suffering and fear gives my life meaning. Perpetual loneliness does seem to happen to me, but when I’m doing things I’m afraid of there are ups and downs, unexpected good things happen as well. In short, my life has meaning in those times.
So I look at the oncoming storm of stress – (within 24 hours I’ll have failed my drivers test and be worrying for the next one and then worrying about exams.) I just need to look at the storm and smile. Eventually all of this will be washed away by the peace of the grave and I can imagine long slow humming of a familiar song that will sooth me throughout eternity.