Time's Running Faster, Please Let Us Through, Going In Any Direction Will Do, And You Said To Me, You Said What It Was All About, And I Said No
--"Kate", Sambassadeur
Currently my brother Francis is engaged in a cross-country bicycle ride he and his friend have dubbed Donuts Across America. It's one of the most ambitious endeavors I've ever heard my brother take on just for fun. I mean--yeah, he's done some amazing things as part of his job or as part of some greater effort. However, as far as something that serves no other purpose, but to do it, Donuts Across America is right up there as so crazy it's fucking cool.
In that respect Francis and I are very much alike. We both do stuff on a whim and are kind of both impulsive when it comes to certain decisions. Where we differ is that he's much more inclined to make these decisions from a personal growth perspective and I'm more keen on making decisions on a short-term joy perspective. I don't need everything I do to benefit me in the long run. I'm not looking to make myself over into the best possible me every time I make a conscious effort to do something. Sometimes--actually, very often--I'll do things just for the fuck of it. In fact, I would go so far as to say that the less it benefits me in the long run, the more I'm apt to do it. Yeah, his bike ride is a lot of fun, but the way I think he looks at it, it's one of those undertakings that he can look back upon and say provided him with an experience that was indelible. He's always been one of those rare souls that can balance physical challenges, mental challenges, and social challenges without a sense of hesitation. If it makes him a better person--smarter, stronger, more intelligent, &c...--then he wants to do it.
Another area we differ is that he's more social conscious than I am. The whole reason he can bike across the country is that he bikes everywhere. He believes in preserving in the environment and leaving as little of a ecological footprint as possible. He recycles, he reads up on the latest environmental efforts being made, and he's just a much more well-rounded person when it comes to global and social issues.
Me? I'm kind of xenophobic and I'm very anti-ecological. I haven't left the country since I was one and I'm terribly wasteful on purpose. As anyone who has ever ate with me before at a fast food place, I can go through a dozen to two dozen napkins easily. I also tend to hoard utensils and napkins. And I never recycle. Scratch that--I purposefully avoid recycling by throwing recyclables away even if the two containers for trash and recyclables are side by side. I have it in my head--that we're the yin yang of the environment. I make the mess that my brother is trying to clean up or, as I see it, I'm the chaos to his order.
In a lot of ways, Francis and I have always been radically different to one another. I know that gets said by a lot of siblings, but I don't know any two people who have more diametrically opposed approaches to life than the two of us. One of the things that Toby and I talk about is what it's like to be the so-called disappointment of the family. She's always felt the pressure to measure up and I kind of relate to her in that fashion. At least she has the excuse of being the youngest. In a lot of ways I've always been the lesser of my parents' two sons. I might be the eldest and I might not be this huge failure, but Francis has just done everything right compared to me.
He never went bankrupt.
He never got arrested for hit and run or almost arrested for assault.
He never totaled his car.
Like I said, I don't think I've failed at life but I do think that he's never screwed up big-time like I have at certain things.
And yet, as siblings go, I think we get along great when we see each other. Yes, we fight, but it's never the big, huge blow-ups we used to have as kids. I think we got all our disagreeing out of the way when we were young. Also, I never make a huge deal about how he's so health conscious and self-controlled (he's lived most of his adult life without owning a tv for chrissakes) and he, for the most part, lets me be as wasteful and kooky as I want to be. The more I think about it, especially now that he's embarking on this huge trip, we've always been going in separate directions as far as leading our lives. He's always had this goal in mind that has never quite measure up to my own. And, yeah, it takes us far away from one another since his circles could never be mistaken for the circles I tend to hang around in.
It just seems the farther we travel, though, we always end up meeting somewhere down the line again and again. I've never been this huge proponent of close-knit families. But, as different as he and I might be, he's one of the few family members that I could say I give a damn about. I've never believed in "loving" your family just because they're blood, but my brother is one of the few members of my family that I kind of respect... both because of his beliefs and despite them.
Yours Swimmingly,
mojo shivers
Currently my brother Francis is engaged in a cross-country bicycle ride he and his friend have dubbed Donuts Across America. It's one of the most ambitious endeavors I've ever heard my brother take on just for fun. I mean--yeah, he's done some amazing things as part of his job or as part of some greater effort. However, as far as something that serves no other purpose, but to do it, Donuts Across America is right up there as so crazy it's fucking cool.In that respect Francis and I are very much alike. We both do stuff on a whim and are kind of both impulsive when it comes to certain decisions. Where we differ is that he's much more inclined to make these decisions from a personal growth perspective and I'm more keen on making decisions on a short-term joy perspective. I don't need everything I do to benefit me in the long run. I'm not looking to make myself over into the best possible me every time I make a conscious effort to do something. Sometimes--actually, very often--I'll do things just for the fuck of it. In fact, I would go so far as to say that the less it benefits me in the long run, the more I'm apt to do it. Yeah, his bike ride is a lot of fun, but the way I think he looks at it, it's one of those undertakings that he can look back upon and say provided him with an experience that was indelible. He's always been one of those rare souls that can balance physical challenges, mental challenges, and social challenges without a sense of hesitation. If it makes him a better person--smarter, stronger, more intelligent, &c...--then he wants to do it.
Another area we differ is that he's more social conscious than I am. The whole reason he can bike across the country is that he bikes everywhere. He believes in preserving in the environment and leaving as little of a ecological footprint as possible. He recycles, he reads up on the latest environmental efforts being made, and he's just a much more well-rounded person when it comes to global and social issues.
Me? I'm kind of xenophobic and I'm very anti-ecological. I haven't left the country since I was one and I'm terribly wasteful on purpose. As anyone who has ever ate with me before at a fast food place, I can go through a dozen to two dozen napkins easily. I also tend to hoard utensils and napkins. And I never recycle. Scratch that--I purposefully avoid recycling by throwing recyclables away even if the two containers for trash and recyclables are side by side. I have it in my head--that we're the yin yang of the environment. I make the mess that my brother is trying to clean up or, as I see it, I'm the chaos to his order.
In a lot of ways, Francis and I have always been radically different to one another. I know that gets said by a lot of siblings, but I don't know any two people who have more diametrically opposed approaches to life than the two of us. One of the things that Toby and I talk about is what it's like to be the so-called disappointment of the family. She's always felt the pressure to measure up and I kind of relate to her in that fashion. At least she has the excuse of being the youngest. In a lot of ways I've always been the lesser of my parents' two sons. I might be the eldest and I might not be this huge failure, but Francis has just done everything right compared to me.
He never went bankrupt.
He never got arrested for hit and run or almost arrested for assault.
He never totaled his car.
Like I said, I don't think I've failed at life but I do think that he's never screwed up big-time like I have at certain things.
And yet, as siblings go, I think we get along great when we see each other. Yes, we fight, but it's never the big, huge blow-ups we used to have as kids. I think we got all our disagreeing out of the way when we were young. Also, I never make a huge deal about how he's so health conscious and self-controlled (he's lived most of his adult life without owning a tv for chrissakes) and he, for the most part, lets me be as wasteful and kooky as I want to be. The more I think about it, especially now that he's embarking on this huge trip, we've always been going in separate directions as far as leading our lives. He's always had this goal in mind that has never quite measure up to my own. And, yeah, it takes us far away from one another since his circles could never be mistaken for the circles I tend to hang around in.
It just seems the farther we travel, though, we always end up meeting somewhere down the line again and again. I've never been this huge proponent of close-knit families. But, as different as he and I might be, he's one of the few family members that I could say I give a damn about. I've never believed in "loving" your family just because they're blood, but my brother is one of the few members of my family that I kind of respect... both because of his beliefs and despite them.
Yours Swimmingly,
mojo shivers
Labels: Francis, personality, philosophy, sambassadeur, siblings
posted by mojo shivers @ 12:46 AM
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