those you know me well know i am not usually the poetry type. however, this is a poem that i feel sums up exactly why i decided to pack up my comfortable life in melbourne and go off on a solo voyage of self discovery.
thanks to my fast train with no terminals for putting me onto this one ;)
living dangerously
to laugh is to risk looking a fool.
to weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
to reach out to another is to risk involvement.
to show feelings is to risk revealing your true self.
to place your ideas and dreams before a crowd
is to risk their loss.
to love is to risk rejection.
to live is to risk dying.
to hope is to risk despair.
to try is to risk failure.
but risks must be taken,
because one of the greatest dangers in life is to risk nothing.
those who risk nothing, do nothing, achieve nothing
and become nothing.
they may avoid suffering and sorrow,
but they cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love or even live.
chained by their uncertainties, they are slaves;
they have forfeited their freedom.
only those who risk all that they cannot keep
to gain what they can never lose are truly free.
— simon reynolds.
