Anyway, I figured I'd pull a post from over there. Enjoy.
In another life, I was Huck Finn: short brown bangs hanging over
mischievous brown eyes, calloused feet planted firmly in the dusty dirt, tweed
pants rolled up to reveal bony ankles and tan legs.
Huck Finn was a genius. He was the child of a raging alcoholic...brilliant, with a lot of baggage and gifted with good intuition and an understanding of human nature. He spent his childhood taking care of his father and alternately defending himself from him. He befriended people who needed him and who, in their need for him, validated him. He was a hard shell with a soft interior...but a hard shell that was easily cracked.
Huck Finn learned from his mistakes. Given the hand he was dealt, he could have easily slid into the same lifestyle as his father...pissing away any chance for inner peace and pissing away all meaningful relationships. Instead, Huckleberry faced his mistakes and had the courage to look at them from outside the confines of social parameters. He recognized that, to a degree, he had to conform. He also recognized that, in his heart, he could only be himself. He strived to reach the balance between losing himself to society and ostracizing himself from it.
Huck appreciated each moment's simplicity. He did not need to be the richest, the smartest, the most delinquent or the most heroic. He was a perfect picture of humility.
"It's lovely to live on a raft. We had the sky up there, all speckled with stars, and we used to lay on our backs and look up at them, and discuss about whether they was made or only just happened."
Huck Finn is my hero today. Perhaps it's the anticipation of the oncoming spring...the knowledge that, soon, I will have my feet and skinny ankles exposed to the hot sun and dust. Perhaps it's the promise of adventure...but I would hope that somewhere inside, I am learning that I can fit into this world without compromising myself...that I can be myself without any apologies.
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