Begin

Get into the habit of writing and fall in love with our wacky, bastardized language all over again. Write something, anything once a day. Use it to convey your thoughts on life, your concern for our future, your love for your fellow man, and what he creates. Let your writing exercise the power of your own brain as it excites and engages those who might read it. May it satisfy the burning desire to both speak and be heard.

His room wasn't filthy, just severely untidy. The hardwood floor was beginning to lose its healthy lustre, the once-reflective surface now absorbing more light than it shared. There were errant hairs, both human and cat, that littered the floor amongst other bodily rejects. A fragment of fingernail here, a discarded bit of almond that had missed a mouth there; the dead flakes of skin had decomposed into a thin layer of dust that grew like algae over anything that hadn't been touched in a week.

There were vestiges of productivity amid the ruin, some signs of life amongst the wreckage. The book on the nightstand showed signs of having been read. The bed had recently been cleared of the debris that seemed to perpetually occupy its second half, perhaps even to make room for company. The bass guitar on its stand had been freshly wiped clean of sweat lines and string grime; the cable still connected to the amplifier.

Just like the solitary basil plant stretched itself with inhuman contortions to soak up the last fading rays of winter's sparse light, so must we work for the things we value, or risk being covered in the dust of a half-used life.