The Spin of the Ball

In 1991, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves was released in cinemas. My mum took me to see it. I was 7 years old and the opening scene where the guy gets his hand cut off really shocked me. One morning I got up and watched Rage and they played the music video of Everything I Do by Bryan Adams, which featured in the movie. I thought Christian Slater and Bryan Adams were the same person and that they were in the movie and also sang the love theme from the movie.

Sometimes when I travel and meet new people, they get out their phone and film a moment or two. If the camera turns to me I always say, “Hi, remember me?”

I was at work this morning, feeling a little low, and then suddenly I had a memory of my ex-girlfriend. In this memory, we had only known each other for 10 days. We were going to say goodbye to each other the next day because she was continuing her travels. We were hugging in bed. I was hoping we wouldn’t fall asleep. It was a really intense memory and it was strange to be having it while serving customers in a lolly shop. It made me wonder what kinds of things are on other people’s minds during seemingly banal interactions.

The memory doesn’t torture me. It makes me smile. It makes me feel grateful that I got to experience a moment worth thinking about 5 years later.

Whenever I feel good, I like to mark the occasion. I say to myself, “looks like someone’s feeling good,” and then I say, “yep, that’s me.”

A woman walked into the store today and I was struck by her figure. It seemed like my kind of figure. I helped her find some lollies for some kids she knew. She didn’t say if they were her kids and, using my tact, I didn’t ask. At the end of the transaction, she told me that I have a rare eye colour and that she liked it.

We live in a universe where there are songs we like and songs we don’t like, and everyone has their preferences. There is no right or wrong song. Similarly, I suspect there is no right or wrong way. There’s just the way God wrote it. And everything He wrote, He was prepared to experience Himself. Perhaps that’s why God allows bad things to happen. Because somewhere in His mind, He wanted to experience it.

Below is a poem I wrote 5 years ago: