Naked Eyes

January 2025

A prologue written to the individual mind of whom this essay may live: The following words, letters, characters, and phrases were composed in an attempt to capture that which is. Being written as it is written by He who writes all things. The thoughts and ideas contained will best translate when read aloud. I now invite you to join us as we follow the daily trials of the mind, whose consciousness and reasonability will ebb and flow in hopes of achieving moral excellence, purpose, and right-standing with its existence.

9:03 AM

Awake o sleeper. The clock on the wall. He is your friend. Friends can hurt, can't they? They say time can heal, but they don't say much else. I wish they would talk more, but then again they talk a lot, don't they.

9:04 AM

There is a mountain, a peak of cotton and Chinese polyester, one which my feet, who never part while I sleep, form at the foot of my bed. But whose bed is it anyways? Who's bold enough to lay claim to that which he lays upon? Dang, that's deep. Look: this room. It's dirty. No. It's messy, unkept, and distraught; like the mirror. You sound like a schizo. Get up already.

9:15 AM

9:15? What happened to 9:04?

9:16 AM

Breakfast, what do I do for breakfast... Remember, you're eating healthy. You had Airheads and gummy bears for dessert last night. But that was last night, and this is today. You're kidding, right? What are you? The rock emoji in Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's Instagram bio? Shut up already.

9:27 AM

Good morning folks! And welcome back to... "How many times can we open the fridge and close it again, just to find that, no! There is nothing new inside!" Current high score: 3.

9:28 AM

Eggs, those are healthy.

9:36 AM

Is Tabasco healthy? Distilled vinegar, red peppers, salt. Salt... that's natural.

9:37 AM

What happened to dino nuggies, ketchup, and fish sticks?

10:55 AM

Ok, wait. Why did I get on here? What was so important about opening YouTube? How can I not remember? Oh, congrats, you don't scroll Instagram? Great, how much time do you spend on your phone then?

11:02 AM

11:02. Ok, I still need to shower, brush my teeth, and get dressed. Yeah, but I showered yesterday, and then stayed inside all day, so I can skip today, everyone knows that. Alright, let's get dressed then.

11:20 AM

Why do I even look in the mirror? What's the point? Who am I looking for? Approval? Yeah, he's not home.

11:24 AM

Ok, 11:24, time to go. Remember to kiss 'em on the way out.

11:25 AM

Music? I don't want music. The very noises coming into my ears right now are disgusting to me. I gotta solve that before I choose to hear things. Listening is a man's greatest ability; I best not squander it. Dude. I'm wise.

11:30 AM

Red light. My hair. It's long. Too long. I don't like it. Well, that is until I leave for the barber shop, take one look in the mirror, turn the car around, cancel my appointment, look at myself in the rearview on the way home and say, "Whew, that was close." Then I love it.

11:31 AM

Well, am I afraid of change then? Probably not, I mean I always want to change. Yeah, but do I ever? Green light. Look at that car, what a stupid color for a car.

11:36 AM

It's cloudy. I don't need my sunglasses. Yeah, but my eyes are technically naked without sunglasses. I mean, look around, everyone else has naked eyes, don't you want to stand out? I mean, doesn't every eye deserve some clothes?

11:37 AM

One last look in the window. What window? You forgot to roll the window up.

11:42 AM

Late for class. Stupid hallway is too long. Why is everything dark? Sunglasses. I'm wearing my sunglasses inside. You are stupid, aren't you. You had to have passed at least 50 people. Yeah, but 50 people with absolutely naked eyes, so who's really stupid?

11:43 AM

I forgot to brush my teeth. How is that possible? I've been brushing my teeth for years. That Atomic Habits guy said it only takes 60 days to form a habit. I should be winning right now. Yeah, but you never finished that book, did you? I mean, you barely started it. The sleeve counts though. Right? Plus you signed up for his newsletter, so yeah, I guess you're right, you did technically finish the book.

11:57 AM

This class is absolutely pointless. How is it possible that millions of kids across the US go to school and sit on their phones? Don't we have work to do? I mean, isn't that the teacher's job? To enforce labor upon a student, for the student's benefit? Then again, YouTube told me he's full of benefits.

12:25 PM

Finally, lunch. My favorite subject. What did we bring today? Oh, that's right. Nothing. My lunch must be sitting right next to my toothbrush. Untouched and unused.

12:50 PM

The sky turns blue, while the trees cast shadows like forks on a dinner table, asleep in the tall grass. Awaiting a guest for dinner. But there's no one at the table. And no one's coming in. You locked the gate already. Since when did peace become loneliness?

1:30 PM

The cabinets in art class. Why are they that color? I mean that peachy, caramel, burnt orange, basketball, alley-oop, slam-dunk, Crayola washable marker color.

1:34 PM

What a random time. How can 1:34 exist, when there are much prettier numbers to display? Time must be ashamed of itself when that minute hand picks 1:34, and all the flickering LED lights display a number so cringe-worthy that they might as well be blinking eights instead. Then again, even the 1:34s of this world are alright for 60 seconds.

3:50 PM

The day wishes it would blow by, yet the wind wishes to linger and stay awhile. Time couldn't compare to that which is really there. And the mind's as sweet as a pear until it's paired with that which impairs, finally becoming aware that its stairs are much too long. So beware, or don't care, 'cause it's about time you rhymed.

5:00 PM

It's officially dinner time at the Oaks Nursing Home, not 15 minutes down the road. But here, not 0 seconds away, I sit on the wrong side of my bed waiting for something to happen. And, as the faintest laughter from my father's conference call rises from the floor, it hits me just like that. This. This life, these moments of plain and complex, slow and fast, fear and courage, confusion and clarity... they're what this life is made of. And I quickly realize that all I have is life. I mean, the future doesn't even exist. The window to my soul is the window of my room. The present leaves me with a beautifully wrapped gift. So why won't I open it?

8:42 PM

And so, while that stupid annoying person sings that one line of that stupid annoying song over and over at 8:42 PM today, all I can think about is how wonderful it is to be annoyed. And the greatest of all is, I might just have tomorrow to do it all again.