Author Archives: Ryan Mellino

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About Ryan Mellino

Stop stop talking bout who's to blame, When all that counts is how to change.

For A Limited Time Only

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For a limited time only
Watch
Barren waves crashing down on
Empty shores carrying
Weeds dredged up from
The hollow sea floor
But call in the next five minutes
And receive
Two calling birds whose
Thoughts never go
Unsaid whose company
Never goes unnoticed
So order now and get
Double the offer
Two times the maladies
Good deaths are only for
Those who can afford not
To die with freedom
But the best part
A complimentary
Wristwatch to count
Down the time
That sways like
Empty tree branches sway
But remember
This offer is
For a limited time only

The Will to Life

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Ah, now what have we here. Can it be?

It can.

Yes indeed, we have an actual written blog with essay and all. In celebration of this momentous occasion, I thought we could talk about a nice, light topic.

Namely: “The Will to Life”

What is the Will to Life? Well, to put it bluntly, it’s the reason you’re sitting where you are right now. It’s the reason you’re reading these words. It’s the reason you’re going to go back to the start to figure out what the reason you’re trying to find the reason is.

The Will to Life is the base desire of all living thing, a primal and instinctual need to survive that surpasses all others.

In essence, the Will to Life lies at the center of a tree diagram. It is the will from which all motivations, wants and desires are resultant from. The primary goal of every living creature is to survive. Are we agreed?

Good.

Accepting this as fact, the Will to Life is synonymous with the Will to Survive (I personally like the sound of Will to Life better though, don’t you?)

If you’ll indulge me for a moment, think of any event in your life. The last bowl of ice cream you had. The last time you didn’t make that trip out to the gym the day after. The last time you didn’t go to the doctor, knowing he’d be disappointed with you.

Sorry.

The point is, all those actions derived from the same source. The seed of the tree. Maybe they were only a few branches down, maybe they were leaves that had blown away to another land in the wind. Some were borne of the will to be happy, some of the fear of being judged, but all owe their existence to the Will to Life.

Now, there was a guy who talked about the “Will to Live”.

File:Schopenhauer.jpg

This looker

That’s Arthur Schopenhauer, a German (of course) philosopher. However, from the little reading I’ve done, his definition is too narrow. According to the only real website, “To Schopenhauer, the Will is a malignant, metaphysical existence which controls not only the actions of individual, intelligent agents, but ultimately all observable phenomena; an evil to be terminated via mankind’s duties: asceticism and chastity”.

This seems a little crazy to me. Will is not a malignant force,in the same way that it is not a benevolent force. It is A force; in fact, for living creatures, the Will to Life is THE force, but it has no inherent moral value. It is.

Here’s the kicker. What is the one thing humans will never be able to do?

(If you said fly, please leave the room now.)

The correct answer is avoid death. Can we prolong life? Sure. In the future, is it possible that humans will have created technology that will cause the retirement age to be raised to 565? Sure. But in the end, no one lives forever. (Even if it takes til the heat death of the universe.)

So, really, what are you doing right now? Still reading this? What’s the point? You’re going to lose. The one will that drives your life, the Will to Life, is destined to meet it’s end with no fulfillment. And yet, there still exists that most illogical of human emotions.

Hope.

We’re all dust in the end, yet we keep pressing onwards, driven by a will that is indomitable, existing as it does at the very base of all other functions of the mind and heart, until the day when the inevitable reaper comes knocking on your door, the knell sounds, and the last ravens fly off to a different window.

Hmm, that got heavy. I thought this was supposed to be a celebration?

That’s better.

Summer Days

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Sometimes I think winter never ends,
The birds fly south, dark snow on the ground.
I walk outside, my face is whipped by the cold winds,
And I can’t see nobody around.

I want to travel way down south,
Where there’s blue skies and sunny days.
Slow rivers running though mellow fields,
Pink clouds rising through the haze.

Oh take me down where the bright sea meets the sand,
And the dunes roll gently by the waves.
Can you help me? Oh, will you lend a hand?
And take me back to those summer days.

The grey clouds spread out and cover the whole sky,
A cold rain’s due later today.
But I’ll be inside, dreaming of a time,
And a place where the sun never goes away.

Oh take me down where the bright sea meets the sand,
And the dunes roll gently by the waves.
Can you help me? Oh, will you lend a hand?
And take me back to those summer days.

Lights on the Ground

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Blessed be the ancients who looked up to the stars,
And dreamed a dream of tranquility away from earthly bars.
If only they could see us now, their heads would fall down in shame,
We tore the earth down, burned it up, and then asked who to blame?
Now I can’t see the stars for all the lights here on the ground,
I want to burn them up, and tear them down.

Listen, listen carefully to the dreams of my soul,
Rise and fall like the tide, never knowing where to go.
When you’re young you have no wisdom, and when you’re old you have no voice,
I can’t hear you calling me, but I swear, it’s not my choice.
And I can’t see the stars for all the lights here on the ground,
I want to burn them up, and tear them down.

Love is not an action; love is an idea,
Forgotten by so many minds whose wounds it is meant to heal.
Each step we took towards being free, only left us more enchained,
And you don’t have to look that far to see how much we’ve changed.
Now we can’t see the stars for all the lights here on the ground,
I want to burn them up, and tear them down.

Castles of Rain

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Tell me, tell me, while the sun lies low,
Across the empty fields, where it once did glow,
What happened to the orchards and the summer’s green?
There was a beauty there that could never be seen.

I felt it as the rain came down the mountainside,
With a warm breeze, I used to close my eyes,
And that gentle wind would carry me away,
To deep blue skies and warm mellow days.

And now we’re kept apart, but we don’t know why,
Why do they even try?
Though we each live in castles of rain,
Together we can reach a palace in the sun.

Listen child, there across the bay,
Where the sun is setting on another day.
And the moon is rising on the open sea,
Do you remember when we used to be so free?

In the warming water, dancing in the soft light,
Waves breaking gently, in the delicate moonlight.
And the last rays of the sapphire sun,
Colored the ocean until the day was done.

And now we’re kept apart, but we don’t know why,
Why do they even try?
Though we each live in castles of rain,
Together we can reach a palace in the sun.

Nuclear Dreams

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Nuclear dreams, explode across my mind, are we out of time?
Children screaming, mothers weeping, at the end of the line.

The broken doorways, no more homes for the weary,
In the barren wasteland dreary, and there’s
No more tomorrow, for the dreams I was chasing,
Guess my time, all was wasted on a dream.

I watched the world, go up in flames, outside my window,
I saw the people, all fade away, where did they go?

I saw the cloud, rising higher in the air,
When the sun, exploded in the
Sky, no time to wonder where to run to,
Where to go, only time to wonder why?

Nuclear dreams, though I try to stay awake, got a feeling I can’t shake.
I’ve heard them say, all things pass away, but I could wait.

But the time was now, though the hour was not yet late,
When the earth began to shake, and now there’s
No more tomorrow, for the dreams I was chasing,
Guess my time, all was wasted on a dream.

Stay with me, oh stay with me, for one last glimpse of harmony.

Don’t You Go

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She sings in silent flowers,
High atop violet mountains,
Where the breeze will know her name.

And in the darkened fancy,
Beneath the shallow waters,
She calls out in a twilight tone.

Outside in blazing deserts,
The oasis just a mirage,
She brings me life in vibrant waves.

In the midnight hour, she comes to me,
Belladonna, don’t you go.

She dances in the jungles,
Of sneaking raindrops mellow,
And birds that give a siren’s call.

Within the icy winter,
Of seasons unforgiving,
She waits there ‘til the day is new.

And now the snow is melting,
Across the barren tundra,
She twists her way back to the sun.

In the midnight hour, she comes to me,
Belladonna, don’t you go.

Is Dylan a Sellout?

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In lieu of the Chrysler ad during the Super Bowl, I have been forced to ponder this question. And I’ve come to the conclusion that to think Dylan is a sellout is to make the mistake that he ever bought in. Bob Dylan, first and foremost, does what he wants to do. It was true when he went electric, it was true when he was born again, and it’s true now. Dylan is often held up as a counterculture icon, and he is, but people forget that he never wanted to be, and that he crashed his motorcycle and went into hiding for nearly a year just to get away from the image he had built. That’s what must not be forgotten. Dylan never claimed to be the “spokesman of a generation”. That title was thrust upon him, and he’s tried to shake it off ever since. Concluding this brief musing, Dylan is only what Dylan wants to be, not what you or I want him to be. If he served his fans, he’d never have gone electric after all. The legacy of Bob Dylan is of a popular culture figure who continually defies expectations and does things his way. If that means selling cars, then so be it. The world’s not ending. If he wants to sell cars, he’ll sell cars, whether you and I want him to or not. And that’s the point. He wouldn’t be Dylan otherwise.

It’s A Start

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It’s so dark, out there, does anyone really care?
That all the world has died, and no one even tried.
And so I’d like to know, where did all the kind people go?
I hear crying on the streets, where all the children bleed.

But even though the world is cold,
And though my time is growing old.
I can still feel and I can fight,
And hold the darkness from the light.

But I can’t do it on my own,
While everyone hides inside their homes.
So come out, come out of your shell,
And find the heaven in this hell.

I know it’s cold, out here,
And sometimes the way isn’t clear.
And sometimes your dreams, they disappoint,
We all wonder, “What’s the point?”

But don’t let the world, tear you apart,
Don’t sell your dreams, or your heart,
It isn’t much, but it’s a start.

Winter came so fast, summer wouldn’t last,
But don’t worry, stay deprived, of the world that’s right outside.
They’re starving in the gutters, crying for their mothers,
Your warmth will come again; their winter never ends.

But it doesn’t have to be this way,
There is some light in every day.
And if that doesn’t matter to you,
Then you have nothing more to lose.

Everyone else, come gather round,
And nobody speak, don’t make a sound.
We’ve all known pain, we all know loss,
Everyone’s felt the cost.

Now don’t run away, and don’t hide.
Don’t keep your heart, locked inside.
Cause no matter what your life has been,
You can always love again.

But don’t let the world, tear you apart,
Don’t sell your dreams, or your heart,
It isn’t much, but it’s a start.

Fading Away

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I’ve heard people say, that when you’re fading away,
You kind of drift through the day, nobody even knows you’re there.
One minute born, the next minute you die,
Not even time to cry, but you know that I don’t even care,

Cause when you have gone over the edge, no longer can you even feel the pain,
And when I take the time to wonder why, it only drives me more insane.

Take all your blues, and drop them over my head,
As I just sit in my bed, and wonder if life goes on.
Lightning strikes once, and then lightning strikes twice,
As gods roll the dice, for life is far too long.

And when you have gone over the edge, no longer can you even feel the pain,
And when I take the time to wonder why, it only drives me more insane.

Should I draw a breath, or should I hold ‘til my death?
You know that I am still deaf, to the noises all around.
Spend a life on the streets, or a warm leather seat,
When our friend comes to meet, you still end up in the ground.

And when you have gone over the edge, no longer can you even feel the pain,
And when I take the time to wonder why, it only drives me more insane.