The Lounge

[Yamialpha]

No, not tomorrow. I'm finally going on my multi-mile hike through our woods in search of the cave-like niche in the bluff rock.

 

[Yamialpha]

We'll probably be limited to a weekend before turkey season. After that, the woods'll be off limits.

 

[Yamialpha]

Don't forget soap skateboarding-now that's going to be the hard one to film.

 

[Soldier_For_Christ]

Wow. I think Yamialpha has finally lost it...or perhaps he, for the first time, has it, which would probably be enough to drive any insane person...crazy...I guess.

 

[Yamialpha]

That's not nice, SfC.

 

[Soldier_For_Christ]

Okay, sorry. I mean, I'm used to being referred to as insane, so I just don't mind.

 

[Yamialpha]

I'm joking

Can you believe Spring Break is almost over?

 

[Soldier_For_Christ]

I wasn't sure if you were, so I didn't want to risk it.

Yeah, that is mad. Crazy mad. It feels like it should be...Tuesday night.

 

[Yamialpha]

I thought you liked school?

 

[Soldier_For_Christ]

Oi, most of the time, but...well, I guess the longer away from it I am, the less I miss it....maybe. I don't know, I just know that I'm not very excited about the prospect of returning to school.Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Band Contest is in less than a week.

 

[Yamialpha]

Sounds more like burnout than anything.

 

[Soldier_For_Christ]

Burnout? What do you mean exactly?

 

[Yamialpha]

You've been so passionate about your friends that it has exhausted you. It's a lot like intimate passion between a man and woman. There was just an article in the Nat'l Geographic about that particular situation. The chemical dopamine is what causes people to just be consumed by each other (you see it in high school everyday). The brain cannot sustain such a high level of neural activity. Eventually it fades out, and a chemical called oxytocin takes over (that's what keeps people together). What I'm saying is that passion-for friends, family, whatever-eventually regresses. You've got to find a happy medium.

 

[Soldier_For_Christ]

Yeah, I've been rereading C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity and he does cover that sort of thing in a chapter on Christian marriage. He talks of how when the initial passion a man has for a woman dies out, he automaticallly assumes anymore that he chose wrong when, in fact, his appreciation for that person has just shifted into a more lasting state. I guess it is the same with all relationships and, indeed, all things in this existence.

The question is, what was driving and fueling this passion and energy for friendship and companionship to begin with?

 

[Yamialpha]

Probably your strong faith. However, faith isn't excluded from regression. You just need to find a level of devotion and love that is sustainable. You can live for God without being just bouncing off the walls with it.

 

[Soldier_For_Christ]

True, very true. I'd be willing to bet that that is probably what God *doesn't* want. Hmm...something I'll think about.

 

[Yamialpha]

True, very true. I'd be willing to bet that that is probably what God *doesn't* want. Hmm...something I'll think about.

Well don't beat yourself up about it-it's a natural part of faith.

When will we finish our Mad game?

Sometime tonight.

 

[Yamialpha]

We should be able to tell-I believe one of us was on a "lose a turn" part of the board. We'll take it from there.

 

[Soldier_For_Christ]

Well don't beat yourself up about it-it's a natural part of faith.

Ah, you know me too well. I won't beat myself up about it, just think about it.

Ah, the last hours of Spring Break. How to use them...

 

[Yamialpha]

Don't take this too critically, but often times what I see is the problem with you at school is that your definition of friendliness is more personal than what most adolescents would consider friendliness. Some of your tactics are frowned upon. For example-giving people high fives is considered juvenile. Going up to someone and saying that your praying for them or even being overly friendly is seen as weird. In all honesty, SfC, you've developed a reputation.