Along These Lines

There is always that moment when youre surprised between shock and recognition, when that cold lightning that runs up your back is like a starters pistol. This is it. The race of your life that might be the rest of your life. That fear is a monster. Running is your new lifes goal if you want to keep it. Survival is now running. Running is your new obsession a hulking abomination out of a nightmare realm is cutting a swath through the distance that separates you and it. You run until you’re out of breath and you fall. At first, falling from the fear is all consuming until you fall away from it. From frying pan into the fire. You fall for a long time. However, when you hit the ground there is no painful nanosecond and there is no satisfying crunch. Its just you falling a foot from the couch to the ground at the end of a dream sequence.

I imagine that’s how it starts. In so far as one would imagine another’s eureka moment. Its kind of wild I was thinking to myself about how I wish I was more active on the internet because of the state of the world because of Covid. So, to improve I was reading about writing everyday and exercising. Then, I decided to write about someone in my community who inspired me. After looking at civil rights leaders and lawyers and stuff, I sort of got discouraged because I’m nothing like them. They’re probably rich or super smart or just not like normal people. Then, I was looking at my favorite youtuber and realized he was inspirational. He made a living from doing what is essential a hobby. The only that separated him from me was will and what ever unexpected advantages he had. But for all intents and purposes it’s his will.

His name is Robert Jefferson and he host a YouTube channel and it’s called Comics Explained and it’s amazing. He is my go-to for comic stories even though there are four or five really popular youtubers doing the same thing. That’s only because I find him to be more relatable. He’s funny with an infectious laugh, just like me. He’s black, trying to lose weight and into comics just like me. Not only is he relatable but also, he’s consistently putting out new material. I really appreciate the service he provides because I was always a nerdy person but didn’t have the money to spend 5 bucks on every comic that came out. So, I would by them sparingly. However, when marvel would have the big events they wouldn’t be in just the volumes of spider-man. You could buy spider-man 88 and see that something happened between volume 87 and 88. He made it so a fellow nerd could be current.

The reason why I think he is a great influence is somewhere between his down to earth attitude and the service. If he can take something that he loves and turn it into a career maybe I can turn my life around. Also, he’s not like a gazillionaire. His company is worth 500 thousand dollars. That’s more than what I have but its more attainable that trying to be the next Michael Jordan or Lenny Kravitz. When I was kid, I remember being asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, just like everyone else. Now, I wish I could go back and change my answer. Now, if I could go back and they asked me what I wanted to be when I grow up, I would like to say, happy. Just like Rob Jefferson from comics explained.