“I’m selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can’t handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don’t deserve me at my best.”
— Marilyn Monroe

I had the great fortune of watching an episode over again, from Parks and Recreation, that really struck a cord with me. If you’re interested in comedy television shows that involves witty banter and improvised sketches; much-like The Office, I highly recommend it. For those of you that have seen the show and/or are interested in knowing more about what I’m talking about you can find it in Season 2, Episode 16: “Galentine’s Day”.

::Potential Spoiler – ALERT::
The premise of the episode is that the main character’s (Leslie Knope) mother recalls a story from her past of a past love that she lost touch with due to a series of unfortunate circumstances. Leslie’s boyfriend, at the time hears about the situation and is enthralled with the idea of reuniting the two hearts for a dramatic Valentine’s Day. Although there were many tell-tale signs that proved to Leslie the two would no longer be a match, her boyfriend continued to press the idea of reuniting them. In the end, things didn’t turn out the way plans were originally thought to proceed, leading Leslie to ponder why her boyfriend would continue to press-on with something she knew wouldn’t work out while informing her boss/co-worker (Ron Swanson).

Ron then replies with a simple sentence that described this guy from his previous characteristics and manners in previous episodes: “He’s a tourist. He vacations in people’s lives, takes pictures, puts them in his scrapbook and moves on. All he’s interested in are stories. Basically, he’s selfish, and you’re not, and that’s why you don’t like him.”
::End of ALERT::

This really made me think about myself, and reflect on the people that I have in my life. I’ve known for years now that that’s not the type of person I aspire to be, nor is it someone that I want to be. It concerns me though, that there are people out there that do this, and it really helps me to know that many of the friendships that I have and/or have made aren’t temporary ones. I don’t like investing my time in relationships that lead to dead end streets, relationships that don’t bear fruit or stimulate a rise in me when they’re happy and/or sympathy when they’re unhappy. I find it all quite interesting to be honest.

Just thinking about my Kagi family, it gives me pride to know that I was able to form such a strong bond with people that I didn’t know growing up, but feel as though I did. They know everything there is to know about me, more-so than most if-not all of my blood relatives.

Anyway, I have a lot more to say, but unfortunately my class starts in a little more than 20 minutes, but I feel very fortunate to have so many amazing people in my life. I even made some lifelong friendships during my time at Nordstrom, in the Marine Corps, and even at Clark College. I don’t ever want to leave myself vulnerable to those people that would use me (or the people that I love) just for “stories” to tell about their life, but at the same time – I don’t want to close the door to those type of people either, as they could truly be hurting inside.

I hope all of you are doing well. I’m still not quite sure why I have so many followers (they’re probably all bots) but most of the time, I’m glad that my voice can be heard. Take it easy, everyone, and I look forward to ranting again in the near-future.