In denial

Hearing Fr. David constantly criticize today's youth in his philosophy class frustrated me. I mean, how can this senior citizen make such general claims about my generation, when, in fact, he does not even know the unique challenges brought about by today's technologically advanced world? How can he fully eliminate the complexity of modern-day human relations? But then it dawned on me. It's not so hard to be critical, or even disappointed of the kids of today. All the while, I was not frustrated with Fr. David, I was in denial of the truth.

Only he can pull off the "Eh, sort of like, you know.."

At first, I did not agree with Fr Luis' claim that the influx of various technological thingamajigs-from iPods and iPhones to blackberries and tablets-has 'babyfied' the youth of today. I initially thought about the higher levels of expectations that come with the advancements. I naively believed that the world's complexity has amplified the burden for my generation. It's quite overwhelming, actually, how different devices beep or ring all at the same time, sort of like the evil sister of a philharmonic orchestra.

But hey, maybe it's not the technological takeover's fault. Truth be told, I think it's an individual's responsibility to organize the things that he or she owns. Blaming a missed call or an unfinished paper on a cellphone or a computer or a tablet is just downright pathetic. And no, don't give me the 'I'm only human and it was too much for me to handle' excuse. If you didn't want to be bothered by gadgets too much, why did you even purchase them in the first place? Personal responsibility does not end with hygiene alone.

Speaking of hygiene, it is difficult to ignore the stench coming from most people today. And no, I'm not just talking about my generation here. The irony of people having a wider array of tools of communication while being more robotic in their interpersonal relationship bothers me the most. Nokia no longer connects people. Smart doesn't really allow people to live more. Facebook merely provides another layer of disconnection among 'friends.' Thus, peeps veer away from the Earth and tend to prioritize the illusory acquaintances provided by the Twitterverse. Trust me, I've been and still am guilty of being a rotten, and I use the next term loosely, 'human being.'

To You

Not so long ago, I thought my life would be simple. I looked forward to a life which involves going to school, listening attentively and participating actively in class, having decent marks, going home, then back to school again. With regard to my relationships, I just wanted them to be stable and conflict-free as much as possible. What I didn't realize, due to the fact that I hate not being in control, is the fact that life is more complicated than I expected. Humanity is defined by unique complexities, not general oversimplifications. Case in point, our relationship might have ended on a not so good note, but I'm very thankful for the realizations.

I guess the bittersweet end could be attributed to the rough start we had. She had another. I was the one running after her. Well, she confessed when we were already together that she, too, had developed feelings for me. Yet, nothing can change the fact that something was inherently 'wrong' with the genesis of our relationship. I won't delve into the specifics of this particular event, but I think it's an important factor to consider.

Anyway, to add to that unfortunate start, our relationship seemed like the world economy, a story of booms and busts. The constant fluctuations in our  relationship created this stacked-up feeling inside of me that had led to me cutting off ties with you. I'm not trying to play the blame game on this one, but let's just say we were both accountable to the demise of what we had. And I guess it's also fair to say that my careless ways had a bigger impact on our relationship. I know love isn't the same as falling in love, in a sense that the latter is more grounded on impulsive physical feelings, but my problem was concentrated more on not even having the will to will. I didn't have it anymore. I have nothing more to say; I'm afraid my words would simply sound like mere excuses.