If you never try

You ever met one of those people whose coolness is so infectious it almost forces you to become a better person? I know one of those people. I've only known him for a few months, and I don't know him terribly well (although I'd like to), but he's attacked me with this subliminal "Carpe Diem" mentality, and it makes me want to get out and experience something, anything real. It's safe to say I'm not very proactive. Until tonight I was perfectly fine with doing the same boring thing weekend after weekend and felt no shame in still complaining about never having any form of adventure in my life. This person, in 5 minutes, found at least 3 distinctly "Fresno" things for me to do, and with that between-the-lines force he uses (whether consciously or not), I was out doing something I'd never done by 8:00.

The second Friday of every month, I've come to discover, the Fresno Filmworks organization shows an independent or foreign film at the Tower Theatre in the Tower District. I like to take advantage of the little opportunities to impress this guy because he's much cooler than he thinks he is, so I grabbed my room mate, Tiffany, Katie the birthday girl, the ever amazing Sara, and of course Tom Wise (because what's a party without Tom Wise?) and headed to Olive and Wishon to see "Outsourced". This independent film was set in India about this guy who's "promoted" at his customer service firm in Seattle and sent to India to train the people who received all the outsourced jobs from the now eliminated United States facility. It was an awesome story of crossing cultures and experiencing the otherwise forgotten parallels in what looks like a completely different part of the world in so many ways. It was absolutely hilarious at times, too. Definitely something new and different, and so much better than laying around in my pajamas, making a Taco Bell run at 11 PM, and going to sleep early.

Experiencing life gives it purpose. The bed might be more comfortable, but how do you grow without vulnerability, without experiencing everything there is to see and feel, taking risks for the sake of finding something bigger? The movie didn't change my life, but it was a step in the right direction. I'm making a bigger deal out of it than it seems I'm sure, but it really was just an awesome experience.