Priceless Advice

It's gotten late, again.  "Heart Shaped Box" just randomly started playing on my TV.  It's a pleasant surprise.  

The first time I saw the video was in the middle of the night while working at the radio station.  It was the fall of 1993, right after the song was released, and during my sophomore year of college.  Freshly out into the grown-up world, I saw the newly-minted video as a sign the world was changing, just like my life.  Weird images, completely different from the pop imagery of the previous decade, felt like the changes occurring to my post-adolescent brain.

That period of life projects the illusion that anything is possible.  You don't realize it's all smoke and mirrors for a decade or two.  By then, it's too late.

Early adulthood in the Western world doesn't provide much direction.  There are no real recognized rites of passage.  You're expected to be as responsible as an adult, while still being treated like a child.

Get a job and hang in there long enough to earn a little self-respect.  By then, you're old... and some kid, with either wealthier parents or with the luck to have found a bit of direction, still treats you like a kid.  The only good thing is that you no longer care.

Suddenly, something from the past appears.  Without warning, you're back to that fresh outlook.  Imagination rekindles.  A spark twinkles in your eye, winding the clock back.