IRIDESCENT

My first ever roommate was a model from Greece. Due to the uniqueness of his name, let's call him Perseus. In the sweaty concrete shell of our building he practically sparkled. The man radiated.

I did not.

In fact I was at one of my weaker points in life. I had just been diagnosed with a life altering disability - and I was floundering. I was all on my own across the country from my family - and I kept trying to impress people by climbing things. Where Perseus was the definition of cool, I was not. The man partied his first night. First night. He was invited out by some resident girls we ran into as a group. But they literally only invited him.

I spent my first night there listening to the Transformers 3 soundtrack by myself. Concrete walls. Iron bars on my windows. Linkin Park.

That song came on tonight. "Iridescent."

That first line rips me back there in a heartbeat. "You were standing in the wake of devastation. You were waiting on the edge of the unknown. With the cataclysm raining down - insides crying save me now - you were there impossibly alone..."

Now I'm sitting alone in a Westin hotel on the outskirts of Atlanta feeling like that 18 year old child even though intellectually I know that I am not. I am 31. I am a father. I am a husband. I am loved. I am Iridescent.

I have heard enough stories now to know that loneliness is endemic. I have shared enough to know that we've all had our moments in concrete hells. We've all had a Perseus. We've all had our share of rejection and heartbreak. And without carrying on this post too long - I'll get to the point.

If you feel it again - that sudden, close whisper of loneliness that sweeps you - it's normal. It's alright. It's not reality - but it is real. And the moment it grabs you it's okay. Dial up the volume and let you Linkin Park ring into your chest.

It's okay to be human. It's okay to be Iridescent. That volatility is nothing but natural - and it's a gift that you are complex enough to experience it. The gift of life is the experience of it. All four dimensions of it.