Influence.

Nothing has no influence. As stated so blatantly eloquent by John Donne, no man is an island. We are the people around us. They shape and mold us, change us, move us. One single look – glance, word, expression – can alter our whole perception, our attitude, our selves. Subconsciously, everything affects us. Most of the time, the change is so small that we fail to notice it, and so write it off as nothing new. Literally overnight our views on a certain idea, opinion, aesthetics, even people, can become distorted, for better or worse. The sad thing is, once we realize it and embrace it, there’s no going back. We can’t un-experience something. We can’t go back and redo things differently. We can’t change our minds back to the way it was before, no matter how hard we try. The people around us –  not only the people we surround ourselves with, but strangers and acquaintances too – all play a part in our lives. At some moment in time, they, and us, you, and me, all shared each other’s lives. How scary is that? To be able to change a person’s life, state of mind, thoughts, and to be able to move them from where they are, is, I would say, the most powerful thing anyone and everyone can do. Sometimes we do it unwittingly. Sometimes all it takes is being who we are to completely change someone else. We don’t need to plan it out, we don’t need to manipulate others, we can change them by simply being in their lives. So I guess what I’m trying to say is that we can’t help how we think, what we’re influenced by, how we change, but we can realize what is happening and understand what is happening. If people would only realize that everyone is constantly changing, a lot of conflicts could have been avoided. But then again, I firmly believe that even if conflicts could have avoided, they wouldn’t have been. It’s just how we are.

I really already miss the way things were, but I’m ready to accept the fact that I’ve been influenced by your words and actions, and that I should not dwell on things that aren’t possible any longer. The lighting has changed, and I don’t see what I saw before.