Rattling Cages

Rattle cages, we did

“You know, we think that we all grow out of it? That’s a lie. Some of us will always be rattling cages.”

– from Never Been Kissed

The first time I heard it, this particular quote stuck like gum to my hair. Truth is, I’ve never really bothered to pull the gum out. Perhaps, simply because it “stings” of reality. Not that it hurts. It just reminds me of much simpler, less tumultuous times called “high school”.

People say that adolescence is the period of much confusion. I say adolescence is the start of much confusion, and you can be sure of more to come. You become wiser through the years, assuming that you are capable of such a thing. But the demands of the modern world and dictates of old beliefs are always there to test you. Sometimes, you just want to shout, “STOP THIS WORLD! I WANNA GET OFF!” But sorry, it just isn’t going to happen. Not in this lifetime.

So once in a while, perhaps during your quiet, meditative moments, you wonder just how your old friends, old enemies and old-whatevers are faring. Your thoughts come rushing down memory lane faster than you can say “Whoah!” You wonder what they are now, where they are, if they are already blissfully married or still happy in Spinsterville. Have they remained or become successful? Or is that person you so-despised in high school less successful than you are? (Evil thought, but c’mon, admit it.)

It all boils down to one question: How much have they changed, if there have been significant changes at all? Change, after all, is constant. Cliché but true, ask our now-ancient textbooks. From the very first day of our high school lives to that special last day of our whole high school experience, there’s no escaping change.

It’s like when people leave. They leave us or eventually, we leave them. And then they surprise us by becoming that hot model in the states, or that top executive in some top company, or that person who’s far from the success we always thought s/he’d be. Sometimes, they surprise us by going ahead to make it first to heaven.

So you take a pause to wonder how Fate deals its cards and where you figure in all of it. Is this it already? Are you still on your way to wherever you’re supposed to be heading? Have you progressed as much as you should have? Eventually, we find that despite all these changes brought on by distance and experience, we haven’t really grown up after all.

We still don’t know the answer to many of life’s questions. We still feel lost most times in this universe. We are, in other words, still God’s little children.

And so, inevitably, once in a while, we still rattle cages, making noises and trying to see what happens. When you think about it, it’s not so bad after all. It’s what we’re supposed to do. It’s called living. We grow old, grow up, and continue living.

Hopefully, we’ll forever rattle cages, make noises, and bring the house down. That’s what life’s about 🙂