THE EQUILIBRIUM

Taoist tendencies of the man-nature balance; Corporate tendencies of the profit-responsibility balance; Buddhist tendencies of the selfless-materialistic balance—It seems the only thing that's ever true about extremes is that they should always cancel each other out.

For every reaction, there is an opposite and equal reaction. Newton said it and we believed it. The quest for our personal ability to equate, hand in hand, our life and its myriad parts is neverending. This is partially why we never grow up. All adages aside, life's too short to keep on searching for the perfect equilibrium. This is a world where we have to deal with errors, of estimation and technicality. We have to live with that.

We're not perfect.

Alright, so most of what I've said is a bit short of bullshit. I think I'm a bit sick of people coming up with philosophies to live by and then trying to shove it down my throat. Life isn't as complicated as we make it out to be, and sometimes I wish people didn't try to scare me into thinking that tomorrow will be tougher than today. It's just not right.

I have (hopefully) three-quarters of my life ahead of me. That's a ballpark number—With environmental pollution, lack of good Hollywood films and ten year old kids in the south side of town bangin' hoes like there ain't no tomorrow, hoping to have a good day's all I wish for. Yet, sometimes even that's too much.

So, why worry? Why hope and wish? There's a simple bottom line here, somewhere, trying to peek out: "Yo, you there?" "Yah." "Listen, I got some news for you. About life. Checkit: This shit, don't let it get to you. The only way you'll survive is if you walk away."

Here's my translation: Equiblibrium is flawed. Sometimes, 50/50 isn't the answer. Sometimes you need a mix of this and that. 70/30? Works well. In the end, you'll arrive naturally to your destination. Naturally.

THE CREATOR

Here and Now: Rahat Ahmed, 20, New York City. Stern School of Business at New York University. Finance and Accounting double major, minor in Fine Arts. I'm not sure where I'm going, but I'm doing my best to buy some insurance along the way.

Background: Born in Dhaka, Bangladesh on August 28, 1981. Moved to Houston, TX in 1990 and then to NYC in August of 2000. I've been independent a good lot of my life which has forced me to find my own way at times. It's harder than I thought. Too many detours.

I like escapist media: Haruki Murakami's novels, David Fincher's films, New Order's music. And there's plenty more where that came from. I am, in short, a media whore. Anything sensory will make me happy, fill up my time, control my day.

For everything that makes me complex, I'm simpler than you think.