Mar 3

Mar 3 What I Have Learned - Keith Kelly

What I Have Learned by Keith Kelly

Book excerpt

Life comprises many pages. Once we write these pages, they are complete. Thus, we have to live with what’s been written.

Most of us write each page the best we can with what we’ve been given. When young, we don’t see the preciousness because of our lack of experience. Youngsters want to be adults. Little do they know, like our shadows, we experience the euphoria of many living situations after they pass us by.

Not too long ago, while visiting a pizza joint, I mentioned to several workers that I used to make and deliver pizzas when I was their age.

“Sucks, huh?” the kid said.

“Not really. Wish I could go back to it. No responsibility, just an easy gig. Enjoy it while you’re young because time passes fast. You’ll gain responsibilities soon enough.”

He’d looked at me as if I was a total moron.

Many adults don’t mature as time goes by. Dressed in clothes younger than their age, these characters are a trip. They pretend to be hipsters, using the words of youthful people.

I’ve written many pages in my life. Sometimes, I wonder how many more I will write. That’s a problem for most. They sit, thinking of past or future pages, never contemplating the ones they’re writing at their current juncture.

Perhaps the last sentence isn’t correct. Here is something that comes to mind.

The next hour hasn’t arrived on the west coast. On the east coast, it has, yet we still remain at this moment.

A future birth hasn’t happened yet. Perhaps it has, though we haven’t caught up to it. Maybe we’re much older already, having lived our lives without having caught up to what we’ve lived.

What if we don’t exist? Maybe we’re looking through a parallel universe at our lives in another dimension.

Whether our existence is real or an illusion, we still experience feelings. The pages turn fast. Before we know it, they’re gone.

Life is the duration between birth and death. Google defines learning as acquiring knowledge or skills through experience, study, or being taught. I ponder this often.

My name is Kelly Darrow. I write under the pen name of Keith Kelly. Perhaps you’ve heard of me.

I usually pen works of fiction. Over the years, I’ve kept a running list of points and observations I’ve made, thus far, throughout the life I’ve lived. I have written many tales from both aspects.

One morning, the thought about writing a book about the things I’ve learned and the conclusions I’ve made came to me. I’d considered mentioning specific narratives, expanding on each of them. I’d share my experiences about how I’d acquired the knowledge.

I am fifty-three years old and have spent the last thirty-six years writing dramas, novels, and poetry. Twenty-seven of those years were spent as a drug and alcohol counselor.

I’ve lived in several different states and have traveled quite a bit. I’ve met many diverse people and have experienced different cultures. Through this experience, as we all do, we fit Google’s definition of life and learning.

Within the pages of this book lies my attempt in sharing with you, the reader, what I’ve learned and observed. Although I have a list of seventy items, of which I’d like to discuss, I will expand only on my favorite ones.

I don’t want to bore you. The personal narratives I’ll be sharing with all of you will not be one-sided opinions of what I think matters should be like. However, I can’t guarantee it. You’ll also find personal stories or works of fiction scattered throughout what I’ve written, which will explain the points I’ve made. I hope you all enjoy what I’ve learned, observed, and the stories that will soon follow.

These writings have special meaning to me carrying over into many different subjects. I like to write about various topics and not stick to any one theme. To me, a great writer can write about any subject, just as a good actor can act any part. In these stories, I’ve sought to show different writing and character styles hoping to appeal to different readers. I am a regular guy with an irregular imagination. In the following stories, I have tried to live up to that.