The Hills Have Flowers

(Love Springs Internal)

I took a little road trip to San Diego last weekend. As I drove down the freeway I noticed the hills finally have some color to them thanks to all the rain we had this year.  Enjoying Spring’s floral carpets, got me to thinking about my life and how drastically it’s changed over the past couple of years from an adventurous life to a seemingly dull one.

Nothing brought this fact to light more than a recent phone call I had with an old party friend of mine. He and I had a falling out a year prior. Then the other day I sent him a quick text out of the blue: “I miss you, bro. Hope you can forgive me someday.” To my surprise my phone lit up a few seconds later with his name on the screen.

I picked up, “what’s up Hak Man.” It was like old times as we laughed about stupid things and reminisced on some of the crazier partying we had done. We talked about the boat incident, the time I accidentally broke his couch, the time Hak Man caught fire while driving. And then we got to the subject of what we’ve been up to recently. On the surface: nothing.

In earlier years my life had a lot more color like the hills off the freeway. I was a boiler room rockstar making money at call center chop shops. I eventually ran my own boiler room and of course did a lot of partying. But last year I got a girlfriend and a job at the donut factory, and everything came to a screeching halt. From that point on, I spent the majority of my time with my girl building a relationship with her. And I had to take work seriously, as I could no longer get by with just talent.

Thus I didn’t have any new party stories to share with my friend. Instead, I told him about how much I’ve changed by being in a serious, long-term relationship. I talked about how my girl made me realize that I can be inconsiderate and selfish. I have been on my own for so long that I’d forgotten what it’s like to take another person’s well-being into account.

As for my job at the donut factory, it has been very challenging and it forced me to acquire new skills. No longer was I able to shine simply by making lots of sales using verbal acrobatics. I now had to pay meticulous attention to detail. Dotting i’s and crossing t’s was never my strong point, and for a minute I didn’t think I would survive. But a year and a half later and I’m still here.

My friend went through similar changes. He now works at Boeing putting in 80 + hour weeks. He doesn’t have much time for partying anymore as he is building his career.  So I realized that Springtime and the new year isn’t just a time to make surface changes such as new clothes or shedding a few pounds.

Those changes come and go like flowers on a hill. Internal character changes, the ones no one sees, and true connections with loved ones beyond vapid partying are more valuable. It’s the kind of growth that might not be appreciated but it keeps the trees on the hill through all seasons: the growth of roots.


 - Brick Cruz

Check out my book: Moby Brick's Unshuffled Deck, and my blog: They're All Against Me!

Me and my girl