"Because this moment simply is."

I find it interesting how, regardless of what you do or what you are experiencing, you always find connections to your daily life. This occurs not only in reading, but when you watch a movie, when a friend tells you a story, or simply something you see as you walk down the street that immediately makes you think about a past experience, a present worry, or a future decision. Vonnegut’s writing inspires much thought and interpretation, but not everything it sparks is directly related to the theme of the book. It may have no connection whatsoever in the eyes of a certain person, yet make perfect sense in the eyes of another.

Although I am still three years away from graduation, college and my career are an ever-present topic in my mind. When Billy talks about his kids on the eve of his daughter’s wedding, he states that “they were gone forever.”(pg. 73). After reading this, my mind immediately switched to thoughts about universities, professions, and business, and the impact my future decision will have on my entire life. Just as Billy was impacted by his experiences at war, I believe that who you choose to be in life impacts who you will truly become.

I personally do not believe in the “Trafalmadorian” theory of time-or in time travel, for that matter-I do believe that attitude, and the way you view things greatly influences actual events. If you, like Billy, decide to watch a film backwards in order to change your perspective on things, you will have gained experience, and with experience comes knowledge. However, you should never lose track of what is real, and what is actually going on, because as soon as you do, you lose everything. Dreaming and longing for a better past or future can lead to inspiration and may give people that have lost hope the desire to keep living, but being too optimistic, or being too much of a dreamer makes you believe things that aren’t real, or even possible. Everything that goes up must come down, and you have to be careful because once you reach the stars, you know you’re in for a nasty fall.