Being random is something that I learned as a teenager from my ex-girlfriend. Being that she was my cousin, I did little else other than escort her to parties and encourage her to find someone else to lavish her affections on. My cousin was the most random person I ever met. Her affections were fickle, and these were her most stable factor. Her logic, not based on any flow chart, was unfathomable by most.

I eventually decided that her logic was based on the popularity chart, pick a subject designed by something similar to something in the outfit or hairstyle of whoever would be the most popular person at a given event. Thus, I found out that her supposedly random behavior was not truly random at all.

She would spend hours analyzing popularity charts, ripping pages out of entertainment magazines, looking at the most popular shows, records, radio stations, clothing brands, automobiles, travel destinations, wines, and would be able to start a conversation with almost anyone she chose to, based on her knowledge of these.

Her actual behaviors though, were extremely random. Her room, which I ventured into only to attempt to find a missing wallet and set of car keys on a few occasions, was disorganized to the point of being a disaster area. The pick a name out of a hat trick was less random.

Lately, I’ve been thinking that there are thousands of ways to goof up every day, and very few opportunities to make good, ever, even the tiniest bit of good is something that needs to be sought out. Actually making good is something that is quite a feat.

Life is a random thing that probably could be construed as impossible to accomplish, yet, somehow, we all manage to be living, somehow.

Not being alive is a much easier thing to do than living is. By way of being alive, one is being difficult, indeed. Thus, we are all difficult to be around, as we are all alive.

Hopefully, we who are alive are all attempting to be intelligent. Artificial intelligence means that scanning words at extremely rapid speeds is entirely plausible, possible, as well as “natural”. However, being able to slow down and take the time to actually read something requires a living entity to accomplish.

Existing is the basic quality of having life, however, actually “living” life is a bit more complex. According to the basic hierarchy of needs, a person needs to have food, water, shelter, hygiene, sleep; basically, safety and security needs need to be met in order to survive, or eke out an existence. We could all probably exist for years just on these things, plus a few random articles of clothing.

Actually living means being able to contact other people, being able to relate to other people. Perhaps a person could relate to animals, minerals, and vegetables quite well for years, perhaps even for decades – however, this person would cease to be socially capable after a certain point in time.

Living is in this sense almost synonymous with the ability to relate to other people. So, go out and live!