Yesterday I was browsing through Andrea's Superhero Designs reading various entries. I really like this chick. She is quite a beautiful person, inside and out. She seems like such a remarkable woman. And very talented. Not only does she paint and make jewelry, she takes the most amazing portraits of people. They are just stunning. Look at this one she took of her husband and this one she took of a baby. Simply beautiful.

I stumbled across this post about her friend Jeff. Curious fellow that I am, I then started sifting through his site. This guy has such a courageous zest for life. It is so enviable. When I read the post about him putting on a suit and then go running I started chuckling to myself. "That's so fucking brilliant," I said out loud. His passion for living is so inspiring. I kept thinking, "I'd really like to know this guy."

Then I stopped and realized I wanted something more than that. I wanted to be more like him. For so long I have lived with such pain and sadness. Somehow it didn't destroy me, but it did at times break my spirit.

At the beginning of this year, I was hardly living a life. I had such apathy for everything. Over the last many weeks that has started turning around. Every day I feel better. Like an awakening. It's startling to witness this transformation. Many people have noticed and commented, but it's also something I see and feel each day, like I'm seeing it from the outside in.

Last night I had dinner with a friend of mine I've known for about five years or so. He is someone I regard highly and I consider to be one of the finest people I know. Unfortunately he is also one of the busiest people I know too. He is very much a giver and his plate overfloweth often, so I don't get to spend very much time with him.

After ordering our meal, I told him about my depression and what the last three years have been like for me. I told him about the progress I've made so far and the changes I foresee coming down the road. I opened up to him in ways I never have before and he in turn did the same with me. It was a huge leap forward for both of us and I think we will be better people for having this evening together.

Leaving the restaurant and driving home, I thought about Jeff Pitcher: this artist, musician, non-conformist, fearless lover of life. I laughed again thinking of him running the streets in a business suit. I may never do that or shave my head or any number of the inspired insane things this man does, but I think it is time to start living life a little more daringly and start opening doors that have always been locked shut.