A short essay I typed up during my senior year of high school for an A.P. Language course. The assignment required a personal narrative from my past.
Daniel J. Choi Articles.
At 24, bones still wet with dew from the dawn of adulthood, I took an adventure.
And by adventure, I mean vacation. For the price of a month’s rent in Boston, I had purchased the illusion of adventure, bookended by cushy, leather airline seats and documented by a camera with more horsepower than the Apollo missions. My destination? Iceland.
I always wondered about artists, and how their work must often be inspired by the people in their lives. What joy and pride it must bring someone to know that a beautiful love poem was penned in their name! And to an equal measure, what mixture of horror and sadness must accompany words about hate or betrayal.
I’ve written songs and poetry since I was in grade school, and my close friends often make fun of the fact that an overwhelming majority of my compositions are about happiness and love. In truth, it’s because I’ve often struggled with allowing myself to publish negative emotions about people.