Gotta love IKEA

Went skating one night during the lockdown, as I was descending a hill I noticed the IKEA sign from afar, I couldn't resist and took this shot. I know it's not a mind-blowing shot, I wouldn't even consider it adequate, but oh boy is it special.

I know what you're thinking "Zein it's just a sign " and you'd be right, Don't get me wrong, it's aesthetic as hell, the way this massive sign just sticks out like a sore thumb, ruining what would been a beautiful melancholy horizon. If anything it's a prime example of how capitalism and the Industrial Revolution ruined everything!!!! A true " let's put a Walmart in the middle of the Amazon rainforest" moment!

But that's not why this shot's special to me the reality is much simpler than that, To me this scene holds an insane amount of nostalgic value. It takes me back to a much simpler time. You see lockdown was a period of transformation for me, it was the prime of my young wreckless teenager era, i couldn't care less about school since it was online, i was going out whenever I could, and spent hours of my days just enjoying myself. The rest of the world may have been going through the hardest of times, but not my world, my world was simple, it was easy, and it was at peace.

That's not to say I wasn't worried, I would get the occasional panic attack, worrying for the health and safety of my loved ones, but when I look back at it, that point in time, is probably the easiest and most free my life will ever be. I mean just look at what my days consisted of; Wake up, eat a massive breakfast, only attend biology ( it's the only class I cared about) finish bio, go back to sleep until noon, Wake up, get on PlayStation with the boys, (was either camo grinding on MW2019 or Minecraft) get off, go skating around jabal ali (sometimes with Alex and Jhonny, sometimes alone), get back, go to the gym, come home, shower, FEAST, then get on playstation till ungodly hours (playing F1, COD SND, Minecraft or The Crew), sleep and repeat.

Now it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, I'm leaving out all the family issues, the friend group deaths, the relationships ending, the health issues, the covid scares, social drama, etc. I may be smiling as I look back now, but back then I couldn't wait for all of it to be over. At times I even hated life. But now that I look back, from where I stand today, god I wish i had savored every single second of it. That's the gift of hindsight ladies and gentlemen, as they say 'you never know you're having a good time, until those times are over".

If I could go back in time and say one thing to Zein, it would be this "Don't get too hung up on things, enjoy every second of carelessness and freedom you have, for this is the most free and careless you will ever get to be, for the rest of your life." Life just felt like it didn't count, I didn't have to attend school, didn't have anywhere to be, didn't have anything to do, no big responsibilities, nothing I needed to worry about, just being a wreckless teenage boy.

Don't get me wrong, my current stage in life may be a bit all over the place, and I may be a tad bit burnt out, and want nothing more than to lie in bed and rot until I feel like getting up again, But, like a noble gas, at least I've reached stability. I am at a point where I'm stable, and while being a wild careless teenage boy seems fun, it's not realistic, you only get to live it once, and I'm glad I lived it to its full extent. In fact, if you handed me a time machine, I still wouldn't go back, for two main reasons; To preserve the nostalgia of it, and because it just isn't who I am anymore. I'll always cherish that era of my life, but we can't stay hung up on the past forever. So I'm gonna take my own advice and start living and really appreciating my present, Who knows, maybe one day 2024 will be my 2020.