You’ve all (likely) heard the saying “less is more.”

I’m going to attempt to say a lot without using a lot of words.

1. Soul collisions. Souls collide. It’s proof they exist. The collision produces love. Joy. Sometimes despair and darkness. Unpredictable, those souls. Bumping into one another like that.

2. Cheap labor is necessary for people to make a billion dollars. Or a million. Or a hundred thousand. Necessary.

3. Fantasy dancing: The older you get, the less involved you are in sex and the more involved you are in fantasy. The older you get, the better you were.

4. My God is bigger than yours. When religion embraces ideology, all you get is stink. Sanctioned killing. Religious bigotry. My God is bigger, and better, than yours. Idolatry. The smell of superiority.

5. No good place for the lonely. I walk alone at night. Darkness can be scary. Coyotes. Demons. Vampires. Night creatures. Scares me half to death. Why do it? To overcome fear. Fear of aloneness. Fear of death.

6. Home sweet home. A house has a roof, wood, floor, walls, carpets, floors, nails and drywalls. A home has people, love, commitment, happiness, sadness, forgiveness—all in the same place.

7. Benediction. Go forth. Be satisfied. Be patient. Be present. Life is too short for you to hesitate. Look and listen. Do something. Then, do it again. When it’s finally done, you’ll know. Shout for joy.

8. Get a second opinion. Sunrise or sunset? For a moment, you might be unsure. The directionally challenged. A moment of doubt. Is it a new beginning, or the end? Every day, the same. Start or finish?

9. Ties. I’m not talking about ties in a sporting event, I’m talking about ones that go around your neck. They remind me of a noose. They tighten around your neck in subtle little increments until you’re choking on someone else’s dreams.

10. Warrior or weenie? Do you know the difference? Stand up. Make a difference. Warriors are for real. Weenies are for roasting.

11. What happened to America? Just the other day, things were so good. Not really. Always problems. People get goofy. Everyone has an agenda. Unfortunately, there are 330 million of us. That’s a lot of goofy.

12. Ketchup. Red, not green. Not a big variety. Hunts. Heintz. Being from Collinsville, Ill., Brooks is my preferred. Biggest ketchup bottle on Earth. Buy local.

13. Charity. Giving with no conditions. No mandatory praying. Give with no expectation of praise or promotion. Give to alleviate pain and suffering. Not to cause it. No publicity. Compassion.

14. Life. Life has a way of waking you up to those things that are most important. Relationships, friends, family, good health, simplicity, being able to sleep at night. Helping others.

15. The great lie: casino capitalism. Take from the poor and give to the rich. Zombie politics.

16. Where do we go from here? No to social justice. No to helping those struggling. No to feeding the children. No to housing the homeless. No to higher wages. No to universal healthcare. How about we just go to Mars and start all over at this rate?

17. Eating without guilt. One in five children go to bed hungry in Illinois. One to three seniors experience food scarcity. Damn. That bone-in ribeye doesn’t taste near as good. Please, bring some water.

18. Taxes. They’re everywhere. Sales. Real estate. Hotel. TV. Phone. Gas. Federal. State. County. Local. I’m going to try adding them up. Grand total: send help. I need more fingers and probably a calculator.

19. Seek from within. There is nothing wrong with being religious, so long as you mean to do something good with it. Blessed are the poor. The sick. The questioners. The lost. Seek faith from within.

20. Justice, one of life’s finer purchases. Fine wine. A Lexus. Rolex watch. T-bone steak. Everything has a price.

Among all of that, there’s plenty that I’m grateful for. Family, dogs, music, stars, deer, tomatoes, ice cream, books, trees, hamburgers and sweet corn, to name a few.

Bruce Weik was a longtime columnist for The Zephyr and is co-creator of Many Paths Galesburg since 2019.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Many Paths: Less can be more for expressing your thoughts