rewind/fastforward

i ran into this guy i knew. and it was one of those weird moments where all of a sudden the world stops and rewinds in the 2 seconds it takes you to inhale and you were right where you were 5 years ago. i remember how people used to remark on our similarities. we were always on the same page, always interested in the same subjects, always heading in the same direction. but now he's a tattoo artist. and i'm a medical student. as soon as those words whispered past his larynx i felt a silent pang of jealousy at his courage. i've always created, but never believed in myself enough to make it my career. and just then he went on to read my mind, and say that he wished he had the courage to embark on years of school. wished he found strength in his ability not to create, but to learn. and the world quickly fastforwarded and slowed to a crawl as we both realized without words how similar we've become and how different at the same time. isn't creation learning? isn't science art? aren't hospitals tattoo parlors? don't we both want to make our world, and the world, a better place? it's all the same, but completely different.