short improvised idea. let me know what you think so far (1 half paragraph opener)
They say the average person blinks about 20 times per minute, that is about 1200 times an hour and 28800 times a day if you never sleep. If a blink takes up a quarter of a second, that doesn't sound like a lot but imagine how much of your life you have spent with your eyes closed. How much of the world have you really seen? What small details have you missed?
Numbers bore me to shit. Don't open with it, either, Media Res with action action action! If you want to keep the numbers maybe integrate that sort of listing into the pacing of the sentence too, in a similar way to James Ellroy does, aside from the punctuation, which I think could be changed and still have the same effect, clause, clause, clause kind of thing. Just pile on the conjunctions. James Ellroy example here (all one sentence, unfortunately - treat it like more though):
An abandoned auto court in the San Berdoo foothills; Buzz Meeks checked in with ninety-four thousand dollars, eighteen pounds of high-grade heroin, a 10-gauge pump, a .38 special, a .45 automatic and a switchblade he'd bought off a pachuco at the border - right before he spotted the car parked across the line: Micky Cohen goons in an LAPD unmarked, Tijuana cops standing by to bootjack a piece of his goodies, dump his body in the San Ysidro river.
Subject title way too long, dude.
"They sold you hippies grunge, hip hop, now liberty activism."
I think it has good rythme, and the numbers give a framework for the time reference. I agree with Damien that statements would be more impactful, maybe one question at the very end. The paragraph gives me a sense of loss, was that the point?
Even the mightiest oak tree was once a nut that stood his ground.
i have no clue. haha. i was just bored and had that in my mind so i typed it out. i didn't know what i thought of it, still kind of don't. haha.
Yeah, numbers are shit. The first sentence is too long since there is a comma splice between "minute" and "that". The second sentence, considering that the misjointed first sentence counts as only one, is far too long and is awkwardly worded. After calculating the total amount of time a person spends with their eyes closed, what are the different things that could happen and how are they relevant, if they have any significance at all? Instead of having two rhetorical questions, stick to one short yet poignant question which will engage the reader and actually make them think. If you can find a way to put those last two things together, you're one step closer to being epic.
Good. How about if you take out "They say"? Just start with, "The average person..."
Might be a stronger opening.