OK happy post time. I don't know what i will write about but with Buddha as my witness this will be a happy post! Lets see, i could talk about the weather... Nope its raining. I could talk about how my room is clean... but that would be lying. I know! I'll write about happiness in general! I mean that fits into something happy right?
So what is happiness? Well according to the first Google definition it is and i quote "a state of well being characterized by emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy". I actually have a problem with this definition. I mean happiness here only goes to intense joy? What about ecstasy? And i know that is often considered the name of a drug, but it started out as a feeling, or how about elated? Joy seems to me to be kind of a soft word choice, but that really is besides the point. I am modifying it to be from contentment to total ecstasy OK? Well as i don't work for any sort of major company and have to appeal to various people to make sure i don't offend anybody. Though technically people vote with how often they read, but still right now the only vote that counts is mine. And i like it, so the basic definition i will be using for happiness from here on out will be and i quote "Happiness is a state in which a person feels good about themselves emotionally".
Well i hope that shocked you, though if it didn't you just must be getting to know me kinda well... Anywho that is what happiness is to me. You like yourself. Cause if you like who you are, you tend to be doing ok and are generally considered happy. You can be pissed off at your boss, your friends, your family, but if you genuinely like who you are i am willing to bet you get over it. Meanwhile if you actually are pissed off at who you are because your too fat, your boobs are too small, your muscles are too weak, or any other reason (even if it is that you don't like how you aren't good enough at something yet) i would also be willing to bet that you have friction with other people, and that friction will end up resulting in problems. Bigger problems than you think.
Just like your personal life will spill over into your proffessional life and vice versa so will if your content with who you are and who you are not.
And now for the Zen perspective (Look, i used the word now there and am about to use it again). Now. This moment, right here right now to quote Fatboy Slim is what it is all about. To use another quote which came from Kung Fu Panda "The past is history, the future a myster, but right now is a gift, thats whay it is called a present". I'm gonna continue the quoting streak and this time go to the best character in the Lion King with the line "it doesn't matter, its in the past, you can either learn from it, or run from it". Thats the key.
That is about it, learn from it, move on, and accpet that now exists as now, the future is mostly out of your hands, the past is done, so move on. If you can't be happy with who you are right here right now then you are probably not going to be happy. That time, right here, right now, is all that matters. Tomorrow never gets here because when it does it is already today. Yesterday is done, you can't ever go back to it. You are stuck with right here right now. But in this moment you choose what to do. If you can be in this moment, look at yourself and accept it, do you think you will be happy? I do. I am.
29.6.09
28.6.09
Passion...
And he tore off her dress with his bare hands, her skin rose up to form goose bumps as the breeze caressed her naked skin...
Can you guess what the topic for this post is? Well just in case you skipped over the title then let me tell you again, PASSION is the topic of the day. That first sentence was a quick example of what people tend to think of when they think is passion (yours truly is also included in this statement). But there are other things that come up in this word too.
With it comes food. Yes, when i think of passion i think of food. For those of you who don't know i love to cook, absolutely love to cook. I might not do it very often (cause it is a lot of work, prepping the ingredients and getting the tools, and then cleaning up too!) do to my laziness but when i do i become so absorbed into what i am doing. And i love to eat what i have made (i have this luck to me that most things i cook i like to eat, most not all). Pasta... A spaghetti with the perfect sauce.... I'm shivering just thinking about how much i like cooking and eating it.
What else am i passionate about? Innocence. I like the idea of children actually able to enjoy their own childhood, without grown up issues being tossed into the mix far too early, though most people will probably agree that childhood is passing away faster and faster. Innocence doesn't seem to be surviving very well in the modern world, and do you really wonder why? The profane and disturbing fascinate. In a world where money and survival are the top issues anything that attracts attention is used.
Yes, this is a world of survival of the fittest. Most people who are authors have to work full time, going on tours and spending hours jetting all around (though not in jets, cause they can't afford that). People work multiple jobs where they are doing physical work all day long, way past the point where their body should be doing such things, why? They have no choice, in the society that has been created at least in my exposure to it, you need to contribute or you need to die and let your body contribute to daisy's.
Ya, in case you haven't picked it up, i tend to be a bit of a socialist. I don't have a problem with kids having to work to get into universities or colleges, i don't have a problem with people having to work while they are young enough to. What i have a problem with is the people i see at my job every day, who i work with, that can't walk fast, or lift heavy objects still trying to because they need to make money to live.
That sort of society creates a need for money, meaning if you have an idea that could make money it isn't enough. You then need to attract attention to it, and be able to defend it from the vultures who would try and steal it. And so the profane and the obscene attract attention and these things rob children of innocence.
I have talked before about how i love cartoons and kids movies. That's because i recognize how great it was to be ignorant about those things going on around me. Also it is because i am about as curious as any ten cats put together. Innocence doesn't last long when you grow up like that. That's why i am honest, at least as honest as i can be. I have my secrets, sure. But i don't lie about them, what i say is exactly what i mean. Hidden meanings might be there, but more often what i say is what i mean. I laugh at people who repeat what i said to them as a question, looking at what could be the meaning and i just say, no that's what i meant (because it was).
But dragging myself away from this topic. Hard to do, but this is quickly becoming depressing. Hmm, but i guess the last thing i want to talk about passion with is work.
More what is your work? There is a thing i hear all the time in Zen is Stupid about how the purpose we all have in life is to find out passion and then do it. Well, technically they say to find our work and then do it. For a while i thought that mine would be writing.
I started writing in grade 11 and it was pretty much the first thing i ever found that felt totally natural for me to do. ? And apparently i was good. Really good. I liked doing it, i was good at it, and could lose myself in it, why not be a writer? So that became my plan, i would write a great novel, one at least as good as Harry Potter.
But well... There are books way better than Harry Potter, books that deserve to be held up that highly. And so i could write a brilliant book, and despite that it not become anything more than a back note in history. Or i could write simple crap and become rich and famous. So over time my passion for writing has faded, and i wait to see what i want to do. What might endure. What is your passion? What will you do if it fades?
Can you guess what the topic for this post is? Well just in case you skipped over the title then let me tell you again, PASSION is the topic of the day. That first sentence was a quick example of what people tend to think of when they think is passion (yours truly is also included in this statement). But there are other things that come up in this word too.
With it comes food. Yes, when i think of passion i think of food. For those of you who don't know i love to cook, absolutely love to cook. I might not do it very often (cause it is a lot of work, prepping the ingredients and getting the tools, and then cleaning up too!) do to my laziness but when i do i become so absorbed into what i am doing. And i love to eat what i have made (i have this luck to me that most things i cook i like to eat, most not all). Pasta... A spaghetti with the perfect sauce.... I'm shivering just thinking about how much i like cooking and eating it.
What else am i passionate about? Innocence. I like the idea of children actually able to enjoy their own childhood, without grown up issues being tossed into the mix far too early, though most people will probably agree that childhood is passing away faster and faster. Innocence doesn't seem to be surviving very well in the modern world, and do you really wonder why? The profane and disturbing fascinate. In a world where money and survival are the top issues anything that attracts attention is used.
Yes, this is a world of survival of the fittest. Most people who are authors have to work full time, going on tours and spending hours jetting all around (though not in jets, cause they can't afford that). People work multiple jobs where they are doing physical work all day long, way past the point where their body should be doing such things, why? They have no choice, in the society that has been created at least in my exposure to it, you need to contribute or you need to die and let your body contribute to daisy's.
Ya, in case you haven't picked it up, i tend to be a bit of a socialist. I don't have a problem with kids having to work to get into universities or colleges, i don't have a problem with people having to work while they are young enough to. What i have a problem with is the people i see at my job every day, who i work with, that can't walk fast, or lift heavy objects still trying to because they need to make money to live.
That sort of society creates a need for money, meaning if you have an idea that could make money it isn't enough. You then need to attract attention to it, and be able to defend it from the vultures who would try and steal it. And so the profane and the obscene attract attention and these things rob children of innocence.
I have talked before about how i love cartoons and kids movies. That's because i recognize how great it was to be ignorant about those things going on around me. Also it is because i am about as curious as any ten cats put together. Innocence doesn't last long when you grow up like that. That's why i am honest, at least as honest as i can be. I have my secrets, sure. But i don't lie about them, what i say is exactly what i mean. Hidden meanings might be there, but more often what i say is what i mean. I laugh at people who repeat what i said to them as a question, looking at what could be the meaning and i just say, no that's what i meant (because it was).
But dragging myself away from this topic. Hard to do, but this is quickly becoming depressing. Hmm, but i guess the last thing i want to talk about passion with is work.
More what is your work? There is a thing i hear all the time in Zen is Stupid about how the purpose we all have in life is to find out passion and then do it. Well, technically they say to find our work and then do it. For a while i thought that mine would be writing.
I started writing in grade 11 and it was pretty much the first thing i ever found that felt totally natural for me to do. ? And apparently i was good. Really good. I liked doing it, i was good at it, and could lose myself in it, why not be a writer? So that became my plan, i would write a great novel, one at least as good as Harry Potter.
But well... There are books way better than Harry Potter, books that deserve to be held up that highly. And so i could write a brilliant book, and despite that it not become anything more than a back note in history. Or i could write simple crap and become rich and famous. So over time my passion for writing has faded, and i wait to see what i want to do. What might endure. What is your passion? What will you do if it fades?
27.6.09
Need
You know what it is. I know what it is. We both feel it. Its there, deep down inside us. Its burning, slowly consuming who we are. I can't resist it any longer. Can you? Can anyone? Can you fight the pull? The carnal hunger? Do you have the will to resist?
Ok, how many people thought i was talking about sex? Well i can only see my hand in the air... But i also could have been writing about hunger, about drugs, or right now i was actually writing about... duhn duhn duuuuhn! writing.
That is right, that right there is how i feel about writing. It is a need, deep down inside me, something i have to do. I'm not certain anymore that it is what i actually want to do for a living... This blog has shown me what it can feel like to have to write something every so often. But i do want to keep writing.
No, i need to keep writing. There isn't really a choice for me, just like with meditation, without them now, i begin to feel stressed, antsy, and burn out so fast. Take today for example, my entire shift at work i was hating it, every single step i took.
Why? Well it could be just one of those days, but what i kept wanting to do was go, sit down cross legged and focus on counting my breathing. I had a craving to sit. A need. And i didn't because i was too busy. So now i am at home, no longer craving to sit, instead craving to write.
I feel this need to pull something out of myself and see it on the screen, to actively feel the writing, be able to see my emotions take shape in words. And so i wrote this. Do you have a craving like that? One that can rule your life and twist your emotions around? Why does it do that to you?
Ok, how many people thought i was talking about sex? Well i can only see my hand in the air... But i also could have been writing about hunger, about drugs, or right now i was actually writing about... duhn duhn duuuuhn! writing.
That is right, that right there is how i feel about writing. It is a need, deep down inside me, something i have to do. I'm not certain anymore that it is what i actually want to do for a living... This blog has shown me what it can feel like to have to write something every so often. But i do want to keep writing.
No, i need to keep writing. There isn't really a choice for me, just like with meditation, without them now, i begin to feel stressed, antsy, and burn out so fast. Take today for example, my entire shift at work i was hating it, every single step i took.
Why? Well it could be just one of those days, but what i kept wanting to do was go, sit down cross legged and focus on counting my breathing. I had a craving to sit. A need. And i didn't because i was too busy. So now i am at home, no longer craving to sit, instead craving to write.
I feel this need to pull something out of myself and see it on the screen, to actively feel the writing, be able to see my emotions take shape in words. And so i wrote this. Do you have a craving like that? One that can rule your life and twist your emotions around? Why does it do that to you?
Tweet Tweet
Yes, it has happened, i have fallen. I, who so passionately hate Facebook, who claim that it is the root of all evil, a waste of time, i have joined twitter. Yes, you heard (or read) me properly, i have joined twitter and will now be tweeting out to the internet from my cell phone.
For those of you interested in finding me on there go to http://twitter.com/wesawakes and check it out, I'll be sending out questions and things to think about whenever they occur to me (plus whatever whiny thing i happen to be thinking about at that moment).
I actually encourage you to use twitter, just do everyone a favor, think before you tweet. There is enough garbage out there already, i know we will all contribute a little, but lets not make it too much...
For those of you interested in finding me on there go to http://twitter.com/wesawakes and check it out, I'll be sending out questions and things to think about whenever they occur to me (plus whatever whiny thing i happen to be thinking about at that moment).
I actually encourage you to use twitter, just do everyone a favor, think before you tweet. There is enough garbage out there already, i know we will all contribute a little, but lets not make it too much...
26.6.09
Groovey Man
Life is suffering, the first Noble Truth. Ya that's right, he just brought in Buddhism. For those of you who don't know it let me tell the story...
Many many years ago, in a land that is now called India there was born a man. But wait, the story starts before that. Yes, this is the Buddhist bit of scripture, the chink in the armor, the weakness, the Achilles heel. It is the spot where everybody gets to doubt as much as they want. So do it, doubt, i encourage you to.
Why? Because you need to, if you accept what i say, or anyone says, without proof, then you might as well give all your money to someone else and leap off a cliff (i would appreciate being considered for the gift of your money, please make the check out to cash).
So anywho, back to before the first Buddha was born. There was a prophecy made to a king (it just isn't as cool without destiny and prophecy and such is it?) saying that his son would either be the greatest ruler/ king, or he would be a great spiritual leader/enlightened man. He would become the king if he never saw illness, age, and death.
So he was kept inside the palace where he never saw anyone old, anything die, or anything sick. Then, when he was around, oh say about 20 he ventured out into the world with a servant. There he saw an old man bent over with age, covered in wrinkles, etc (just imagine somebody 102). So he asked his servant "Why does that person look like that(or some variation of these words, i wasn't there, i don't know). The servant replied "he is old, everyone ages". The prince asked "even me?" and the servant said "yes, even you." And back they went to the palace.
Over the next little while the prince and his servant traveled out again and again, the next time seeing illness and the time after that, seeing death. So then, or sometime after depending on which story you listen to, he left the palace, determined to find a way to end the suffering of age, illness, and death (what would have happened had he succeeded, really think about that).
So he traveled for years, looking into all the religions the area had to offer, failing to find the answers he desired. He joined a group of aesthetics who believed that physical things caused the suffering, and by decreasing attachment to them we would decrease our suffering.
He fasted and eventually trained his body to survive on one grain of rice a day (can you see where this is going? hint for people who know their ancient Greek guys, golden mean). The human body can't live like that, so eventually he collapsed, and a young girl fed him from the bowl of rice (or something) she was carrying. All the others saw him eating and thought that he must have lost the way so they abandoned him(great friends eh?).
It was at this point that he realized the main point of his own philosophy, he had lived his life in exile and denial of suffering, and just now he had suffered by choice to the point where it had almost killed him. Neither of these ways lead to the end of suffering, just to different forms. So he sat in meditation, determined to find an end.
Apparently he mediated for 12 hours non-stop(which is fracking impressive if you have ever meditated). Then here is where it gets all mystically, demons came fourth and tried to temp him to stop and one called out who would remember even if he did find his answer, the response was the earth he was sitting on would remember(awesome way to shut a demon down). It was then that he got his answer.
Basically it goes change the things you can, don't worry about what you can't. Accept your lack of control and move on. There is nothing you can really control except your own actions, and even those you don't always control. So move on. The purpose is to try to reduce suffering, which goes to the title, good vibes. Its what i am now actively trying to do (at least in my workplace) which is amuse people so that they are happier, and in turn spread it out farther.
The other part is to ground out negativity like a lightning rod. Think about when someone is rude to you and you carry it forward to the next person you meet, instead ground it out, let it go, and give the next person you see a brighter smile. Help me spread the vibes! (and for the detailed story of the first Buddha go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#Life )
Many many years ago, in a land that is now called India there was born a man. But wait, the story starts before that. Yes, this is the Buddhist bit of scripture, the chink in the armor, the weakness, the Achilles heel. It is the spot where everybody gets to doubt as much as they want. So do it, doubt, i encourage you to.
Why? Because you need to, if you accept what i say, or anyone says, without proof, then you might as well give all your money to someone else and leap off a cliff (i would appreciate being considered for the gift of your money, please make the check out to cash).
So anywho, back to before the first Buddha was born. There was a prophecy made to a king (it just isn't as cool without destiny and prophecy and such is it?) saying that his son would either be the greatest ruler/ king, or he would be a great spiritual leader/enlightened man. He would become the king if he never saw illness, age, and death.
So he was kept inside the palace where he never saw anyone old, anything die, or anything sick. Then, when he was around, oh say about 20 he ventured out into the world with a servant. There he saw an old man bent over with age, covered in wrinkles, etc (just imagine somebody 102). So he asked his servant "Why does that person look like that(or some variation of these words, i wasn't there, i don't know). The servant replied "he is old, everyone ages". The prince asked "even me?" and the servant said "yes, even you." And back they went to the palace.
Over the next little while the prince and his servant traveled out again and again, the next time seeing illness and the time after that, seeing death. So then, or sometime after depending on which story you listen to, he left the palace, determined to find a way to end the suffering of age, illness, and death (what would have happened had he succeeded, really think about that).
So he traveled for years, looking into all the religions the area had to offer, failing to find the answers he desired. He joined a group of aesthetics who believed that physical things caused the suffering, and by decreasing attachment to them we would decrease our suffering.
He fasted and eventually trained his body to survive on one grain of rice a day (can you see where this is going? hint for people who know their ancient Greek guys, golden mean). The human body can't live like that, so eventually he collapsed, and a young girl fed him from the bowl of rice (or something) she was carrying. All the others saw him eating and thought that he must have lost the way so they abandoned him(great friends eh?).
It was at this point that he realized the main point of his own philosophy, he had lived his life in exile and denial of suffering, and just now he had suffered by choice to the point where it had almost killed him. Neither of these ways lead to the end of suffering, just to different forms. So he sat in meditation, determined to find an end.
Apparently he mediated for 12 hours non-stop(which is fracking impressive if you have ever meditated). Then here is where it gets all mystically, demons came fourth and tried to temp him to stop and one called out who would remember even if he did find his answer, the response was the earth he was sitting on would remember(awesome way to shut a demon down). It was then that he got his answer.
Basically it goes change the things you can, don't worry about what you can't. Accept your lack of control and move on. There is nothing you can really control except your own actions, and even those you don't always control. So move on. The purpose is to try to reduce suffering, which goes to the title, good vibes. Its what i am now actively trying to do (at least in my workplace) which is amuse people so that they are happier, and in turn spread it out farther.
The other part is to ground out negativity like a lightning rod. Think about when someone is rude to you and you carry it forward to the next person you meet, instead ground it out, let it go, and give the next person you see a brighter smile. Help me spread the vibes! (and for the detailed story of the first Buddha go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#Life )
19.6.09
Ghosts of past TV
Hello out there in internet land. How are you today? I'm good, besides my work filled schedule my week looks pretty good.
So with myself finding this lovely vacation home in happy-good-time-land I'm thinking about what it was like as a little kid. More specifically i am thinking about what i watched as a little kid. Ya that's right, I'm thinking about TV and movies.
Why would that be where my mind goes? Cause i love cartoons. I mean come on, its like a romantic comedy where everything works out in the end, but without all of the unnecessary drama(though there are misunderstanding between friends, how else could they make conflict?).
But i gotta say the cartoons i have been finding on TV now can't compare to the old school ones like Chip n Dale Rescue Rangers (not to be confused with Chippendales), Darkwing Duck, and FernGully. What makes these cartoons so awesome to me?
Well with the first 2 it would be that they were made by Disney and as we all know, anything made by Disney is like crack to little children. But beyond that they had unique characters who all fit their stereotype (yep,
the good part is the stereotype). Before you get offend or shocked allow me to explain.
Now i have a problem with multiculturalism. My problem is with people who say they are Canadian and therefore multicultural and love every other culture out there. Or that by making a certain ethnic food at home they are appreciating a culture. Now this idea is ludicrous. Insane. Or just plane old bonkers.
There is no understanding of a culture in that. At all. In that situation a person is being singularly cultural and intellectually arrogant. This is the point where you should be saying "but what the hell does this have to do with stereotypes in cartoons?".
Glad you asked. See in the modern day cartoons (or at least the majority of the ones i have seen) there will be a mixture of ethnicities on the show, but they all will share the same culture (my family would be so proud, they are all just being "Canadian", or "American").
Meanwhile look at the older cartoons, there maybe some stereotypes supported but rather than get rid of this idea altogether why not make some of the other characters who fall on the "good guy" side of the fence ethnic in some way, and use their culture to make them unique, so that rather than planning one episode a season where they explore a culture each episode does a little.
(and side note, in Darkwing duck one villain named Bushroot is a professor, what better way to teach kids being smart doesn't mean being a good person?)
But i guess the main thing here is the old episodes had a meaning, and not just a little one. They had a big meaning, and that meaning, even if it wasn't fully understood, helps out a little bit. But those are gone now... And we are left with cartoons without morals to the story, and those with tiny morals which parents should have already taught.
(final shout out, original power rangers Rocked! new ones i watched this past Saturday... so sad)
So with myself finding this lovely vacation home in happy-good-time-land I'm thinking about what it was like as a little kid. More specifically i am thinking about what i watched as a little kid. Ya that's right, I'm thinking about TV and movies.
Why would that be where my mind goes? Cause i love cartoons. I mean come on, its like a romantic comedy where everything works out in the end, but without all of the unnecessary drama(though there are misunderstanding between friends, how else could they make conflict?).
But i gotta say the cartoons i have been finding on TV now can't compare to the old school ones like Chip n Dale Rescue Rangers (not to be confused with Chippendales), Darkwing Duck, and FernGully. What makes these cartoons so awesome to me?
Well with the first 2 it would be that they were made by Disney and as we all know, anything made by Disney is like crack to little children. But beyond that they had unique characters who all fit their stereotype (yep,
the good part is the stereotype). Before you get offend or shocked allow me to explain.
Now i have a problem with multiculturalism. My problem is with people who say they are Canadian and therefore multicultural and love every other culture out there. Or that by making a certain ethnic food at home they are appreciating a culture. Now this idea is ludicrous. Insane. Or just plane old bonkers.
There is no understanding of a culture in that. At all. In that situation a person is being singularly cultural and intellectually arrogant. This is the point where you should be saying "but what the hell does this have to do with stereotypes in cartoons?".
Glad you asked. See in the modern day cartoons (or at least the majority of the ones i have seen) there will be a mixture of ethnicities on the show, but they all will share the same culture (my family would be so proud, they are all just being "Canadian", or "American").
Meanwhile look at the older cartoons, there maybe some stereotypes supported but rather than get rid of this idea altogether why not make some of the other characters who fall on the "good guy" side of the fence ethnic in some way, and use their culture to make them unique, so that rather than planning one episode a season where they explore a culture each episode does a little.
(and side note, in Darkwing duck one villain named Bushroot is a professor, what better way to teach kids being smart doesn't mean being a good person?)
But i guess the main thing here is the old episodes had a meaning, and not just a little one. They had a big meaning, and that meaning, even if it wasn't fully understood, helps out a little bit. But those are gone now... And we are left with cartoons without morals to the story, and those with tiny morals which parents should have already taught.
(final shout out, original power rangers Rocked! new ones i watched this past Saturday... so sad)
17.6.09
Attentio- Oooo look, a butterfly....
Distractions. The things you see out of the corner of your eye. Things that keep you from doing what you want to do. The TV on, music playing too loudly, the smell of the food cooking just around the corner in the kitchen (or the growl my stomach is making right now because i haven't eaten much all day besides some cherries!) All these things are adding up to form distractions.
And they take over the life, slowly absorbing it all, like Bob the Blob from Monsters VS Aliens, sliding in and around my life, feeling like it is sucking it all away. Distractions take forms that i don't often think of when i think of distractions. The comfort of my bed in the morning is a distraction. The comfort of my life is a distraction.
Perhaps that's all life really is, a series of distractions, interplaying mirages that keep us from focusing on things. And why not? If we can't focus on what is around us then a T-Rex is gonna come up and chomp us! So we pair off little pieces of our attention to everything around us, and watch it. And we notice all the things around us, we know what is going on.
But we don't focus. Because we have a limited amount of attention to spend we can't simply focus on one thing, meaning that when it comes to simply sitting down and doing something like writing out a blog post we can't. Because our attention is split all around us.
Which leads into what i really want to talk about. The death of writing. The death of a decent sized attention span.
The first one needs to be explained through the second. As attention spans shorten we need more and more mental control to be able to tune out those things around us that are unimportant. That means you need the mental discipline to do so. Now how will you find that today?
I mean do you really need it? The modern mind actually filters out advertisements automatically now, apparently you need to see a commercial ten times to remember it. Think about that. 10 times. Advertisements are loud. They use colors that in nature mean "DON'T EAT ME! I'M POISONOUS!" things that the human mind should be developed to pay attention to. And our mind has learnt to ignore them. That seems to be a good thing, except the mind needs to note something in order to disregard it if it looks like that (this isn't supported by science, its just my thoughts) i mean, look. This is something evolution says is important. Meaning that it is something the mind will notice. Meaning our mind is trained to disregard it.
In order for a mind to be trained to do something it has to be exposed to it repeatedly. Think about training a dog, it doesn't learn to sit after one lesson, it takes quite a few. This means that we have had to be exposed to enough advertisements as young people to be able to disregard them by an older age.
This split up of attention is a problem. Have you ever read a page in a book only to realize that while your eyes moved over the page properly your mind completely ignored every single word on that page? I have, many times. And i have to go back and reread it.
And that leads to the death of the novel. With audio books and eBooks and the rise of Coles Notes who really needs to read the actual book? Look at the rise of books like Eragon and Twilight. Both books are of the same reading level (i have read them both and can attest to that) yet one was written by a kid during his high school terms, the other was written by a middle aged mother.
Both are very popular. Both are easy to read. There is a quote in Twilight Abridged on YouTube that i would like to use here "Myer wants you to notice this, cause it will be important later". In both of these books there are slight twists (though the harder to predict ones come from the high-schooler book) but the thing you realize second time around is there is so little of the general atmosphere revealed in the books that anything even slightly different than the rest of the chapters means that it is important later.
This is a distinct lack of complexity from other books that i have read, yet these books are less popular (the only one more so that actually has unnecessary details would be Harry Potter, and then only in the first few books).
Now i am not saying books should be filled with details such as the exact number of ants on each brick in the sidewalk. But details which do not actually push the plot forward but rather add realism to the environment. You could make the argument to me that authors who make the minimum amount of details are the better ones, but to that all i really can say is, which deserves respect, the one that does the basic work and shows no other details, so that the second time you go through the entire plot offers nothing new? Or the author who makes each reread something new?
14.6.09
Smexy or Not
Sex. Lets talk about it. Sex is a common activity, like it or not it is. Its natural. Like it or not it is. Sex is a natural act. Yes it is. Yes it is.
Sex also isn't something society is comfortable with. Despite how common it is in the media it isn't something western society as a whole isn't comfortable with. No we aren't. No we aren't.
The main thing of proof is the idea of abstinence only education throughout the state. I mean lets consider this. Telling teenagers in sex education classes that condoms don't work, and that only abstinence can protect from S.T.I.s. I mean abstinence does protect from that. You aren't gonna get pregnant if you don't have sex (unless god says otherwise).
But is that the only way to prevent a pregnancy? Hell to the no! Like it or not people, contraceptives work. They do. Yes they do.
No, i am not discounting the emotional impact of sex, but to limit the knowledge you impart to teens about something like sex because of the fact you don't want them to do it is just wrong (and i know, do it, written in something about sex).
Sex is tied to emotion, this is supported by science as well as years of people saying so. Whether or not it is something sacred as well is for god, or you to decide, not me. All i can say is i don't like the way society treats it. Talking about it as something dirty and wrong just plain old pisses me off.
Something that is really unnatural is driving. You wonder why so many people die each year in car crashes? Because the human body is not meant to travel that fast. Wonder why people don't like flying? They aren't supposed to. People aren't supposed to fly. Why don't people like heights? Cause we can die if we fall off!
But does sex scare people? Yep. Thought i was gonna say something else? Again, hell to the no! To say that sex doesn't scare at least some people the same way heights scare me would be me lying again to the extreme. But i don't believe that a fear of sex is natural, that it is rather something people have created for themselves. Why? Glad you asked.
We lets go back the that old time knowledge where people knew that sex brings up lots and lots of emotions. (people out there who like god, your gonna not like me here)(also keep in mind these are conclusions i am drawing as i write this, meaning i have no research besides things i have already read, and no proofs, nor any kind of real qualifications)
Now when forming a religion what do you have to do? You gotta exclude people, make it exclusive, and make people feel like they belong. In order to do this you need some rules. And these rules need to make sense. Now i am gonna pop on my Zen hat for a bit. See, mindlessness is a state where you don't think about what you are thinking or believing, you just embrace it because it is easier. Its like disliking the United States for me, its easier to do rather than think about why i do and realize that it is a baseless prejudice coming from a combination of culture around me and information i am exposed to/seek out in the media.
Anywho when you are in a mindless state, any sort of emotion brings a perverse pleasure (unless that's just me and i am the only one who enjoys psychologically torturing myself every so often). Add in it needs something that makes sense, and some way to unite people. One of the best ways to unite people is with giving them an enemy, someone to stand against (just note how each president of the United States has fought a war).
Each western religion has had someone they stand against, well the remaining dominate ones at least, from Nordic to Christian. So we have the enemy, the devil. And now we need his tool. Well, humans are dominate, above the animals, so whatever we share with the animals must be wrong. Eating, sex, anything like that. So we ate the forbidden fruit, and became ashamed of nakedness.
Furthermore look at time passing, stuff either tends to get more extreme like a feud or they lack matter and just become nothing, slowly degrading until there is nothing left. Now i think a lot of religious convictions are like the former, they have gotten stronger and stronger until you wind up with someone who is fanatical in their beliefs. This i think leads to problems with things like the conflicts with other religions, with homosexuality, and with sex.
As things like this get stronger and stronger it seems to have lead to a society where we tend towards repressing sex, where it is dirty and wrong and people are encouraged not to think about it. And that just... pisses me off. Because then people feel uncomfortable talking about it or thinking about it. Parents have a hard time talking about it to kids, kids have a hard time asking anyone for advice. It took till grade 11 gym class for some people to learn how to properly put on a condom.
That's something relatively simple but because of societal attitude these people never learnt how. How much worse must it be in areas where they are taught abstinence only?
8.6.09
Socrates Would be Proud
OK so this is a post i have been thinking about writing for a serious amount of time. There is a non-fiction book i read relatively recently that has a great idea (i got it for Christmas, so you know, first 6 months, recently). The book is called I Don't Believe in Atheists, which proposes the idea that any kind of fanaticism is wrong and dangerous.
Seems to be a pretty simple idea right? I mean how many people like those crazy bible thumpers from down south? And of course terrorists nobody likes them. So we know this is bad, therefore... fanaticism is wrong. Book seems right, but why is it called I Don't Believe in Atheists? I mean atheists aren't dangerous, the don't want to change and alter people... or do they? DUH DUH DUH!!! (music)
Most of the atheists we hear about, from Richard Hawkins to Christopher Hitchens (which admitidely isn't a giant leap) talk about the "dangers" of religion as a whole, and how if only people didn't follow this delusion/"delusion" (i didn't know whether to use the sarcastic quotes or not cause i kinda see both sides...). The problem occurs in books like America Alone by Mark Steyn where he doesn't talk about fantisism in general, or even about how it can infect religions. He doesn't base his points on readings of the Koran or other religious texts, rather he bases it all on the idea that becoming muslim means eventaully you will become a finatic and the only way to protect our society is to remove all muslims from the planet (don't worry, he doesn't actually say it like that right off the bat, he is kinda persuasive and argues his side very effectivly).
The problem in that is expounded upon by I Don't Believe in Atheists is that people who preach against religions so deeply, that fight them so strongly, are in fact doing the same thing as those they are preaching against (note how i used preaching instead of speaking against). They are feeding into a crowd movement and creating an us against them ideology.
Now when i believed myself to be an atheist instead of an agnostic i admit i agreed that the world would be so much better if i possessed god-like powers and could remove the belief in religion from the modern world. Fist off how would i get these powers except from a god? Secondly why would it be good? Greed tends to be the main reason for bad things happening, forget religion. Thirdly, greed is just overwhelming ambition, which our society promotes. So if i had the god-like powers to make the world a better place, in theory i should erase our society from existence, not very nice eh?
Yet the world would be cleaner, nicer, and we wouldn't be running out of resources near as fast. Hmmm...
But back to the main point, which would make the world nicer, if everyone who believed in some kind of god were gone magically or if everyone who though someone else should be killed/made to dissapear for not sharing their beliefs dissapeared? (and yes i know that statement makes me a fanatical person, ergo i get to go bye bye too).
Just think about these kind of things when you find yourself arguing with someone and simply refuse to accept they might be true. It makes me think of a quote i loved all through high school "i have had many good debates ruined by an arguement" or something along those lines. If your debating someone it means you need to be open to the idea they might be right and you might be wrong, even if it is opinion based (because yes, your opinion can be wrong). Furthermore when we think we know everything, as Socrates proved way before Jesus back in Greece, the wisest man in the world only knew that there was nothing he knew.
Think about how good our politicions could be if they figured they didn't know everything and asked for what people wanted, instead of just promising good sounding things...
Seems to be a pretty simple idea right? I mean how many people like those crazy bible thumpers from down south? And of course terrorists nobody likes them. So we know this is bad, therefore... fanaticism is wrong. Book seems right, but why is it called I Don't Believe in Atheists? I mean atheists aren't dangerous, the don't want to change and alter people... or do they? DUH DUH DUH!!! (music)
Most of the atheists we hear about, from Richard Hawkins to Christopher Hitchens (which admitidely isn't a giant leap) talk about the "dangers" of religion as a whole, and how if only people didn't follow this delusion/"delusion" (i didn't know whether to use the sarcastic quotes or not cause i kinda see both sides...). The problem occurs in books like America Alone by Mark Steyn where he doesn't talk about fantisism in general, or even about how it can infect religions. He doesn't base his points on readings of the Koran or other religious texts, rather he bases it all on the idea that becoming muslim means eventaully you will become a finatic and the only way to protect our society is to remove all muslims from the planet (don't worry, he doesn't actually say it like that right off the bat, he is kinda persuasive and argues his side very effectivly).
The problem in that is expounded upon by I Don't Believe in Atheists is that people who preach against religions so deeply, that fight them so strongly, are in fact doing the same thing as those they are preaching against (note how i used preaching instead of speaking against). They are feeding into a crowd movement and creating an us against them ideology.
Now when i believed myself to be an atheist instead of an agnostic i admit i agreed that the world would be so much better if i possessed god-like powers and could remove the belief in religion from the modern world. Fist off how would i get these powers except from a god? Secondly why would it be good? Greed tends to be the main reason for bad things happening, forget religion. Thirdly, greed is just overwhelming ambition, which our society promotes. So if i had the god-like powers to make the world a better place, in theory i should erase our society from existence, not very nice eh?
Yet the world would be cleaner, nicer, and we wouldn't be running out of resources near as fast. Hmmm...
But back to the main point, which would make the world nicer, if everyone who believed in some kind of god were gone magically or if everyone who though someone else should be killed/made to dissapear for not sharing their beliefs dissapeared? (and yes i know that statement makes me a fanatical person, ergo i get to go bye bye too).
Just think about these kind of things when you find yourself arguing with someone and simply refuse to accept they might be true. It makes me think of a quote i loved all through high school "i have had many good debates ruined by an arguement" or something along those lines. If your debating someone it means you need to be open to the idea they might be right and you might be wrong, even if it is opinion based (because yes, your opinion can be wrong). Furthermore when we think we know everything, as Socrates proved way before Jesus back in Greece, the wisest man in the world only knew that there was nothing he knew.
Think about how good our politicions could be if they figured they didn't know everything and asked for what people wanted, instead of just promising good sounding things...
7.6.09
Addition to Burnout
Just an addition to my last post. Burning out is something i seem to pull to myself, when i go to the gym i push myself past my limits, all the while knowing i will be so sore the next day, i take on more work than i should at work, i help every person i can, i just seem to pull to myself so many things. And those things often seem to charge me, i enjoy it. Then this year when all i have is my job i tend to burn out once every two weeks... Just a thought to add now that i am not as self loathing as i was this morning.
6.6.09
Burnout
Burnout. I gotta say that is a familiar feeling to me. How many other people are used to working so hard on something that i feel completely exhausted and no longer have any desire to put forth any more effort. It has become kind of a pathetically short time until i feel burnt out now though.
Take this blog, going barely for a month and already i am starting to get tired of putting out the effort of posting. I mean come on, i need to SIT DOWN, and write WHATEVER I AM THINKING ABOUT. Oh and make sure it is spelled properly too. For the most part at least.
But i think that the kind of burnout i am familiar with is caused when stress from one area of my life tends to dominate the rest of my life. For the past several weeks i have been working at my job almost every single day, which is awesome cause i am going to university in the fall and need the money really badly. Yet i don't like my job. At all. At least most of the time, there are moments when i am ashamed to say i do enjoy it...
So the stress of this, of dealing with stupid/rude/just plain old fashioned annoying customers has bled over to the other areas of my life making me feel less enthusiasm for the things which generally i would enjoy so instead i find myself seeking solitude so that i can sink temporarily into a pit of self pity. All in all not a good idea, so i usually drag myself out (or my girlfriend does, as she is much better at it than i am, can we get a round of applause please?).
But this has me wondering, is this kind of burnout where you get sick of life and quit doing anything a common thing? I mean with the stresses of modern life we aren't really designed to handle. Think about the pecking order of a customer service situation. No matter how dominate you normally would be you have to be subordinate to the customer, and try not to piss them off.
As well you have to deal with being less than almost everyone you run across in the pecking order. Consider the fact that in the human brain you can be close (reasonably so) to about 150 people, meaning that as a tribe size you should have a place somewhere within that 150 people's dominance ranking, not at the top, but not the bottom either.
Versus now where we get to feel like the bottom or close to for extended periods of time, before going home to sleep and starting it all over again. Now again this might just be me, i might suffer from some sort of personality quirk which has me desire to tell these people to go stuff themselves each time they open their mouths, but hey what can i do? Move on? Quit being so petty? Grow up?
I am trying to do all of the above, but it is a process, so until i do I'll suffer the burnout.
Take this blog, going barely for a month and already i am starting to get tired of putting out the effort of posting. I mean come on, i need to SIT DOWN, and write WHATEVER I AM THINKING ABOUT. Oh and make sure it is spelled properly too. For the most part at least.
But i think that the kind of burnout i am familiar with is caused when stress from one area of my life tends to dominate the rest of my life. For the past several weeks i have been working at my job almost every single day, which is awesome cause i am going to university in the fall and need the money really badly. Yet i don't like my job. At all. At least most of the time, there are moments when i am ashamed to say i do enjoy it...
So the stress of this, of dealing with stupid/rude/just plain old fashioned annoying customers has bled over to the other areas of my life making me feel less enthusiasm for the things which generally i would enjoy so instead i find myself seeking solitude so that i can sink temporarily into a pit of self pity. All in all not a good idea, so i usually drag myself out (or my girlfriend does, as she is much better at it than i am, can we get a round of applause please?).
But this has me wondering, is this kind of burnout where you get sick of life and quit doing anything a common thing? I mean with the stresses of modern life we aren't really designed to handle. Think about the pecking order of a customer service situation. No matter how dominate you normally would be you have to be subordinate to the customer, and try not to piss them off.
As well you have to deal with being less than almost everyone you run across in the pecking order. Consider the fact that in the human brain you can be close (reasonably so) to about 150 people, meaning that as a tribe size you should have a place somewhere within that 150 people's dominance ranking, not at the top, but not the bottom either.
Versus now where we get to feel like the bottom or close to for extended periods of time, before going home to sleep and starting it all over again. Now again this might just be me, i might suffer from some sort of personality quirk which has me desire to tell these people to go stuff themselves each time they open their mouths, but hey what can i do? Move on? Quit being so petty? Grow up?
I am trying to do all of the above, but it is a process, so until i do I'll suffer the burnout.
1.6.09
Fiction Fun
OK time to go back to the book lists i promised. So I've listed out the non-fiction books i liked already but i recently remembered one more i need to add to said list, Tuesdays With Morrie because it is fracking amazing. I can't really say anything more about it right now because, well, i can't do it justice. Suffice to say read it, its good.
Now back to the current list. Fiction covers many more genres and as such has many more available books for me to list. So i need to divide the single topic of fiction into a bunch more. Right now I'll start with my favorite genre, Fantasy.
First off is a Canadian author, Guy Gavriel Kay. Here is an author who has a talent which is widely respected even if he isn't well known amongst the age group most aim for. He was hired to turn the grouping of stories J. R. R. Tolkien into the The Silmarillion. His books are not designed for someone who wants a gripping adventure from page 1. Rather his works resemble, to me at least, modernized Shakespeare. Each is filled with underlying beauty of the modern language. For beauty pure and simple go to his books.
Next comes Tamora Pierce who writes books admittedly for young teenagers but they are excellent books. Simple reading, good to relax with. Fun books but defiantly not nearly as complicated as Guy Gavriel Kay.
Back to the complicated you can look to Terry Goodkind and the Sword of Truth series. Very vivid, the cultures described very well. His books have a political stance though, but i'll let you figure that part out on your own. His books also have little details change as you go along but it is a massive series of 13 books averaging out at about 700 pages per book, maybe a little more. Still a good read, at least for a while though you need some endurance to make it through them all.
Rob Thurman and Jim Butcher (recommending the Dresden Files) are the final two i want to list.Good authors, they write in the way that you cannot help but wonder about the books all day long. Though it is a technique that they have learnt to write with i still find it captivating. As well the storyline in the Jim Butcher series can show some excellent character development. In Rob Thurman books you get a darker storyline than any of the others, yet it is excellent for this. That is what makes it unique, and therefore what makes it worthwhile.
P.S. The gulity pleasure authors are here, that is authors that are fun to read, but really aren't that greatly skilled at writing. Christopher Paolini and Raymond E. Feist. These books are not at the level of writing the other authors listed here but are good for a relativly quick easy read.
Now back to the current list. Fiction covers many more genres and as such has many more available books for me to list. So i need to divide the single topic of fiction into a bunch more. Right now I'll start with my favorite genre, Fantasy.
First off is a Canadian author, Guy Gavriel Kay. Here is an author who has a talent which is widely respected even if he isn't well known amongst the age group most aim for. He was hired to turn the grouping of stories J. R. R. Tolkien into the The Silmarillion. His books are not designed for someone who wants a gripping adventure from page 1. Rather his works resemble, to me at least, modernized Shakespeare. Each is filled with underlying beauty of the modern language. For beauty pure and simple go to his books.
Next comes Tamora Pierce who writes books admittedly for young teenagers but they are excellent books. Simple reading, good to relax with. Fun books but defiantly not nearly as complicated as Guy Gavriel Kay.
Back to the complicated you can look to Terry Goodkind and the Sword of Truth series. Very vivid, the cultures described very well. His books have a political stance though, but i'll let you figure that part out on your own. His books also have little details change as you go along but it is a massive series of 13 books averaging out at about 700 pages per book, maybe a little more. Still a good read, at least for a while though you need some endurance to make it through them all.
Rob Thurman and Jim Butcher (recommending the Dresden Files) are the final two i want to list.Good authors, they write in the way that you cannot help but wonder about the books all day long. Though it is a technique that they have learnt to write with i still find it captivating. As well the storyline in the Jim Butcher series can show some excellent character development. In Rob Thurman books you get a darker storyline than any of the others, yet it is excellent for this. That is what makes it unique, and therefore what makes it worthwhile.
P.S. The gulity pleasure authors are here, that is authors that are fun to read, but really aren't that greatly skilled at writing. Christopher Paolini and Raymond E. Feist. These books are not at the level of writing the other authors listed here but are good for a relativly quick easy read.
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