The Ambiguity of Good and Evil

Yep; I'm back. It's been awhile, but hopefully I have a brief, concentrated figment of thought for the pleasure of your superego. Hopefully, I haven't hemorrhaged too many readers from my long absence, from the small amount of people who care about the existence of this minuscule part of the internet. But I digress. Lets move on.

It's a struggle that never ends; a mental tangle of great passion and excruciating hopelessness. When one pulls off the black and white shade that makes life easy, we stumble into a world that has too many possibilities to make sense of. Good and Evil. Concepts unique to Man. Primarily based off perception, but defended to the bone by the hardcore of both sides. We draw the lines in the sand, secretly knowing that we ourselves could easily have been the person on the other side of the moral chasm. The death, destruction, and acts that boggle the kind hearted soul; reported without fail by the news media. One starts to wonder. Why?

We think we can define something as complex as good and evil. Anyone who brings harm to others is evil. Deception always has fiendish intentions. Lying rips a imaginary halo right off a person's head. But it is never that simple. It will never be that simple. Why do people do bad things? Can we honestly say that they just "are" bad people? I'm a big believer in nuture; the sum of our experiences creates the whole; ourselves. Our jails and prisons have their fair share of drug addicts and the mentally ill. Does this make them "evil"? Abuse, humiliation, and mental suffering during those critical childhood years causes unspeakable damage to occur; some of these victims become the very people they detest. Of course I cannot discount nature. Abnormalities in the neuroanatomy of one's brain and neurological diseases can adversely affect certain aspects of a person. If that person were to commit an "evil" act, what does one do? Many mental illnesses cannot be effectively treated, yet we also cannot allow crimes and criminal acts to occur. Where do we draw the line?

This is the first part of my look into this tantalizing debate. I would love to hear your opinions and thoughts on this matter. To those who regularly read this blog; I thank you, and apologize for my long absence. Adios!

The Shoe that Fits

The shoe that fits isn't always the nicest looking. We'll keep trying them on. Pair after pair. Some might be aiming for that fancy ass pair of neon hybrid material that caresses your feet like a seedy massage therapist. Some won't care what other people think, and will wear that pair of worn hiking boots. Not because they have flashing lights in them. Not because everyone you know wants a pair of them. Simply because they fit.

Obviously the point of this post is not about shoes. I hate shopping, much less replacing the pair of ratty sneakers I've been wearing since Bush started his term. Replace the shoes with another idea. Purpose. Meaning. Desire. Drive. You get the picture. They say we have a choice. Do we? Yes. But is it as simple as saying yes or no? Never.

Who am I? Another college kid who thinks he's some kind of philosopher because he can string a few simple thoughts together? Aiming to become some kind of doctor, and yet not really desiring the target? Give me a pad and a pencil, and I would be happy. Then Life kicks you in the ass and your stomach starts rumbling and you realize being happy won't make food appear on the table or pay any bills. What are the real choices? Go with what makes you happy, even if it's not very plausible, and hope you get lucky? Or go with what's realistic, even if that shoe might be too tight for you to be comfortable in?

Anyways, I think you understand the main idea here. I would like to pose this question; is a happy, short life better than a drawn out, mediocre one with all the creature comforts?

G. and the Input Blitz

Your right hand reaches into the pocket of your jeans, and emerges from the denim depths with a house key. You walk out that door, turning around only to secure your sanctuary with the jagged piece of metal. Nothing unusual. Yet. Where the story goes from here depends on who the protagonist is. You might be walking to a bus for another mediocre day at generic public school #101. A car seat might we waiting for you to insert your weary behind on it for another day at work. If your about thirty something, and your waking up after a long night of drinking cheap supermarket beer at your parent's house, I just might slap you. If I could. I'm only the narrator. Anyways, it's not about the destination; the journey is where it's at. What's so special about commuting to work, or walking to school, or hiding in a bat cave waiting for the night shift? Well, nothing. Nothing to do with you; but what's around you. Input.

It's everywhere! In the newspaper. Your cough when you realized you forgot to vacuum. All the engine lights going on when your car starts. Advertisements, crying babies, guy in chicken suit, honking madman in the next lane; it's too much to process!?!?

That is, if we process it. Because we don't pay attention to any of that now do we? If we did, we would be a tier above normal crazy. That's because we don't pay much attention to our surroundings any more. And why would we? There's a far better place to hang out; our own minds. And hence the Input Blitzkrieg means nothing... or does it?

What does it mean to live in a state of perpetual dreaming? To live real life on auto pilot. When a person dreads waking up the next day. When the bus ride to school is one of irritating sleepiness. Auto-pilot is great for when the pilot of your commuter plane gets amnesia and no one has experience with a Microsoft Flight Sim. It's a horrible way to live.

Any rational person would say that survival has to be placed above all else. But is the sacrifice of the fire in your soul worth the kind of life that seems to mean little more than a dead man walking? There's so much input, so much hidden in our surroundings. To forever live in our own heads, instead of experiencing what's outside of it; that's real suffering. A mobile jail cell; one that many of us have put ourselves in, willingly or not. The only way to escape? To bring life back to the soul.

Sorry for the little delay with this post. Please, if you've got an opinion on any of my thoughts here, I would love to hear it.

Focus

I'm a walking case file. Somewhere in some tired psychologist's office, there's a file with my name and a giant label: ADHD. Yes, the file is imaginary. The feeling that my mind's cross hairs are all over the place isn't. Oh how I envy those who can carve a make believe box out of thin air and put themselves in it, with only them and the object of their efforts. Is this some kind of challenge? Even having the end in mind, would I succumb to the day by day beat down, or clamp down on the steering wheel hard enough to stop my thoughts from spiraling into the most random stuff this side of Wonderland? Look, I even caught myself red handed right on this very moment, writing a post instead of studying the words of a third edition textbook (fork over another $100 for an extra chapter eh?). Sometimes I would even feel ashamed of my inability to focus. It's like a fire that roars for a few seconds, then gets doused by a blast of ash. Surrounded by a flurry of worries and doubt, and even make believe issues, how do we just simply focus? Comment away.

Middle-Men - A Random Burst of Inspiration, Written by Sir

Hey, there. Been a while, huh? Yeah. Well, I’m not gonna promise any surge in my article posting, and I really hope you don’t expect anything, because me actually working on something straight is quite a feat.
I’m just saying this so you don’t get disappointed if you only see me again in a year :).

Anyways, back to the inspiration! (Because if I don’t write this down right now, I might just lose it again).

So, most of you have heard of a middle-man, right? Be it drugs, business or other dealings, middle-men are people who connect two parties, so that they do not need to compromise their identities or to facilitate exchanges. As such, they come in pretty handy, right?But that’s not the only type of middle-men you might come across.

Do you :

=-Really appreciate George’s company, but you’re not really sure about his seriousness in work?

=-Like Bobby’s enthusiasm, but are dismayed by the amount of epic failures in his life?

=-Enjoy the large quantity of inside jokes you share with Karl, although he’s kind of really obnoxious at times?

=-Find that the experiences you shared with Johnny or Mark were very good ones, and that you may know them better than the others because of that, yet you can’t bring yourself to be more than a decent friend, even though you know them well?

If so, you might be the middle-man. Don’t get me wrong, you don’t have to follow these points perfectly to be a middle-man, or even if you do, it doesn’t mean you necessarily are one. This is just an example set out to give you a basis on which to *mildly* rely.

I can already hear you guys :
“But, do explain, kind sir, what your point is in all this rambling!”

Right away, then! As with most of my posts, there is no real point. Only trying to make you realize something : If you keep wondering why you don’t fit in with most people, why you’re sometimes seen as the crowd pleaser although people usually don’t see you shine a lot or even just if you can’t seem to pick a best friend, this might be the reason. You’re the balanced person, the pillar on which they connect. You might have noticed your friends don’t have a lot of common traits, while you share your lot with most of them.

Doesn’t it make sense, then, that you are the one that “brought the group together”, somewhat? Maybe not literally, but if you’re the guy that keeps helping other people out in whatever way you can, while not really giving it your, ever, this position might describe you.

If I’m not wrong, you’re the guy who separately understands some or most of your friends, while still not really knowing them.

I’m writing this because of a burst of imagination, and I’m not sure if all of this is true or not, but consider this as the life experience progression of a teenage soul, swimming in a pool of daily epic wins, awesomeness, drama, and whatnot.

Your opinions, comments, or just random keyboard-bashing with your fists are all welcome, here.

Until inspiration strikes again!

The Summit

Let's talk about a summit. The top of the mountain. The crest of a wave. Lumbering a giant ball of worry and stress over a hill. We all have that one point. A point that could dictate just about everything. Now this point, it's ageless. It doesn't magically happen when you turn eighteen, or get arrested for public intoxication, or sign a contract to the Man. You see, there are two sides to this mountain. One side is your life as ruled by your circumstances. The other side is truth, who you actually are; where you and I don't have to daydream about how things could be any longer. Now that other side of the mountain, it's sweet; isn't it? I almost feel myself being wrapped in a cocoon of that Dove chocolate just thinking about it. Now while we want to take the best, neglected parts of ourselves out of cold storage... damn! We've got company. Obstacles and Doubt at 12 0'clock.

So chief; you want to be happy? Great! Just climb up this mountain, and ride down a river of Dos Equis to a heavenly valley below. But I may be stretching the truth a bit. It's not an utopia your trying to get to here. It's harmony. We've all got ambition. Some go to college, some get jobs, some just say to hell with it and try to give their one shot to their dream. But how many of us can honestly say without a tinge of regret that we are doing what we want to do in life? I can honestly say that a few years ago I wouldn't have imagined myself being where I am; I bet a lot of you could say the same. Yet there are so many obstacles. There's one I want to really focus on though. Sure, you've got your life circumstances, health, money, parents, lifestyle, religion; the list of excuses and reasons can last longer than Stride Gum. But how about Illusion? Escape? Our overextended stays in Dream Land are not doing us any favors.

I'll be the first to say that I dream a lot. I don't want to admit to myself that I have no idea of what I'm doing in life. With daily news that should come with a hefty dose of Xanax... that ain't helping. So a tactical retreat into the safe confines of our mind, it provides the temporary Band-Aid we need. But the idea of slapping mental Band-Aids onto chronic life woes is just not appealing. We could go through our whole lives only being ourselves and only doing what we really wanted to do in our own heads. It's not hard to believe. Mental escapes prevent us from facing that mountain summit... kinda like House and his pain meds. It's nice to live in dreams, but you can't climb a mountain half asleep.

So we've circled back. What do you think we should do? That point of radical change is vital; some reach their point and decide that they want to fly. Some can't take the pressure of reality and gravity pummels them back to earth with an invisible fist. But what is life? Maybe to you it's just a series of moments. To some it's a highly organized machine of schedules and appointments. For the ones sitting in desolate rooms watching time slowly pass on a clock, life is a countdown. But life can be anything. It's all relative, isn't it? We'll spend a long time trying to find out who we are, but maybe we already know. And maybe, just maybe, we know that things aren't going the way we imagined. What's the only issue here? Can you fight past the circumstances of your life? Can you wake up and trade the fake security of dreams for a golden feeling of happiness that so few get to have? That's the only question. Can you and I make the leap, and get over that mountain?

"The Greatest Fear"

Fear is scientifically defined as a chemical based response to a threat. When you think of fear, the classics appear; monsters, spiders, the dark, heights. Then there are fears that you can feel, but can never really detect. They go beyond the physical; they exist only in your mind's eye. Our dreams and life's reality are in a constant state of change. This inner conflict is invisible; a slow paced chess game. But you know, part of the problem that comes with over thinking is that you tend to go over every possible scenario, regardless of it's logic. My greatest fear? That I won't even begin to uncover the question of why I'm here. That I could quite possibly be nothing but an anomaly of nature with no real purpose. Little questions like these that continue to gnaw on my soul far after I stopped sleeping with a nightlight. How can a question be a fear? It's not the question itself, it's the process of attempting to answer them with the limited time and resources we have. Then again, only a person with manic neurons in his head like myself would think so much about this that I would go to this conclusion. Anyway, what do you think your greatest fear is, and are fears like the ones I stated just a result of over thinking, or are they valid?

"Stories"

Stories walk the earth. Tales exist in the air we breathe. They are hiding in the cracks of the sidewalks that stretch across suburbia. The moving truck, the cigarette butts that litter the ground of certain spots, a empty lot shadowed by a foreclosed building; all have a story to tell. Because that moving truck came from somewhere, driven by a man who once had a higher ambition, to move the belongings of a family who wanted to start over. The cigs weave a tale of a man who filled his lungs with smoke to have one simple pleasure; to cope with the stresses of his life. Even the empty lot once contained a bustling crowd of minivans and compact cars parked next to a supermarket that had long since went bankrupt. But stories are also hidden in the most secure mobile safe known to man; his own brain. A story probably just passed by you on your daily commute. Every person you've ever seen or met is a story in the making. The ballpoint pen moves slow on some days, but every once in awhile something amazing happens, and that memory will exist as part of your life story. If there's any goal to life, consider this one; if they had to turn your story into a novel long after the pen has stopped writing, make damn sure it was a good tale. Stories and tales are a rich part of life. If you watch television, inhale movies, read or write, then you know the power of a good story. But stories don't just exist in those mediums, they are hidden everywhere. All you really need is a good keen eye.

"Mankind"

We came out of the womb; little faces opening their eyes to a bright new world
Fathers and Mothers staring in wonder at the life they had newly molded
First came a crawl, then a single step
We fell many times, only to get up again
First words brought laughs of delight
Our cries have kept many mothers up all night
But time cannot be stopped; the seeds begin to sprout
To parents we started being a little less devout
Mischief, mistakes, silly games
Kisses, heartbreak, the affections of a dame
Through our mistakes we grew
Until the time was right
The Rite of Passage would be taken tonight
Choices would be made, covered in sunlight or rain
Our hands can help and heal
Or hurt and maim
Yet such is the beauty of the human race
We aren't born with claws or overwhelming strength
But a mind of formidable sharpness
And a soul that begins pristine
Whether our touch purifies the ones around us
or defiles with burning hate
Well...
That choice is yours to make.

Self Deception

*On a side note, sorry for my kinda long absence. You know how it is... needed a little break from this blog, but now I'm back. Man the harpoons! Eat cold breakfast cereal! Better yet, target your eyeballs on this here post.

Know all those people who think they aren't good at something? Bullocks. Besides being the fastest little man-cell to the egg, everyone is masterful at one thing; deceit. Oh yes my friend, you are the best manipulator around. We super stack hypocrisy with whey protein and drink that down while doing one finger push ups. We can analyze everything around us, but can't (or won't) see the truth... even if it was Megan Fox spontaneously growing a tail in front of us. Well hey, deceit has it's uses. Except for one little problem. We um... don't really control it. Or want to for that matter.

We all innately know that we deceive ourselves often. I wouldn't call it hypocrisy; more like being selective of what we choose to acknowledge. Sure, it doesn't make sense to process everything we see and hear, but the filters we use are always biased. We all have some ego, and we naturally protect it. You aren't going to post that you don't fit into those skinny jeans on twitter, or give a straight answer to the job interviewer when he asks what your greatest weakness is. So by naturally protecting that ego, we keep it safe and unbruised on a fluffy cloud. But through protecting our pride, we block off any desire to improve or advance. Pride is so simple, yet it's effects are very intrusive. The problem is that when we convince ourselves that everything is ok, and that we don't need to improve anything, we actually pull out solid evidence for that somehow. This makes it even harder to confront the issue and take a course of action. Self Deception is everywhere, from my procrastinating work habits to "I'm not that fat" to "I'll pay off all that credit card debt sometime, now lets jump in the Lamborghini already". Putting on a blindfold only takes problems out of sight, but never out of mind. So what's the moral here? Your pride is like an obese thirty-something that constantly wants to be fed, but does nothing for you. Don't smother your ego, but take the things that "hurt" it as a challenge. Self Deception is really just another excuse to avoid a confrontation that could benefit you in the end.

Is Self Deception really an accurate term? Deep inside I think we all know when we deny what's perfectly clear. Is it better to deny bad things for a little while, if just to take a little time to think? Comments; I want yours; good, bad, critical or celebratory if you feel that way today, heh.

Staying Alive; Survival, Adaption & "Going Green"

I was sitting here today looking for replacement water filters for a Brita pitcher, slightly irritated by how a plastic thing full of activated carbon could be so expensive. But the alternative wasn't pretty; you never know what microbes or strange metals are lurking in your water. This really got me thinking though. Survival, and the steps we take to implement it, have changed dramatically since we first roamed this earth. Adaption leads to very interesting courses of action, such as the current cry to "go green".

In a capitalist society, money supposedly equates to survival. But money isn't a guarantee. It can buy you the tools and resources that you need, sure. But only as long as the money has strong value, and the economy's good, and prices aren't force fed protein by inflation. If someone maintains all their basic needs with money, then they are vulnerable to the same highs and lows as the economy. But if a person were really smart, they would try to become as self sufficient as possible; to not be totally dependent on the grid. Take the Green Revolution for example; it doesn't only just aid the planet, but takes away some of your dependence on current utilities & energy sources. Using sunlight for power, collecting rainwater, growing veggies in the backyard; a few ways of increasing self sufficiency. In a way, green techniques reduce the use of money to buy your "needs", leaving more to fund your "wants".

The obvious fact is that survival is about adaption to any situation. The economy is in bad shape; money can't be used as a crutch as often. But what's this? BAM! I can cook pies with sunlight? Filter my own water? Buy local produce? Hell yeah mother nature! But going green has more ties to survival than meets the eye. In good times, like the nineties for instance, jobs were plentiful and people on Wall Street had goofy grins on their faces. Green technology would have been good in itself, but there was simply no perceived need. Everything was hunky dory. As soon as everything began to unravel, then a credible threat to people's standards of living came about. Suddenly, anything that could cut costs looked like it had a holy aura on it. Green tech is just another tool in this process.

So what's the one good tip on survival that could be timeless? Invest in the renewable, and beware of the unstable. What everyone else uses isn't always the best; most of the time there is a better way. What are your thoughts on this? Long, short, rambling; all comments are welcome.

Float

We do it all the time. Floating I mean. Not in the cross legged position on a bamboo rug, but in the rivers of flowing thought and in the light breeze of random ideas. Floating is nice, but we spend too much time floating and not enough with the stability of our feet firmly touching the ground. You and me, we probably have some idea of where we are going, and what we want to do. But it isn't definite. It's like being pushed in one direction by a soft wind instead of the power of our own two feet. We can't control a breeze, but we can change the direction that we walk. But it's difficult. It's easy to let one's self be pushed to an acceptable destination by life. It's a true challenge to will yourself to travel to the right place. And so we float... in our dreams, our hopes, our deepest wishes. But to do that is to be a kite with no one holding the handle. Eventually you and me and everyone else has to come down from the clouds and face what Mr. Reality has to offer. Deals we can't refuse. Deals we can refuse. It's up to us to pick a deal. Or maybe, just maybe, rip up the contract and carve out our own path. One that we have to hike, but at least we hike it out of our own will, and not out of the wishes and wants of other people.

Fishing for an Idea

I woke up today, looked at the ceiling and thought "I will find something worth writing about." My eyes scanned the blue green walls of the room; a finger or two doing a drum solo on the desk. Blinds opened part way; letting in sunlight and a temporarily serene view. Temporary, because the lusty growl of a lawnmower shattered the silence.

As the day progressed, my mind struggled to create that brilliant writing idea. The sun beat down on weary souls forced to navigate the neighborhood streets. Maybe an infusion of fresh air would cleanse my brain? Three steps out the door; breathe through the nose, out through the mouth. Anything new? Nah.

How about television? The screen treats me to a scene of a war movie. Lets ride the channel surf; drama, comedy, reality show... I realized that my brain had probably prematurely aged during this time. Power off.

10 P.M. The sun had gone to give a hug to the other side of the world. My mind weary from searching, I looked at the single lamp illuminating the room. And then I see it. A notebook; it's covered in a fine film of dust. I had finally realized my folly.

Good ideas can't be found. Epiphanies don't appear from flooding your brain with endorphins or being inspired by a outdoor gear commercial. Ideas just don't show up when your try to scour for them with radar. This post... written in that neglected notebook. Writing naturally let that innate creativity flow outwards; staring at a computer screen brought me nowhere. I'm used to being methodical; society demands efficiency and aggressiveness to solve problems. But the lack of an idea wasn't a problem. I was gently reminded that when it comes to creativity, you just gotta let it be.

Thriving on Chaos?

Peace, harmony and an olive branch. If you asked most people, they would probably say that those are wonderful things to strive for. But in the midst of all this, something has been poking at my mind for awhile now. We always seem to do what is counter productive to our ideals. We want to be happy, yet we stay in the same state and do the same things that we know keep us unhappy. People will persist in keeping bad relationships alive, stay in the same unfulfilling jobs, and keep tuning in to the same depressing news; accepting it all with little protest. Will there be complaints? You bet. But actual action? Not for awhile. Very few of us are just magically born with the ability to take pre-emptive strikes towards change. And then we come to that simple word; change. What is it about change that strikes fear into the minds of so many?

I tried to imagine a world without a shred of conflict. No wars or dissent. No natural disasters or economies going kablooey. That is what we all want... isn't it? But I don't think so. I think there is something about chaos that forces us to act. We all would love to change something, but the biggest fear is what would actually happen if that change came about. I don't think it's peace we want, but understanding. I desperately want to understand the world and it's people, and why we act the way we do. Why we fight endless wars. Why we have big stockpiles of nukes in the event that we are attacked by our own kind. Why people who seem to have everything they could ever want are still unhappy and looking for that missing piece...

When the peoples of the world understand each other, they will no longer need a reason to point their weapons across oceans. There will always be disagreements, dissent, and chaos. We can never change or grow without them. But there is a difference between learning from the chaos, or getting swept up in it. It's not world peace we want; peace is temporary until the next shot is fired, whether that bullet is verbal or made of metal. We need global understanding. To use our differences to improve the magnifying glass that we have put on our biggest questions since man first put pen to paper.

Introducing Voice Posts!

Hello everyone, G. here. Just wanted to say that I've finally figured out how to add voice posts for Thoughts of G. There will now be an audio player at the end of most posts that I do. If you have any comments or suggestions, I would love to hear them! I've recorded a little something here already as a test. Anyways, have a good one.

"Trust" by G.

Trust is an interesting concept. Interesting, because the only person you can trust with your life is yourself. Sounds pessimistic? Perhaps. But people don't make it in this world by being gullible. The rarity of finding someone very trustworthy makes trust a very valuable treasure. Being able to trust someone reveals much about that person. A person resistant to temptations, to weakness; a mind that carves out it's own choices. So why do I write about trust? No tangible reason other than to give a friendly reminder. I'm certainly no saint; perfection is an impossible goal. But when you lose trust with someone, a cord of friendship or loyalty that took hard time to create becomes severed. It sometimes feels like lies have become their own language; a dialect that wreaks havoc when the words are finally deciphered. Trust breeds loyalty; loyalty that will attract people to your side when others would flee.

On a lighter note, do you think Trust is a one time deal, or that it's possible to trust someone absolutely? Love to hear your thoughts on this.

Sir's Random Dashes of Inspiration - Renascent ~ Part 3

Aaaaaand part 3.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------


And then you came along. You, with knowledge of the woods, the surroundings. You, with knowledge of life as a hunter, life as prey and life as something so impressive yet so vulnerable. Your gleaming eyes and your sharp teeth, your wild brown fur and your pointed claws. As soon as I saw you, I knew. I knew you were destined to guide me, to be my guardian in this forest, appointed by the very forest itself. Your vision shall be my compass; your intellect and knowledge, my map; your might and agility, my shield.

I then gazed upon you and knew we’d be connected forever, bound as companions on a tiresome journey are. I would help you carry out your quest as you would help me complete my search for truth.And so, we set off with light hearts and steps on a random trail, while trying to think of ways to communicate, since we were so different…

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No more images, guys, sorry! Takes too much time to come up with :(

"A Solid Core of Character" by G.

We all want to be happy. We work hard to make enough money to live, and maybe a little extra. We pour our efforts into fufilling our dreams, and getting what we want. All this in the name of happiness. So why is it, though all this force and effort, that many of us still end up being unhappy? Divorces, breakups, depression, thearpists; dare I say Jerry Springer? Dysfunction seems to have penetrated society with it's twisted claws. Maybe the problem is that we try so hard to achieve these material and external things, when what we always wanted was already inside.

I guess it never occurred to me that finding happiness wasn't a matter of working hard to get it, but letting it out of the chains we've placed on it ourselves. It's about pouring effort into improving the intangible and to invest in what is untouchable; ourselves. No one can take away our good character and our kind deeds. Material things can come and go with the wind, that dead end job will keep you alive but chain your soul to the desk and trying to control things that aren't really in our power will always lead to frustration. What does one do?

The solution is to stop searching for something that's already dormant inside ourselves. It seems like the people who are less attached to the material and non-permanent are happier and experience a greater sense of well-being. A man with a kind and generous soul is worth more than ten selfish ones. Character cannot be bought or stolen; it is one of the few things you have complete and utter control over. A strong inner self is a treasure beyond value; an achievement you can never lose. Happiness will never come from the external; it can only emerge from within.

"Karma" by G.

I'm a big believer in Karma. Not because I think there's some supernatural force that rewards good and punishes evil. No, I think that the concept of Karma is accurate because bad actions tend to be unwise, and cause new problems to sprout. Bad actions seem to naturally reinforce themselves. Take a lie for instance; one lie leads to another to cover up the original, and the cycle continues. Eventually the whole matrix of lies is busted wide open, and that person pays for their actions. But this is too black and white.

Good and Evil are human concepts, but their lines are often blurred. What if the lie was for a good cause? To prevent hurt feelings or protect another? Is that bad? Could some supernatural karmic force tell the difference between evil and evil for a good cause? Doubt it. It's not so much as people get rewarded for doing good. They get rewarded for making intelligent decisions. Most of the time, a good decision is also an intelligent one. The reward? Not having to take two steps back because a bad decision made them pay big time. I'll use lying as an example again. Building lie after lie isn't very smart; eventually someone is going to pull out a block from that Jenga tower and the whole thing is going to collapse.

Would it be nice to be rewarded for our good actions? Of course. And many people do. But not because of Karma in the ideal sense. Someone could just as easily have done bad deeds their entire life and never have a single misfortune befall them. What is good or bad to us is different to other people; good and bad are constantly shifting. An intelligent decision stays constant, and has a more predictable outcome.

So what are your ideas on Karma?

"The Gift of Empathy" by G.

So let's take a brief journey into imagination land, and plop yourself into this scenario. BAM! Your king/queen of the world. You have an infinite amount of money, resources, and power. You've always had everything; nothing was ever out of your reach. You do have everything, right? Not necessarily. The love of others. Their respect. These cherished gifts are not material, and cannot be bought. Having raw wealth is only one of the means to the end. Empathy is a powerful tool, and in a world with millions of people interconnected so heavily, it's vital.

A few months into writing this blog, I wrote a post simply titled "Smart". The basic idea was that intelligence can't be measured by some cookie cutter test; it's a constantly evolving concept. Different people have different talents; some less appreciated than others. Remembering a bunch of terms doesn't make you a genius; it means you have a sharp memory. In that post, I equated being smart to being very creative. It isn't usually the people who have the most knowledge that go the farthest, but the ones who are more creative and continue to persist. Once again, having the knowledge and power without having the people skills to deal with those around you makes that information in your head pretty useless. This is where empathy comes into play.

Do you know who we love to hear about? Ourselves. Who do we appreciate more? Someone who understands our troubles and our needs. Even with all the money and fame in the world, you cannot win loyalty and respect without putting in the effort to understanding other people. People who put this idea to work realize that by working to understand and help others, good fortune will naturally come their way. Strong bonds of friendship have been created by people simply willing to listen to what another has to say for a few minutes. That scenario I was talking about at the beginning? If all that wealth and power was stripped from you in that moment, what would you really have left? The one who had empathized with others in their time of need will find that people will be willing to come to their aid. That is the true measure of self worth. When people are willing to risk their assets and time helping you, because out of a sea of apathy you chose to pay attention. A person's net worth cannot buy a heart and mind.

Sir's Random Dashes of Inspiration - Renascent ~ Chapter 2

I'll just leave this here.

-----------------------------

As I woke up, I felt an urge… a strong impulse. I desperately needed to cover my manhood. Unfortunately, the only trees around here were pine trees… As you can see, I still haven’t found anything suitable. Bah, I guess that’ll come with time and a bit of luck.

I decided to get up and start walking around… The area seemed pretty desolate. A little dirt path, some chunks of wood lying around, a bunch of rocks, some water and a whole lot of trees. Oh, how joyful.

Something felt weird about all this, though. I didn’t see the trees. I couldn’t gaze into the water. I felt it. Felt it all as if it was a part of me… For some reason, I felt as if I knew everything about every single tiny speck of dust littering the very soil I stepped upon. Everything was blurry, my brain was about to burst and I couldn’t walk for long before I fell over, dizzy. yet I felt as if I still had control over everything… Strange, as everything is up until now…

So I sat down and looked at the sky, for a while, trying to make things out.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And another piece of crappily conceived artwork! Hope this one isn't too blurry or anything...



If you guys are lucky I might be able to post on next monday... However that's unlikely, as I'll be in Cuba for a week!

"An Ego and a Whole Lot of Hot Air" by G.

Nothing isolates, burns and hurts others like an Ego high on itself. When personalities run rampant, each vying for superiority over all they meet. From the minute we come out of the womb, we are judged, compared and shaped. Thus, a personality is born. Either they grow wings and take flight, or are dragged closer to the wet dirt by chains they don't deserve to have.

Sometimes I wonder how much of ourselves came from natural causes, and how much was synthesized by artificial ingredients. I think an overinflated Ego has a pretty good amount of High Fructose Corn Syrup. To have such an overblown sense of self-worth is to deny all the people and good tidings that brought a person to where they are. Society seems to revolve around competition, yet one won't get far without appealing for the help and support of other people.

But what is an ego? Are we simply a living and breathing personality? Or is a personality just part of our expressive toolkit we get from being human? Perhaps. But the moral here? Being egocentric is useless, and isolates that person from the love and support of his or her fellow man. We can sprout all this comparison, and judge someone by their looks, and think the person with excellent grades is a automatic success. Most of us come to realize that we look for the wrong things when judging people. That inner beauty trumps the outer several times over. That a person with dedication can fight back demons that one that has only talent never could. Sure, there's nothing wrong with healthy competition. But don't try to compete emotionally and physically with every soul you meet. Only Synergy can enable you to breach the walls that you cannot on your own.

Check out this Vid!

Hey guys, check out this great piece of original spoken word created by a close acquaintance of mine. It's a quick verbal and visual adventure that pretty much exemplifies the many injustices and hardships we witness everytime we turn in to the news. He appreciates any honest criticism and comments you could give him, so don't be shy.

The Late Night News

Thanks! Hope everyone has a good one.

"To Find Ourselves" by G.

There's a tendency to carve out our own little sphere in life. We give ourselves so fully to our own little world, it could be said we enclose ourselves in a self made bubble. But once in awhile we become aware of disturbances in that personal bubble. You see people take vacation days, breaks, a hiatus perhaps; all to try and "find themselves".

Why did they feel lost to begin with? What about themselves did they lose? An Identity? Sounds about right. But is it a matter of finding yourself, or remaking yourself? I don't think we come prepackaged with certain traits like some computer you brought off Ebay. We say that life is about discovering who you are, but I don't think it's some precious gem embedded in your brains someplace. I think the feeling of drifting, without any control over the direction you float; it's not about finding yourself, it's about transforming yourself into what you secretly want and need to be.

The root of all this? Discontent. The feeling that something doesn't fit; that the pieces of the puzzle seem forced together. In the Nature vs. Nuture argument, I guess you would have to plop me on the Nuture side. As we live, we slowly assemble ourselves with the parts we learn and gain from experience. So what are we trying to find? The pieces that fit. It's not about finding who we are, because we want "who we are" to be the ideal form of ourselves, and it probably dosen't exist yet. Want to discover yourself? Keep trying out different pieces to your puzzle; eventually some of them will fit smoothly.

What's your opinion on trying to find yourself? Is the self something innate we can actually find, or something we have to create for ourselves?

"The Will to Act" by G.

Why do we always seem to wait until it's too late? To let opportunities slip through our fingers like sand? We usually know what the stakes are. We know the consequences. But when the time comes to actually do something, it's like a spider just bit you with paralyzing venom. What is needed to drive people to Act? Is it something rare, as there are an unlimited number of average people, but a smaller number of people who took themselves farther? Well...

I've always thought of the Will to Act as a reason that has very strong emotional ties. Logic provides the reasons, but it seems like only emotions bring the drive to follow through. If the reason to do something doesn't have a strong enough emotional tie, it's harder to act. Note that even with strong emotional ties, it's still a hell of a fight. Imagine some guy trying to ask a girl he's known for awhile out. The hesitation probably came from a fear of rejection; of that little hope being crushed. But the greater promise of happiness; that in itself might be worth taking the plunge for. They say that logic and emotions clash often, but emotions can also clash with each other. It's this emotional clash that probably makes it more likely for a person to act.

The other factor that can be the make or break idea when deciding to take action is how far the consequences are from you. That right there is the heart of procrastination. If we convince ourselves that the due date is far away, or that we have plenty of time to do something, then we justify not acting. There is nothing easier in the world than not acting; naturally we bend towards the easier option. But if the consequences of not acting are prolonged, and effect your everyday life, then we will be more prone to act. Was Global Warming taken very seriously back then? Once the consequences started to show, people finally decided to give it a chance. Wasn't it said that Global Warming could be a potential threat? Logically, a person might have tried to check it out. We didn't pay much attention until evidence started to rack up; another example of waiting until it was "too late".

So is that it? Can we really not act purely off logic; does an emotional fire always need to burn in our hearts to achieve what is necessary? We all act using logic... until the stakes start to get higher. Then it's a wrestling match between emotions. Between resisting change and the promise of a better future. Taking a chance, or living without ever knowing what could have happened. The Will to Act is not a big mystery, but it's one that I wish I had better control of. If we used more of our potential, all of our lives would probably be vastly improved. It's those mental blocks; fears and emotions, that fuel our indecision. The one who can learn to control their thoughts and emotions is more powerful than they could ever know.

Well hey, thanks for reading this far! What do you think of the Will to Act? Are there different reasons? Different causes? Feel free to leave your comments.

Sir's Random Dashes of Inspiration - Renascent ~ Chapter 1

Sorry for being late again, it won't (obvious lie is obvious) happen again!

Anyways, on to the show... I know you guys don't like to read all the interesting stuff I have to tell you, so let's jump to the hopefully not horrible story!

Here goes nothing...

------------------------------------------------

~- What is this?
O- It appears to be some sort of … key.
~- Well, what do I do with it?
O- You should consider inserting it in that keyhole, there, on the wall.
~- Here goes nothing…

A breeze rushed in and everything went black…

I awoke in a dark chamber; my arm was tightly chained to the cold stone wall. There was something definitely… different about the experience. I’m quite… intimate with chains and cells, but I felt like something was out of place. I think it was the chain… yes. It was that bright blue, glowing chain... What a glow! It felt like happiness was directly emanating from that chain… a pure feeling of bliss. I never wanted to leave this cell again. Ever. But that bliss came to an end… the day I died.

They took my corpse out and threw it in a river, bordered by trees but close to no current… They thought the depth of the river would be enough to erase my existence. People never do get the job done right.

They had overestimated their own precious little river… and so my body was found by a bunch of kids hiking through the woods some years later. For some reason, they felt no fear while approaching my decaying carcass… Even though I was dead, I could still feel their presence, kind of like a pulse… And there was also a darker pulse, of another nature… Although I couldn’t really tell what that was about. To see all this life pass by and be unable to do anything! It was wonderful and yet oh so scary. After they pulled me out, my body reanimated itself with a jolt that scared those kids out of their skins. Well, at the very least, I didn’t see them when I opened my eyes. I have no idea of what’s been done to me, but I came back to – No. I didn’t come back to life… It wasn’t the same. Although I don’t have any decent memory of my life before my… death, I do know it was nothing like this. This… Power! I felt so free, so strong! My mind was clearer than crystal and my muscles, harder than the very rock I sat upon.

I still have no idea what has happened to me, but it felt like a new beginning.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wow, lucky you, I even made you some original artwork for you to enjoy!



Alrighty then! Tune in sometime between next monday and 2010 for chapter 2!

"Untitled" by Dex

Daddy told me that if I don't cry, I'll get better. But I haven't gotten any better. Why did Daddy lie to me?

Mommy cries. She cries a lot. Even when she tries to smile at me. When Mommy cries, I want to cry.

I cried once. Is that why I haven't gotten any better? Mommy, Daddy, God. Was I bad for crying that time? I wish I hadn't. I'm scared. I want to get better.

I don't want to die. Mommy, Daddy, I'm scared. I'm scared. I don't want to die. I want to stay living. Here, with you. I'm not ready to meet God yet.

I won't cry anymore. Will that make me better? Daddy, will it?

I saw Daddy crying the other day. He didn't know I was awake. I'd never seen Daddy cry before. I pretended to be sleeping. And then I pretended to wake up, and his tears were gone. Maybe I imagined it?

I... I've stopped believing that I'll get better. They all tell me that I will. But I see them, when they think I'm not looking. They cry. They all give each other looks, like they don't believe I'll get better either.

Mommy, Daddy, God... I don't think I can hold it in much longer. It hurts...

I'm sorry. I'm sorry Daddy. I'm sorry Mommy. I'm sorry God.

------

Repost. Because somehow I accidentally deleted it when trying to edit it. I'm not kidding xD

What did I even say before? This was supposed to be sad, and was inspired by a show I was watching. And sorry for lack of posts.

I think that was it. Haha. Sorry!

"The Bird" by G.

Don't worry, I'm still alive. I needed a bit of a break to restore the chemical balance in my brains, and feed the Imagination Elephant peanuts. But lo and behold, my fingers are once again criss crossing the keyboard. Anywho, lets get down to business.

You know, sometimes you go through a regular business day, and you accidently step in a puddle, leave your wallet in your other pants and realize you left some important something or another at home. You look at the sky and say "O' great sky, I wish I was a dog". Eh? Hey it's kinda logical. You do nothing all day, get fed, and bask in unconditonal love. Sounds muy bueno. But obvsiouly I'm not going to talk about dogs; the post being called "The Bird" and all. Yeah, lets talk about the birds.

Ever had that dream where your just randomly flying through the sky? Birds have a freedom that I'm quite jealous of sometimes. I think under everything else, that kind of freedom is what everyone works towards, or at the very least would love to have. You just have to wonder; were humans made to live and stay in one place for an extended period? I don't know about you, but the drive to explore and travel burns deeply. I'm sure most of us would love to have a ton of money, or a nice car, or a gold plated garbage truck. I would trade all that in a heartbeat if I could experience the kind of freedom a bird does. To watch the landscape below as you soar through the air, with nothing chaining you to the ground below.

Then again, that's just my idea of what freedom is. Freedom means different things to different people. But in a world where it's hard to find a true and defining purpose, it would be nice to have the freedom to discover it. But we are free... aren't we? Well you tell me. What do you think freedom is? Is there any way to break the "chains" that bind us, if there are any?

Sir's Random Dashes of Inspiration - Summer Loving

Sorry for being late, guys. You know, I'm pretty busy whatwith the swine flu, school and all the interesting stuff in my life.

Anyways, you're all so lucky, because I just had the inspiration for a poem.

Here you go!

Shadows of the cherry blossom,
Flashing through the light,
Falling upon the earth’s bosom,
Flashing before your eyes as a sprite.

Shadows of the man and woman,
Loving through the night,
Holding each other like lovers can,
Loving as it is only their right.

Such are the days of summer.
Such are the evenings of the lover.
Such is a life whose spoils some levy.
Such is a life which most still only envy.

Days of joy,
Nights of beauty,
To some true, to others only decoy.
Enjoy it while it lasts, don’t be so snooty!

Nights of beauty,
Days of joy,
To some only fun, to others a duty.
Enjoy it while it lasts, don’t be so coy!

Hopefully this will hold you guys off until next time... :P

"Break Away" by G.

It takes a powerful mental effort to deviate from that giant mix of ideas and beliefs that we collectively call the "norm". The norm is the safe route, the marked path, the well worn trail. If you stay in the norm, you'll most probably be a normal member of society. Nothing special, and nothing noticeable, but stable. But a dream never really can become reality while staying with the norm. Nothing new happens when the same things are done over and over again. When that choice is made; a choice for learning or doing something new, then you have taken the first step off the beaten path.

It's surprising sometimes to see how much some people enjoy taking down the small glimmer of a person's dream or idea. I wonder if these people have any idea what they've extinguished. That spark of thought could have turned into so many things, only to be shot down by the verbal bullets people fire without thinking. So tell me, why do people try to discourage others? Are they afraid of what that person could do? Are they afraid of what they can't do? Nothing much would exist without someone in history dreaming about it first. If they had took the numerous verbal bullets fired at them to the heart instead of shrugging them off, their ideas would die just as fast as they were conceived. And a final note; what would it take for a person to break away from the norm to make an idea reality? Thoughts are welcome.

Sir's Random Dashes of Inspiration - Partly Mine, In Fact.

Ok, guys, I know you love my stories, but there's a heated debate that was going on between me and a very good friend of mine a couple of months ago... And it's a pretty big one, too.

Good VS Evil.

Now, now, I know what you're thinking : But, dude, that's like, so heavy, man! Everyone has his different opinions and stuff, so it's normal to debate about it!

Which is EXACTLY my point.

I read about this in a book a while back, a very good book titled Shantaram. Now, I don't know exactly if the author (Gregory-David Roberts) thought this up or if it was really passed down to him by a mafia leader, but, I find it to be particularily true.

The world has a tendency to complexify itself. Complexifying meaning not only ameliorating, but adding on and on. Therefore, if it is really so, it must be "God's will". And for you guys out there who don't believe in any god, or whose religions oppose this, you may also take it this way : it might not be god's will, but that's how the universe is going, no? That's the way it's always been going and when we did not try to change it, things were ok. The point in all this? If the universe is meant to complexify itself, it means that anything uncomplexifying it has to be bad, or "evil". An example would be murder. Murder takes one's life away, therefore reducing the amount of complexity in the world, therefore, it is evil. Of course, you have to abide by moral ethics and the such, but you get the point. Eating a lot shouldn't be a "religious crime" as the 7 deadly sins indicate (as an example). Therefore, anything considered as destroying or causing destruction would have to be bad and everything that helps or doesn't necessarily hurt means you're keeping on the right track. Of course, there's the dilemma of "killing the killer". If someone is pointing a gun at someone else and you had to either let the victim die or take away the criminal's life, what would you do? Some ponder that "eliminating" the criminal is a bad action, as you shouldn't interfere with another person's life. However, you've just saved some other person's life by eliminating the criminal, which is definitely something good. If you want, you can consider it as neutral : Keeping someone alive while someone else dies, because in any case, one of them ends up dying anyways.

My point in this? Exposing a philosophy that I approve, along with a few tweaks when it comes to details. And, now, if you, our readers, approve or disapprove, I want you to tell me about it.
If you really don't like this take on things, say so. If you like it, state it. Tell us why and why not, tell us how stuff should be in your opinion, maybe we can pool our resources together?

Remember, I always appreciate total honesty.

"A Short Burst on: Procrastination" by G.

I don't particularly have much to say today, but I do have one thing that I really wanted to hear other opinions on. Procrastination; most of us have done it, and I'm probably have one of the more serious cases of it. My question is, why, even when we know we will regret it, do we continue to procrastinate? We know the outcome, we know that it will lead to headaches in the end, but sometimes it seems like it takes a lifetime to get started on something anyway. Is that little short term satisifation of not having to begin worth the cost of rushing to finish things at the last minute? What do you think about this? Comment away.

A Brief Guide on the Swine Flu

Hey everyone, I've written a brief guide to the Swine Flu for Associated Content, and I would appreciate it if you took a look! Thanks!

The Mexican Swine Flu Outbreak: A Threat to your Health?

Sir's Random Dashes of Inspiration - Fromager's Tribulations (Part 5)

Oh my god, guys! It's the last part! Hopefully you've read this from the beginning (I'm quite amazed that you haven't died from a heart attack yet, zorlone) and you'll enjoy this... uh... "creative" ending.

Our friends then entered Patrick’s room… “What are you doing in my room?!?” asked the latter, in his grinding voice, while he threw the piece of cheddar he was nibbling on in a basket made of cheese.”We’ve come to end your reign of tyranny and cheesiness, Patrick!” replied Jordan. ”That’s right, you fat, evil man!” added John quite obnoxiously. So our heroes and our antagonist clashed in a mighty battle… which lasted 20 seconds. As fat and slow as Patrick was, he only managed to crawl over to John’s foot and let his floppy arms fall upon it, inflicting minor bruises to himself, as Jordan was reciting a magical spell and John was cowering before Patrick’s mighty blubber. As soon as the spell was ready, Jordan let loose his inner might. A flash of light occurred and all you could then see was a giant scissor-shaped angel with a mighty hammer. It was Jordon, the true form of Jordan! The mighty, heavenly scissorsmith. His hammer descended upon Patrick’s frightened face and hit his hat really softly. Millions of tiny scissorlings exited the head of the hammer and proceeded to trim Patrick’s scraggly beard into friendly mutton chops. Cut off from his beard, and thus from his power, Patrick fell in a coma.

Many thanks yet again to our anonymous Googled Benefactor.

"Don't Forget the Scenery" by G.

Imagine a family of four on a road trip that goes for about a thousand miles. The dad is driving, the mom is sleeping, and the kids are plugged in to a mp3 player or watching some movie. While their minds are all contained to the car, the scenery that lies outside will never enter their memories. You could always go driving, you could always take a nap, and your electronic devices aren't going to take a vacation in the Bahamas. But the landscape they travel through isn't a common sight. In their rush to reach their destination, they miss the little things among the road. Sadly, that's the kind of life most of us have been reduced to these days. But whether this is out of necessity or of ambition, we need to realize that a life of just surviving is no life at all.

Times are tough; I don't need to elaborate on that. But I also know this; if we don't take a little time to appreciate the little things that we got now, we might not get that chance later on. The one thing that can't get taken from you is what you hold in your head; it's the world's most secure safe for the time being. In our most dire hour, it's a real comfort to travel back and envelop ourselves in the warmth of good memories. It doesn't even have to be something spectacular; just remembering a sunset or a peaceful brook gives you a calm mental retreat in a world of chaos. But my main point; no matter how much you get caught up in your ambitions, or how hard your working to stand on your own two feet and survive, not looking out at the scenery once in while makes for a hollow and empty mind. Don't let potentially good things pass you by on your journeys. Regret is a feeling that is very hard to soothe.

Sir's Random Dashes of Inspiration - Fromager's Tribulations (Part 4)

Sorry for being so late! Don't really have an excuse except my crappy memory.
On to the story! (Now with 35% more magic and awesome!)

When they arrived in front of the gigantic, black, and crooked tower, they could just gasp, awed by its awesomeness. Of course, it was imposing, but not too imposing for our heroes, who proceeded to enter it. As they entered, they could see the multitude of traps laid there for visitors. After a couple of hours, traps, fake pennies and little cuts, our friends got through. Of course, there just had to be a big magical door blocking the way at the end.
“What are the magical words?” asked the door.
John proceeded to reply: “Err… please and thank you?”As John was contemplating the sense of his answers, the door threw a bunch of rocks (Hey, it’s a magical door, remember?) at our heroes. John quickly proceeded to fall face-first on the floor, to avoid his rock as Jordan round-house kicked the rest to oblivion.All except one… The One Rock To Rule Them All. Except it just kept going and killed the janitor that was looking at the scene.”No, you moron! It’s open sesame!” yelled Jordan.
The door opened, but not before it could throw another rock at John’s manhood (Don’t worry, he also has a magically enhanced jock-strap).

Thank you, anonymous googled benefactor, for this piece of awesome.

Sir's Random Dashes of Inspiration - Fromager's Tribulations (Part 3)

As he arrived in the fields, John could see armies, wait, what am I saying? He could see hordes of mice running towards a far away building with cheese on their backs! It was obvious John should act… at least to feed himself. So he decided to take a stick and poke a mouse with it. Of course, his results hurt the mouse and got him all the attention in the world. As soon as he did so, the mouse released a piercing howl (don’t ask me how it did it), which alerted every other mice in a large radius. The mice were all looking at John, and John was looking at the mice, as Jordan was looking at the sky’s pale blue color. Suddenly, the mice started attacking John, who threw Jordan at them in desperate defence. Before he could even realize it, all the mice were laying flat. “How did you do that?” asked he Jordan.
- Eh, well, a magical pair of scissors has its benefits…
- Whatever you say…
Our heroes then crossed the field…

This one's also from Google.

"The Art of Perfection" by G.

Sorry for my recent absence; work, computer trouble, etc has kept me away from here for awhile. But I'm here now, so I hope you enjoy this small snippet of thought.

When I speak of perfection, I don't mean to be perfect overall. That would be ridiculous, and in my opinion it would make life utterly boring. Perfection is an art; a process you go through to master a skill or talent. Some of us strive for this; ache for it. Some look at it like it's some kind of disease; one that forces you to work endlessly after a goal that always seems to be just out of reach. But the best and brightest, they aren't born with it, no matter how easy they make it look. Maybe they have a affinity to something, sure. Some kind of aptitude, fine. But there is no bypassing the journey to get there. They practiced, practiced, practiced; gave all they could give until their skill was no longer a skill. Until their talent became easier than breathing. That's perfection. Because even if you don't make it to the mountain summit, the climb to the top has already transformed you, and no one can take that away from you.

We have a very unique ability to learn. But it dosen't just end there. Because we can refine what we learn. You can embrace a skill and talent as your own. People sometimes think that a hobby or skill is something that we simply hold in our brain. But the master of a craft knows better. He's made an almost spiritual connection to his talent. Because of this, he'll always be more skilled. Practice brings experience; experience you will never learn from a textbook. Everyone starts somewhere; all those celebrities on television, famous authors, heroes, and those who are simply damn good at what they do. But what worked for another person won't necessarily work for you. You have to find your own way to the top; a path unique to you.

This is perfection; the journey to connect with your talent until it becomes a part of you that is impossible to replace. So to all you aspiring writers, athletes, computer wizards, lawyers, doctors; hop to it.

Thanks for reading! Always like a good comment, so fire away.

Sir's Random Dashes of Inspiration - Fromager's Tribulations (Part 2)

As he stepped outside of his house, John saw an old lady stuck under a horse. Intrigued by the elder’s position, he decided to go and help her, after hearing her pleading: “Help! Help me! You look strong, young man, please come on over and get this horse off of me!”. As John was a brave, young man, he lifted the fallen horse with his strong arms, thus freeing the old lady. “Thank you, mighty hero!” she said. “It is now my duty to help you back… See that field over there? And that little spot in the distance? That’s Patrick’s tower… You should find him there.”
- Alright… but, how did you get under that horse…?
- Ugh… long story. Well, I was going through the city with my son, when the horse got scared and ran away… of course it didn’t take long for it to fall over me. My son, as the coward he is, preferred to flee and leave me to die.
- Uh… hold on a second… grandma, is that you? You know, dad told you like 5 days ago that this horse was a fake… look, it’s made of linen and yarn!
- Oh… right… well… Get out of my way, brigand!

And thus his grandmother ran away. But, she managed to doodle something for him before going on her senile rampage! John picked the map and made his way towards the fields of impending-immediate-and-not-so-far-away doom.


This one was taken from Google.

"Being Biased" by G.

When I hear someone say that another person's opinion is "biased", I give a quiet chuckle. I mean, how can someone not be biased? I'm sure I'm biased in some shape or form; the life I've lived and the experiences I've etched into the farthest corners of my brain effect who I am whether I like it or not. Obviously it isn't a good thing to be biased; your cutting off your mind from potentially useful and interesting ideas. But it seems to be in our nature. So dear reader, how should be approach this?

One of our ultimate goals should be to view everything through a lens that is unprejudiced. But this is the kind of glowing, flowery statement that sounds good, but is very difficult to follow through with. Think about what "bias" is; your actions and thoughts being influenced by a prejudged perspective. Is a prejudged perspective always bad? Being honorable, trustworthy, even having a strong sense of right and wrong; those are all prejudged no? A morally upstanding person would think that a thief deserves to go to prison, yet the thief might have just been trying to support his family, no matter the cost. There is no shame in being biased, because we are all a product of our experiences. What's "right" to you or me isn't the same to another person.

This isn't meant to give permission to have everyone run rampant with their biases. No. What I do mean is that being biased is a normal thing; it bears good and bad fruit. A cop who holds justice in high regard is, in a way, just as biased as a racist or a sexist. They all are being guided by whatever perspective they have molded in their lives thus far. So to go back to the question I asked earlier; how should we approach this? By going beyond our natural instincts. You would be surprised what you discover when you look at new things with no expectations. Want to be a better person? Simply experience life without prejudging what the future will hold. It's a tough thing to do; bias is something that is very deeply integrated into our minds. But trust me when I say, it's definitly worth it. So tell me, what's your take on bias?

Sir's Random Dashes of Inspiration - Fromager's Tribulations (Part 1)

Oh golly, another witty story from Sir? What a bunch of privileged readers you are!

Ah, but enough modesty, on to the reading of the beginning of this cheesy (you'll get the bad pun soon enough) adventure!

Once upon a time, in the little town of Fromager, whose principal economical activity was the exportation of cheese lived happy people. Alas, an evil wizard named Patrick decided to command all the mice to take the cheese to his crooked, black tower, for he was hungry. So the mice obeyed to the fat, evil and ugly slob. Little did they know an alert John decided to go down to his cellar that day…

As John descended into his cellar, he slowly took note of the shortage of cheese that was afflicting it. Of course, he went up to his father and directly asked him: “Father, where is the cheese?”
- Well, son, an evil wizard named Patrick decided to take it all to his tower, and eat it for himself!
- But… That’s mean! I mean, how are we supposed to make a living?
- Yes, but you are brave, and I have magical scissors imbued with the power of speech, which are called Jordan, that I will hand down to you this right instant.
And at that moment, John’s father handed him Jordan, the magical scissors.“Go, go, my son, and take our cheese back!” yelled the old man.

On these words, John went on a magical adventure to save Fromager’s economical situation.

Wow! Lucky you, you even got a piece of ORIGINAL ART!
Gotta love bad drawing skills, oh yes.
Credit for the drawing goes to a friend of mine and another guy, as well as me.

"Control" by G.

We all want it. Actually, it's not just a want; it's a need. Because if we lack control, it's fear that takes its place. And that is what I want to address today; just how the idea of control is integrated into our lives.

There are two ways of looking at control. It could just mean that things are stable; that you're in your comfort zone. It could also literally mean that your in control of a situation. Whatever way you look at it, control seems to bring us a feeling of safety. Since we are holding the puppet strings, we can try and prevent bad things from happening. Control is a powerful aspect of society, but I'm not saying that it's incredibly bad or anything. On the contrary, without control, the world would probably be in a state of mass chaos; one where it probably would truly be the survival of the fittest. In a society this big, with millions of people that glow with the spark of intelligence, conflict is inevitable. So why aren't we all hunting deer and having mortal combat with elephant tusks? Because out of the masses, certain people have taken control. Governments were formed, agreements and truces signed, and the intellectual was allowed to blossom. In this view, control has kept the world in a relatively stable state. But the problem really isn't with the idea of control is it?

No, the problem is with the people wielding control. Control is just a static idea; a human being has a brain that can be manipulated like clay. Governments and such will never be perfect, simply because we are human, and our flaws allow for the abuse and misuse of control. Dictatorships, slavery; examples of control gone amok. So if we don't feel in control, we feel fear. If the people in charge lack or abuse control, some form of chaos is likely.

In the end, we can't rely on a higher power in our society to give us a sense of control. Control shouldn't be thought of as domination; it's simply being the master of your own life. It's being able to grapple with challenges without fear. To never feel regret or sadness. To be in control is to know who you are, and with that knowledge gain the ability to change the things around you.

But this is just what I think. How do you view control? By all means, leave a comment with your thoughts.

Sir's Random Dashes of Inspiration - Happiness

Happiness is an abstract concept. A lot of people (and I mean A LOT) have no idea what happiness is. I’m not saying those people aren’t bright, I’m just saying that they haven’t found something that manages to really make them enjoy something. Others have a wider conception of happiness, something more thoughtful.

The way I see it, happiness isn’t something you conceive in a moment and keep forever. A conception is shaped by the events that befall us in our lives, by the people we hang out with, by the way we think.

According to what I just said, I can’t really say I have a very good conception of happiness. I have wished for inaccessible things for too long and so I haven’t really jotted down a “real” conception of happiness in my mind yet… Thus, I don’t really know what makes me happy. You know, I’m not very picky or anything, it’s just I don’t really enjoy stuff like most people do. But that’s ok. Do you know why? Because even though there aren’t much things that do please me, there still are some.

Sure, you don’t get to do those things every day, but that’s a good thing, because if you did, you’d get bored pretty fast. You might not have a passion or any particular aim, so you might consider lazing off. Sure, lazing off can be relaxing and stuff, but it’s never satisfying. However, doing little things that bring you even a small level of fun can fill that time. Honestly, though, I hate not doing anything. Who doesn’t? And think of it this way : I'm probably the most pessimistic guy you will ever meet. So, what's holding you back?

But that’s not the point here.
You’ve probably read this and thought : Man, this guy can sure say a lot of stuff without really meaning anything.

And you’re right.

But, hey, don't tell me it didn't at least make you think for a little bit?
Anyways, to get to the point : Contempt is not a solution!
Find your inner awesomeness, enjoy it, let others enjoy it and spread the happiness.
If you don’t, the boogeyman will eat you in your sleep. :)