I love Colorado.
Pardon the nationalism, but is it not common to be proud of your home? Granted, not every person is fond of their environment, and not every environment is fond in general. But would you just take a look around here...towering mountains, vibrant skies, fresh air, nature in abundance...I'm incredibly lucky to say that I feel comfortable here. The people are more than often very friendly and hospitable, there is always something to do in every corner of the state, local traditions make up a majority of the rich culture that Colorado is known for, simultaneously too many and not enough great things to say about how entirely beautiful this state is. Over the years I have lived here, I can safely say that I possess a sense of belonging. I feel like I'm in good company there, too.
So why do people still want to leave?
The very same pleasures I find to boast about are another person's gripes about why they just can't stand living here, even coming from natives that have lived here their entire lives. Recently, it seems as if the point of blame is on the influx of foreigners from other states. Several Colorado cities consistently rank in the top 20 of many different national quality of living lists (Louisville seems to rank top 5 often, where Fort Collins and Colorado Springs have been named best city to live in for previous years). Obviously, there is something about Colorado that has families across the country making the trek. I must admit, I myself am technically a foreigner to the great state of Colorado. I moved away from California when I was about 10, and for nearly 10 years I have stayed. Reflecting upon this, it brought up a curious thought. I've lived almost as long in Colorado as I have in California. Although I can never change my nativity to California, if I have lived longer elsewhere, can I really call California my home? The dissonance is pretty strong there.
But what do you classify as home?
Well, why not start with the obvious? The first definition in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary for the word 'home' is, "the place (such as a house or apartment) where a person lives". A pretty literal definition by most people's standards, but a very valid response to the question at hand. But let's think more idiomatically. I've always preferred to clearly differentiate between the concepts of a home and the concepts of a house, as I feel the ideas involved with both divide into the literal and figurative meanings I mentioned before. So what would be the next definition? "The social unit formed by a family living together." We're getting a little closer to the core of classification: a unit that forms through interaction. A sense of belonging, safety, and security. 'Family' is a pretty broad term as it is, so we'll try to keep it that way to avoid rambling any further. As an alternative, the dictionary also lists home as, "a familiar or usual setting, congenial environment; also: the focus of one's domestic attention." This definition strays away a bit from the feeling of unity, choosing to define home in the physical setting rather than by the people in the setting. Home is where the heart is, as they say. We have a couple contrasting viewpoints here, both of which are very good answers to the question of how to classify someone's home.
But how can we say for certain which is the more fitting definition?
Therein lies the point I want to make. Where do I feel more at home at? I mean, I have worked so hard to make a new life for myself through every move, so it's easy to say I am most at home where I am right now. I'm comfortable where I am, living life in a beautiful place experiencing infinite new possibilities. That's what I feel home should be classified as: an experience, apart from a noun. Home is felt from the soul, the deepest parts of our being where we feel most at ease. This doesn't quite finish my point, however. Although this is my feeling of home, you may not agree with it. You may absolutely spite my definition of home. Perhaps you agree with it completely. Maybe you're somewhere in between. That's the beauty of human emotion! Every single experience is completely customized for our own pleasure and nobody else's. It's not often I commend human emotion for something positive. Home challenges us to ask ourselves, "is this where I belong?". A tad existential, but when we open our eyes and see the surroundings bring us joy, that is when we are home. To make a long story short, I can't tell you where your home is.
You'll just have to go and find it.
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Friday, September 11, 2015
Never Forget
9/11 was 14 years ago.
To some, it feels as if it was ages ago. Others, it feels like it was yesterday. It's definitely a landmark event in 21st century American history, probably one of the earliest landmarks to occur. An event that puts a lot of things about our lives into perspective. If you are like the majority of Americans who were witnesses to the most destructive act of domestic terrorism since another infamous date, you probably were not personally affected by it. I should qualify that word, personally, not in the sense that it did not evoke an emotional response out of you, but rather having been affected by the loss of a family member, someone close to you. There's definitely a large amount of people who were affected in this way, and that should be acknowledged and respected, but the fact of the matter is most if not all American's experiences with 9/11 were what I mentioned before, an emotional reaction. Anger, frustration, confusion, fear, sorrow, insecurity...and everything in between. 14 years later, the emotions have died down considerably since the day of, and instead I feel have mostly been replaced with the idea of unification, thankfulness, awareness of how precious our loved ones are. Even after so long, as they say, we still have not forgotten.
But will we?
It's almost a sacrilege thing to question, will we ever forget one of the most tragic events in our country's history? I should clarify first that it's not that we, as generations go by, want to forget about it. In fact, the images we can recall from that distant day show quite the opposite, we actually can't forget about it. What about those who can't recall? Last blog post, I talked a little bit about the classifications of generations as years progress. If you're born between 1980 and 1999, you're a part of Generation Y. In our current time frame, we are in Generation Z, those born at the turn of the millennium. But as this generation of early Zs (perhaps that's a bad classification...) starts to grow up, they have not developed with the same memories and feelings that we have experienced. This is a link to one of my favorite XKCD articles, detailing what year a majority of Americans will be too young to remember a particular event; landmark; or person in history, based on census population projections. If you're a younger reader, maybe younger than myself, the first several entries may hold zero significance to you. If you happen to be an older reader, you just got really sad. Sorry about that. If this doesn't put enough perspective on the issue, allow me to say that next year, the majority of high school freshman will have been born in a post-9/11 world.
They won't know anything about 9/11 apart from documentation.
I wouldn't say that it is our own forgetfulness having recollections of 9/11 that will cause us to forget. Really there's nothing we can do about the actual problem: generational replacement. I'm sure as a younger reader seeing the XKCD article, some of the future dates definitely grounded you back to Earth about the relative shortness of this concept of generational replacement. People knowing a world without Facebook will have been outnumbered by 2038. That's in 23 years. Seems like an unfathomably long time, but the scary reality is that it is much, much closer than we may think it is. Generational replacement is really interesting to contemplate, because it showcases an evolution in human mentality. Will not living with the memory of 9/11 perhaps cause future generations to be less spiteful? No one can say for sure. It's a waiting game at this point. But what I find even more interesting is the fate of the memories that we do forget. Memories that, at one point, had incredible emotional value to you, but for the life of you it just can't come back to you. These memories more often than not are much more personable than a historical event, pertaining specifically to our lives and how the course of those lives are changed in conjunction.
Yet we still forget.
I had a sudden rush of emotion yesterday from memories past. A one statement bomb that exploded my head into a mushroom cloud of different emotions and experiences. Nostalgia is the best way that I could put it. A longing for a better time. What could have been. Was it good? That's strangely a yes and no answer. It brought back memories that I knew I could never forget, but after thinking over all of these memories, I realized how much there was that I just simply didn't remember. Moments I said I would never forget. Things so close to me. Just...gone. Will they reappear? Maybe. But it's disheartening at the least to think about all of the times in our lives that were so incredible, so meaningful, and yet were erased by time. I feel guilty but there isn't a lot for me to be guilty of.
So what does any of this mean?
As we've learned in the case of both historical and life events, time gradually begins to wear away what we once thought was permanent. Unchanging. I think it's a surprise to us when those events actually do change in our perception, because we've told ourselves for so long that these memories are important; but when the wind of change blows in our direction and the sands of time are washed away by the waves of our conscious thought, the aftermath reveals that possibly these events weren't as important or impressionable as we once thought. And that's sad, involuntarily dumping memories to make room for new ones. But the silver lining is that the memories that do last a lifetime, the all encompassing experiences that perhaps you never thought would ever turn out to be so significant...they never go away; however, it's near impossible to distinguish what will be important to us in the future. So how do we handle that? Well, cherish what you've got. I feel like humanity is always so forward thinking, and with a relatively short life span it isn't hard to see the reasoning behind that. We're always moving on to what's next while we take for granted what we have now. Treat everything, every day, as a gift. It won't be there forever. The memories might not, either. I still wish I held it closer with me. But it's not a person's past that defines them. It's how they recover from their past. 14 years later, I'd say all of us have recovered in some way. Together.
Don't forget that.
To some, it feels as if it was ages ago. Others, it feels like it was yesterday. It's definitely a landmark event in 21st century American history, probably one of the earliest landmarks to occur. An event that puts a lot of things about our lives into perspective. If you are like the majority of Americans who were witnesses to the most destructive act of domestic terrorism since another infamous date, you probably were not personally affected by it. I should qualify that word, personally, not in the sense that it did not evoke an emotional response out of you, but rather having been affected by the loss of a family member, someone close to you. There's definitely a large amount of people who were affected in this way, and that should be acknowledged and respected, but the fact of the matter is most if not all American's experiences with 9/11 were what I mentioned before, an emotional reaction. Anger, frustration, confusion, fear, sorrow, insecurity...and everything in between. 14 years later, the emotions have died down considerably since the day of, and instead I feel have mostly been replaced with the idea of unification, thankfulness, awareness of how precious our loved ones are. Even after so long, as they say, we still have not forgotten.
But will we?
It's almost a sacrilege thing to question, will we ever forget one of the most tragic events in our country's history? I should clarify first that it's not that we, as generations go by, want to forget about it. In fact, the images we can recall from that distant day show quite the opposite, we actually can't forget about it. What about those who can't recall? Last blog post, I talked a little bit about the classifications of generations as years progress. If you're born between 1980 and 1999, you're a part of Generation Y. In our current time frame, we are in Generation Z, those born at the turn of the millennium. But as this generation of early Zs (perhaps that's a bad classification...) starts to grow up, they have not developed with the same memories and feelings that we have experienced. This is a link to one of my favorite XKCD articles, detailing what year a majority of Americans will be too young to remember a particular event; landmark; or person in history, based on census population projections. If you're a younger reader, maybe younger than myself, the first several entries may hold zero significance to you. If you happen to be an older reader, you just got really sad. Sorry about that. If this doesn't put enough perspective on the issue, allow me to say that next year, the majority of high school freshman will have been born in a post-9/11 world.
They won't know anything about 9/11 apart from documentation.
I wouldn't say that it is our own forgetfulness having recollections of 9/11 that will cause us to forget. Really there's nothing we can do about the actual problem: generational replacement. I'm sure as a younger reader seeing the XKCD article, some of the future dates definitely grounded you back to Earth about the relative shortness of this concept of generational replacement. People knowing a world without Facebook will have been outnumbered by 2038. That's in 23 years. Seems like an unfathomably long time, but the scary reality is that it is much, much closer than we may think it is. Generational replacement is really interesting to contemplate, because it showcases an evolution in human mentality. Will not living with the memory of 9/11 perhaps cause future generations to be less spiteful? No one can say for sure. It's a waiting game at this point. But what I find even more interesting is the fate of the memories that we do forget. Memories that, at one point, had incredible emotional value to you, but for the life of you it just can't come back to you. These memories more often than not are much more personable than a historical event, pertaining specifically to our lives and how the course of those lives are changed in conjunction.
Yet we still forget.
I had a sudden rush of emotion yesterday from memories past. A one statement bomb that exploded my head into a mushroom cloud of different emotions and experiences. Nostalgia is the best way that I could put it. A longing for a better time. What could have been. Was it good? That's strangely a yes and no answer. It brought back memories that I knew I could never forget, but after thinking over all of these memories, I realized how much there was that I just simply didn't remember. Moments I said I would never forget. Things so close to me. Just...gone. Will they reappear? Maybe. But it's disheartening at the least to think about all of the times in our lives that were so incredible, so meaningful, and yet were erased by time. I feel guilty but there isn't a lot for me to be guilty of.
So what does any of this mean?
As we've learned in the case of both historical and life events, time gradually begins to wear away what we once thought was permanent. Unchanging. I think it's a surprise to us when those events actually do change in our perception, because we've told ourselves for so long that these memories are important; but when the wind of change blows in our direction and the sands of time are washed away by the waves of our conscious thought, the aftermath reveals that possibly these events weren't as important or impressionable as we once thought. And that's sad, involuntarily dumping memories to make room for new ones. But the silver lining is that the memories that do last a lifetime, the all encompassing experiences that perhaps you never thought would ever turn out to be so significant...they never go away; however, it's near impossible to distinguish what will be important to us in the future. So how do we handle that? Well, cherish what you've got. I feel like humanity is always so forward thinking, and with a relatively short life span it isn't hard to see the reasoning behind that. We're always moving on to what's next while we take for granted what we have now. Treat everything, every day, as a gift. It won't be there forever. The memories might not, either. I still wish I held it closer with me. But it's not a person's past that defines them. It's how they recover from their past. 14 years later, I'd say all of us have recovered in some way. Together.
Don't forget that.
Monday, July 06, 2015
Generation Y
Man, what a time to get back into blogging.
How much has happened in the last few months of absence? Reflecting upon it, the world just seems so different now. What was forgotten over these last few months? We had a few mass shootings in places that we previously thought we were always safe in. More spotlight on the dozens of cases of warfare between law enforcement and citizens that have always existed. Racial tension arguably has risen to near levels that haven't been seen since the 1960's. Add in a sprinkle of controversy in our government decisions in which divides the people politically, religiously, and morally, and you've got yourself one heaping United States sandwich! God bless America, everyone. Truly the land of equal opportunity. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't mean to antagonize this country, or really the majority of the people in it. Instead, I do want to talk about what is born from either extreme of the equation:
The vocal minority.
It's a great way to get an entire demographic of people and ideas blanketed by an ugly, tattered, disgusting quilt that we call assumption. One person's actions or opinions portrays a very visual and prevalent image of an entire group. Should it be that way? Favorably no, but we all know we do it anyways. It is simply in our nature that if we disagree with someone or something important to our morals, we tend to be less fond or it. Disagreement, however, is not necessarily a negative thing in all cases. A disagreement can lead to thoughtful discussion and argumentation, sometimes birthing a new outlook and state of mind over a topic. This is incredibly important in the progression of new ideas and concepts.
What I've come to talk about is the opposite.
I always hate this kind of discord in the country. Let's think of all the buzzwords, the hot topics that are testing the political activism of social media users everywhere. Gay marriage is legal now. Racial tension has led to discussion about imagery in the Confederate Flag (or, to be PC, the Battle Flag of the Army of North Virginia) and its representation. Gun control increase has been a consideration as well as a fear for owners and non-owners alike due to increased violence involving guns. And that's just what I scrolled through on Facebook now. Opinions are wonderful, but the negative repercussions are in that vocal minority mentioned that simply spew their beliefs all over like a wet tissue for no other reason than the sake of argument, or the sake of validity. I just got done reading an article over drugs where the comments were divided heavily over statements made. Some of the language being thrown around their to opposing sides, to people who differed in opinion, was just...revolting, to say the least. Many of these comments were being made by a more adult audience, nonetheless. These ideas being spread on both ends of the spectrum, each extreme, both reaching a wide audience.
So how much longer is that hate going to last?
The idea that we need to not like, not talk to, or be aggressive towards those with a dissenting opinion...will the future generations of these people who slander these awful fundamentals act just the same? Have our parents and elders fed us the toxin of hatred simply because of what a person believes is right or wrong? A lot of questions flying around here. Arguably, you can say this principle has taken place since the dawn of time. Religious tension has been responsible for violence and war far before our time. To see this principle in action over the course of thousands of years only strengthens the idea that disagreement is just in our bones. To fight for what is right. Which, of course, is good for your morals and what you believe in. But I feel something is different about this generation you and I live in. My generation. You may be familiar with Generation X -- your parents, probably. If you were born between 1960 and 1980, you're a member of GenX. Congratulations! Definitely quite an eventful time to be growing up around, for sure. Currently our world is run under most of GenX, with a good handful from the previous generation as well. But my question for our generation -- Generation Y -- lies within itself.
Why?
What is so different, so special about our generation that grants us the very high possibility to eliminate the hatred of one's personhood simply for who they are? Well, that question is a lot easier to answer than the question of when the hatred will stop. It probably never will completely stop. Such is the nature of humanity. But Generation Y seems to be indoctrinated with a belief that seems different from most generations. Tolerance. I look around the people my age, their beliefs and values and morals and how they just generally feel towards other human beings. As the last of our generation fizzles into adulthood (everyone in Gen Y will be 18 in just under 3 and a half years), we seem to embrace the more nourishing and accepting type of personalities. Inclusion. Learning to accept people not for the things they believe in, but for the quality of their character. That just doesn't seem to resonate too heavily with adults nowadays. But this generation...such an innocent twinkle in the eyes of those who simply wanted better for their future generations. A generation that now has the maturity and self-independence to finally be asking themselves the question: why should I spread hate because I disagree with them?
Right now I think we could all ask ourselves that.
How much has happened in the last few months of absence? Reflecting upon it, the world just seems so different now. What was forgotten over these last few months? We had a few mass shootings in places that we previously thought we were always safe in. More spotlight on the dozens of cases of warfare between law enforcement and citizens that have always existed. Racial tension arguably has risen to near levels that haven't been seen since the 1960's. Add in a sprinkle of controversy in our government decisions in which divides the people politically, religiously, and morally, and you've got yourself one heaping United States sandwich! God bless America, everyone. Truly the land of equal opportunity. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't mean to antagonize this country, or really the majority of the people in it. Instead, I do want to talk about what is born from either extreme of the equation:
The vocal minority.
It's a great way to get an entire demographic of people and ideas blanketed by an ugly, tattered, disgusting quilt that we call assumption. One person's actions or opinions portrays a very visual and prevalent image of an entire group. Should it be that way? Favorably no, but we all know we do it anyways. It is simply in our nature that if we disagree with someone or something important to our morals, we tend to be less fond or it. Disagreement, however, is not necessarily a negative thing in all cases. A disagreement can lead to thoughtful discussion and argumentation, sometimes birthing a new outlook and state of mind over a topic. This is incredibly important in the progression of new ideas and concepts.
What I've come to talk about is the opposite.
I always hate this kind of discord in the country. Let's think of all the buzzwords, the hot topics that are testing the political activism of social media users everywhere. Gay marriage is legal now. Racial tension has led to discussion about imagery in the Confederate Flag (or, to be PC, the Battle Flag of the Army of North Virginia) and its representation. Gun control increase has been a consideration as well as a fear for owners and non-owners alike due to increased violence involving guns. And that's just what I scrolled through on Facebook now. Opinions are wonderful, but the negative repercussions are in that vocal minority mentioned that simply spew their beliefs all over like a wet tissue for no other reason than the sake of argument, or the sake of validity. I just got done reading an article over drugs where the comments were divided heavily over statements made. Some of the language being thrown around their to opposing sides, to people who differed in opinion, was just...revolting, to say the least. Many of these comments were being made by a more adult audience, nonetheless. These ideas being spread on both ends of the spectrum, each extreme, both reaching a wide audience.
So how much longer is that hate going to last?
The idea that we need to not like, not talk to, or be aggressive towards those with a dissenting opinion...will the future generations of these people who slander these awful fundamentals act just the same? Have our parents and elders fed us the toxin of hatred simply because of what a person believes is right or wrong? A lot of questions flying around here. Arguably, you can say this principle has taken place since the dawn of time. Religious tension has been responsible for violence and war far before our time. To see this principle in action over the course of thousands of years only strengthens the idea that disagreement is just in our bones. To fight for what is right. Which, of course, is good for your morals and what you believe in. But I feel something is different about this generation you and I live in. My generation. You may be familiar with Generation X -- your parents, probably. If you were born between 1960 and 1980, you're a member of GenX. Congratulations! Definitely quite an eventful time to be growing up around, for sure. Currently our world is run under most of GenX, with a good handful from the previous generation as well. But my question for our generation -- Generation Y -- lies within itself.
Why?
What is so different, so special about our generation that grants us the very high possibility to eliminate the hatred of one's personhood simply for who they are? Well, that question is a lot easier to answer than the question of when the hatred will stop. It probably never will completely stop. Such is the nature of humanity. But Generation Y seems to be indoctrinated with a belief that seems different from most generations. Tolerance. I look around the people my age, their beliefs and values and morals and how they just generally feel towards other human beings. As the last of our generation fizzles into adulthood (everyone in Gen Y will be 18 in just under 3 and a half years), we seem to embrace the more nourishing and accepting type of personalities. Inclusion. Learning to accept people not for the things they believe in, but for the quality of their character. That just doesn't seem to resonate too heavily with adults nowadays. But this generation...such an innocent twinkle in the eyes of those who simply wanted better for their future generations. A generation that now has the maturity and self-independence to finally be asking themselves the question: why should I spread hate because I disagree with them?
Right now I think we could all ask ourselves that.
Thursday, January 22, 2015
Music to Live By
Has anyone ever not liked music?
Of course there are certain types of music that people prefer less than others. There are even genres of music that people outright refuse to listen to. But I'm looking more generally. Has there ever been someone who just didn't like the sounds of music? In order to answer that question, we need to look at the side of society who simply are limited in their scopes of music. I've had conversations with people who say they just don't really listen to music, whether it be based off of a lifestyle choice or perhaps because they simply don't get any time to sit down and listen to anything. Any of such excuses are acceptable. It's understandable why music might not be able to reach some of the masses, but let's look at the sample space of the majority who have the opportunity (or the gift rather) of listening to music. I've never heard of anyone that listened to music and never did again because they didn't like it. It just doesn't happen.
But why?
Music is, first and foremost, a convention of art. Just as books express magical worlds unknown to reality and paintings convey images from the artist's thoughts, music is active poetry, culminating instruments and vocalization and literature into a harmonious blend of different tones, sounds, and emotions. And we, the audience, are the instruments of this blend, the recipients of the carefully constructed art form presented even in a physical manner. Perhaps the greatest part of receiving this art form? There are so many different types of music, genres, instruments, moods, infinite possibilities to attribute to every personality, even the most stubborn. Appreciation through audio, just as culinary art requires appreciation through taste. Truly, music is the most unique form of art.
Which is why you should check this out.
So yeah, this entire blog is actually just a cleverly disguised advertisement for a Tumblr blog that I just started. But hey, it was an alright post, right? I started the blog to post a whole bunch of different songs, from the modern to the classic to even the baroque, heavy metal and post-disco and new wave, anything and everything to give a variety of music to people looking to discover something new. Perhaps you'll find your new favorite band, or maybe a song that won't get out of your head for the next few days, but what I started this out to do was to share my love and appreciation of this unique art form. Hopefully you can appreciate this gallery just as much as I do.
Enjoy!
Of course there are certain types of music that people prefer less than others. There are even genres of music that people outright refuse to listen to. But I'm looking more generally. Has there ever been someone who just didn't like the sounds of music? In order to answer that question, we need to look at the side of society who simply are limited in their scopes of music. I've had conversations with people who say they just don't really listen to music, whether it be based off of a lifestyle choice or perhaps because they simply don't get any time to sit down and listen to anything. Any of such excuses are acceptable. It's understandable why music might not be able to reach some of the masses, but let's look at the sample space of the majority who have the opportunity (or the gift rather) of listening to music. I've never heard of anyone that listened to music and never did again because they didn't like it. It just doesn't happen.
But why?
Music is, first and foremost, a convention of art. Just as books express magical worlds unknown to reality and paintings convey images from the artist's thoughts, music is active poetry, culminating instruments and vocalization and literature into a harmonious blend of different tones, sounds, and emotions. And we, the audience, are the instruments of this blend, the recipients of the carefully constructed art form presented even in a physical manner. Perhaps the greatest part of receiving this art form? There are so many different types of music, genres, instruments, moods, infinite possibilities to attribute to every personality, even the most stubborn. Appreciation through audio, just as culinary art requires appreciation through taste. Truly, music is the most unique form of art.
Which is why you should check this out.
So yeah, this entire blog is actually just a cleverly disguised advertisement for a Tumblr blog that I just started. But hey, it was an alright post, right? I started the blog to post a whole bunch of different songs, from the modern to the classic to even the baroque, heavy metal and post-disco and new wave, anything and everything to give a variety of music to people looking to discover something new. Perhaps you'll find your new favorite band, or maybe a song that won't get out of your head for the next few days, but what I started this out to do was to share my love and appreciation of this unique art form. Hopefully you can appreciate this gallery just as much as I do.
Enjoy!
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Next
What will you do next?
Great. What will you do after that? Fantastic! What about after that? Alright. How about after that? We could play this game all day. So let's do it. Obviously, we could choreograph every last one of our actions to reflect the actions that we have in mind. We are the controllers of our own fate. But when does that control suddenly shift gears, and we become passengers beholding our own fate? If we were to plan every action of, say, a given day, so as to be able to predict every event that takes place in that day, how accurate would our predictions be? Well, the truth of the matter is that life is so complex and intricate, there could be no way we could expect to know every event that would take place in a 24 hour period. The random variables that may encroach our plans, the people we happen to run into, the improvised events that detour the path ahead; all of which prohibit accurate predictability. But what decides what those prohibitions may be?
What ends up deciding the unpredictable?
This question, although simple in premise, brings forth a divide in philosophy that to some invokes strong feelings. By the nature of the word 'unpredictable', there is no way to predict what will happen. Every day we wake up blind to the events that are to come, from the trivially minuscule to even the most grand of events in some cases. But are we enabling a self-intrinsic bias to believe that simply because we can not predict the outcome of an event, there are not others who can predict our fate? Our own fate. Predestination. Have our lives already been laid out for us? Is every single action, from the routine to the unpredictable, not an act of chance but a carefully determined, algorithmic process that all happens for a reason?
Woah. We're getting pretty philosophical here.
So what does all of this mean for us? What does it matter whether our lives are constantly creating new events to experience or that every action, from our past to our present to every event in our future, has already been decided for us? The importance lies not within what side we have taken, but rather the fact that we have the ability to question the future. As before mentioned, there are those who have devoted their entire lives to the quest of discovering where they have come from. I also mentioned last week the topic of scrutinizing the unknown. This is exactly what the meticulous act of determining our future does. Time devoted to something that should, more or less, be unknown. I'm sure we've all been asked the hypothetical question "if you could know what date you would die, would you?" Well, my question is why would you want to? Having such knowledge merely trivializes the events and the days that are in between now and your death. Whereas, life is this extraordinary entity of unknowns and variables, where not only is the negative contained but also the most positive experiences that life has yet to expose to us. So why wait for what's next?
Make it happen.
Great. What will you do after that? Fantastic! What about after that? Alright. How about after that? We could play this game all day. So let's do it. Obviously, we could choreograph every last one of our actions to reflect the actions that we have in mind. We are the controllers of our own fate. But when does that control suddenly shift gears, and we become passengers beholding our own fate? If we were to plan every action of, say, a given day, so as to be able to predict every event that takes place in that day, how accurate would our predictions be? Well, the truth of the matter is that life is so complex and intricate, there could be no way we could expect to know every event that would take place in a 24 hour period. The random variables that may encroach our plans, the people we happen to run into, the improvised events that detour the path ahead; all of which prohibit accurate predictability. But what decides what those prohibitions may be?
What ends up deciding the unpredictable?
This question, although simple in premise, brings forth a divide in philosophy that to some invokes strong feelings. By the nature of the word 'unpredictable', there is no way to predict what will happen. Every day we wake up blind to the events that are to come, from the trivially minuscule to even the most grand of events in some cases. But are we enabling a self-intrinsic bias to believe that simply because we can not predict the outcome of an event, there are not others who can predict our fate? Our own fate. Predestination. Have our lives already been laid out for us? Is every single action, from the routine to the unpredictable, not an act of chance but a carefully determined, algorithmic process that all happens for a reason?
Woah. We're getting pretty philosophical here.
So what does all of this mean for us? What does it matter whether our lives are constantly creating new events to experience or that every action, from our past to our present to every event in our future, has already been decided for us? The importance lies not within what side we have taken, but rather the fact that we have the ability to question the future. As before mentioned, there are those who have devoted their entire lives to the quest of discovering where they have come from. I also mentioned last week the topic of scrutinizing the unknown. This is exactly what the meticulous act of determining our future does. Time devoted to something that should, more or less, be unknown. I'm sure we've all been asked the hypothetical question "if you could know what date you would die, would you?" Well, my question is why would you want to? Having such knowledge merely trivializes the events and the days that are in between now and your death. Whereas, life is this extraordinary entity of unknowns and variables, where not only is the negative contained but also the most positive experiences that life has yet to expose to us. So why wait for what's next?
Make it happen.
Thursday, January 08, 2015
Unexpected
So this is the future.
2015. Hoverboards. Advanced architecture. Self-lacing shoes. The moment we've all been waiting for. And...well, it's not. In fact, it's pretty far from that. Granted, it's only been just over a week in to the new year. A year that, quite frankly, crept up faster than I would have ever expected. Perhaps what strikes me even harder is the amount of growth that has come through in just a year. Only last year was I beginning to take my first steps towards being done with high school. Fast forward and now I'm 6 months into adulthood. Full time job and looking for a place of my own to live. That's...not really something that I ever really envisioned myself being anywhere in the near future, and yet...it's already here. 2015. A fresh start. Time to get all of my ducks in a row and pursue what I will ultimately end up spending the rest of my life doing.
At least, in theory.
What a concept. 18 years old and I'm already being pushed to make decisions that will affect the 50+ years to come. Pretty high expectations if you ask me. Not necessarily expectations I would have put on myself, but expectations nonetheless. But...whose expectations are they? What looming chart of successes and failures is held over our heads to feel that pressure to do the things we are forced to do so early in life? Are we simply characters within the choose-your-own-adventure book, or is our plot already written? Well, really our own decisions are exactly that - our own. We can't necessarily blame the outside factors associated with decision making. These derive from our own judgement. If only it were as easy to flip through the pages to find the best outcome and our happily ever after.
But does any of that even matter?
Why stress so much importance on the meticulous and often mundane decisions that form the lives we live? Obviously a reckless mindset isn't the most suitable one for our well being. However, every single day, people like you and me spend so much time worrying about the decisions that we make or the decisions that we will make. This even affects us to the point where we are affected by other's decisions. We live in a world centralized around the concept of choice. Merely a toss of the dice in some cases. So much so that we fear what is to come that we don't even need to make decisions about. A constant stress. Is it worth it?
Then why live a life that is based around this mentality?
2014 taught me something no other year has yet to teach me. A decision does not have to make or break your world. In fact, it shouldn't. Nor should that of anyone else's. I spent a very fair portion of the end of the year conflicted between mine and other's choices. Tested friendships and morals. And, y'know, it is really, really tough. To know that those you care about, those who you would do anything for...there is no decision you can make to save them. But does that mean this story line has concluded? Maybe it's about time to write our own books. Our future has not even begun the first draft of what our biographies will become. Expectations will change, just as they have from years ago. The expectations from 30 years ago of 2015 certainly did not meet with what they have become, but does that make the world any less incredible? No. So why do the same to yourself? Break the bounds of expectation.
Here's to an unexpected 2015.
2015. Hoverboards. Advanced architecture. Self-lacing shoes. The moment we've all been waiting for. And...well, it's not. In fact, it's pretty far from that. Granted, it's only been just over a week in to the new year. A year that, quite frankly, crept up faster than I would have ever expected. Perhaps what strikes me even harder is the amount of growth that has come through in just a year. Only last year was I beginning to take my first steps towards being done with high school. Fast forward and now I'm 6 months into adulthood. Full time job and looking for a place of my own to live. That's...not really something that I ever really envisioned myself being anywhere in the near future, and yet...it's already here. 2015. A fresh start. Time to get all of my ducks in a row and pursue what I will ultimately end up spending the rest of my life doing.
At least, in theory.
What a concept. 18 years old and I'm already being pushed to make decisions that will affect the 50+ years to come. Pretty high expectations if you ask me. Not necessarily expectations I would have put on myself, but expectations nonetheless. But...whose expectations are they? What looming chart of successes and failures is held over our heads to feel that pressure to do the things we are forced to do so early in life? Are we simply characters within the choose-your-own-adventure book, or is our plot already written? Well, really our own decisions are exactly that - our own. We can't necessarily blame the outside factors associated with decision making. These derive from our own judgement. If only it were as easy to flip through the pages to find the best outcome and our happily ever after.
But does any of that even matter?
Why stress so much importance on the meticulous and often mundane decisions that form the lives we live? Obviously a reckless mindset isn't the most suitable one for our well being. However, every single day, people like you and me spend so much time worrying about the decisions that we make or the decisions that we will make. This even affects us to the point where we are affected by other's decisions. We live in a world centralized around the concept of choice. Merely a toss of the dice in some cases. So much so that we fear what is to come that we don't even need to make decisions about. A constant stress. Is it worth it?
Then why live a life that is based around this mentality?
2014 taught me something no other year has yet to teach me. A decision does not have to make or break your world. In fact, it shouldn't. Nor should that of anyone else's. I spent a very fair portion of the end of the year conflicted between mine and other's choices. Tested friendships and morals. And, y'know, it is really, really tough. To know that those you care about, those who you would do anything for...there is no decision you can make to save them. But does that mean this story line has concluded? Maybe it's about time to write our own books. Our future has not even begun the first draft of what our biographies will become. Expectations will change, just as they have from years ago. The expectations from 30 years ago of 2015 certainly did not meet with what they have become, but does that make the world any less incredible? No. So why do the same to yourself? Break the bounds of expectation.
Here's to an unexpected 2015.
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