Posts tagged life

Or the “I’m Getting My Life Together” Plan:

1. Life sucks balls sometimes, but that doesn’t mean it’s all over

2. Exercise! A healthy body is a happier body!

3. Chocolate is not a food group

4. I am not defined by grades or gpa. We can’t make it perfect every time.

5. Enjoy the moment, and make the best of a shitty situation

6. Laugh every day, and keep spirits up

7. You are your biggest problem, don’t blame anyone for your fuck-ups

8. Care less about what people and society think about you, and more about what you think of yourself

9. Stop waiting for life to happen

10. Make an adventure of your every day life, and you’ll find yourself much happier

11. Don’t sweat the small stuff

12. Fuck it, just be happy!!

                         Even my feet are feeling the zen vibes

What is my bed? Its wooden frame was derived from some tree thousands of miles away, no doubt. This structure, which supports me every day and every night, what is it? The tree it was made of was once alive: an organism that respires, breeds, grows, and adapts. Science says trees are living organisms—perhaps not like humans, but they are alive. If that is the case, am I lying, every night, on its corpse? Is this wooden frame the bones of a once living creature?

            If we cannot hear someone screaming, we assume it isn’t suffering. As a tree is cut, it does not scream and writhe in pain. When the sheep’s ears are cut, the shepherd says the sheep does not suffer. But what if it is in pain? What if silently all sorts of creatures are screaming in agony, and no one hears them?

My mom says that from the moment I was born, I was laughing—that’s apparently the first thing I did. And I always hear from adults that I was always laughing and smiling…I’ve been thinking about that…

Since my birthday is coming up next week and I’ll be turning twenty, I am realizing more and more that I am no longer a child. And as an adult, there are responsibilities that I acquire. But that also got me thinking about how the older I got, the less I laughed. High school, and middle school too, proved to be emotional challenges, and I got more self-conscious and I had those horrible teen years where most go through an identity crisis! It was, from what I recall, awful!!

And so I think about adults today, and they’re always worrying about everything: money, love, sex, work, success, their bodies and their looks, and all sorts of things! They’re always so stressed out and they have such a hard time enjoying the simple pleasures in life. But you see kids, and they don’t. They’re not worried being fat, or whether they have the best looking stuff. They just enjoy life so freely that it’s beautiful. And sometime when they get to elementary school or middle school, adults start telling them that life is though and things aren’t nice. And we start telling them to grow up and stop dreaming. But really, we just say that because we have stopped dreaming. After all, what’s so wrong with dreaming big, and laughing for nothing, or enjoying everything?

Just because we grow up doesn’t mean we have to stop living. We don’t become machines. Life is really quite simple, but we complicate things more and more the older we get. Maybe, along the way—while we are growing—we forget just how much we used to play, and laugh. I think that that’s all we need: a little more laugh and play (and not the: “let’s get drunk, have countless sex, and go crazy”). I mean, isn’t it better to keep that childish freedom? Can’t we grow up and have responsibilities, and at the same time be able to enjoy life freely?

As it turns out, I’ve had a headache for the past THREE days. THREE!! I was told it might have to do with my excessive use of the computer, my poor eyesight, and my use of contacts. There’s been a lot of: “Don’t use the computer for a couple days” and “Wear your glasses instead”, which has kept me from posting anything. But now that it is going down, I made sure to log back on…

Which makes me think: sure, there are a lot of problems associated with using electronics for too long, but as the world advances, electronics become a bigger part of our lives. Need to check the new? I log on to the internet. Emails? Internet. Music? Computer or iPod. Call someone? Cellphone. So many aspects of our lives are digital, that you wonder what would happen to us if we had to go without them—like when the power goes out, or when you travel to remote places.

Have we become too dependent on these virtual outlets? And if so, can we really do anything about it? In the end, no matter how much one might criticize media and technology, I think we’ve gone so far that there might not be a way to turn back. What do you think?

Because I spent all of high school playing the violin in the orchestra, most of my friends played some sort of instrument—whether it be string or band instrument (lots of clarinets). I enjoyed the violin only at the beginning, but towards the end my love for the instrument had drastically declined and I wasn’t quite as dedicated as someone who enjoyed it more.

A couple of the people that I knew—and on occasion hung out with—were the types that played several instruments (think: guitars and ukeleles at parties). They were nice people, of course, but when it came to talking music, it always felt like they thought themselves better than the less experienced. And when I started learning the guitar my senior year, I often felt myself belittled by the people who thought their skills were superior. I often think about the music world in this way. The people that finally reach a status of professional, or have simply practiced endlessly and the results show, become snobs toward the musically challenged. “Oh, you couldn’t have known, but that’s a B flat” or how about “You played it all wrong, let ME show you how it’s done” .

Of course, elitist behavior occurs in most societies, from scientists to artists, but I think we tend to forget that we all have to start from the beginning, and at that point we don’t really know much. Rather than making someone feel bad for not knowing a material (like those evil math teachers that make students feel like shit for not knowing something), isn’t it better to help and try teaching that person?