Check List

...

-become completely aware of how you spend your time
-become completely aware of how you would like to spend your time
-become completely aware of any goals you have (if you don’t have any, don’t worry)
-botch things that you aren’t proud of
-make sure you’re happy
-make sure you’re happy
-make sure you’re happy
-stay busy
-spend a lot of time with other people
-make time for yourself
-address your emotions but don’t get lost in them
-get lost in your passions but mind the list above
-make sure you’re happy
-if you’re lucky, sanity doesn’t matter, don’t sweat it. just mind the list above


Hope this helps,
Christian

PS- make sure you’re happy

PPS- make sure you can be happy being sad. that’s a lot of life too

Ground Control to Major Stick In The Mud

"We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for." -John Keating, Dead Poets Society

I'm always stumped when I meet someone who is completely obsessed with matters of fact. You know the type...no romantic bone in his body, all work and no play, never stopping to just breath and enjoy the aesthetic pleasures that life has to offer. This person might as well have been born senseless, because he damn well seems to waste them on rather menial affairs. Hellen Keller had seen more beauty in a day than a bloke like this will see in his whole life.

All work and no play makes Jack wonder why he's here. As a kid I imagined working every job. Every time a suspecting adult asked me what I'd like to be when I grew up, I'd give a new bizarre answer. As a matter of fact, I still do give a new answer every time the question is posed. I'm eager for all different kinds of work and for a bulk of it to be playful as well...so that this dull Jack doesn't have an existential fit.

My parents told me growing up that I had the capability to be anything I aspired to be...I wholeheartedly believed them and I'm extremely thankful for such an optimistic roof to have been raised under. I've seen other families that completely juxtapose the dynamic of mine as well...gone into survival mode...stressing their kids to the point of getting cookie cutting money making jobs for the purpose of providing for their future family (yet to even exist) with excess at whatever cost that may come to be, most likely their own attention I'll venture to guess.

I must continually come to touch with a reality that allows me to be a whole new level of intimate with my surroundings. If fresh eyes laid on this eager world is color, it is important for me not to let my world desaturate. The moment, my world starts to go gray...I must remind myself of the vastness of life and the perspectives I've likely not taken a look through yet; it's moments like that, which I am able to regain traction on a perfectly romantic outlook on my life.

Right now I really enjoy reading in my spare time. I love spending good time with my friends. I like laughing more than I think I ever have in my life. I'm becoming extremely fond of good surf. And I'm pretty sure that birds sing sweeter songs than they used to.

My soul in February of 2017 belonged not to my schedule, rather to the holes in my schedule.

The Last Moment is Increasingly Old

When the universe makes me feel minuscule, when all about my ego is deteriorating, it’s important to find humor in my awe, because that’s what I really am; I’m far more awed than I am scared. When lined up shoulder to shoulder with the universe at recess, it’s no doubt I will be picked last. However, it’s the moment that I realize that I have the opportunity to stand on the same line as the universe…in that moment a tide goosebumps sweep over my body and I am humbled beyond measure. In the moment of being so humbled, my eyesight would peer through what it was previously fixed on, all that was physically sharp goes out of focus and my sights peer through all until I feel like I’m looking into the very fabric of space and time.  In the moment of awe, all is hilarious; existentialism takes grip of my being and an ironic flood of purpose pumps through my veins.

I take a visit to the restroom and I look at myself in the mirror. In the mirror stands someone I’m not too particularly proud to associate myself with and I try to avoid eye contact. Eventually, our eyes meet and the whites of his are blood-red.

 I find amusement in the power I give to things that never asked for any power. I just handed myself over in trust that it had my best interest in mind, tangibly or intangibly. I decide that I should go off to my bed, where stress is immediately replaced with dreams of closure. I then give power to the actual physical nature of my body, the one that wants to repair my body and mind while my consciousness takes a break.

The next morning I roll out of bed into a new year.

The metaphysical is a witch, she gives us the confidence to pursue our future with whatever vigor we wish to put forth.  But we gave the metaphysical the power of confidence and that irony should not be put to bed without recognition. The worst days of my life were days that I went without seeing the big-picture-play-write that I was taking part in. I am Truman Burbank, and I think it’s important to see the humor in that. 

College: Not for Everyone

Every fall, tens of millions of young adults are rushed off to college to earn educations that are believed to vault them successfully into their next station in life. Many Americans hold the belief that college is a must and that they will not be a success unless they choose to go to university. The college craziness in America exemplifies the philosophy of life as a linear series of triumphs, unmarked by detours and failures. Though college is an excellent route, proven to catalyze careers, not everyone’s adult life necessitates the college experience. 

For many, college is the right route. A whole lot of people will not have trouble paying for college. A whole lot of people already know what they want to do for a living, and know that their future job requires a college degree. There are also many people who are able to afford college, but do not know exactly what they want to do with their life…for these people, college can be a great place for them to figure things out, while learning and gaining independent life experience at the same time. 

The most appropriate preface to our culture’s argument for college is stated well by William Zinsser, a master of Brandford College, Yale, “One of the few rights that America does not have is the right to fail” (449). Not having the right to fail showcases the track of obligation we must follow to please those around us; whether they be our friends we wish to keep up with and impress, or our families who are footing the bill, a college degree is hard to snuff our nose at.

A college degree is hard to snuff your nose at…unless you’ve paved your way to success without one. Those who don’t go to college or drop out somewhere along the line are often self-proclaimed failures; however, there are plenty of men and women who are marked successful, even without a degree in their hands. Cooking show host Rachel Ray, Microsoft CEO Bill Gates, Virgin Wireless/Galactic owner Richard Branson…these are all highly successful people who paved their way without an “earned” education. Without college, there are still plenty of ways to keep learning. Believe it or not, the same books that our professors makes us buy are still accessible to the rest of the world. Many used books sell on Amazon for as low of a rate as shipping and handling will cost. There are also websites that teach coding-for free! With just those two resources, it’s highly possible to become self-employed in 2016. College is not necessary for those whose careers do not require degrees. Many companies will hire young people who have experience with internships, apprenticeships, and vocational-technical certifications on their resumes. Many reputable certifications are offered at public community colleges and cost only a fraction of university earned education. Not all certifications even require courses to be paired with, in many cases students could learn on their own, through books or the internet and never have to step foot in a classroom until they are ready to prove themselves. An education does not have to be earned and a college degree does not have to be obtained by every man and woman who hopes to be labelled a success. Just like the job market has changed, so has our means of educating ourselves.

Even though the right path in college will lead many students to a future of job and financial security, college isn’t for everyone. Some will find a way past the system universities have stressed… and some rightly should. 

Work Cited

Kirszner, Laurie G., and Stephen R. Mandell. Patterns for College Writing: A Rhetorical Reader and Guide. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2012. Print.

There appears to be no light at the end of this tunnel. The path is clearly lit, but it leads to an abrupt stop. There are 441 planks of wood are laid out on this bridge for me to walk over; 441 planks and I do not know what lies past them. All I know is that I have 441 planks of order in my life before I come out the other side and entropy takes reign. The bridge is a lot like college.

Some people take the bridge and some people don’t. It’s not necessarily right or wrong to take the bridge versus walking through the swamp underneath. The bridge will cover me from the inevitable rainstorms. The bridge will lift me from the hungry and scared animals that have already claimed home below. The bridge is straight; if I follow the planks laid cross, I should very well get to the other side with dry socks and with no scratches of the flesh. I’ve already chosen to begin walking across the bridge. Yes, it’s firm and promising. However, I can’t help but wonder what it would have been like to take the swamp. When I make it out to the other side of this tunnel of lumber, I’ll see a world that I’ve never yet breathed from. 

Ironically, I will probably try doing the same thing when I cross this bridge as if I had taken the trek through the swamp, but I truly believe that taking the bridge will have made my endeavors easier. 

My soul is synonymous with my cerebral cortex...the thing that helps me weight my life decisions.

  

Mind the Middle

•   People who go skydiving will tell you that it wasn't all that scary. They just started really high up and gradually made their way to the ground. Sure, the difference was huge...but given the proper pace, it seemed completely manageable to their adrenaline-craving bodies.
    

    I've stood at heights that made my legs tingle; give 300 feet and I'd likely buckle a bit. I've sat in planes where I viewed those same heights with great condescension. And I ask myself where the thrill comes from?
    

    The thrill is in jumping from one place to another. Given any distance, that distance covered in pace is manageable. Jumping straight from A to B is what stresses the mind. When we try to simulate actualized potential energy, we often neglect to give proper attention to the middle stuff that marries cause and affect. The middle stuff is the now that so often isn't as bad as we once believed it was going to be.
    

    So enjoy the vertigo if that's your thing... But when you're done fooling yourself, mind the middle. Anything is achievable through the middle. 

   The truth is that long term things aren't all that exciting...as portrayed in media. The long term is full of moments that may or may not be exciting simply thanks to your heart rate or state of mind.
  

    We owe it to ourselves to recognize that moments are just a moments; the dopamine isn't there to stay forever...states of mind are fleeting.
  

    Visualization may be the most satisfying thing of all. Until all is actualized, try to live purposefully and be good to each other.✌🏼

College Drop Out

My soul belongs to what I owe my attention to. At the moment, I regretfully admit that I owe my soul to a body of people (once as naive as I) who wait to approve of me to the greater community. I'd like to not be answering to anybody else for the time that I'm already borrowing from this universe.

I'm already rolling in my grave.

Buy me a ticket. 

Give me a ride. 

Show me the exit to this sterile building. 

When I'm old, I'll have known I could have done it my way and I'll pout until nostalgia works her way in.  

I enjoy a purposeful foot forward. 

I'd hate to be a pillar of salt.

1

Welcome into a part of my mind that doesn't speak often enough.

We all feel like there's a gap somewhere in our lives; there's a place where our self-obsessed hobbies lack connection to our larger sand-sucking commitments. Somewhere along the synaptic highways our of bodies, a neuron misfires and we're left feeling just short of completion.

I close my eyes and I'm standing on the beach. The waves march into the shore and loyally crash onto the evolving ground under which my feet stay planted. I can never stand here for long until I grow restless. I either need to be walking North, South, or East...East is my most quiet option. When I walk east, the waves crash around my legs, until they take grip around my shoulders. When walking east, the sloshing of sea foam is replaced by the eternal noise of my body bobbing up and down with the swells that are traveling west. When I can no longer stand on the seabed is when I'm most relaxed and the world is at it's quietest.

Everything between myself and the horizon line has my full unwavering attention. Just over three-hundred million cubic kilometers of water waltzes in front of me...the cusp of the dance to my six. I remain fixated on the expansiveness of such a thing. I want to get lost out there. I want that deep blue sea to humble me. Rubber to damp tramp and I set sail for that esoteric inspiration that only the great universe can feed us.

Until I choose to introvert, this blog will be a catalog of my the journey that blends right into the next journey. There's no title page in life, no preface, no clean chapters, and no true afterward.

As the late Alan Watts would ask, "Remember what it was like before you were born?"...and we can't. Our perception of this life is rather gray. We don't remember the moment we became conscious beings. We don't know the moment we'll stop. I'm willing myself to balance todays as if there is and isn't tomorrows.

I will attempt to define the human spirit, the soul if you wish...as of now, it is our precious attention. Where I choose to look, what I choose to listen to, the things I spend time thinking on...they have my soul in the immediate. May Darwinian subjects sign deals with my soul.

I challenge myself to live a life of adventure.

From here on out, I will love and be scared of the future I enter.