I started this blog not knowing what I wanted to say. After all, I just pumped out a tantalizing tid-bit a few days before and here I am foolishly attempting to once again be clever and pensive enough to catch your attention and perhaps, if I play my cards right, you will come back a little more clever and pensive than you were before reading these ramblings. The theme for this evening is friendship. Which, I assure you, I will not do justice because friends, are the people who get to have all of you.
They get the good, the bad, and the horrendously ugly. They've seen every emotion your body can pump out and God bless mine for still sticking around for my demonically possessed menagerie of human expression. But that's the great thing about friends, about real true life-changing friends, they stick around. They don't just pass on through your life only staying for a season, they set up a bomb shelter with enough Vienna sausages to feed an African village and hunker down for the long haul. They get out their dancin shoes when the gettin is good, and pull out the ice cream and man-hatin attire when everything has gone to hell. Well, at least that's what my friends do. If you're a boy reading this, maybe your friends get you really drunk and hire you a stripper. Whatever it is, you get the oh so cliched point: friends are there for all the curve balls life has to dish out.
I guess what I'm trying to say is this: if life is short and it is supposed to be what we make it, do yourself a favor, stop worrying about winning every popularity contest you can think of, dumb the drama queens, and spend the rest of your days with people who truly love and care about you. Spend them with the people who have all of you and love every part of it, even when your head spins around and you spew green goo.:)
Showing posts with label philosophy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label philosophy. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
I should just pay you to teach me how to dougie
I didn't realize that college was a euphemism for: more pointless classes. Except this time, you have to pay for them.
In high school, I can remember wondering why I had to take pointless classes in so many subjects that I was never going to use in my adult life. Granted, I enjoyed some of them, but let's be honest with ourselves, not one of my future employers are going to ask me to name all of the major rivers in America and demand I draw them on a map to prove that I indeed the best gal for the job.
Yet, these are the tests that I had to study for my Junior year of high school.
But, I muddled through. I pushed, I stressed, I succeeded, I failed, I toiled, I squeaked by, I managed, I survived four years in a cell block prison, following the man's rules and learning what I could from the few exceptional teachers I did have. Mentally rolling my eyes at the one's that didn't want to be there any more than I did, all so I would be rewarded. So I could finally go to college, a place where I was sure I would finally find the intellectual stimulation I have always craved. A place where I could study what I wanted and leave the nonsensical hullabaloo behind.
What a red herring.
Since arriving to my location of higher education, I find myself slipping into the same vicious cycle of mundane, inane, shenanigans. I have to pay for, and take, classes I don't care about. Classes that will never help me get into law school or onto capitol hill. Classes in which I have to do assignments that no one will even grade. Classes that require ridiculously long papers that my professors don't want to read. Papers, that are graded more on how much I agree with my instructor or how many complex sentences I use,rather than my actual grasp of the concepts presented in class. And when I'm sitting in a lecture, asking questions, trying to start discussion, really trying to dig into a concept; I'm more or less brushed off and politely told that I have no idea what I'm talking about because I do not have a PHD. Honestly, I've just had enough.
In this country we push education. We demand everyone go to school until the age of 16 and if you drop-out, you're considered a social deviant that will never amount to anything. We cut arts funding and stifle creativity. We discontinue vocational training, forcing potential electricians and mechanics to wither away in science class, coloring diagrams of cells, wishing they were anywhere else. We create tests to measure progress and find fault, when they really prove neither. We demand that kids become "well rounded", that they break there necks doing hundreds of things they really don't want to do to get to college only to do it all over again and graduate feeling like they still haven't learned anything useful. Still lost. Still wanting to know what they should be when they grow up.
Why is that? Why do we stop discussions in classrooms before they even start? Why do we force kids to take classes they don't want? Why do we teach everything for a test that won't matter when the bills need to be paid and the rent is due? Really, I don't think anyone could give me a satisfactory answer, but here's my suggestion:
Let people learn how to think, not what to think. Let artsy kids create. Give mechanically minded kids an outlet. Put the tests away and connect with a classroom. Indulge kids, let them learn what they want, let them get really good at one thing instead of expecting them to be good in a thousand things that don't really interest them anyway.
In the eternal words of the Beatles - Let it be. Life is too short to waste with all of this bureaucratic red-tape. It's time we started cultivating minds that are content and confident in their abilities. Not hazy mounds of grey matter jam packed with needless information that will just get data dumped to make room for the topics on the next exam.
In high school, I can remember wondering why I had to take pointless classes in so many subjects that I was never going to use in my adult life. Granted, I enjoyed some of them, but let's be honest with ourselves, not one of my future employers are going to ask me to name all of the major rivers in America and demand I draw them on a map to prove that I indeed the best gal for the job.
Yet, these are the tests that I had to study for my Junior year of high school.
But, I muddled through. I pushed, I stressed, I succeeded, I failed, I toiled, I squeaked by, I managed, I survived four years in a cell block prison, following the man's rules and learning what I could from the few exceptional teachers I did have. Mentally rolling my eyes at the one's that didn't want to be there any more than I did, all so I would be rewarded. So I could finally go to college, a place where I was sure I would finally find the intellectual stimulation I have always craved. A place where I could study what I wanted and leave the nonsensical hullabaloo behind.
What a red herring.
Since arriving to my location of higher education, I find myself slipping into the same vicious cycle of mundane, inane, shenanigans. I have to pay for, and take, classes I don't care about. Classes that will never help me get into law school or onto capitol hill. Classes in which I have to do assignments that no one will even grade. Classes that require ridiculously long papers that my professors don't want to read. Papers, that are graded more on how much I agree with my instructor or how many complex sentences I use,rather than my actual grasp of the concepts presented in class. And when I'm sitting in a lecture, asking questions, trying to start discussion, really trying to dig into a concept; I'm more or less brushed off and politely told that I have no idea what I'm talking about because I do not have a PHD. Honestly, I've just had enough.
In this country we push education. We demand everyone go to school until the age of 16 and if you drop-out, you're considered a social deviant that will never amount to anything. We cut arts funding and stifle creativity. We discontinue vocational training, forcing potential electricians and mechanics to wither away in science class, coloring diagrams of cells, wishing they were anywhere else. We create tests to measure progress and find fault, when they really prove neither. We demand that kids become "well rounded", that they break there necks doing hundreds of things they really don't want to do to get to college only to do it all over again and graduate feeling like they still haven't learned anything useful. Still lost. Still wanting to know what they should be when they grow up.
Why is that? Why do we stop discussions in classrooms before they even start? Why do we force kids to take classes they don't want? Why do we teach everything for a test that won't matter when the bills need to be paid and the rent is due? Really, I don't think anyone could give me a satisfactory answer, but here's my suggestion:
Let people learn how to think, not what to think. Let artsy kids create. Give mechanically minded kids an outlet. Put the tests away and connect with a classroom. Indulge kids, let them learn what they want, let them get really good at one thing instead of expecting them to be good in a thousand things that don't really interest them anyway.
In the eternal words of the Beatles - Let it be. Life is too short to waste with all of this bureaucratic red-tape. It's time we started cultivating minds that are content and confident in their abilities. Not hazy mounds of grey matter jam packed with needless information that will just get data dumped to make room for the topics on the next exam.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
A Dream is a Wish your Heart Makes
It is 3:00 in the morning and I'm trying to think of extremely intelligent and witty things to say to the hundreds of people who have been reading my blog. It tickles me positively pink that you're all out there, curious tourists visiting the ruins of my mind, wearing socks with your sandals and ridiculous hats made of straw that you will never wear again after the trip is over. It will however, sit in the back of your closet collecting dust next to fur coat you inherited from your great aunt Eunice but can't actually wear because the world will call you a murderer even though you don't own a club and have never been within bludgeoning distance of a baby seal. But the truth is, it's way to early in the morning to be clever so I'm just going to stop trying so hard and come out with it- I really don't think we should have to grow up.
Little kids dream. They dream all the time without boundaries. They may not be able to read, or write, or color between the lines, but by Golly they are going to grow up and become an Astronaut if it kills them. And the great thing is, they don't stop dreaming. They don't stop dreaming until they graduate from college and suddenly, even though they can read, and write, and even color between the lines, they're not smart enough to become an Astronaut. Not even with an engineering degree from the best school in the world....
Why? Why do we do this to ourselves? Why do we throw away our dreams when we get older or eventually refuse to dream at all? Why do we let ourselves slip into the mundane rat race of life after working so hard to make the little kid inside of us proud?
I've heard people say that they let their dreams die because they got new dreams. Dreams of picket fences and baby carriages, and as long as they're happy, I don't see the problem. After all, I've known people that all they've ever wanted to do was become a parent, but what about everyone else who fell into a cold hard reality by default. Those who were told, or imagined, that their dreams were just too big, that they should set the bar a little lower because otherwise, they'll just be disappointed? I don't see many of those people with smiles on their faces and songs in their hearts.
So here it is, the Peter Pan cure to hopelessness, refuse to grow up. Dream, imagine, create, develop, plan, scheme, plot-just don't settle for safe. I know it's a lot easier said than done, but we really do live this life once. Why not do it up right? Why not shoot for the stars and not stop until you're out of the Milky Way? Personally, I see no reason not to want it all and then go back for more, especially because I'd rather die knowing that I lived the dream, than die dreaming of how I could have lived.
Little kids dream. They dream all the time without boundaries. They may not be able to read, or write, or color between the lines, but by Golly they are going to grow up and become an Astronaut if it kills them. And the great thing is, they don't stop dreaming. They don't stop dreaming until they graduate from college and suddenly, even though they can read, and write, and even color between the lines, they're not smart enough to become an Astronaut. Not even with an engineering degree from the best school in the world....
Why? Why do we do this to ourselves? Why do we throw away our dreams when we get older or eventually refuse to dream at all? Why do we let ourselves slip into the mundane rat race of life after working so hard to make the little kid inside of us proud?
I've heard people say that they let their dreams die because they got new dreams. Dreams of picket fences and baby carriages, and as long as they're happy, I don't see the problem. After all, I've known people that all they've ever wanted to do was become a parent, but what about everyone else who fell into a cold hard reality by default. Those who were told, or imagined, that their dreams were just too big, that they should set the bar a little lower because otherwise, they'll just be disappointed? I don't see many of those people with smiles on their faces and songs in their hearts.
So here it is, the Peter Pan cure to hopelessness, refuse to grow up. Dream, imagine, create, develop, plan, scheme, plot-just don't settle for safe. I know it's a lot easier said than done, but we really do live this life once. Why not do it up right? Why not shoot for the stars and not stop until you're out of the Milky Way? Personally, I see no reason not to want it all and then go back for more, especially because I'd rather die knowing that I lived the dream, than die dreaming of how I could have lived.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Princesses, Party Boys, and Finding the Meaning of Love
On my 17th birthday the woman in my Church whom I had always seen as my Jacksonville grandmother, told me that turning 17 was one of the most memorable moments in her life. It was memorable, she said, because 2 days after her 17th birthday, she married her husband. As of today, they will have been married 63 years. When asked how she felt about her long and seemingly happy marriage, she grinned and said "You know what, you always love em', but I acutally still like him."
They are my heroes. Married for 63 years and they still like each other! But, as much as I idolize them and the beautiful life they live together, a love like there's is a completely foreign concept to me. After all, I went to a high school where love was conjured in a matter of weeks and people changed romantic partners like they changed their socks. College isn't much different, there are just fewer taboos and a lot more booze. But still, even though I don't quite understand it, or see it everyday, I truly believe that love exists, it just doesn't exist in any of the forms we think it does.
Example A: Disney movies-ALL LIES. Riding off into the sunset isn't all it's cracked up to be because guess what ladies and gents-THE SUN GOES DOWN EVENTUALLY. Sure Prince Charming looks great in the glow of the evening, but can you handle him in the pitch black darnkess of night when the snakes come out and the horse is tired? What about after you've been busy being in distress and he's been busy fighting dragons, and because he was saving you from your tower, he forgot to pack a tent in those armoured saddle bags and the next town doesn't have a Holiday Inn Express so your forced to sleep on the ground? There is a reason we don't get to see the Princesses after they live "Happily Ever After", and it's because you can't explain the trials of marriage to a 5 year old girl who probably won't want to own everything Cinderella if she knew that her and Prince Charming are barely hanging on because he accumulated too much debt from horse racing and lost the castle.
Example B: Chick Flicks-MORE LIES. I do love a good tear jerker, but let's be honest, how many rich hot guys give up a life of partying and ridiculously gorgeous jezebels for a girl who's kind of a a control freak,pretends to hate him half the movie and ends up being pretty stubborn? I've never met one in the flesh, and I'm not entirely sure I blame rich hot guys for forgoing commitment with a doozy for one night stands with a floozy. The reality of the situation is that guys don't change. You know why? Because they're human too! I don't want to change who I am for a guy sooooo why would I ask him to do the same?
Example C: Romance novels-LIES AND SLANDER. I admit, they are a lot of fun to read, but they combine both examples a and b and magnify each of them by infinity and beyond. It's cruel really.
So what can we take from all fo this? Well, I can't force you to have an opinion or to agree with mine but, this is my blog so I get to say whatever I think and I think this: that love isn't what makes people get married, it's what happens between all the memorable moments in life. It's not the anniversary presents or the propsal. It isn't the ring, or the wedding, or the night you met it's actually wanting to share your life with someone else. It's riding off into the sunset and not killing each other when you're cold, and broke, and have lost evertyhing. It's being there when the world is crashing down and it seems hopeless. It's doctors visits, and soccer practice, and bills. Unemployment, poverty, bad days, foul moods, deployments, business trips, labour pains, tooth aches, accidents, and everything else that rains on your parade. But it's also being happy for someone else no matter how your life is shaping up. It's celebrating births, new jobs, good grades, success, homecomings, vacations, birthdays, holidays, and just reveling in the existance of another person. Love isn't seeing someone and concluding that they are flawless, it is realizing that the other person is human and accepting their flaws flawlessly. It's missing someone when they are gone.
Love is continuous. It changes, it evolves, it grows faint, but it never disappears completely. If it did, how else would marriages and friendships be able to survive in the tumultuous storms or life?
I know I'm young and have a lot to learn. I know that I'm no expert on love, or sex, or relationships: but there are so many people in my life that prove to me each and everyday that love is all around me. And sure, nothing is perfect. But, to lose faith in love, to assume that it does not exist, would be to ignore all of the people in my life that love me enough to throw a rope ladder down to rock bottom and remind me that there isn't anywhere to go but up.
They are my heroes. Married for 63 years and they still like each other! But, as much as I idolize them and the beautiful life they live together, a love like there's is a completely foreign concept to me. After all, I went to a high school where love was conjured in a matter of weeks and people changed romantic partners like they changed their socks. College isn't much different, there are just fewer taboos and a lot more booze. But still, even though I don't quite understand it, or see it everyday, I truly believe that love exists, it just doesn't exist in any of the forms we think it does.
Example A: Disney movies-ALL LIES. Riding off into the sunset isn't all it's cracked up to be because guess what ladies and gents-THE SUN GOES DOWN EVENTUALLY. Sure Prince Charming looks great in the glow of the evening, but can you handle him in the pitch black darnkess of night when the snakes come out and the horse is tired? What about after you've been busy being in distress and he's been busy fighting dragons, and because he was saving you from your tower, he forgot to pack a tent in those armoured saddle bags and the next town doesn't have a Holiday Inn Express so your forced to sleep on the ground? There is a reason we don't get to see the Princesses after they live "Happily Ever After", and it's because you can't explain the trials of marriage to a 5 year old girl who probably won't want to own everything Cinderella if she knew that her and Prince Charming are barely hanging on because he accumulated too much debt from horse racing and lost the castle.
Example B: Chick Flicks-MORE LIES. I do love a good tear jerker, but let's be honest, how many rich hot guys give up a life of partying and ridiculously gorgeous jezebels for a girl who's kind of a a control freak,pretends to hate him half the movie and ends up being pretty stubborn? I've never met one in the flesh, and I'm not entirely sure I blame rich hot guys for forgoing commitment with a doozy for one night stands with a floozy. The reality of the situation is that guys don't change. You know why? Because they're human too! I don't want to change who I am for a guy sooooo why would I ask him to do the same?
Example C: Romance novels-LIES AND SLANDER. I admit, they are a lot of fun to read, but they combine both examples a and b and magnify each of them by infinity and beyond. It's cruel really.
So what can we take from all fo this? Well, I can't force you to have an opinion or to agree with mine but, this is my blog so I get to say whatever I think and I think this: that love isn't what makes people get married, it's what happens between all the memorable moments in life. It's not the anniversary presents or the propsal. It isn't the ring, or the wedding, or the night you met it's actually wanting to share your life with someone else. It's riding off into the sunset and not killing each other when you're cold, and broke, and have lost evertyhing. It's being there when the world is crashing down and it seems hopeless. It's doctors visits, and soccer practice, and bills. Unemployment, poverty, bad days, foul moods, deployments, business trips, labour pains, tooth aches, accidents, and everything else that rains on your parade. But it's also being happy for someone else no matter how your life is shaping up. It's celebrating births, new jobs, good grades, success, homecomings, vacations, birthdays, holidays, and just reveling in the existance of another person. Love isn't seeing someone and concluding that they are flawless, it is realizing that the other person is human and accepting their flaws flawlessly. It's missing someone when they are gone.
Love is continuous. It changes, it evolves, it grows faint, but it never disappears completely. If it did, how else would marriages and friendships be able to survive in the tumultuous storms or life?
I know I'm young and have a lot to learn. I know that I'm no expert on love, or sex, or relationships: but there are so many people in my life that prove to me each and everyday that love is all around me. And sure, nothing is perfect. But, to lose faith in love, to assume that it does not exist, would be to ignore all of the people in my life that love me enough to throw a rope ladder down to rock bottom and remind me that there isn't anywhere to go but up.
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