Sunday, May 31, 2015
Saturday, April 18, 2015
Challenge Yourself
Society has become
twisted. A person values their success based on their income, or by
the number of people who show interest in their life. You see this
with people who are obsessed with having large number of friends
particularly on social media. We have allowed a new generation of
online celebrities gain unprecedented influence on the world. Not
saying they are worse than the gatekeepers of before, but I doubt
many understand that with that influence comes responsibilities. No
one can doubt their hard word, and the fact their is a market for
their talent. These are the artists of our time since, and for the
first time ever people who have the ability can easily share their
talent with everyone, but in this saturation we can sometimes feel
overwhelmed. So like always we look for something or someone to
filter through all the material. We take recommendations from
friends, bloggers, or institutions we think are credible. I know
anyone reading this can think of examples in their personal lives.
Without even thinking about it we find ourselves in a repeated cycled
checking the same sites, and viewing the same material in an endless
loop. We become trapped in this artificial personal bubble.
Which is why when
Stumbleupon first became an Internet sensation I thought the
purpose was pretty novel. We should challenge ourselves little by
little to find something new even if it doesn't fit our interests.
All it takes 10-15 minutes every couple of days to have that resolve
to pick up that random book or read that random online forum. Yes
you may be challenged, or bored, but you may also find something
beautiful and new. We often place too much importance on individuals
who seem god like. Weather it be the athlete who can run a 4.2 second
forty yard dash , the artist who can paint, or the writer who
produces literature. We tend to often forget they are humans just
like us who sleep, eat, pee, cry, and laugh. We become fixed on
living our lives through others that we begin to lose sight of what
is real and precious. Later this becomes a reality where the
artificial no longer matches the reality. That fiction is preferred
over the non-fiction. My lesson to you is to learn from your hero's
but do not idolize them. We place too much focus on what something
means, or what the proper interpretation of book, movie, television
show should be and not enough time just "experiencing" and
taking in your own opinion or inner thoughts. I say this as someone
who has devoted most of their life with the fundamental belief that
there is a way to break down everything in our world into basic facts
or principles. That our world can be like a chemistry book, and what
we do not understand is because we have yet to discover it. All I ask
is how can we have people who watch Netflix all day, and such that it
becomes a strong focal point of their existence. Eat, sleep, work,
reproduce, and die.
Do we solely exist
so that the society can be productive? So that the desires of
humanity can be focused into the capitalistic culture humanity has
created? The message is clear we exist to consume, and keep the
wheels of the money making machine turning. How long can this last?
Where has the pride gone? The value of work? Of relationships? Of
building something greater than yourself? Using creativity to share,
and cherish. Contributing to society instead of merely consuming.
Perhaps that society has never existed. For human existence has been
always filled with inequality. Better minds than mine have attacked
this problem, and the best answer I've seen is that some vague
solution will appear, and people will realize it is time to “move
on” to the best alternative for us all. What kind of answer is
that? That's no answer at all. I am not asking for perfection,
because I don't even know what that is. Frankly anyone who claims to
have that answer do not know what they are talking about. I am just
asking the questions we all have, but we hide from each other because
we want to give the illusion we know what we are doing. People so
easily forget that they are mortal , and potentially living a life
without worth. Our dreams, and goals just like our genetics are
inherited. In some form we are just mere copies of each other. We
have basic needs, but we all address them differently. At one point
the universe came from a singular point we are all interconnected, we
feel alone, but we are not alone. Past, present, and future is all
intertwined. I wish I had all the answers, but I don't. Surprisingly
it doesn't scare me, but instead is the fuel that keeps me going. I
promised myself I wouldn't regret any action I took in life, but when
ever my life does end I feel I will have one dying regret: That I
never found all the answers I was looking for.
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