Youthful Life: X

Truth - Hindsight isn't always 20/20. Even when looking back we may not see what we're supposed to. Whenever we recall we are coming up with a new version of a story, experience, or happening. It's both a good thing and a bad thing because the way it actually happened may not be how we retell it, for better or worse. Reflection is oh so very important. In our past lies our futures. At the end of any experience, it's worthwhile to take some time and really dive deep into yourself to see how far you've come. This is hindsight.   " The new year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written. We can help write that story by setting goals." Melody Beattie   In a different life I would have pursued my journalistic passion and become a reporter or at least a TV personality on pop culture. I'd be hosting red carpet pre-shows, doing celebrity interviews, and counting down the biggest moments of the year right before the ball dropp...

Truth - What we believe directly affects how we experience the world. Have you ever noticed how drastically different your worldview can be from just about anyone else? Your entire understanding of how the world works, your purpose in being here (if there is one), and what it all means (if anything), can be in stark contrast to the person next to you. Belief is a powerful thing. It shapes the truths we accept, the things we know to be facts, and the opinions we ascertain as valid. Whether you believe in the sentiment of live long and prosper, the force, a higher power, science, or none of the above, something guides you. It's your force push.   "The Light — It's Always Been There. It'll Guide You." Maz Kanata (Lupita N'yongo) in Star Wars: the Force Awakens It's the season of family, friends, peace on Earth, and religion. It may be the first one that implies the last one as well. Where do we get our belief systems from? Family is the most influent...

Truth - There is absolutely no place like home. With adulthood however comes this nonstop striving to make place somewhere else. The cliché is home is where the heart is, but what happens if you are unable to put your heart anywhere else. Home is what you make of it and that can be anywhere or with anyone. Home is a haven, fortress, and safe house. It's where you go to get away from all of life's problem or at least get the sound advice to potentially tackle them. How do you recreate that mythical place? How do you make a brand new homefront? " The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned." Maya Angelou There really is not a straight forward way of going about it. What I realized as I wrote that initial question is that the word recreate was problematic. Remaking, recreating,  and reminiscing all begin with that important prefix "re-" meaning again or back. There can only be one original, that...

Truth - Life happens in bit and pieces. Each day we write a little bit more of our life stories. The people we meet become different characters in our escapades. Our conversations, actions, and experiences write the narrative that fill the pages. Little by little we complete sentences, paragraphs, chapters, and books. The only thing that remains constant is us as the protagonist but even we, ourselves, change along the way. That's part of our character development. This is chronicle. " To be really great in little things, to be truly noble and heroic in the insipid details of everyday life, is a virtue so rare as to be worthy of canonization." Harriet Beecher Stowe For the majority of my time in this life, it's been written in semester increments. Just as one ends, another creeps up and is ready to begin. This year saw me having my big finish to my college chapter and starting a new one with graduate school. The cycle was set to continue but this time the stak...

Truth - It is only by looking to the past than we can learn for our futures. Those have changed history had to know what came before them in order to do so. My generation is often criticized for this perpetual bout of nostalgia we seem to be stuck in but in the grand scheme, I think it is a longing for simpler times. It's knowing where you came from and determining where you want to go. Time to take trip back in time - this is history. "I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past" Thomas Jefferson *This posts marks the fifth birthday of the start of this blog! Five years, 714 posts, 312,000+ pageviews and thousands of words later, I'm still writing. I still laugh and cringe at my first 6 months of posting when I was a senior in high school. I could easily delete those 200+ posts but I keep them to remind myself of who I used to be, how I have changed, and as a history. I have grown so much, met many a person, and searched the depths of wh...

Truth - The world can be a scary place. It never ceases to amaze me just how drastically people's experiences can be living in the same place. I understand societies are not actually homogeneous utopias of euphoric amiability but more and more it seems the distinction between the different realities people is stark. I want to ask how can some people not know but I refrain and realize in other ways people could say the same about me. All I know for sure is that no one is getting the whole story and that context is invaluable. The system has failed so many. The system was created to benefit of some and the disenfranchisement of others (whether intentionally or as a haphazard byproduct). The system is heading towards self-destruction. This is system is overload. " If people in the media cannot decide whether they are in the business of reporting news or manufacturing propaganda, it is all the more important that the public understand that difference, and choose their ne...

Truth - Giving has to cost you something; time, energy, or something material. Sacrifice is inherent to giving, It is only by giving that get something. That something is exponentially more important than the that you incurred. It is the difference you made is someone else's life and subsequently your own. This notion of community service as being selfless is untrue. Community service is about building connection and this idea of detached philanthropic efforts is part of the problem.  This is humanitarianism. "The humanitarian lays stress almost solely upon breadth of knowledge and sympathy." Irving Babbitt It's the season where our morality apparently starts to kick in because the jingling bells of donation cans, gift drives, soup kitchen serving, food pantry stocking, retirement home card making and all the rest become abundant. In our oblivious excess, we somehow see the poor, the hungry, and the homeless. I struggle living in a city when it comes to givi...