Youthful Life: X

"Therefore the great mediator of any community is human morality." Armstrong Williams Empathy is by far my strongest characteristic and ability. It allows me to understand other people's emotions, perspectives, and rationales, and to respond accordingly. I can quickly pull out of my emotional repertoire the full gamut of feelings to almost perfectly match  those of others around me. In doing so, I get to provide a substantive support for those around me. Meanwhile I am left to deal with the ramifications of taking on the emotions of other people. I'm left alone in the aftermath, exhausted, drained, and emotionally overdrafted. Most of the time I'm able to replenish and recuperate, but there are times where I am emotionally taxed beyond my capacity and in showing up in extraordinary ways for others put myself in danger. When I am listening, striving to understand, reflecting, asking questions, giving guidance, or just being present with other people I have lea...

" I'm lost in space and I want to find a way home. Nobody else can get me back to the planet,  so I have to do it myself.” Susan Vaught Sometimes we have to save ourselve s. Sometimes we have to be our own heroes. Sometimes we are the only ones capable of enacting our own rescue. To this day, I think one of my favorite moments in modern film history is Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Askaban  when Harry casts the patronus charm to repel hundreds of dementors, and literally saves his past self. He even says he knew he could do it because he had already done it. Sometimes we are the only ones who can help us because we are the ones hurting us. Sometimes happiness, joy, peace, love, and light at least for us, ourselves, is a choice away. Sometimes the release from bondage, incarceration, solitude lies with us and us alone. What would you do if you had the key to saving yourself? Would you use it? It seems like a rhetorical question but people are complicated, and someti...

Truth - The media would have you believe that some things and people are more important than others. Think about it. Is there not inherently a ranking when you see something gets news coverage versus something you have to research on your own? Doesn't that necessarily entail that some people, stories, experiences, etc. are more newsworthy than other? What makes some people, things, and events matter more? This is hierarchy.    “You may never know what results come of your actions, but if you do nothing, there will be no results.” Mahatma Gandhi It would be woefully naive to believe that all things, particularly in regards to the media could be given equal airtime. That's not realistic and not the purpose of mass media. In trade for our viewership we allow networks, showrunners, and producers to tell us what to care about. What we often fail to do is do more than that and think for ourselves. We're slacking and not doing enough of our own research. We do not see...

Truth - Life is a journey. It may sound cliché but it truly is. Who would ever imagine themselves to be who they are today? We go through things, meet different people, and find ourselves in so many locales, all of which serve to make us who we are. As we strive, endure, and thrive each and everyday we move away from and towards different versions of ourselves. Sometimes you have to get lost to find your way. Sometimes you realize you always knew your way the entire time. Sometimes you just go along for the adventure. This is expedition. "Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point." C.S. Lewis One of the things in my newfound quasi-adulthood I have come to enjoy is going on adventures. While my inner homebody despises uncertainty and randomness, the small part of me that craves excitement, and independence wins out from time to time. Sometimes I look up a place to go, or something unique to do and just go ahead and do ...

Truth - Clouds convey messages that we often ignore. Maybe it's because they are just up there existing that we don't pay much attention to them. They foreshadow, figuratively and literally, what potential dangers of the natural world lie ahead for us. Their absence just as much as presence signifies something unique. Their color, the ways they travel, and their coverage all drop hints as to what is to come. When they deposit rain, snow, or the infamous hail combined with lightning, gusts of wind, all hell can break loose. Just as easily as they admonish us of upcoming perils, they also are harbingers of goodness to come. Perfect shade, fanciful shapes, and even skywriting are all because of clouds.   " Nature is a mutable cloud which is always and never the same." Ralph Waldo Emerson   Clouds have long been my favorite natural occurrence. I often find myself lackadaisically gazing at the infatuating puffs, whisps, and clumps of clouds that linger above me. I ...

Truth - Comebacks can either a return to the spotlight or an embarrassing public guffaw. Thinking of people's careers, usually entertainers, there have been those who have disappeared from the public eye and returned stronger than ever and then there was some that wanted to make an appearance but were one hit wonders. Reinventing yourself works sometimes, and other times your run in the limelight fades out. Everyone wants to be relevant for the long run. It takes knowing yourself, how others perceive you, and keeping up with the times. This is return of the mess. "Happiness comes out of being willing to do your work in your twenties to find out who you are, what you love." Candice Bushnell   To be quite honest I love my life, plain and simple. I am so happy I get to be me. I wouldn't want to be anyone else. Sometimes I forget and get caught up in the melodramatic woe is me pedantic runaround. In the grand scheme I live a privileged, impactful, and most of a...

Truth - The Internet is at the exact same time both the best and the worst thing to happen to humanity. What a wonderful thing it is to be instantly connected to not only those that matter to you most but others all around the world with the touch of button, a few keystrokes, or a few swipes. Now many than ever it has become increasingly simpler to do truly marvelous things with the internet, the world wide web, and the technology surrounding them. With those advancements though have been the same problems, but also brand new ones darker than we ever could have imagined. All it takes to make or break people and their spirits these days is a quick type, text, and tap away. Anonymous we go.   "One of the most powerful lessons in life is to recognize that no one can give you power, and many people don’t want you to have it. You have to find the courage to seize it, own it and hold on" Shannon L. Alder Never read the comments. I've heard it over and over again, and yet...