Youthful Life: X

"Loneliness expresses the pain of being alone and solitude expresses  the glory of being alone." Paul Tillich Adulthood is lonely . And by lonely, I mean the mere act of being by yourself. There is a difference between loneliness and just being alone. There's inherent value assessment there. The former comes with negative implication, and the latter is nothing more than an ambiguous state of being. I think we are socially conditioned to want the company of others, to be in contact, and to communicate. I also think we rely too much on others to determine who we are instead of spending the time needed to decide for ourselves who we are, and even more so to not decide who we are in relation to others. It's only natural. We spend the majority of our lives surrounded by people whether with be family, friends, or community - then, suddenly, you're on your own. Seeing other people becomes a deliberate act instead of a mundane reality. We have to do things of our ...

Truth - How we are effects who we are. Everything that we do, and the things that happen to us have an impact on the ways that we proceed. We as people are collections of experiences, memories, and emotions. This amalgamation of all that we determines how we show and where we show up. There is a reason for our actions, our words, and our understandings of the world, and everything it. Truly reflecting on and processing through those root causes is a lifelong quest to understand the enigmatic simplicity. What are you looking for? "We don't know all the answers. If we knew all the answers we'd be bored, wouldn't we? We keep looking, searching, trying to get more knowledge." Jack LaLanne   "What are you looking for?"  It's the question that always comes up during any type of dating situation. Honestly, what kind of question is that? It depends on the person. All I know is that when I know, I'll know . Why do I have to know what I want in a...

Truth - Each day we write our life stories. I want my story to always be one of those truly breathtaking epics of old. I want to live a life of navigation, adventure, and exploration always. I want to be challenged, pushed, and moved out of my comfort zone constantly. I want life to be exhilarating, terrifying, and shocking. I want amusement, gut-busting laughter, and surprise. I want randomness, inquiry, and mystery. I want passion, fervor, and zeal. I want it all. I want to be fulfilled and to know that I lived my life to the best of my ability. I wan to be pleased with who I am, what I did, and what I did for others. I want to be a whole person who embraces the plot twists of life. This is my story. This is my truth. This is my narrative. "Narrative identity takes part in the story's movement, in the dialectic between order and disorder." Paul Ricoeur Words cannot describe how amazed I am that this blog, this written representation of who I am as a person in my ...

Truth - There's a big difference between being in love, and loving someone or something. Oftentimes the two seem to conflated as one in the same but there is a nuanced distinction to be made. Love is not just a feeling but also action, thought, and belief. Love is the ways in which you treat certain people because of and in spite of the love you have for them. Love is more than picturesque imaginations of romantic-comedy style dates, bouquets of overpriced sweetly fragrant crimson red roses, or decadent boxes of silky smooth assortments of chocolates. Love is dynamic. Love is powerful. Love is timeless. Love is an unwavering belief in someone else. So ask yourself, do you love love, or love someone? "True love is like ghosts, which everyone talks about but few have seen"  Francois de la Rochefoucauld The millennial generation has garnered a reputation for our apparent lack of commitment to just about anything and everything. We're critiques as being incapabl...

Truth - A change of perspective does the mind good from time to time. Being reminded that every person you come across experiences the world differently than you do, and likewise, you from them can be an important thing. It can be so easy to get caught up the chaotic monotony of our everyday lives and miss out on the opportunities to know other people, brand new experiences, and figure out ourselves if we do not shift our perspective every once in a while. Things are never what appear to be, and at the same time they are. It all just depends on your altitude. "Your perspective on life comes from the cage you were held captive in.”   Shannon L. Alder How easy it is to forget that the ways that we ourselves are inherently different than how others perceive us. We think we're showing up in one way and that might be so, at least to us, but others may experience us differently. The tough thing is we have to acknowledge that both perceptions are uniquely valid, and yet fundamen...

Truth - There is a time to usher in peace and a time to wage war. Knowing when those times is an imperfect process of trial and error. The art of war truly is one that requires a specific finesse just as the notion of peace is not so easily accepted. It's a delicate balance between raising hell and bringing heaven to Earth. Learning how to pick your battles and knowing when to bite your tongue is complicated. It never gets any easier either. Sometimes you really just have to be a firestarter.    " I think of myself as a catalyst of action and a messenger of hope, turning people onto themselves and turning people onto their dreams."  Les Brown One of the few things I miss about my college years was the implicit self-determination and autonomy I had. At a moment's notice I could go from class to a meeting with administrators or to a protest. There were times where I could placate and dialogue to an understanding. On other occasions I had to be nothing more than ...

Truth  - Connections are what make us human. We have this innate longing to be with, to know, and to be around other people. We are not meant to be alone. It could be argued that our modern day communities, neighborhoods, and social structures are nothing more than dressed up tribes. It's what we do. We group together, gather,  and commune. We strive to find others like us or at least find some commonality amongst strangers. Fear of difference has powerful ramifications (no need to outline the cycle of oppression here, I'll save it for another post) but what is even more monumental is when we are able to overcome that fear and unite. Who could ever take down the network? "We are like islands in the sea, separate on the surface but connected in the deep.”   William James The normalized American life cycle really is rather peculiar. Think about it. As an infant and as a childhood you spend as much time with your famil...

Truth - Falling back may very well be exactly what you need to do before you surge forward. Thinking of all the things and processes in life that take their time gathering up their potential energy before flying forward brings the sentiment to mind. Arrows being drawn back in a bow,  undulating waves coerced by the pull of the moon, or even a stockpile of wood being gathered only to be set ablaze with a single match - the metaphor works on so many levels. Often times regrouping is viewed as a sign of defeat but it is what follows that makes all the difference between disgraceful failure and a cunning  counter attack. It's time to master the art of the retreat.  "In order to understand the world, one has to turn away from it on occasion." Albert Camus When I think of retreat's I think of movie scenes and montages where the protagonists are being overwhelmed in battle and must gather their remaining forces to restratigize. The enemy might declare victory but ...

Truth - Each and every person has something they are particular gifted with. The greatest disappointment in life is not being able to discover what you're talented with and/or using it to the fullest of its potential. While some people are task oriented and can get things done others are cartographers, charting the path that gets those task runners where they need the be. Oftentimes those qualities are mutually-exclusive but what happens when those people collaborate or someone comes along who has been infused with both sides of a false dichotomy ... simple, foresight turns into dynamic action. You can argue you are able to do without having a plan, but having a plan and not doing anything with it comes to the same result. Both are necessary to see something through to completion. This is vision. " Visionary people face the same problems everyone else faces; but rather than get paralyzed by their problems, visionaries immediately commit themselves to finding a solution....