Hello you! I have been inspired to begin my spastic and not so consistent blogging again. I don't know about you, but I am pretty damn excited about it. I almost feel like I have no choice to begin again, as so much happens in life that I want to share with someone, and all too often there is no one around. I feel that every day there is so much beauty and opportunities to learn something new. I hope to, eventually, collaborate enough stories and things I've written down on paper into a more coherent and understandable collection or (amateur) book. But for now, all my prior and future posts will be whatever is going on presently, so that the full effect is emphasized.
Recently, the theme that keeps repeating itself in my life is the idea of the finite-ness of our lives. Yes, death has been on my mind, but NOT LIKE THAT. Jeesh, people. Step outside the box of stereotyping those who think about death as gothic or depressed. What I mean by finite-ness is how at any moment, our life could come to an end: BUT rather than looking at that as a dismal, depressing, or far off notion, I am beginning to see it as a very positive thing. The contrast of death and life makes our lives much more meaningful. Or, it gives us an opportunity to make a choice on how we are going to live the one life we've got. By realizing and being fully aware of our vulnerability and the inevitableness of death, we can choose to life live in a different, more thrilling and exciting way. A sense of desperation hits,when death is looked at more realistically than passively, that sends us chasing after our dreams that we hold off "until we are older" and doing the things we truly want to do, rather than wasting time as if we have an infinite amount. It feels as if my eyes have been opened to a thousand new possibilities for the purpose and meaning for my life. I am in control, (for the most part) and I get to make my own decisions! And, since I believe in God, I have amazing and unconditional guidance to help me when I feel lost (On the daily) and push me when I feel lethargic. Too often we go about our days, and forget what we even did by the end. I've had more than enough of that. I want to live an authentic, substantial and funtastic life. (Yes, funtastic, fun and fantastic..)
Before I go any further, I must note that a lot of this post was inspired by certain philosophers I have been learning about in my Ethics class. Heidegger and Sartre are two of the main ones who believe in authenticity and humans creating their own meaning in life. If you know of these men, don't get me wrong, there is much I am critical about in terms of their ideas. However, their point on creating meaning for yourself and living an authentic life has been very profound to me. Authenticity means believing in something strongly, making a decision, and accepting the responsibility that comes with the decision you made. For instance, if you believe strongly enough that you've been wronged by a professor or teacher at your school, you will act upon that feeling by either reporting or bringing it to the attention of some authority figure, such as the principle. However, you must also be willing to face the repercussions of this action, by all the exhausting and time consuming steps that might follow. You see, it isn't easy living an authentic life. It's very hard to stand up for what you believe in a world where so many constructions are already made, and seem to be set in stone. But what the philosophers want to say is that what is the point in life, if you don't reflect or think critically upon your actions and the actions of others? If you just go about your days, not asking questions, not being critical of what people tell you is right/wrong, etc. In my opinion, we have forgotten that we have control over ourselves and our own lives. Yes, the world has many limitations and seemingly concrete ways of doing things, but we can either wake up every morning (or night, if that's your thing) and look at that in the perspective of, "I don't belong here, this world is too messed up, I'm not smart enough, skinny enough, brave enough, good enough, normal enough..." OR, you can look at it in terms of creating your own meaning. So, you can see the meaning that has been constructed by many, critically reflect upon it, and then YOU have the power to go from there, make your own decisions, act, and be responsible for your own actions. You can't carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. You can't assume responsibility for your countries actions, or even those in your community. You can, however, control what YOU do and how YOU act and what YOU stand up for. This is amazing to me.
JUST TO NOTE a few of these examples came from my Ethics professor, Dr. Askay at University of Portland.
Well, hopefully I will be back soon to blog some more. There have been so many things I want to write about, which gives me hope for this world, during a time of confusion and controversy world wide. (Have you been up to date on the news???) I don't know about you but I'm sick of hearing about the sequester and all the bitter arguing going on in Washington. Come on, people. This is so ridiculous. It's the 21st century for damns sake. Ok the hosh posh in politics is a whole different blog post so I'll just hold off.
Thanks for reading through this, those of you who made it!
A
