Putting Ideas into Pixels

I am going to talk about writing today.

It seems as if I'm never going to write anything unless I sit down and make myself write, because I don't normally have things I itch to write about.  It's not that I have a shortage of things to write about; almost everything under the sun is fair game and I'm not one to be paralyzed by lack of guidelines.  It's that the very part of my personality which allows me to thrive in such an open land is the same part that has me doing a lot more dreaming than doing.  That's one of the biggest challenges I'm faced with in life.  Dreams* are awesome, and they are essential to guide your actions, but without actions, they're just not worth as much.  Even if your dreams are of fantasy worlds that can't be made into reality, they're still worth more if you write them down and share them.  It's just a matter of doing it.  I'm not in the habit of doing it, so I'm not going to feel like doing it no matter how much I want to.  Heavens' Crossroads is a good example of this.  I made that site and then I posted faithfully every week for four weeks, and then I stopped for some reason and now it's been three months since I've done anything there.  I even have page five mostly written out.  I just need to go back and push it into my habits again.

So what causes the difference between actually doing something, and never doing it even though you know you should?  I'm sure someone has figured that out, but it seems like most people never do, and I haven't yet.

I'll come back and talk more next week--or maybe later this week-- after I get back to Heavens' Crossroads.

_________
*I'm talking about daydreams, not the kind of dreams you have when you're asleep.

>( <))*)

That title is supposed to be a fish.  Can you see it?

On February 1st, 2010, I was sitting in my AP Biology class (so I must have already been depressed... j/k) and I found myself watching the fish tank.  This is what I wrote about it.

Splash, splish,

orange fish.

What is its goal?

Why does it exist?

There in its bowl

What reason does it have

To keep on living,

To keep on swimming?

The same old plants,

The same old places.

day after night after 

day after night

And yet it keeps on swimming

It keeps on living

Unable to wonder

"To be or not to be?"

It doesn't write,

It doesn't read,

It doesn't talk,

It doesn't play,

It doesn't sing,

It doesn't create.

It just swims around

And around and around

And eat, perhaps get eaten

By a bigger fish

That's just as mindless.

Fish look pretty

And taste good

But otherwise

They have no point.

:'(

Re: Why Is There No Rewind Button?

It occurred to me within hours of posting my last post that I should probably talk about why each post's idea is not a useless fact.  :P

Knowing time's purposes is not going to help you get out of an unpleasant experience.  But, you can keep in mind that it's going to be temporary.  It will pass.  Keeping that in mind can make it easier.  Being patient probably isn't going to make it go any faster, but it's certainly more pleasant than railing at the present.

Depending on the experience, you may have a choice to get out of it sooner rather than later, or at least create a better outcome.  In this case, time is a two-edged sword-- it makes sure the results follow your choice, but you only have so much time to make your decision.

If you have thoughts, please comment!  I'm going to class now~

Why Is There No Rewind Button?

Have you ever wondered why time keeps moving forward?  Why can't we go backwards in time as well as forwards, or even just stay in one time?  (In other words, why doesn't life have "rewind" and "pause" buttons?)

Going back in time would most likely make existence so much more complicated, what with alternate timelines and what-ifs and people being their own parents.  But let's set that idea aside.  I'm sure everyone wishes at some point that they could go back in time, maybe to fix a mistake somewhere or to cling to a happy experience.

Why can't we do that?  Why is time so strict?

I believe that time keeps pushing us forward because it wants to push us to someplace better.  It won't let you stay in one happy moment, because there are many more moments up ahead that are even happier.  It won't let you dwell in the past because your future is better.  If it weren't for time, there would surely be a lot of us-- perhaps even all of us-- who would find a spot on the timeline that they liked and just stay there forever, refusing to budge.  We can't get any better that way, nor can we learn anything in that sort of stasis. 

This gives rise to a lot of questions.  Why would we want to learn anything?  What about "ignorance is bliss?"  What about all the bad experiences that time pushes us into?  The answers to these questions are worthy of their own posts.

And then there's my favorite question: "Isn't time pushing us closer and closer to our DEATHS!?  That's not a good thing, is it?  Who does this 'time' person think he is?"  This question sparks a discussion of life after death, and that's definitely a topic for another day.

In the Beginning

I started my first blog... <scratches head> two years ago?  Six blogs later, I'm still wondering how to write a first post.  

I'll begin by talking about the purpose of this blog.  I'll post a permanent link to this post at the top of the site so that it'll be easy to refer back to.

In my ninth and tenth grades, I attended a teeny little school called Karl G. Maeser Preparatory Academy.  One of the big things that would catch people's attention at that school were the Socratic-style discussions.  We would discuss topics that ranged from metaphysical (what is reality?) to sensitive (abortion, healthcare, politics, religion, etc.) to befuddling (what do women want?).  And, especially with the sensitive topics, we would lay aside prejudices, examine our preconceived notions, and seek a deeper understanding of the issue.  No yelling and screaming, just pure intellectual discussion.  There are a lot of adults who haven't figured out how to do that, which is really sad, because our Socratic Seminar was really awesome.

Alas, it was only for ninth and tenth grades.  My dad got a job seventy miles away, and the commute was just too far.  After that I found myself in an engineering school that was, shockingly, more full of geek-nerds than even Maeser.  But that's beside the point.

In this blog, I am going to talk about all the deep thinking I do.  This may include, and is not limited to:

1. Ideas about existence itself, as well as the way people see it and how the way you see reality changes reality.  This could involve psychology, biology, and quantum physics.  I don't particularly like math, so I'll be keeping equations to a minimum, and I will do my best to explain everything so clearly that my seven-year-old brother can understand it.  Feel free to ask questions about anything I say.

2. Ideas about how we interact with ideas.  

3. Controversial ideas (religion, politics, etc.).  I don't intend to persuade anybody of anything.  I want to talk about these ideas so that we may all understand them more deeply and make more informed decisions.  BUT, I have drawn conclusions already, so I can't guarantee that I'll be completely unbiased.  Just know that I want you to draw your own conclusions, and don't hold those conclusions so dearly that they keep you from thinking about new things.

4. Ideas about how we think and feel, and how we change with time.

5. Thoughts on games.  I'm a very story-driven gamer.  This leads me away from a lot of mainstream stuff like first-person shooters (Halo, Call of Duty, etc.), MMOs (World of Warcraft), and anything on Facebook.  That's all I'll say for now.

6. etc.

Most of my posts will be like this one, but if you're lucky I might express some my ideas in the form of a story or poetry or a picture or something like that.  We'll see what happens.

Basically, if you want to understand life and its residents a little bit better, this blog is for you.

I hope you enjoy it!  ^_^