MLID = my life is desi?
heck no
MLID = My life is DEPRIVED
Sunday, February 21, 2010
finally
Yesterday, I went downtown. No one burst out into song. No one high-five-d me after saying something incredibly clever. There was no laughter at the phrase "that's what she said". And worst of all not a single fantastical senior citizen or witty homeless fellow. MLID
Saturday, February 13, 2010
and when is it acceptable?
Ah the things that make me laugh.
and laugh
and laugh
and laugh some more.
You tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is 'never try'. -Homer Simpson
-true that-
...okay not really.
"Yeah, Quirrell was a great teacher. There was just that minor drawback of him having Lord Voldemort sticking out of the back of his head!" - Harry Potter
...okay not really.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Who Am I
I am a product of my environment. Molded by expectations of those around me. A constantly changing being with opinions -constantly changing for the goals I am trying to meet and adapting to whatever situations I am faced with. Time, only adds to the many reasons why who I am has no definite definitions. My life is but a never ending journey of self development. Who I am today will not be who I am tomorrow as everyday brings new situations which question my identity. My morals, beliefs and opinions are not set in stone, so they too change as I do - they are what define me. I am a being that adapts to my environment, adjusts to meet expectations and changes with time.
I believe questioning who we are scares us. It challenges us to look "inwards", something we as a society are unfamiliar with. I believe we live in a world where we are fascinated by the lives of others, quick to judge and even quicker at placing blame. Not many are willing to see themselves; take in their own flaws and accept - therefore we cannot define our own identities. We are unwilling to go in dept with our thoughts as they may reveal something we are not prepared to accept. Personally I find that to be the case. In short, we put up a barrier to higher thinking as it may result in learning something about where we stand in life, compared to where we think we are.
I believe questioning who we are scares us. It challenges us to look "inwards", something we as a society are unfamiliar with. I believe we live in a world where we are fascinated by the lives of others, quick to judge and even quicker at placing blame. Not many are willing to see themselves; take in their own flaws and accept - therefore we cannot define our own identities. We are unwilling to go in dept with our thoughts as they may reveal something we are not prepared to accept. Personally I find that to be the case. In short, we put up a barrier to higher thinking as it may result in learning something about where we stand in life, compared to where we think we are.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
the power of belief
We sat around, my friends and I, at the table in the back of the classroom - Science 10 if you cared to know. Drowning out the teachers mindless babble about some physics nonsense. This is how we spent every class - correction every class in which we didn't have a test; then we passed notes.
The class dragged on and we continued our breathless whispering of tales from French class. I always wondered why the teacher ignored our disobedience - probably because the bunch of us were still managing to get the highest marks in the class.
Well getting back to the point, we sat around exchanging stories (cough gossip) and then we spotted a beaker sitting on the counter behind us. One of the more obnoxious of our group stated that they could easily down the contents of the beaker. I, being the self absorbed teenager I am, couldn't possibly be out done. So doing the natural thing, I stuck my finger into the mystery substance and proceeded to lick it off my finger. Triumphantly I smiled at the group.
They stared at me in what I thought was mock horror. Until I noticed the beaker was labeled with some acid looking compound.
My heart dropped. My tongue began to burn immensely! I felt as if thousands of little paper cuts were being torn open in my mouth.
I was torn, tell the teacher of my idiotic move or not and continue with the pain. Before I could tell my obnoxious (even more so after this occurrence) friend confessed for me. The class erupted in laughter. My teacher got up and picked up the beaker.
There I was, dieing of describable pain and he was picking up the bloody beaker? He turned to me with that lopsided smile he was famous for. Turns out "dihydrogen monoxide", H20 or more commonly known as water isn't known for causing searing pain.
I thought I had been dieing...from drinking water.
This goes to show that belief is extremely powerful. The power of belief can cloud our judgment and take control of our sense. The mind is easily swayed into showing the results we believe should come. In my opinion, when facing any situation one should look outside one's own belief system. I think that this allows us to see clearly before deciding if any of our beliefs hold true in that situation.
The class dragged on and we continued our breathless whispering of tales from French class. I always wondered why the teacher ignored our disobedience - probably because the bunch of us were still managing to get the highest marks in the class.
Well getting back to the point, we sat around exchanging stories (cough gossip) and then we spotted a beaker sitting on the counter behind us. One of the more obnoxious of our group stated that they could easily down the contents of the beaker. I, being the self absorbed teenager I am, couldn't possibly be out done. So doing the natural thing, I stuck my finger into the mystery substance and proceeded to lick it off my finger. Triumphantly I smiled at the group.
They stared at me in what I thought was mock horror. Until I noticed the beaker was labeled with some acid looking compound.
My heart dropped. My tongue began to burn immensely! I felt as if thousands of little paper cuts were being torn open in my mouth.
I was torn, tell the teacher of my idiotic move or not and continue with the pain. Before I could tell my obnoxious (even more so after this occurrence) friend confessed for me. The class erupted in laughter. My teacher got up and picked up the beaker.
There I was, dieing of describable pain and he was picking up the bloody beaker? He turned to me with that lopsided smile he was famous for. Turns out "dihydrogen monoxide", H20 or more commonly known as water isn't known for causing searing pain.
I thought I had been dieing...from drinking water.
This goes to show that belief is extremely powerful. The power of belief can cloud our judgment and take control of our sense. The mind is easily swayed into showing the results we believe should come. In my opinion, when facing any situation one should look outside one's own belief system. I think that this allows us to see clearly before deciding if any of our beliefs hold true in that situation.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
examined vs. unexamined lives
Life can either be made priceless by leading an examined life, or made to be worthless by living an unexamined life.
An examined life is one where one's actions are based upon ideas, morals and beliefs that have been solidified with one's own experiences or reasoning. These found ideas, morals and beliefs may or may not agree with the set standards of society. An examined life is one where positive change is initiated due to looking at one's life in retrospect - ultimately finding enlightenment, according to Socrates. In my opinion, life cannot ever be fully examined as a new positive change only generates a new "life" to examine and so on. Therefore I believe an examined life is a dynamic, forever changing life; may result in changes or further fossilization to one's morals. I also believe that a person's beliefs/life changes with time. This would mean that life could truly never fully be examined, meaning there is no end point to enlightenment because a conclusion can never be drawn from a constantly changing life - time would only bring more and more things to examine, more knowledge if you will.
An unexamined life holds everything a person living an enlightened/examined life would not want. Basically an unexamined life is governed by societies beliefs and normality - not solidified by the persons own knowledge or experiences. "Stuck in the box" is a good way to describe it. Many may even be afraid of looking at how they live their lives because it forces one to question the morals they've acquired, possibly even have to change them. One living an unexamined life, an unenlightened life only follows what has been set out for them, never questioning or testing it. This life as Socrates says becomes a "worthless" existence, as none of your morals are your own. It becomes just living, while an examined life would be living with purpose and meaning.
I feel that one should work towards living an examined life, though a fully enlightened life is unattainable. Doing so sounds redundant, but I believe living an enlightened life is about taking the time to ask questions and learn why you feel how you do. It is not about attaining a final knowledge. The beauty is that the journey is the positive change - a constantly changing life, as the path of examined life has no end. Getting to such a point, obviously takes time, but I see it as time well spent. I mean is your life not worth your time? - Worth making priceless?
An examined life is one where one's actions are based upon ideas, morals and beliefs that have been solidified with one's own experiences or reasoning. These found ideas, morals and beliefs may or may not agree with the set standards of society. An examined life is one where positive change is initiated due to looking at one's life in retrospect - ultimately finding enlightenment, according to Socrates. In my opinion, life cannot ever be fully examined as a new positive change only generates a new "life" to examine and so on. Therefore I believe an examined life is a dynamic, forever changing life; may result in changes or further fossilization to one's morals. I also believe that a person's beliefs/life changes with time. This would mean that life could truly never fully be examined, meaning there is no end point to enlightenment because a conclusion can never be drawn from a constantly changing life - time would only bring more and more things to examine, more knowledge if you will.
An unexamined life holds everything a person living an enlightened/examined life would not want. Basically an unexamined life is governed by societies beliefs and normality - not solidified by the persons own knowledge or experiences. "Stuck in the box" is a good way to describe it. Many may even be afraid of looking at how they live their lives because it forces one to question the morals they've acquired, possibly even have to change them. One living an unexamined life, an unenlightened life only follows what has been set out for them, never questioning or testing it. This life as Socrates says becomes a "worthless" existence, as none of your morals are your own. It becomes just living, while an examined life would be living with purpose and meaning.
I feel that one should work towards living an examined life, though a fully enlightened life is unattainable. Doing so sounds redundant, but I believe living an enlightened life is about taking the time to ask questions and learn why you feel how you do. It is not about attaining a final knowledge. The beauty is that the journey is the positive change - a constantly changing life, as the path of examined life has no end. Getting to such a point, obviously takes time, but I see it as time well spent. I mean is your life not worth your time? - Worth making priceless?
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