Why do I smile?

Why do I smile?

Is it because I have won?
because I haven't.

Is it because my life is tranquil?
because it isn't.

Is it because it is me she shows her smile?
Is it because he thinks he is funny?

Is it because at it's core - I enjoy life -
My life

I am smiling.

Story Snippets #1:

Starlight dripped from the tip of his blade as the dust rippled across the ground. It was almost as if you could see his concentration, blue in shade, taking shape just as the mountain reaches for the gods. His hair was dark and, where it usually hung to his shoulders, now billowed radially outwards. He was wearing a tight, black silk t-shirt; the muscles of his chest seemed etched in marble. His pants, likewise, free-flowing to the ground where they met the black leather of his boots, were also black silk. He jumped, and disappeared from my sight.

DA

The Waste Land
T.S. Eliot

V. What the Thunder Said

DA
Datta, dayadhvam, damyata
Give, Sympathise, Control


DA

For the Humans
Naturally greedy

Datta - Give


DA

For the Demons
Naturally cruel

Dayadhvam - Be compassionate


DA

For the Lesser gods
Naturally unruly

Damyata - Control yourselves


Practice:

Self-control,
Giving and
Mercy

What the Thunder Said

Poetry Series #3:

The dawn is unrelenting

Each time I turn around there is another drop of amber in sky's glass
And each day comes anew with a blaze across the cityscape
Blinding the ritual trek to public transportation.

The dusk is eternal

Each time the sun sets I am left with the insistence of the time piece hanging from the wall,
And I have work to do.

The midnight is tranquil

And drops of peace before I rest.

The Music Man

The mind flits from thought to thought
The hand cracks from overuse
The pressure of ivory on the back of the thumb - on the nail
The free-flow of creativity
As - the man's hands dance over the keys

The words run together like joggers in Central Park
Giving the listener - Not, the answer - but rather a place to start
He plays his voice into the feedback of the PA
As he plays the piano - The chords dancing between notes like -
An oboe?

He makes me smile.

Just doing the usual

So after I played shrink with a certain broadway-loving friend of mine I told her the title and subtitle of my blog.

Her response: "Oh My God so you're like Jesus!!"

Yup,
Wha' happen

It is you.

At post 90 this one takes it back to the original point of the blog

Life goes on
It is there even if
You are not.
Time moves

You can either live it
Or take it away,
But you hurt yourself
In passing -

Take charge of who you are -
Your mind can change, not,
What is around you,
But what is within -

You control who you are
But,
By leaving the wheel to another,
You live only in misery -

You can lie there -
Watching the clouds Pass
Over your head
And hating your insignificance

Or you can stand up
Face the world, not,
With optimism,
But with purpose.

Who is it
That you want to be?
What makes you
Who you are?

It is you.

Quotes; Edward R. Murrow

"The obscure we see eventually. The completely obvious, it seems, takes longer." ~Edward R. Murrow

Poetry Series: #2

When the voice of reason
Has laryngitis -
Chaos ensues

Boring life

You know,


If there is one thing great about a boring life

It's that when things go south

In the scheme of things


It's not really that f'd up

Poetry Series: #1

Striking resemblance
In the Clouds of morning's Frost
To the Shadow's of intention
Littered over the crimson battlefield

Shards of meaning
Dance through my mind
Scattered, shattered glass
As ice glistens over a spider's web

Delicate and fragile
The liquid seal
Fragments the shattered memory
And leaves you with Frost

Absolute power corrupts absolutely

Absolute power corrupts absolutely

Each day I strive to be my ideal
I am arrogant

You can see it in my inner world

There is no room for improvement

I have achieved, not infallibility,
But finality

I have created myself
And live within these boundaries

I have no desire to change, merely to expand

If who I want to be is who I am
Am I not arrogant
Am I naive

Is this a problem?

Am I corrupt.

Judaism

But

Repentance, Prayer and Charity


Temper Judgements' severe decree

The playing field

I cannot live like this

Frustration

The root of my malcontent.
The essence of my anger.
The worthwhile task from the fool,
To the fool.

Let the lesson be learned that help
Is never wanted unless asked.
You cannot assume you know how to act
If you are deaf to the other.

Advice from the fool--
My life is my life.
If you want me to do something,
Imperium fails.

My time is my time.
Do not pretend you know
Better how I can,
Move.

A note on poetry

Thanks to a certain English class, I plan on making a conscious effort to include punctuation in poetry.


-Shadow's Friend

Year of the Sketchpad

This is the year of the Sketchpad.

A year when,
Blind skepticism encroaches upon
Beauty.

A year when,
Discovery
Mingles with self-expression.

A year when,
Those who have been trapped in
Solitude of mind, learn
of liberation.

This is the year of the Sketchpad.

A note to bloggers :)

Hey yall,

Yeah so if you're reading this you are much better than I

I am way behind on reading yall's blogs


I'll catch up

With you


With life

Sometime...

Maybe...



Much love,
Shadow's Friend

Funny quotes

Ok, I found this really funny: Quotations from the wise and funny

You can lead a horse to water

"You can lead a horse to water
But a pencil must be lead"

Yeah, think on that

Am I a simulated mind?

If I am a simulated mind how does this effect my life?

My life is what I perceive it to be.

It matters not, therefore, if I am a simulated mind.

Life is what you experience.

To a simulated mind the entire simulated world is the true reality.
The only way to predict a future outcome in the simulated world
Is the same methods we have always used.

Thinking that one is in a simulation does not change the way one acts in the simulated world.

This however works under the assumption that one does not try and figure out
The intentions of the inteligence at a lower level of reality.

Divine reward and punishment.
Afterlife.
Supernatural powers.

The list continues with possibilities that one can believe
Based merely on the assumption that we are not the bottom level of reality.

Your choice is do you live only in your reality. Or do you live in your reality based on the assumption there is an intelligence at the control panel.

Simulation Argument

Assumption:
"What allows you to have conscious experiences is not the fact that your brain is made of biological matter, but rather that it implements a certain computational architecture."

Posit:
A civilization inevitably is interested in understanding the world. To do so, it is interested in creating a computer simulated world including simulated minds like ours.

Definition:
A civilization is technologically mature when it has sufficient technological ability to run such simulations.

"This does not purport to demonstrate that you are in a simulation. Instead, it shows that we should accept as true at least one of the following three propositions:

1) The chances that a species at our current level of development can avoid going extinct before becoming technologically mature is negligibly small.
2) Almost no technologically mature civilizations are interested in running computer simulations of minds like ours.
3) You are almost certainly in a simulation."

The simulation argument states that at least one of the above is true.

If #1 is true, a civilization will probably go extinct before reaching technological maturity.

If #2 is true no civilization that is technologically mature is interested in running computer simulations of minds like ours. There are no simulations.

However,
If #1 is false, a civilization will reach technological maturity before going extinct.

If we also say that #2 is false (as I have in my previous assumption which is based on our civilizations current such interest), this technologically mature civilization is indeed interested in running simulations of minds like ours.

If a technologically advanced civilization runs such a simulation, the number of minds that are simulated is astronomically huge. For example, civilization A runs a simulation. In this simulation civilization B becomes technologically mature and runs its own simulation etc.

If you accept that #1 and #2 are false it follows that there are many more simulated minds than organic ones. This would lead us accept that #3 must be true, you are more likely to be a simulated mind than not.


The philosophical question that arises from this theory (and one that will be addressed in my next blog post) is that if you accept #3, how does this effect your life?


-Excerpts taken from "Science Fiction and Philosophy: From time travel to superintelligence" edited by Susan Schneider

Featured Artist: Todd Alsup

Up and coming artist (click link)


Todd Alsup




I've personally fallen in love with the song "The good fight"

Rest in Peace

Dr. Warren Johnson

Dalton English Teacher

Respect the Individual

Life is not a pyramid

You cannot measure the world by your standards
Only you can be measured by your standards

Every individual
Is different

Every unique
Has it's own standards

You can only measure them by their own


View the world as beyond the curtain of stone
That separates your inner sanctum from reality

Respect the Individual

TRUTH the Creator?

Can TRUTH which I has before been defined as God be capable of creation?

If it is not
Can it really be called God

If it is not God
God the individual, God the Creator, becomes the principle leap of faith

Am I,
Are you,

Prepared to make that leap

Classical Deity

The Classical Deity is one with power over creation.

The most powerful god therefore throughout time has been the one who creates.

When we progress to monotheism, the one true god becomes God the Creator.


Creation is a power reserved for God.


If we humans strive for new creation

Do we tread on God's power
Or do we merely make ourselves in His image

Trust

What is trust?

When we limit ourselves so that we must rely on one another
We build that trust

But what is trust?

When you break down barriers
When someone is open
When you are open

What is trust?

Is trust the same with friends
As it is with parents, with mentors?

What is trust?

Is it an ease of communication
The belief that the other will do no harm

What is trust?

The belief that no harm will come to you
From that openness

Rest in Peace

Samuel Marvin Freeman
01/21/1926 - 08/14/09

Confusion

My mind is clouded with uncertainties
It is simple to see what I want
But not so to see what best serves

My mind is clouded with uncertainties
What is "the best fit"
What is the closest match to
What I am looking for

My mind is clouded with uncertainties
How does one go about finding out
What I cannot find

My mind is clouded with uncertainties
As I am forced to keep my own counsel
As I am pressured to be confident in my own decisions
In my own choices

My mind is clouded with uncertainties
I need a touch of guidance
But there is no one there

My mind is clouded with uncertainties
I am confused

For you or for me

When all you need to do is think of others
It is easy to see the truth

When it for you
It is clear to me what is best

When it comes to myself

When it comes to myself

My mind is clouded with uncertainties

Back in the City

Hey yall,

I'm back in the city from Georgetown.

Call me
Text me
IM me
E-mail me
Blog me?

Something or other... if you want to meet up some time

-Shadow's Friend

Lyrics; James Taylor: Steamroller

Well, I'm a steamroller, baby
I'm bound to roll all over you
Yes, I'm a steamroller now, baby
I'm bound to roll all over you
I'm gonna inject your soul with some sweet rock 'n roll
And shoot you full of rhythm and blues

Well, I'm a cement mixer
A churning urn of burning funk
Yes, I'm a cement mixer for you, baby
A churning urn of burning funk
Well, I'm a demolition derby (yeah)
A hefty hunk of steaming junk

Now, I'm a napalm bomb, baby
Just guaranteed to blow your mind
Yeah, I'm a napalm bomb for you, baby
Oh, guaranteed, just guaranteed to blow your mind
And if I can't have your love for my own (now)
Sweet child, won't be nothing left behind
It seems how lately, baby
Got a bad case steamroller blues

Blogging

https://www.blogger.com/start

I know if you're reading this this link doesn't matter to you

But i figured it would be a good link to have on call

Cheers,
Shadow's Friend

A muse on loneliness

I am saddened
I am lonely

I have too many friends that need my attention
I have too many friends that don't know me
I have too many friends I can't contact
I have too many friends who are out of reach

I love where I am
But if I was home tomorrow
I wouldn't mind

I'd miss you all
And I'd see the rest

But I'm not


And maybe it would do me some good to cut myself off
To distance myself from you all
For just this week

For just this once

Always here

For those who want to talk

For those who need an ear

Know that I am always there.

A phone call away

A text message

An IM

A facebook

A blog post

Lyrics; Simon and Garfunkel: Patterns

The night sets softly
With the hush of falling leaves,
Casting shivering shadows
On the houses through the trees,
And the light from a street lamp
Paints a pattern on my wall,
Like the pieces of a puzzle
Or a child's uneven scrawl.

Up a narrow flight of stairs
In a narrow little room,
As I lie upon my bed
In the early evening gloom.
Impaled on my wall
My eyes can dimly see
The pattern of my life
And the puzzle that is me.

From the moment of my birth
To the instant of my death,
There are patterns I must follow
Just as I must breathe each breath.
Like a rat in a maze
The path before me lies,
And the pattern never alters
Until the rat dies.

And the pattern still remains
On the wall where darkness fell,
And it's fitting that it should,
For in darkness I must dwell.
Like the color of my skin,
Or the day that I grow old,
My life is made of patterns
That can scarcely be controlled.

Mean what you say

Mean what you say you idiot!

If you don't know what you are saying
DON'T

You have no idea how offensive you can be by saying things you don't understand

There is a reason we don't box types

It is because for every rule there must be an exception

And you
YOU

Just...


GAH!

Note for a mental state

It is interesting to watch the progression of my mental state from stress and survival to peace to anger and frustration. I wonder if that means that the anger was always there and I was just to preoccupied to notice. If there is anyone therefore that I have hurt because of this I apologizes.

Mind over Matter

The mind is the most powerful force at your control

All it takes
All it takes to enact a change
Is to change what you think

All behavior is at your control
Mind controls action

If there is something you dislike about yourself
All it takes is a choice
All it takes is a mental commitment

Mind over matter

Restraint

The more power you have the harder it is to contain


If restraint is the ability to hold back
Then restraint is a measure of pent up anger


What is the release?
Does it tear you apart?


What if you are too good at it.

Power

Power is in interaction
In a voice
In a look

Power is in influence
In friends
In words

Power is in the ability to hurt
In truth
In potential

Anger

You have never seen me angry

You have seen me annoyed
You have seen me pissed off
You have seen me disappointed
You have seen me frustrated

But you have never seen me angry

I become cold

As steel


Every word is calculated
Every word drips venom

My speech bites
My gaze will tear you to shreds

You want not hear me



But I guarantee you

Only the fool crosses me twice

Midwife to Madness

Swirling stereotypes lead to predictable recursion

Misunderstanding is the root of all misery

I am the midwife and the mediator
I am the friend and the critic
I am the shape in the darkness
I am the shadow of your sorrow
The lighting rod for your emotion

I will ground you

Song Writing

Hey everyone,

I've decided to do a bit of song writing however I seem to be too lazy to come up with my own lyrics... i'll come around eventually...

Anyway, if you have anything you'd like me to set to music I'd love to give it a try
For those of you who know my school email please use that. Otherwise feel free to comment on this post with your lyrics.

Cheers :)

Get out of my face you useless idiot

"Get out of my face you useless idiot"

Is that what you think I think of you?

If you start a conversation by specifically asking for my attention
My concentration

When you proceed to ask the like same question you asked the time before

If my answer still hasn't changed

Perhaps my response may seem a little annoyed the next time


Why do you ask to do something unnecessary?

Does it warrant a lecture every time you don't make sense
Every time I can't understand?

If the failing is yours
And it is blamed on me

Don't expect me to be gracious in response.

So if my tone says
"Get out of my face you useless idiot"

Maybe, below the mask of common conduct,
I mean it?

All it takes is a hug

I should first point out that this is post #50 :)

All it takes is a hug.

Just a hug.

I know we've never talked. I know we know nothing about each other.
I know we met only how long ago.

But we have hugged.

I know that if I want to,
You'll be there for me
And I'll be there for you

All it takes is a hug
And you open the potential for connection

Lyrics; Burl Ives: Call me Mr. In-Between

(Mr. In-Between, Mr. In-Between Pickin's mighty lean, Mr. In-Between)

Well, I'm too old for girls and I'm too young for women
I've looked all around and my hopes are a-dimmin'
I feel like a fish not allowed any swimmin'
And it makes a fella mean

To feel he's a part of the Lost Generation
I feel like a choo-choo that can't find the station
I work like a dog with no recreation
They call me Mr. In-Between

(Mr. In-Between, Mr. In-Between Pickin's mighty lean, Mr. In-Between)

Got a hotrod Chevy with a twin carburetor
And I know a gal that's a real sharp tomater
And she's got a Daddy with a Caddy that'll date 'er
You see what I mean

Those sweet little things just set me a-droolin'
I'm too big for sodas and I'm too old for schoolin'
Too young for lovin' but I'm too old for foolin'
They call me Mr. In-Between

(Mr. In-Between, Mr. In-Between Pickin's mighty lean, Mr. In-Between)

I feel like a sailboat kept in a bottle
I feel like an engineer that can't find the throttle
I'm too small to walk but I'm too big to toddle
And, Lordy, I'm turnin' green

To see all the men makin' time with the ladies
The high school kids at the show with their babies
While I run around like a dog with the rabies
They call me Mr. In-Between

Dwai

A popular phrase among those who speak as I

If you understand it, it needs no more explanation

For everyone else,
dwai

Internal Drive

If you decide who you want to be
The infinite expanse of life can be viewed through that lens

This allows you to move forward and become better

If you give yourself a general direction
You then have an answer to the question of why you move through life.
The reason for action becomes other than instinct

If you have someplace to go you can get somewhere

No guarantee of course where you want to go now and where you end up is the same

The march of Time

Time continues

As long as we choose not to end that time,
Time will march to its own drummer

Time will move without waiting for us to decide who we are

Feedback individuality

Life is a continuous feedback loop

You take in interaction and learn from it

Who you are now is based on what has happened in your past and how you respond to that

Individuality

Life is a progression of infinite possibilities.

What makes us human is our range of response to this unknown.

What makes you an individual is your unique take on infinity

Illusion

My mind cannot be left alone.
Tied to this world it is left to wander,
It invariably will create a reality that
Could be, but has never been.

It will treat this as reality, as truth.
It will layer feelings and emotions and sentiments
Onto the unwilling.

If left to itself it can paralyze.
Either have me cut off from reality or tied to it,
But let me not wander in imagination.

I cannot speak truth if half of what I know if from my mind.

What's new?

What's new you ask.

Can't you see that nothing is ever new?

Don't you realize my life is really that boring?

Don't you get that even if there was something new, I probably wouldn't want to volunteer it?


It's your life that spices up my day, not my own

Why don't we skip this part of the conversation and get straight to the point. What is it you need from me.

New Blog

Hey everyone,

I started a new blog:
http://experientialtruth.blogspot.com/

(Sorry it's not a link... html is being a pain)


This one is hopefully a running story... so read it chronologically instead of starting with the most recent.

The idea behind this one is I figured that if I write a story using the blogging interface, I might actually get around to writing :)

Thanks for checking in,
Shadow's Friend

Lyrics; Avenue Q: Schadenfreude

Right now you are down and out and feeling really crappy
And when I see how sad you are
It sort of makes me...
Happy!

Sorry, Nicky, human nature-
Nothing I can do!
It's...
Schadenfreude!
Making me feel glad that I'm not you.

NICKY:
Well that's not very nice, Gary!

GARY COLEMAN:
I didn't say it was nice! But everybody does it!


D'ja ever clap when a waitress falls and drops a tray of glasses?
And ain't it fun to watch figure skaters falling on their asses?

And don'tcha feel all warm and cozy,
Watching people out in the rain!

That's...

Schadenfreude!
People taking pleasure in your pain!

NICKY:
Oh, Schadenfreude, huh?
What's that, some kinda Nazi word?

GARY COLEMAN:
Yup! It's German for "happiness at the misfortune of others!"

NICKY:
"Happiness at the misfortune of others." That is German!


Watching a vegetarian being told she just ate chicken
Or watching a frat boy realize just what he put his dick in!

Being on the elevator when somebody shouts "Hold the door!"

"No!!!"
Schadenfreude!

"Fuck you lady, that's what stairs are for!"

Ooh, how about...
Straight-A students getting Bs?

Exes getting STDs!

Waking doormen from their naps!

Watching tourists reading maps!

Football players getting tackled!

CEOs getting shackled!

Watching actors never reach
The ending of their oscar speech!

Schadenfreude!



Schadenfreude!!

The world needs people like you and me who've been knocked around by fate.
'Cause when people see us, they don't want to be us, and that makes them feel great.

We provide a vital service to society!
You and me!

Schadenfreude!
Making the world a better place...

To be!

Schadenfreude :)

Lyrics; Les Misérable: Who am I?

Who am I?

Can I conceal myself for evermore
Pretend I'm not the man I was before

And must my name until I die
Be no more than an alibi

Must I lie?

So long

So long my friend,

Another year older
Another year wiser
Another year closer

The end of an era
The beginning of a new

A tenure past
A tenure begun

And though you are gone from our sight,
You are still in our hearts
Still in our minds

We will miss you and learn from you

And thus, until we meet again,
So long my friend

A Breath of Fresh Air

If the next day is only a matter of survival.

If you feel like the best you can do is avoid drowning.
If the best you can do is not enough.

If the bar you set for yourself is unatainable.
If others fail to understand where you yourself place the bar.

If the weight of expectation physically constricts your breath

Know that at the end of the day, you are still alive.
Know that at the end of the day, you can take a breath.

And that, that is a breath of fresh air.

//no comment

Internet

How am I supposed to function without the internet?

Yes... our internet is down

Hypocrisy

Why must you do one thing and say another?
Don't you know it confuses

Why must you say one thing and do another?
How can we understand

Why must you uphold a double-standard?
How can we trust you

Value

If you are going to say something, know what you are talking about.

If you do not know me you cannot speak for what i've done.

If you are going to bother opening your mouth, have it be worth listening to.

An 'A' set of notes

The end result is directly related to the amount of effort you put in.

If you give a half-assed attempt, the result will be such.

There is no truth in "If you have an 'A' set of notes you'll get an A. If you have a 'B' set of notes you'll get a B." But if you put in enough effort to take an 'A' set of notes you might just get an A.

Focus

A very smart man said to me once that focus is like a beam of light. If you are focused the beam is like a laser, if not it is defused. You can never accomplish anything if your energy is defused. I understand you have a lot to do. So do I. If you do not focus on one thing at a time, you will complete nothing.

Our minds work as a computer, we shuffle multiple tasks at one time but we can only work on one at a time.

Try to focus. It might make a world of a difference.

Double Standard

It should be noted that the advice I post on my blog is as much for me as it is for you.

Just because I myself do not live up to the standard does not mean the standard is not worth striving for.

Drive

Inertia is a powerful force.
Drive is what moves you.

What they don't understand however is that drive must come from you.

You must have internal drive.

If you do not want something, no one can make you want it.
You will never do something full out if the drive is not your own.

The moral?

Decide what it is you want to do. And do it.

Colorscheme

What do you think of the new colors/background

Seriously post comments so I can make it better :)

Isolation

Of the blogs I have read and of the sentiments I perceive in my companions I am alone in this conviction.

I am enamored of isolation.

My entire life has been spent in isolation.

This has allowed me to become who I want to become without interference.

This is not to say I have not become attached to others.
This is not to say I have not let others in.

I am merely saying that only by oneself can you define yourself.

You cannot be strong in your convictions if you know not what they are.

This is why isolation is imperative to reflection, is imperative to growth

You cannot move through life without knowing who and what you are.


So, my advice to those reading my blog:
If you have not had a time of isolation,
If you have not had a time of reflection,

Take the time now

Societal Power

It is not that I yearn for power.
It is not that I crave influence.

I have it.

You wonder why it is what I have is mine and not yours.
It is because the reality I see is truth.
It is because I am competent.

You have four choices.

You can ignore me
You can join me
You can trust me
or You can cross me

Choose wisely, but know the consequences of your choice.

The Righteous Fools

Don't you understand?

Why can't you see the reality I see?

It is not that you lack righteousness. It is not that you are wrong.

It is merely that you do not see society as it truly is.

You yearn for accomplishment but know not how to achieve it.

I do.

Connection

I have moved through life a cautious observer
I was the one who watched.

There has, with the coming of a new age,
The dawn of a new era and the dusk of an old,
Began a change in my approach.

No longer am I the watcher, observing from an arm's length.


I am now connected.


The challenge I face is whether I can remain objective while within the circle of dramatic society.

Inertia

An object in motion stays in motion
An object at rest stays at rest

Unless compelled otherwise by an external force


I am at rest.

Dreams

One of my particular favorite pastimes is dreaming.

Dreaming allows you to enter into a world of unconscious imagination such that you are not in control of events.

I am a heavy sleeper so I rarely dream.
Perhaps that is why I enjoy them.

I feel that though time is never wasted sleeping; it is being used productively while dreaming.

It's too bad most dreams are reruns.

Peace

It is in silence that is the lack of human influence
Where it is only you and existence

That you can be the most at peace

Beauty

Beauty is a quality.

The way I find this easy to consider is in regard to facets.

If beauty is a property present in all
Then each object or situation has multiple facets, multiple ways of potential perception
Not all see the same facet

In this manner everything is beautiful you merely may not be able to perceive it.

Quality

All things have limitless qualities that define what it is.
I hold that quality is intrinsic.

Through human response however we become incapable of perceiving the full extent of any given one.

Who is not to say that the sum of all perception however is the true limit to a given quality.
Would this mean that quality is dependent on perception.

If perception is determined by emotion and quality dependent on perception

Without emotion, would a quality be nonexistent or infinite?

The piece of the puzzle missing in this analysis is that perception can exist without emotion. If you eliminate the limiter of perception, you thereby eliminate the limiter of a quality.

Quality is thus intrinsic and infinite.

Perception

If all things have intrinsic qualities, it is by human reaction that we can measure them.

It is the visceral reaction to a given that limits the degree of a quality we can see.

If then, we loose this emotional response we should be able to see beyond traditional limits of perception.

All things will become clearer,
We will perceive an even greater meaning than we could before.

If we shed the limits of emotional response, we must also be prepared to loose that emotion.

One of the attributes that make us human is our ability to have emotions, and in turn have this cloud our judgment.

Is this clarity of perception worthy of the loss of humanity?

Mask

I am a character

Did you ever wonder why everything I do is expected? It is because I have at one point decided what it is that I am. I spend my days therefore being and perfecting this entity.

I suppose that means that all you know me as is intention.

I doubt this is a bad thing.


I sometimes wonder if there is more to me anymore than the character I have become.

Chameleon

There is one who shows us not his individuality.

He changes his action, his attitude, his mannerism based on what is around him.

What would he be if you remove society?

Could he exist?

I am curious to see if he can speak to me without my speech pattern.

Can he be more than a chameleon?

God

I was asked once if I believed in God.

(For information's sake I identify with the Jewish community)

I believe that there is an intrinsic truth to all. It then becomes an easy step to join them in a universal matrix. A single truth. To use Emerson's word, all is ONE.

If I call this matrix, this ONE: God
I suppose I do believe in God.

This is a God that is truly all.
God is the name ascribed to a universal truth behind all intrinsic truths.

The question is open as to whether this God can have individual will.
If God is all, then is God's will not the collective will of all?

Can God effect daily action or is God merely a byproduct of existence.

Is God a creator? Is God a being?

God is.

Truth

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said:
"In all unbalanced minds, the classification is idolized, passes for the end, and not for a speedily exhaustible means, so that the walls of the system blend to their eye in the remote horizon with the walls of the universe; the luminaries of heaven seem to them hung on the arch their master built."

"the ultimate fact which we so quickly reach on this, as in on every topic, the resolution of all into the ever-blessed ONE"

If there is intrinsic truth in all objects, it follows that there is a unifying truth behind all. Emerson calls this unifying truth "the ever-blessed ONE." He claims that for a mind to be considered balanced it can draw distinction between the wall of human progress and the wall of universal truth.

I do espouse the idea of individual truth. The question remains if I can draw the distinction called for to be balanced. Can my mind move beyond the boundaries of human progress?

I am a mirror

If you look closely you will find I am a mirror

Then what am I as individual, and why are we different?

What is different are our aptitudes and our temperament, our thought and speech.
These in me, however, can be augmented by your presence.

How then is it that we are distinguishable?

We are different in appearance. Yes, this is true. We are physically different.

Is it therefore that our minds are physically different as well? Is this why we are different?

When you know what I am thinking is it because we think the same way or because you know me well.

Is this not a product of our environment?

The truth that is an object is individual.
Could it be that the secret of this truth is that it is universal?

Nature or Nurture?

I am a product of my environment.

If I had not met you I would not be who I am today.

You can tell by my speech patterns that I am my mother's son.
You can tell by my mannerisms that I am my father's son.

Everything from my fashion sense to the products of my mind are unintentionally derivative.

If you look close you will find I am a mirror.

It takes two to dance

Ever been in a conversation where there was a thought in the air that was left unspoken.
Have you ever wondered if that thought was the same.

You agree on an issue, but do not agree on what face you argue.

Politeness dictates it remain unspoken, yet you cannot know if the other knows truth.

You cannot say what you cannot know.
There are things best left alone.

However, there are times when confidence is best broken. There are times when politeness must be thrown asunder.

It takes two to dance, but only one to start the music.
It takes two to dance, but only one to end it.

It takes two to dance

Curiosity

When one is not there it brings upon the soul a time of wondering.

Only through second hand knowledge can one be filled in.
As this is skewed by the teller, is this gossip?

There, however, is another layer for someone like me as it falls to me to pick up the pieces.

My question at this moment lies in what happened, and is there something I must need know before I proceed.

Drama

Drama is experiential confusion.
It is a combination of misunderstanding and emotions.

Why is it that I and those of like mind are always stuck with damage control?

(note: damage control will from this point forward be called "DC")

Quotes; Daniel Wegner

"The experience of consciously willing an action begins after the brain events that set the action into motion. The brain creates both the thought and the action, leaving the person to infer that the thought is causing the action." -Daniel Wegner

Comprehension

Perhaps I should begin with a phrase:

Did you understand?

Let me try again:

Did you get it this time?

What is the purpose of writing if none can understand.

What is the purpose of speaking if none can hear.

Does it take another to read the lines. If so, who can read between them?

Epic Trap

Today was an epic trap.

Thus I proclaim May 21 to be Trap Day.

Clarity

There is a clarity of mind that comes after confusion.

When, through retrospect, the signs are painted on the wall to see.

You wonder if you could have changed the outcome.

But now all that's left is to progress. Progress with feigned ignorance.
How can you fix what was never broken?

How can you prove your intent.

What do you say to someone who must live with wisdom in silence?

You're up at What Hour?

The human body has certain conditions for continued existence.

Life would be easier for those of the younger generation if these conditions were optional.

I enjoy sleeping; however, there are times this activity is inconvenient. Likewise I find it a pain to eat. It consumes not only time, but money and effort. Life would be easier if eating and sleeping were an option not a mandatory activity one must put aside time for.

In this manner I hope to convince not only myself but those around me that there are conditions, activities, that one must set aside time to complete in your daily life. The human body does not take well to such neglect.

Influence

There are two kinds of influences in this world.

Whose to say which is who.

Do we define an influence by a passive or active induction to action?
Does that mean that if an action is good the influence is such and vice versa?

What, for that matter, is good? What is bad?

We are all influenced by all that is around us.

It is your choice thereby to accept or reject; internalize or file
All that comes before you.

It should therefore be one's choice what influence is good and which bad.

None besides those involved can say contrary.

Just say 'No'

I have never met someone who is naturally good at letting people down.
It is easy to say yes.
It is easy to disappoint.
It is easy to anger.
But there is not a soul who can kindly say no with ease.

I merely receive the fallout

First post

It's a shame I've taken to blogging.
I much prefer human contact.
This however gives me the opportunity to hear myself and archive the moment.

Follow my blog if you wish, but I promise nothing