Trip Info

I am officially leaving for my trip across the States on the 23 of August. I had originally planned on the 15th, but… considering I almost made my manager cry when I told him I was leaving, I couldn’t turn him down when he asked if I could stay for another week. It’s the least I could do especially since we are right in the middle of a remodel. It’s all good. I am still excited.

I am ultimately going to post a video explaining my whole trip. In said video, I will unabashedly beg people to follow me while I endeavor to tour the U.S. Not really. Actually, I plan on casually throwing myself out there all cool like and wait for the hoards of fans to follow! I guess we’ll see what happens:)

I am going to post a more detailed route here soon. But here is a rough idea of the first leg of the trip.

I am going to head south from Orem, Utah, toward Zion’s National Park. From there I will head down to Meteor Crater in Winslow Arizona, possibly hitting up the Lowell Observatory while I’ll be passing through Flagstaff. Then I’ll head west toward Vegas to see the Hoover Dam. The Queen Mary will be up next and after I’ll head up the west coast possibly stopping at The Winchester Mansion and then definitely Alcatraz. Continuing forward toward The Redwood National Forest. Then there will be Oregon and Washington. I’m still figuring those States out, but I know for sure I will be hitting up the Space Needle!

 I am going to start posting more. Blog posts , photos, vids, everything really. I have been… almost very interested in trying to gain a following for awhile, but I haven’t had the motivation to actually do it yet. I think this trip will help me out!

It’s hard you know. It’s not every night that I am proactive enough to write something just for the sake of writing something to post. But I want to start speaking up. I have a lot to say. And it’s only now that I feel capable of making a difference in the world.

I tell you, I’ve been reading a lot lately. So much in fact that I’ve dedicated a whole other project to just reading and writing about it. I will post more info on that shortly. One thing at a time. 

I swear though, reading has cured my depression. It’s the oddest thing. I still wade deeply. However, I have to say that I feel good. I tell you, it is truly the oddest sensation.

Convictions

With so much trouble going on in the world it might feel like there is no certainty about anything anymore. Everybody has such differing opinions about how things should be. I suppose it’s always been this way. But I feel like confusion is running rampant right now and that a lot of people don’t know where to stand.

I have a few things to say. If you don’t know what to stand for, don’t just sit down and let other people dictate to you how the world is going to be run. Have convictions. If you don’t have a conviction, find one. It’s better to feel strongly about something than to be void of passion and life.

But how does this solve any real problems? People all over the world feel strongly about their ideas, and other people feel strongly about opposing ideas and it just seems like it is tearing the world apart.

Perhaps having convictions isn’t enough. So, I’d remind everyone that regardless of who you are, regardless of political affiliation, religious ideology, sexual orientation, skin color, or profession, that there is certainty in one principle. That is love.

It saddens me that I need to define what sort of love I’m talking about, but I want to make it clear to everyone that this is what I mean when I say that we need to love one another. I’ve taken a definition from the Merriam Webster’s online dictionary. Love is an: unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another.

This doesn’t mean that we have to lower our standards to accept every ideal held by every other person in the world. This means that we, regardless of our convictions will remain a steadfast friend with open arms to all those around us despite differences in opinion.

And it’s not only in the fact that love is contagious will this start to solve the worlds problems, but it is in the unmistakable true premise that there is a definite universally right course of action that leads to happiness and a definite wrong course of action that leads to sorrow. This applies to large scale government bodies all the way down to single individuals. There is light and darkness, there is a right and wrong, there is pleasure and pain, there is peace and misery. These things do exist.

Upon this reality, I truly believe that people at their core just want to be happy and loved. So at this point if we know that it is true that right and wrong exist along with their accompanied consequences it becomes a matter of telling the difference. Sometimes consequences don’t manifest immediately. And sometimes people are pretty convincing in their arguments. So how do we go about determining accurately what we should stand for?

I want you to stand up right now. Think about something that is wrong in the world, pick a side to fight for, gain a conviction in it to try and make the world a better place, but I stress this point: do not do anything unless you are capable of wholly assimilating into your conviction the principle of love as I have defined it above. If you truly do this and keep love as your guiding star than I testify that your conviction will either be strengthened or weakened in your mind and your heart. Love will guide you in the right direction and when it starts to go somewhere that you never thought possible. Follow it.

If we can accept that love is true and brings happiness, it should be this easy. Controversies will melt away, confusion will cease, clarity will become abundant. And when, either on the large scale, or on the individual scale an entity has committed themselves to this truth there remains two things left to do: (1) fight with all of your faculties for what is right, and then (2) with open arms help wipe away the heartache and sorrow of those who might be for the first time experiencing what it really means to love and be loved.

Quietly

Quietly I post this. I am slowly testing the waters here, gently feeling around and observing how my ripples interact with the rest of the universe. I do not wish to speak unless I am somewhat educated on my topics of choice. I am slowly learning though, but it is in that slowness that I feel a great inadequacy rise up in my soul. How can I make a difference in a world that rushes by so quickly? Well, I'm not sure yet. But if I don't at least try it will certainly be gone before I get a chance to say anything.

Writs and Rants is Back

Hello, welcome to my blog Writs and Rants. It has been officially resurrected. Over the years, this blog has seen several different incarnations. Mostly though, it has been home to the aloof and sometimes bizarre rantings of your average over thinking, school failing, job hopping insomniac. Yes, that would be me.

My sleeping habits have improved I’d say. This in and of it self, upon my evaluation, is good and bad. It’s bad because I feel as though I am too grounded in “reality.” My imagination isn’t as vivid, my sense of wonder is still there but not as prevalent, and the incessant urge to wax poetic and delve into the deepest, darkest recesses of the human mind is no longer my constant companion. In short, I am no longer driven to do things based on a perception that Death is looming only breaths away. Instead, I am compelled by things like work, paying bills, maintaining a healthy diet, and other terribly dull activities that suck the awe out of life, which is an intrinsically awesome thing.

So, my goal with Writs and Rants this time around is to harness my experiences for the betterment of myself and if possible the world. I want to attempt to revitalize and re-instill the awe in our lives while maintaining a healthy routine. The synthesis of experiences, of emotions, and of knowledge that is happening in my mind and in my heart right now stirs me to great feeling. I cannot say how anything I could do or say will affect anyone outside of myself but surely saying something is better than saying nothing, especially when the words weigh heavy on my mind.

There seems to be no end to the troubles that face the world. From the vast array of conflicting opinions over the recent Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage to the more subtle issues of creationism being taught in public schools over evolution, from flag burning rallies to Planned Parenthood controversies, and to me even more interesting is the cataclysmic war between atheism and religious institutions, one citing science, while the other God, be it a variety of gods. The fundamental problems we see that derive from these divergent systems of belief give rise to terribly complicating issues that truly do impact everyone’s daily lives whether we realize it or not. I have many opinions concerning all of these things and more. That said, I do not wish to share them indiscriminately. But more discretely I wish to solve problems by promoting principles that are more fundamental. I wish to promote a way of evaluating how we should act regardless of the stances we take.

I know people who hold all sorts of beliefs that go counter to all sorts of other peoples beliefs, and some of my own beliefs are grandly different from many of my own friends’ beliefs. There is nothing wrong with holding opposing viewpoints. The ability to reason, to evaluate our own lives and come to conclusions is something that we all must do, and given the grand diversity of situations people live in it seems to me unavoidable that we see an array of opinions, passions, beliefs, and biases.

That said, is there not some sort of common ground that we can all stand firmly on? There must be, after all we are all human aren't we? What do you suppose this common ground could be? And what do you suppose the consequences would be of realizing what this common ground is and letting it be the gently guiding force in our lives? Is it possible to have differing opinions while maintaining a common belief? I believe it is. I have my own thoughts on what it might be as well, but I am interested to hear what others might say so as to broaden my thought processes to include a variety of insights. I will post my thoughts on this at a later date. Feel free to challenge anything I’ve said or offer your opinions. Your thoughts help me learn. And that is primarily what I desires to do. Thank you.