Is a tool something that we have control over, or is it just an instrument that makes our lives easier in some form? If a tool can still be a beneficial and necessary device in our lives, even without complete control, we generally deem it valuable to our well being.
The concept of The Mind is one that I have always pondered over. How can something that I presumably have little control over, help me in such outstanding and profound ways? My mind, as I have learned, is one of simple means and lifestyle. It thrives when it is presented with difficulties and merriment's of similar form and pattern. It gets frustrated easily when it is surprised or forced out of its ever cushy comfort zone.
My Minds experiences and challenges on this earth range from simple to complex. Yet it, seemingly and quite mysteriously, always accomplishes its goals without fail. Is it because My Mind only takes on the challenges that it knows can be accomplished seamlessly? This is the answer (I think a light bulb just went off in my head) I am inclined to believe most. To me it makes sense that My Mind would approach only the sort of conquests it knew it could and would conquer. Why would someone allow themselves to partake in an unconquerable deed? Is there not a slightly sadistic tinge to that sort of mental activity?
The next important question to ask is, why My Mind chose this particular cut off line on its 'conquerability' meter? It is, after all, a very safe place when I stop to think about it. My Mind is very comfortable thinking that everything it decides to do will be completed successfully- It is interesting to note (I should write many blog entries on this particular issue) the correlation between being comfortable and being successful.
Why do I want to be comfortable? I almost think I would be more successful (in a relative, life fulfillment, sort of way) if I was always out of my comfort zone. At least then I would be pushing the limits to realms My Mind will not allow itself to know.
Are humans supposed to push the bounds of comfort/success? Where is the line drawn between being simply content and truly triumphant in ones life?
Why am I settling?
Why am I content? The reason is because I fear what I do not 'know'. And what I do not 'know', is what I cannot control. At this point it is easy to make the argument that there is nothing I can really control. For arguments sake let us assume that, within reason, we control some aspects of our own lives. If there are a few aspects of life that I am able to control, then why am I not willing to leave this Zone with predetermined outcomes?
It doesn't make sense to only do what you know how to do. The reason for knowledge is application. But, if one is having an encounter in which they have had no prior experience, it is unfair to force the situation, or rather morph it, into a familiar interaction in which there may be a predetermined outcome. Each experience in life deserves its own space to grow and change naturally.
Therefore, we cannot allow our minds to change our experiences into outcomes that we have no doubt already faced. Our relationship to foreign relations must be with open arms. These interactions that are unfamiliar to us, must be the ones that we embrace. We cannot deny ourselves the opportunity to have a true experience, or an experience that is newly felt, and hardly understood. These sensations are the base needed to continually stimulate our minds. We cannot settle on what we 'know'. Instead, it is important to come to terms with, and to learn, how what we don't know can impact our lives in a new and unusually good sort of way.
This is the limitation of The Mind. To have the opportunity to manage what sorts of experiences we are introduced to, on a regular basis, and to settle if we are afraid of what might be learned.
Now it is time to stop settling, and to get on with Life.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
Occupational Hazards
In life we are all overburdened with responsibilities and obligations to someone or to something. Often times, it is difficult to determine the boundary lines between the representation of oneself, and the representation to the entity with which we are bound. The distinction between personal time and company time is one that is important and must be adhered to. If this careful balance is not carried out in a correct manor it will become difficult to prevent conflicts of interests in ones life.
To illustrate the point I am making, I want to think about what it would be like for an off duty Police Officer to enter the house of a Family Friend who is partaking in illegal acts.
Would the Police Officer still be obligated to report her friend regardless of the fact that she is off duty? Does the simple yet intimate gesture of inviting a person into ones house mean that all responsibilities and prior duties are left at the door?
I feel that it does. The time spent off duty for a Police Officer is personal time. The Officers commitment to her department when she is not in the act of being an employee is hers to do what she will with. In a way, the act of entering an individuals house as a friend negates all other binding relationships which, may or may not, obstruct the current circumstances. The Police Officers current bond to the Family Friend outweighs all others and takes priority.
However, should the Police Officer feel an undeniable bond to law and the authority which supports her, she of course has the choice to report the criminal acts.
To sum up these thoughts, the Police Officer has no moral obligation to report her friend based on occupational loyalties. But, if she does feel the need to report these criminal acts because of her own ethical views, then she is correct in doing so. Her decision making should be centered around her own feelings and opinions, without influence from outside forces and pressures.
This moral dilemma is one that haunts me to the core. The prospect of being faced with such a difficult and morally deep issue makes me fear the possibility of an authoritative occupation. I guess now I just have to pray that one is not coming up in my horizon!
To illustrate the point I am making, I want to think about what it would be like for an off duty Police Officer to enter the house of a Family Friend who is partaking in illegal acts.
Would the Police Officer still be obligated to report her friend regardless of the fact that she is off duty? Does the simple yet intimate gesture of inviting a person into ones house mean that all responsibilities and prior duties are left at the door?
I feel that it does. The time spent off duty for a Police Officer is personal time. The Officers commitment to her department when she is not in the act of being an employee is hers to do what she will with. In a way, the act of entering an individuals house as a friend negates all other binding relationships which, may or may not, obstruct the current circumstances. The Police Officers current bond to the Family Friend outweighs all others and takes priority.
However, should the Police Officer feel an undeniable bond to law and the authority which supports her, she of course has the choice to report the criminal acts.
To sum up these thoughts, the Police Officer has no moral obligation to report her friend based on occupational loyalties. But, if she does feel the need to report these criminal acts because of her own ethical views, then she is correct in doing so. Her decision making should be centered around her own feelings and opinions, without influence from outside forces and pressures.
This moral dilemma is one that haunts me to the core. The prospect of being faced with such a difficult and morally deep issue makes me fear the possibility of an authoritative occupation. I guess now I just have to pray that one is not coming up in my horizon!
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
M"us"ic and Us
Within each persons life there is some form of expression that is honest, true, and which reflects the individual. Today, music is going to be the expressive art form that we will focus on.
The mass distribution of music in the last ten years has changed the way music is perceived. We now have the opportunity to diversify our taste in music, as well as our ability to appreciate new musical forms of art. Musics impact on today's youth is said best by an Oakland Hip-Hop group, Zion I. In their song Birds Eye View, the line "Music is Life" captures the attention of listeners, even before the first verse has begun. This sort of mindset is commonplace for modern youth.
In my personal life, music is synonymous with experience. When I listen through my absurdly large music library (it would take nearly a month to listen to) I find myself reflecting on past experiences with jovial recollection. Almost as if the song represents the conquests and triumphs my life has to share. The music in my life, is by far the most honest and expressive way to tell my biography. Preferences in genre have differed depending on women, positive or negative mindsets, athletic results, and most importantly, friends!
How is it that music has taken over the intimate memories of my life? It is possible that I am seeking added dramatic affect while telling the story of my life. But, I think it goes much deeper than that. I am fairly confident in saying, that my sole reason for this addiction to music is not centered around story telling (although my taste would bode for quite a story). It is based around personality. Music is an expression of self, regardless of if it is your own or another persons.
When I play songs for friends, I am expressing myself in an innocent and direct way. The song says what I feel. I am very comfortable playing certain music to say how I feel at the moment, and to communicate my feelings at present. As Zion I put it best, "Music is Life," and for me there is no question about that fact.
The mass distribution of music in the last ten years has changed the way music is perceived. We now have the opportunity to diversify our taste in music, as well as our ability to appreciate new musical forms of art. Musics impact on today's youth is said best by an Oakland Hip-Hop group, Zion I. In their song Birds Eye View, the line "Music is Life" captures the attention of listeners, even before the first verse has begun. This sort of mindset is commonplace for modern youth.
In my personal life, music is synonymous with experience. When I listen through my absurdly large music library (it would take nearly a month to listen to) I find myself reflecting on past experiences with jovial recollection. Almost as if the song represents the conquests and triumphs my life has to share. The music in my life, is by far the most honest and expressive way to tell my biography. Preferences in genre have differed depending on women, positive or negative mindsets, athletic results, and most importantly, friends!
How is it that music has taken over the intimate memories of my life? It is possible that I am seeking added dramatic affect while telling the story of my life. But, I think it goes much deeper than that. I am fairly confident in saying, that my sole reason for this addiction to music is not centered around story telling (although my taste would bode for quite a story). It is based around personality. Music is an expression of self, regardless of if it is your own or another persons.
When I play songs for friends, I am expressing myself in an innocent and direct way. The song says what I feel. I am very comfortable playing certain music to say how I feel at the moment, and to communicate my feelings at present. As Zion I put it best, "Music is Life," and for me there is no question about that fact.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Environmental Happiness
In life there seems to be infinite ways to experience the sensation of happiness. In our modern age we have television, movies, restaurants, bars, amusement parks, clubs, and our inter personally connected internet persona's. All these examples are similar in that they lack a relationship to the environment. Of course there are exceptions to every one of these examples. But generally speaking, there has been a profound subtraction from the individuals environmental experience.
In terms of my own life I have noticed a skeptical removal from the outside world. I rarely take the time to experience the natural beauties that surround my daily building hopping of a life. Why is this? I continually ask myself. I have always been fond of the outdoors. Why is that as we develop (in terms of our time on this earth-not in assumed maturity or experience) we have a slow withdrawal from the nature that surrounds us? It must be that our responsibilities and obligations to others, as well as ourselves, have become too much of a burden. I do not understand why our relationships to fellow humans take precedence over our relationship to this earth.
Does our personal connection with this earth not hold at least as much, if not more importance than our relationships to those friends and foes who surround us? It must! We live on this soil to learn and to understand how to be grounded and stable in this life we are living. The earth is the best example of how to live ones life. The mixture of sacrifice (this world has fought for our right to free-will), consistency (waking up everyday to provide opportunity), and growth potential (good or bad, this earth is not going to stop changing) lend to us being able to live lives worth living.
I notice now at this tender age, that I can no longer take this earth for granted. It provides too much of our own goodness to forget about it now. I hope to never again forget the earths important and necessary role in the existence of a purposeful and happy life.
In terms of my own life I have noticed a skeptical removal from the outside world. I rarely take the time to experience the natural beauties that surround my daily building hopping of a life. Why is this? I continually ask myself. I have always been fond of the outdoors. Why is that as we develop (in terms of our time on this earth-not in assumed maturity or experience) we have a slow withdrawal from the nature that surrounds us? It must be that our responsibilities and obligations to others, as well as ourselves, have become too much of a burden. I do not understand why our relationships to fellow humans take precedence over our relationship to this earth.
Does our personal connection with this earth not hold at least as much, if not more importance than our relationships to those friends and foes who surround us? It must! We live on this soil to learn and to understand how to be grounded and stable in this life we are living. The earth is the best example of how to live ones life. The mixture of sacrifice (this world has fought for our right to free-will), consistency (waking up everyday to provide opportunity), and growth potential (good or bad, this earth is not going to stop changing) lend to us being able to live lives worth living.
I notice now at this tender age, that I can no longer take this earth for granted. It provides too much of our own goodness to forget about it now. I hope to never again forget the earths important and necessary role in the existence of a purposeful and happy life.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Education
Is there a way to structure our educational systems to provide students with a broad and practical knowledge base, which allows them to have an individualistic approach to success in life and occupation? I have a feeling the answer is yes, but results show that our current system is failing to supply such life tools to our youth.
In Ain't No Makin' It, Jay MacLeod presents striking information that clearly shows the shortcomings of public education. His analysis represents the unfair circumstances that many of the youth in the United States face. Our schools train bright-eyed kids to embrace the labor force in the form of low-income jobs. These schools, which instill short sighted desires and take away from the imaginations of our children have become the norm.
For the youth to thrive we must be trained and brought up in a mindset of success. We have to be aware that all our hard work may or may not pay off, yet still be willing to put forth the effort to move forward. Education cannot dictate class. Having class must be a more important variable than the monetary class of an individual. Our society needs to be shaped around global values rather than global influence.
If we are able to change, or rather develop how we see potential in the individual I feel we will grow strength in numbers. We must find where each persons goodness fits into the whole of the puzzle. The hard part is recognizing the distinct decency of the individual.
In Ain't No Makin' It, Jay MacLeod presents striking information that clearly shows the shortcomings of public education. His analysis represents the unfair circumstances that many of the youth in the United States face. Our schools train bright-eyed kids to embrace the labor force in the form of low-income jobs. These schools, which instill short sighted desires and take away from the imaginations of our children have become the norm.
For the youth to thrive we must be trained and brought up in a mindset of success. We have to be aware that all our hard work may or may not pay off, yet still be willing to put forth the effort to move forward. Education cannot dictate class. Having class must be a more important variable than the monetary class of an individual. Our society needs to be shaped around global values rather than global influence.
If we are able to change, or rather develop how we see potential in the individual I feel we will grow strength in numbers. We must find where each persons goodness fits into the whole of the puzzle. The hard part is recognizing the distinct decency of the individual.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Fixation with Victory
Why is that human beings as a race have this innate fixation with proving they are superior to their fellow man? Is it because we feel fulfilled or satisfied in a selfishly eager sort of way? The answer is clear. All mankind is searching for is a sense of security. With success and accomplishment, usually follows confidence. People are attracted to and follow confidence, because it breeds positive energy. Positive people have a natural calmness, because they know they need not prove themselves.
Having the ability to outperform a fellow man is a true joy. It allows a person to have an air about themselves, which is simple happiness. Man enjoys triumph because it breeds confidence, positivity, and security for those who are afraid of victory themselves. There are many of us who are afraid of such success. We choose to live our lives under the radar, without showing others that we can be successful and accomplish our intentions when we see fit. Our main problem is that we rarely acknowledge those opportunities for success. We instead allow the next, more ambitious person to fulfill our own dream and to make it their own, while we wait idly to the side. This process of giving up ones dream for fear of being successful will be discussed at length on a later date.
Having the ability to outperform a fellow man is a true joy. It allows a person to have an air about themselves, which is simple happiness. Man enjoys triumph because it breeds confidence, positivity, and security for those who are afraid of victory themselves. There are many of us who are afraid of such success. We choose to live our lives under the radar, without showing others that we can be successful and accomplish our intentions when we see fit. Our main problem is that we rarely acknowledge those opportunities for success. We instead allow the next, more ambitious person to fulfill our own dream and to make it their own, while we wait idly to the side. This process of giving up ones dream for fear of being successful will be discussed at length on a later date.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
The Brothers vs. The Hallway Hangers
The tale of the Brothers and the Hallway Hangers is an interesting yet somewhat surprising one. In this story based around low income housed families, Jay MacLeod chronicles the educational differences between the families of the Brothers, and those of the Hallway Hangers. His analysis is quite unexpected and very telling of our flawed racial stereotypes.
MacLeod goes deep into the family backgrounds of both these groups. In doing so we begin to notice that the African American families (those of the Brothers), are trying with everything they have to escape the prison that is 'the projects'. We also start to get a sense that many of the white families (the families of the Hallway Hangers), have resigned to their fate as permanent 'project' dwellers.
This analysis struck me quite profoundly, because my previously naive notions were to the contrary. Being a white semi-motivated, semi-spoiled, middle class college student I had perceived that other white people were like me. I had never been exposed to white ghettos. Or heard about areas where people of white skin were trapped in this downward cycle towards poverty, which is public housing.
The other deeply intriguing point that MacLeod brings about is the utter discipline and motivation amongst the African American 'Brothers'. We are constantly bombarded with these pictorial generalizations that lead us into a false trap(the media). This trap generally leads us to believe that all African Americans in 'the projects' are lazy and unmotivated members of society.
MacLeod's method of disproving racial and societal stereotypes is proving to be quite effective. He tells us what we rarely hear, and supports it with the factual information and data he has collected. The 'Brothers' are trying to make their way out of the projects through hard work, and most importantly lofty dreams. The Hallway Hangers have accepted their fate as the bottom dwellers of society, and it is no one's dream to live in such a nightmare.
MacLeod goes deep into the family backgrounds of both these groups. In doing so we begin to notice that the African American families (those of the Brothers), are trying with everything they have to escape the prison that is 'the projects'. We also start to get a sense that many of the white families (the families of the Hallway Hangers), have resigned to their fate as permanent 'project' dwellers.
This analysis struck me quite profoundly, because my previously naive notions were to the contrary. Being a white semi-motivated, semi-spoiled, middle class college student I had perceived that other white people were like me. I had never been exposed to white ghettos. Or heard about areas where people of white skin were trapped in this downward cycle towards poverty, which is public housing.
The other deeply intriguing point that MacLeod brings about is the utter discipline and motivation amongst the African American 'Brothers'. We are constantly bombarded with these pictorial generalizations that lead us into a false trap(the media). This trap generally leads us to believe that all African Americans in 'the projects' are lazy and unmotivated members of society.
MacLeod's method of disproving racial and societal stereotypes is proving to be quite effective. He tells us what we rarely hear, and supports it with the factual information and data he has collected. The 'Brothers' are trying to make their way out of the projects through hard work, and most importantly lofty dreams. The Hallway Hangers have accepted their fate as the bottom dwellers of society, and it is no one's dream to live in such a nightmare.
The Sociological Imagination
How much have our goals and priorities in life changed over the past sixty years? We have transformed from a society with a booming and diverse economic focus, to one with a self oriented, "misery of vague uneasiness." The mental shift with regards to an individuals problems is a key indicator of where we are heading as a society. It is quite interesting to take note of how self fulfilling our personal issues are in modern American society. While our concerns during the first half of this century were economical and governmental based, they have since shifted towards personal problems that neglect the greater whole. Our fears in life no longer come from the perspective of a nation, but rather from the near sighted eyes of our many citizens.
Another interesting question that the author poses is, "where does this society stand in human history."
Is it possible for us as an American nation to leave a lasting impression on history? It appears unlikely since our primary inclination is to look out for, and to take care of ourselves. Our mark on history cannot possibly be felt deeply when the common individuals mark on his own community is felt so seldom. As a society our collective purpose must be to leave a positive impression on this earth. One that lasts and is remembered with pride and joy. If we can walk away from this planet, having left positive footprints on this earth our Sociological Imagination will have been well used, and our duties fulfilled.
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