ChaseFlyDreams

Don't Believe the Hype: I'm Not A Minority....

2009-07-20T11:51:00.000-07:00

Minor meaning lesser or smaller in amount, importance or size.

I've never liked the term MINORITY to describe people. It seems almost ignorant to use the word when we try to pump America with all these equality speeches. If we find ourselves to be people, through and through regardless of color; then the key question would have to be: what's the need for the word?

The word minority further seperates people from one another. We aren't just people of colors, eye shapes, thick and thin lips, and different hair. We are America filled with diverse but beautiful people, just beautiful people. If we are all just that then no one is minor to anyone but instead we are equally the thread of the American fabric that holds America together. We needn't refer anyone to being minor to anyone else... and when we realize we are the same we can progress as a country.....

We've all learned that "seperate but equal" cannot stand, so why seperate us from the body of America by calling us minor to anyone else. We may say that the term minor refers to the fact that there are less people of a certain "race" than another "race" in America but with statistics proving that in the near future that people of Spanish decent will be the majority of the population, will news media and statistics buffs use the term "minority" to call Euro-derived people or will the term become extinct?

America the Beautiful.

2009-07-03T20:37:00.000-07:00

July 4th is the reminder of all that America stands for, and although I'm very skeptical of the foundations of this country I put them aside for this one day. As the barbecues get intense, the beaches get crowded, the heat swelters us, we're supposed to be remembering the heritage of the country. We must forget the shortcomings and idolize the things this country has done right. Independence Day was the day we became our own. Unlike the rest of the world with such an eclectic group of people that dwell in it's countryside and it's cities. America is beautiful, for it was the beacon of light for the people that we're trapped in darkness in their own homelands. The ultimate refugee camp opens it's mighty doors to help the helpless and so forth has been the holder of a million memories and stories of many generations. America.

Two Colors Cover the Spectrum: Amber Gray Photography

2009-07-02T18:21:00.001-07:00

The whimsical feel of the way that Amber Gray takes pictures makes you believe that their could be another dimension.

The pictures make you want to stare at them until you fall into them.

The underlying dark qualities and the fanciful characters are mixed so well together that they keep you intrigued but it also helps you visualize the wilder fantastical side of life.

It's utterly beautiful if i say so myself...... here are my favorites... enjoy.

Viva la Vespa

2009-07-01T09:52:00.000-07:00

What is it about these little, European,motorized scooters? Is it the sleek, smooth, style of it? The small and quiet purr of it? The likeness to a motorcycle? The accessibility of it? The small amount of upkeep it takes to keep it? Well whatever it is that has us up to our knees in awe over the Vespa, one thing is for sure: The Vespa is dope.

This bad ass machine is quite reminiscent of old style motorcycles that make them look in the very least retro but then it also has its own personal style about it that makes it look a little mysterious. It's ideal for the big city because of how small it is and how it can easily maneuver in traffic. Not many people have this little beloved machine and a lot of people outside of city life even know what it is but I think it's something we should all look into..... Maybe it's just a combination of everything that it has to offer or maybe it's just the vivid appeal of looking at it.

Souls of Your Feet

2009-06-30T10:04:00.000-07:00

A woman's hair is supposed to be her crowning glory but I guess this phrase was made before they saw her shoes. Shoes these days are starting to get more extravagant and flamboyant. The shoes have more filigree, more heels, less heels, and much more height. Perhaps women can express their inner beauty and self not by their drab uniforms and uninteresting clothes choices but by their shoes. All the fashion designers in the biz are jumping on this crazy shoe flair and perhaps you don't agree with them now but one things for sure: They're on the rise. So dress yourself from the crown of your hair to the sole of your feet and vice versa.

Alexander McQueen

Marc Jacobs

Nina Ricci

Happy

2009-06-29T21:00:00.000-07:00

Life is the struggle between Point A: being born and Point B: dying. What we do between these two fixed points is telling of the places we've seen, we've lived, we've been through. It's so telling of whom we've met, we've loved, we've hated and we've aspired to be. Our lives are so complex and ever changing. We have no telling of what could happen tomorrow and yet we yearn for the possibility of a tomorrow. We strive to make our tomorrow's happy if not for ourselves then perhaps for our posterity. But happiness seems to be the common goal of humanity. We want things and people in our lives to achieve this happiness and sometimes after we have them it isn't what we wanted them to be. Perhaps we should define happiness in a different way. not as something that can be achieved when and if something else happens or if we attain something else... but something that we possess only if we let it. I believe happiness is a choice.

B.A.S.E.

2009-06-29T13:24:00.000-07:00

Body Art: Spectacular and Exquisite

What do we think is beautiful? Nakedness is taboo and shameful. It is left for the strippers, the prostitutes, the "weird" and "uncivilized". Can nudity be pretty/ beautiful? Can it surpass the fully dressed Mona Lisa and change our standard conceptions of nakedness? Can nakedness be worth money? And what nudity is appropriate? Bodyscapes....

All pictures below are taken by Patrick Demarchelier.

New Direction

2009-06-29T13:19:00.000-07:00

Fresh new outlook on what it is I propose to write about. I won't just be writing prose for prose sake.... but some other stuff too... check it out... yup...

OutRage?

2009-04-07T07:32:00.000-07:00

Where did our anger go? Did it go with our generations past? We aren't angry enough to do anything for the greater good anymore. We aren't spunky enough to start a revolution. We don't have the passion, we're not outraged. We just put money into the pockets of the rich by buying a mug that says Go Green and still we don't know exactly what we're fighting for. Be more aware! Be more Outraged! Change something!

Want: The Taste of Humanity

2009-04-05T22:40:00.000-07:00

We want the people we love to flourish, we want them to thrive, we want them to succeed.

We want the world to be good and we want never to be hurt.

We want to live life happily and comfortably and freely.

We want to see our destinies, we want to deny our pains, and so we hide our sorrows.

We want, we want, we want...

Our wants are so beautiful and romantic and selfish and selfless.

We want to all be the same inside.

We want us all to be ravishingly and effervescently youthful.

We want to be different and unique and unparalleled.

We want the sun to shine for us, we want the rain to pour it's blessings down.

We want oh that we want.

And when we want wanton things we want to be righteously forgiven so that our hearts are satisfied.

We want not to want the things so unwanted.

We want to sustain and not only that but excel and outshine and outperform and win.

Want more, want better, want more, want better.

What we wanted before is now obsolete.

We want new, we want greater, we want the advantage, we want an edge.

We want to be wanted.

We want because what's life if we can't want?

And when we're gorged full of these wants like a tick filled with blood but somehow can't stop the urge to suck,

We'll want just a little bit more.

Those of Little Faith

2009-02-08T23:03:00.000-08:00

I believe in you when you don't believe in yourself, and when you want to shed a tear my shoulder isn't presently there. I'm sorry, but the pain you feel harbors in me and my heart is full with tears that your eyes shed. I believe that its never to late to be the person that you want to be, even when you don't know the person you've become. Beliefs falter when there is no faith, but I, who stare and look at your face made with heaven's beauty, I have faith in you. And whenever you make it and even if you don't I will be here to draw your faith out of silver and gold so that you may blossom and try again. I believe in you. And so when you stand outside and face the harsh winds and somehow you fall down I won't help you up but I'll watch you catch your grip and brace that wind and you will make it because of the faith I have in you.

Truth Returned My Soul

2009-02-08T21:11:00.000-08:00

I fell asleep, only to wake up and discover that the only person that I can be accurately is myself. Fervent searching in the night time air for who I was, besides the daytime show I present. The packaging I put around my heart was the ace bandage for the hurt I held captive instead of relieving and releasing. I whispered to myself in the quite stark night. Repeatedly I said "I am disillusioned to be the poor pitiful victim." But I was neither poor, nor pitiful, nor a victim except in my own mind. I was and always wanted to mask my life into this beautiful package of hurt. I awoke afraid of becoming this new me or rather my original me. I prayed so that my authenticity would affront my counterfeit me. That old me was a reminder and a savage truth that would haunt me for the rest of my life. I would not be bamboozled again. I confronted it so passionately for I wanted my soul back. Truth returned my soul.

Enigma

2009-02-01T20:17:00.000-08:00

What perplexes me is how we live our lives dedicated to loving. We form our whole lives around loving. And to love is something complex and unique to every individual. It may be your child, partner, friends, house, job, clothes, possessions.... We love to love. We love with the word love written on our t- shirt and our body's and stamped on the inside of our brains. We want people to know we're lovable. We want people to love us. We want to be loved. Love.

We're entranced and we believe that these lovable relationships with rings and public displays of affection and the thousands we throw around for the "dream" wedding. (unbeknown to them they'll pay another couple thousand and them some for the "dream divorce") So the main point is that we want people to love us the way that we know that we can love them... It's a mutual understanding that the ultimate is to find that love of your life. That when you find that man or woman your world will be infinitely better and the sun will never shine as bright as when you meet the "right one".

Gosh it sounds so textbook written and yet those who don't have it want this love, fight for this love, crave for this love and those who have it take it for granted. We love to be loved, this is true but the real enigma that racks my brain to a million and one pieces: we don't love ourselves. We don't even like ourselves. We wallow in our self pity just because we don't have anyone to love us and we believe if we find that person we'll be so much better off... but no it can't and will never happen that way. Here's a lovely cliche from the average self help book : We can't love anyone before we learn to love ourselves. We can't love our neighbor like we love ourselves if we can't even look at ourselves in the mirror. Love yourself and then me... and then we can love each other... its a formula I believe will work and then you won't have to search for love you'll just be in love.

The End

Faux Pas

2009-01-31T15:25:00.001-08:00

And if there was some different way to say I'm sorry.... I wish that mistakes could be eradicated and oh... how we could live... I think about the faux pas and the faux partners that we've paired ourselves with. I've messed up many times and associated myself with the wrongs of this world until they became blood relatives of mine. How they smoke, their clouds of blunders away. How they drink away their memories of the errors they've made. How do we hurt the ones we love? Call them names, slap their faces, take without asking, hurt feelings, hurt skin. Ouch... the bleeding, the hurt, the pain. We realize our wrongs and cry our oceans and rivers and Lord please forgive us. We want to do right and every time we take that one step forward we take a couple more back. I miss how I was going forward, I hate being so far back. I wish to gain the will power to say no to the things that may cause us agony. Amen.

Sleep For the Better

2009-01-24T08:14:00.000-08:00

What if I told you that the world was at it's best, when the world is asleep. What if I said the world was loveliest when the world took a nap. So gentle and calm are we when our eyelids tuck our eyes in for bed. Even the evil doers and villainous murderers seem like sheep, when we sleep, and nobody gets to see the little good we have in us....

As Written Down On Paper

2008-08-21T20:11:00.000-07:00

I’d speak the speech I’ve been dreaming of
But the words they don’t come through
Oh the nights of sorrows vanish
But the pen still doesn’t move
Oh have little faith in me
As small as the scientist came make it
And I’ll strip thee of thy pleasantries
And leave your soul, naked
As the pen starts to move in an elegant flow,
And the writing gets more intense,
Your mind starts to roam things it never had,
It fills with precision of topics dense,
Oh the way we once were
Before we knew what we know now
The way we grew with supreme innocence
We’re guilty of the things we know our conscience will not allow,
And the things that tear our bodies apart
We continue to let them win
We let our personal demons defeat us
And still let more come in
And the pen moves down the paper fast
To transcribe all the things we’ve learned
The pull and tug at your heart strings are violent
Your stomach starts to churn
And the way your hands begin to cramp
But your ideas come with ease
You fill paper after paper
Oh your soul starts to appease
The soul releases its complications
To a paper so unaware
With every unpleasant thing released
You lay there empty and bare.

To Stay Afloat...

2008-08-03T18:46:00.000-07:00

The things we must do to keep ourselves afloat is a concept that makes people uncomfortable.

If you were on a boat alone, adrift at sea, with all the items you loved and cherished and the boat began to sink what would you surrender to keep yourself afloat? You need to be rescued, you're no sailor, but in order to be rescued in a vast, deep sea what you need now is time. Time till your rescuer is in sight and can reel you in. Time till you can get in contact with someone who can help you. Time is going by and the boat is sinking and you ask yourself... what can I live without?

We live our lives in a stale rut. We move to the beat of our own drums but our drummers only know one tune. Sometimes its not what we are doing wrong but more like what we allow ourselves to dwell in. We keep around people we know bring us down. We keep indulging in destructive behaviors. It seems like our lives are stale because we aren't willing to give up the things that don't benefit us. We've become pack rats and hoarders with people, activities, items and everything else. Our lives are boring and all though we know it, we affirm what we're doing with the same old quotes such as "This is the real world" or "Life is hard". But life isn't hard, life is challenging. For one to have life all they need is air in they're lungs, food and water, and a pillow to sleep. It's those that can stand up to the challenge of keeping balance to all those in between each sleep that makes ones life interesting or uninteresting. It's those people that hold us back from what we want to do and it's those same people that influence you to believe that what they say is what you need to do. But nothing is needed besides a place to die. Though this may sound somber it's the only thing guaranteed. The question I asked in the beginning is the key to where your life will go next: what are you willing to sacrifice in order to keep yourself afloat? Allow me to be so bold as to say that most people wouldn't look at themselves in the mirror and see an imperfection and then move away from the mirror as if the flaw wasn't there... They'd fix it. So why do we live our lives being complacent with our imperfections? Rid yourself of them ... stop drowning and keep yourself afloat...

The Real Price Of Speech.....

2008-08-01T19:23:00.000-07:00

If our flaws could be thrown on to a canvas.... and people spoke what they really thought.... would the world be a better place? I suspect that if people spoke in a blunt or plain manner, speaking their opinions and spitting out their feelings then my ego would suddenly shatter into many pieces. I can only speak for those that I know and have encountered; but when people say that the world is a cruel place I let it escape my mind, only to let the optimist in me shine through. I wouldn't let anyone bog me down with those kind of thoughts.I didn't want to think that maybe the only good that can come out of life must come out of you. Perhaps I was a bit jaded or maybe you could call it naive but what I've come to realize is that people find it hard to go about life without their negativities. They'd rather be melancholy, upset, mad, frightened, corrupted, rebellious and envious just because. I find that people make their own paths of worries, doubts and conspiracies even when there are none. I find that people think of the negatives before the positives when it comes to other people, items, differences in the world, judgement of character and anything else that is thought provoking. It's a spectacle to watch peoples faces turn sour and their noses turn up because of a difference in the way the day flows. If someone with an 'odd' sense of style came with in arms reach then we would have a facial expression and a thought pattern that reveals our disapproval, but if asked what they felt about differences then they'd exclaim "I accept people of all shapes and sizes and every walk of life." Well good for him or her to say but it isn't true. We all have our preferences and when it seems a bit taboo to speak up about said preference then we become the onlooker with a sour face.

If everyone spoke their mind and said what they felt like saying then would we all be better off? Perhaps not. we'd have out of the closet rascists, biggots, and two timers. We'd have passionate mean spirited people and people who liberate everything just because. We'd have crazy people who became millionaires for speaking their mind and the poor people would become rich and the rich would become angry because of the elite isn't so elite. Words are the life and the death of us. Our words cause arguements and wars, feuds and hatreds... words can of course help us but with so many negative minds I find that if they all were opened up and the truth of everyones thoughts were freed we'd find alot of chaos. Speech is free but we all no nothing is free. What we say now can be quite costly later maybe we should say "Speech is absolutely free with no money down and no interest until someone is hurt."

If everyone said what they honestly thought about you what would be left unsaid?

Life, The Loan I Made

2008-07-21T11:44:00.000-07:00

So whatever misfortunes I partake in,

I've only loaned myself to life,

For the sins I bear,

I'll be the in the middle of this whirlwind,

And ride it like the sun,

For it's daily adventure.

Not caring when the moon temporarily takes it's place,

So whatever misfortunes come,

They'll all pass me by.

I know that the loan is temporary,

That death will soon overcome me,

And life is only a short dream,

Perchance my fortune will rise again,

And the downtrodden will see me and seek a smile,

Because for all the while they settle in misery,

Instead of making their strength perfect in this weakness.

But as the warmth of the sun hits my face,

I know I'm one day closer to the grave,

So the feelings that rise will quickly fall,

For a day is all the more special when it is recognizable,

An hour is all the more unique when your mind holds on to it,

And when we can't remember anymore and our mind fails us,

We grovel.

If we had only passed on the memories, we might have lived on in our spirits,

Now that memories have failed us and the torch is now blown out,

Our lives mean little more than what we do in them,

Though we may sit in the leaves of a history book,

The book may often burn,

The date may often be forgotten,

And the name may be confused with many others,

Because we are one of many,

Dreaming a dream of life,

Where the rise, rises high and the falls, fall low,

This is the life we hang on to,

The one with no certainty,

This is the life we kill for,

The life that will end anyway,

This is the life we fight for,

The life that was only loaned to begin with.

By: Shalain

A Fly Experience

2008-07-11T10:04:00.001-07:00

It's customary for one to believe that you learn the bulk of what you need to learn in the college classroom, and I can't lie, I was one of those believers. I came into college with the wrong attitude. I honestly believed that when I went to college I wouldn't need friends. I purposefully led an anti-social parade of one. The way it went in my mind went as followed:
1. I came to college for an education not a friendship.
2. I already had friends back home I didn't want to be friends with the people there.
3. And that as long as I worried about myself I couldn't fail because I wouldn't get distracted.

The thought pattern I had developed was a negative one. I put myself into this bubble and for the first couple weeks I was silent. I didn't speak in class. I didn't speak to my roommates. I didn't speak to myself. All I had was the thoughts in my own mind and calls from home. I had set myself up to be the loneliest person anyone could ever meet. It got to the point where I started defending my loneliness. A friend of mine had called from home and asked me how I was and how school was going. I told her I'm doing well in school and that things were going well. I guess she knew me too well because the second thing she asked was "Have any new friends?" This in my mind was almost laughable. I told her that I wasn't trying to make new friends here I came to do school work. She didn't take that excuse at all. She started to lecture me about the way that I am. She said " You can't expect everyone to come to you and run to be your friend. You have to be welcoming. It won't hurt to make friends where you are. You really need to stop acting like that because friends will make college go by way more smoothly." I wasn't ready to hear any of this from her I didn't want to be lectured; wasn't that what the professor was paid to do. I quickly cut her off saying something to the effect of I'm fine by myself and I don't need a lesson on how to make friends. Honestly I did. I had so many chances to make friends with people that I didn't take because I wanted to believe that I didn't need anyone. I had exhausted the idea of independence into something totally different I started self ostracizing myself. I didn't view it that way at first but now I see it clearly. After a while I started to notice how much I needed other people and companionship and so I changed my ways and my attitude. I wasn't hurting anyone but myself. I made friends as soon as I realized the path I was leading myself down. Change was in order and I'm glad I made the change because I have wonderful friends in school that I speak to regularly through the summer months and I can't wait to get back to them.

Love Half Full and Love Half Empty

2008-07-10T12:48:00.000-07:00

Love is something we feel we must reach in order to be full. We see the person we fall in love with as completing us and without them we aren't whole. We have weddings that make us one. So is this to say that the whole time we were walking around as half a person? This is something I've always felt that our culture embraced that made no sense. My reasoning behind that is that you seem never to know that you're this unfinished half until you meet Mr. Right or Mrs. Right. When you have to depend on yourself and do everything for yourself you never view yourself as this shell of a person that needs to be complete. Perhaps if I may go so far as to say that we aren't full unless we are alone. We are our truest form of being when we are by our lonesome. Everything seems to click, we are more confident in ourselves, we are more able to figure out problems within ourselves, we are able to think for ourselves. In terms of metaphor adding someone that isn't right for you is just clogging your ability to do for yourself. Someone who's right for you isn't your "other half" they are simply just your other. Someone that compliments you rather than completes. Someone that makes you stand out to the brilliant person you are and not weighs you down with their own baggage. Everyone has their own baggage and helping someone to alleviate this baggage instead of taking it on as your own is two different things. You can't solve their problems for them, that's the half and half mentality. Our culture makes it seem as though when you get married the world sees you as this super group when in actuality people see you as separate entities that happen to be linked to another. When you are at work people see you for you and not this tie to your husband or wife. They are your friends or enemies and not you and your husband's or wife's,friends and enemies. You would love to try to make your husband or wife see what you see in that person but ultimately they will never see what you see exactly because he or she will never be you. You are your own person and you are already complete.

Under the Influence of Music

2008-07-09T12:44:00.000-07:00

Music.... what keeps our soul a buzz. It sits intimately in our minds replaying its melodies. It radiates in our soul so much that it brings a smile to our face. Our bodies feel compelled to move to the bass and our fingers twiddle whether we're conscious of it or not. With just the sounds that please our bodies pumping through the stereo we nod our heads and we close our eyes, we tap our feet and we chant the words. We twist and turn our bodies to symbolize what we think the music would look like if it were brought to life. We dance this dance and it makes us happy. If and when you see someone with the joy of your music, dancing the same pleasant dance, you feel a connection. Connections that may bring a new friend or patch an old wound. It can heal someone locked in their own mind or soothe a person under the pressure of their many emotions. It can heal a broken spirit or join together a group. If this notion of unseen notes has the power to do all of that then who has the power to say what is good music and what's bad music. Should music be a sound to please the ear or one to describe the indescribable? And if one person can feel that feeling that you get when listening to his music and you get the same feeling listening to yours then who's to say which music is worse or better? It serves it's purpose either way whether you're doing the jig to it or not someone out there gets what he or she needs to get out of it. Music is the subjective force that leads to an objective mission: to express what you couldn't put into words and give you a feeling unlike what's going on around you. In that respect then all music just is......

The Child and The Election

2008-07-07T13:29:00.000-07:00

"The children are our future." It's a cliche that's surpasses every other cliche in the books. We all know that children hold the key to what lies in the future. We must nurture them and teach them right. We must help them when in trouble and keep them bright. I had the pleasure of speaking to an eleven-year-old, energetic, and intelligent, African American female by the name of Iniko.I wanted to know what she felt about her future. I asked her questions about this election that has kept the American adult population a buzz. Both candidates are household names and both could hold the key to our children's future. Most of the time we cancel children out of election talk because they "may not know much" about the topic but its quite the contrary. They may not watch the news or listen to the debates but they listen to their parents debate on who they favor and they watch their parents get riled up over decisions that the candidates have made. The power of words influence our children to extreme lengths and proves another cliche true that "Parents are a child's first teacher". Here is the interview:

Me: How do you feel about the presidential election that is going on?
Iniko: I feel pretty good about it because Obama is winning and I respect that.
Me: So you are an Obama supporter?
Iniko: Yes I am!
Me: Why is it that you support Barack Obama, what is it that you like about his leadership abilities?
Iniko: Well lets see..... I not only support Obama because he is black but also because he makes some very good points.
Me: Like what?
Iniko: Like when he said "Americans can work together to pursue a better future."I believe that we can do that.
Me: What better future are you looking forward to? What is it that you would like to see change?
Iniko: Well our health care because not a lot of people have health care, and the Iraq war so many honorable soldiers are getting killed and i think we should stop that, and gas prices, they used to be as much as a stick of gum but now its how much u pay for 16 bag of chips!!
Me: I see what you mean. So I'm wondering why don't you support McCain? Can't he fix those problems too?
Iniko: Well you might not like this reason but i don't support him because he's white and we've had enough white presidents already. We need a change just like Obama says.
Me: I understand. Thank you so much Iniko for all your help.
Iniko: Thank you.

Jill Scott- How It make you feel?

2008-06-30T22:27:00.001-07:00

If someone could pose a question and you can feel the answers radiate in your mind or it gives you something to think about then this person must have a powerful gift. If that person can now put those questions to a musical beat then this person is even more a gift to the world... because music is a haven to many. The song is directed to black men and what would they feel if all black women were gone. In any event these are the lyrics to the song.

How It Make You Feel by Jill Scott

Tell me how you feel if Iwas, if I was gone,tell me how you feel

Tell me how you feel if I was, if I was gone,tell me how you feel

What if I was gone forever?

No more chocolate kisses , No nappy dugout ever

No momma, no daughter, no sister,no, no sister friends

Tell me my brother what would become of you then?

What if POOF every black female in the world dissappeared?

Your man-child unattended lost with no one behind the steering wheel

Tell me how would that make you feel

(come on, come on) Let the sisters say

Tell me how you feel if I was, if I was gone, tell me how you feel

Your beautiful brown would be forever gone

With no more cocoa wombs to carry your brown on

You right there would be the last of your kind

Can you feel this song how does that affect your mind

Cuz if there was no me there'd be no you

Ohh Can you feel me is this song comin through

Thats the science in it but so much more intense

Reach into your soul for the answer

Reach where ever you need to, to find it.

Tell me how you feel if I was, if I was gone, tell me how you feel

Say you be tripping, say you pimping it,

Talking about how you "Da Man", what you are is something different

By-product of when "Massa"ruled your life, spreading babies everywhere

Couldn't think, couldn't care

But you can now, you can,you can

C'mon and man up damn it, Tell me how you'd feel?

No mamma,no daughter

Dreams to Fly

2008-06-30T21:52:00.000-07:00

So many dreams are lost. So many are tucked away in our hearts. Some we see dashed in front of us. We leave them in the past like broken china or an old barbie doll. When we're little we dream such heroic dreams. We dream of saving the world, we dream of being just like our moms and dads, we dream to be the president and we dream to fly. But as we get older our dreams become smaller as the melancholy thought of the "real world" with responsibility hits us. We abandon flying and leave it for the birds. We let go the thought of our wings, we stop jumping off furniture, and ultimately we stop flying. Now we dream of being doctors or lawyers with lots of money, we dream of being famous and beautiful like the celebrities. We live our lives without the lovely feeling of flying. Why don't we want to fly anymore? Why don't we want to run at super speed? Why don't we want to stop time? Remember when you were young and you could remember a dream in the morning. They were such passionate dreams filled with color and supernatural abilities. Now we seldom remember a dream as we wake and when we do it's as dreary as the life we live in. Our dreams have diminished because out pathetic reasoning has told us we can't fly, that we can't walk on walls and we can't live under water. We lost our dreams to fly.

Insane by Default

2008-06-30T15:24:00.000-07:00

"Sanity is not statistical." - George Orwell in 1984

This quote is hard to write about for it suggests so much in so little words. It undermines the idea that there are strength in numbers by stating that one persons whole hearted belief in something is all that is needed for them to be sane. What's commonly accepted is that if other people accept what you believe as true you are bound to be sane and if I had my own private belief and no one else under the great blue sky agreed with I must be crazy. Orwell shows that our commonly used way of thinking is not true; that sanity isn't judged on the basis of peoples beliefs in you but your belief in yourself. It kills the theory by stating that there isn't strength in numbers, there is force in numbers. The strength that anyone would have to stand up to numerous others for what they believe is something magnificent. Like Joan of Arc, they were so ready to deem her crazy among other things but she stood tall and didn't let anyone tear her down. She refused to let her sanity be statistical. No one was going to tell her she was crazy and after her death she was seen as a hero.(quite ironic)

Somehow the idea that sanity is not statistical reminds me of another quote that you are innocent until proven guilty. But this proves to be false. If I know that I killed a man I am guilty whether a group of jurors tell me I am guilty or not. I am the only source of truth, so sanity can not be determined by four men's beliefs it's determined by one. Who's to say I'm crazy because I see a pony in my yard and three people don't? Galileo was considered crazy by many believers of the Roman Catholic church in his belief that the earth revolved around the sun but he defended himself no matter what the cost. He was ultimately imprisoned. He wasn't crazy but in that case his sanity was statistical. Just because enough others hadn't believed in that theory at the time he was punished. Many people do stupid things in order to be apart of a group. They never once considered the fact that maybe they are sane and don't need to be apart of that grorp to feel sane. Things like mass suicides prove that sanity cannot be statistical. It must be individualism that makes sanity a possibility.

The Adult Imagination

2008-06-30T14:07:00.000-07:00

Imagination, perhaps I would best describe it as the way a person can create an image in their mind that eases, solves, or predicts a circumstance. Children play with dragons and dance with fairies in their spare time between learning their numbers and abc’s. What’s more is that adults commend these kids for their use of imaginations. How they can be so oblivious to all that’s around them and they can just imagine what we would call whimsy. Children dream up and create the most amusing and comforting stories and it touches an adults heart to hear little Sally talk about the adventures she went on with Bob her imaginary friend. As a child grows up and he or she is determined to give up such a world where the sky can be pink, parents and other adults in the child’s life egg-on the idea of letting Bob go. When the child doesn’t want to let Bob disappear into the catacombs in the brain the parent thinks perhaps something is wrong. A diagnosis is needed for Sally and yet, her parents lives seem a bit more trying than the eight year olds mind made friend.

Adults are the most severe pretenders. They lie to save their hide, they smile at the boss so they won’t lose their jobs, and they create environments they wish to portray themselves as, rather than displaying their true selves. Some may read this incredulously but its often you the “vente latte- consuming” and the “whole foods crazed” that pretend the most. A friend of mine told me how much she hated her job. She could go on for days about the intensity in which she hated her coworkers and how unpleasant they were. It was quite soon after this that I picked her up from work so that we could go shopping afterwards. I sat patiently waiting for her last minutes of work to end. She wore a collared shirt and high wasted skirt get up that was obviously all the rage in secretarial attire. Mind you, this friend of mine made jokes about the high wasted skirt. She pranced around with all her teeth showing in a “how can I help you smile?” When her coworkers addressed her they smiled accommodatingly and when she addressed them she smiled, joshed, and made witty small talk. What a different environment I had thought this would be upon approaching the office. The amount of imagination these women had to use must have hurt their brains by the way that my friend described them to me. She was a pretender herself but how could she help it, all that was around her was this whimsical fairy tale of fake politeness and manners.

Now perhaps her example is a bit extreme to what your’s may be but this deception is made by so many people. We all can turn on the illusion and act like we belong on stage when it suits us and most of us use this power to deceive and manipulate. Most people say I just want to keep a healthy environment but what’s healthy about the constant lie you create and all the falseness in the life you live. If 8 year old Sally should have to get rid of her very best imaginary friend then you should get rid of your imaginary issues as well. As far as I’m concerned adults are the very best pretenders.