Insights - Not only obvious stuff?

There's a few things I would like to address for my first blog post in a while.

First, it occurs to me that people will look at the things I post and think something like, Well, this is all obvious shit. This guy must be an idiot to present things like this as revelations. Well, guess what? I'm not an idiot and I do realize that a lot of this stuff is "obvious." But just because something's obvious it doesn't mean that you won't forget it from time to time and need to be reminded of it. Anyone who's played sports knows exactly what I mean. Maybe you needed to be reminded to tweak something small in your curling delivery, get your ball toss higher up in tennis, always look at the ball in golf. The fact is, we forget some things. If someone reads these and is reminded of something they forgot to do but should, then my mission's accomplished.

On a side note, things being obvious is another great way of determining the right answer to a question. Everyone will have their own opinions on things. You've been a fly on the wall for discussions. All of a sudden, someone says something and you think, Of course, how could I have been so blind? That's obviously the right answer. That's the thing. The best answer is often difficult to come up with but sounds ridiculously obvious when stated.

Next, my main points. Something the other day triggered some thoughts in my head. Basically, because you think, you're thoughtful. Or rather, because you think you are thoughtful, it is so. If you're a worrier, people will "give" you good reason to worry. Often, if you assume the best, you'll get just that.

So much depends on frame of mind. When you expect to see sunshine you can look outside and see it even metaphorically on a cloudy day. If you expect rain, you might end your day in tears. This doesn't mean you should ignore solid facts in front of you...such as not being insane and realizing that there truly are clouds in the sky or that it's actually raining. That would be a little dangerous. But I do think that many would be better served to keep a better leash on their mental states.

Soliloquy of Night's Blind

Wrapped in thought like night’s warm embrace

Swirling lies in camouflage and stars to light my face

Endlessly looked over by a passerby to look away

Swimming in the empty night sky, sinister dark grey

Bubbles are floating about and slowly they pop

Too hard to soak up their deluge with ghost mops

A chill then fills the air and sends panic in their faces

A look of utter terror for what awaits in empty spaces

And in the heart they see what their brain cannot know

Paranoia was the crop and you reap what you sow

Ego splattering about like a grenade too soon burst

Not enough water in the sea to quench their greedy thirst

Where did all our passion go?

I often think about current times with respect to the older days. When I do get in that mindset, I tend to listen to older music from the 60s or 70s. You wouldn't think so because it's roundabout, but it's led to some interesting thought processes.

I think about the mindset of people in an era that produced better music and a lot of free spirit. I guess it depends on where you're standing since a lot of big business and fairly constructed and logical ideas happened as well. Regardless, let's focus on the lighter, more pop cultural aspects of those time periods.

I remember hearing someone speak of that Cold War type of setting and how people didn't know whether they were going to live or die or whatever. So what did they do? They lived today like there might not be a tomorrow because...Well, there might not have been. I don't want to feel like I could die tomorrow but I do think that modern society drapes us in the most dangerous type of safety blanket.

I feel like we're so well connected now that it's easy to feel like you don't matter and you're safe. We're approaching seven billion for world population - "That could never happen to me, there are so many other people out there." But you know what? That (whatever "that" is for you) could actually happen to you and we don't even realize it. That's sad.

What happened to life mattering? What happened to things mattering? What happened to people? What happened to passion?

Somewhere along the way passion died. Well, I wasn't alive around that time but I have passion. Frankly, I feel like I'm one of the few people around that does have unbridled passion. That remark will piss off anyone reading this to a huge degree. But it's true. I care what people think about me just like anyone else but not with respect to my passion(s). When it comes to that, I couldn't care if I couldn't be more wrong. I want to feel, I want to live life; I don't just want to be alive and scrape through. Otherwise, what's the point?

Society has changed? Great. We'll change it back. Or maybe I'll change it for me. I'll change it for me until it suits me and then I'll live in that world. That's a dream worth dreaming and a passion worth having.

The Knight in Shining Armor

I break my fast and rush to the armory to equip myself

I don shining chainmail, gauntlets, helm, and greaves

I spy my holiest of swords, hanging on a nearby shelf

So I take it and slip it noiselessly into my waiting sheath

Last I see, just sitting there, a shield as lovely as it is rare

It’s the shield I’ve forged through many long battles

Though the once shiny surface will now not show glare

The shield is sadly now cracked with barbs on its handle

The shield that I wield is akin to a rose with its thorns

Though it is sweet to behold, it grows bitter with touch

The shield, it will no longer do and my hands it has torn

Perhaps it is time to finally stop using it like a crutch

My sword is now blunt and has been worn to the hilt

I wash my face and see eyes as dull as the edges now are

I must learn to sharpen with resolve instead of guilt

Lest I wake from my nightmare to find the battle too far

I wrestle with morals as with the life and death of men

For in saving the innocent I do so condemn us to fall

Into a life of passing moments that we try to live again

For a knight in shining armor, the princess is his all

Sea of Hypocrisy

It’s hard to stay afloat in a sea of hypocrisy

Fish eyes see what my limitations would be

They poke holes in someone else for fear

Would that they’d look through one in a mirror

And in the river fish pretend to swim upstream

Only doing enough to stall, thinking they gleam

Some fish only pretend to be strong when they swim

They have the gall and hypocrisy suits on a whim

Some fish find food like gluttons to sweets

But hollowed words are often empty eats

Yet some think I swim too silly or seriously

They’d have to swim in the same pond to see me

True Dreams?

Sometimes I have dreams that ring true

I don’t suppose it’ll be one with me and you

If dreams are real and love is waking in one,

I’ve never slept on account of the sun

Never means maybe and sometimes, always

But I’m in the waking; you’re a world away

Let’s meet in an oasis while you sing your tune

Eyes open and that pure water is ice in my spoon

We were splashing through puddles in the rain

Too much come down to see you without strain

Got water in my eyes and pink hearts in my head

Got to wake up again and see my real dreams fed

...And now I will give you unsolicited advice

Brace yourself. This is the post where I give everyone relationship advice despite having never been in a long-term relationship myself (and enjoying that fact about myself, actually).

I pondered human nature earlier today. I guess it's one of those things that you do at work. Pretty natural daily activity, really. Anyway, I thought of how the divorce rate is so unbelievably high and wondered what the fuck is wrong with the world. In doing so, I have determined a few things which I will explain in what follows.

People often say that relationships are built on compromise. I'm sure on some superficial level, that's true - like going to see a movie you don't want to or visiting someone's awful parents. But I feel like just because things are one way in the world, it doesn't mean that we can't change them. If something like a tool or machine is not working the way you want it to, you either fix it or get a better one. Why can we not apply that logic to other things? Relationships are built on compromise - that's stupid; it's like saying that people spend and give up things in order to have a partner. Why should it be like that? In my view, two people should add to one another in some type of synergy, to add to each other instead of subtract. Maybe that's why we have so much divorce...(Maybe that's why I'm still single and like being single, haha)

That opinion probably just represents one of my policies which is not to settle for anything less than the best. That's likely the cause of divorce; people settle when they shouldn't, get some type of immediate kickback and pay for it in the long-run (monetarily and emotionally).

Food for thought - I won't follow-through on this and attempt to give an answer because I haven't thought that far ahead and might not even have the problem right. Hopefully this provokes some thought about not only the quantity of relationships you have but also the quality of them.