Give it a Sec

seersuckermag: Who Taught Us To Share Like This by Jessica...

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 17:51:35 -0500

Who Taught Us To Share Like This by Jessica Kellogg

Life is dependent on sharing. But when did this lesson turn into exposing our small, individual worlds to the entire planet?

It may be a little meta, talking about social media and the like on one of its many outlets—however, this article is really pointed and right. In my opinion of course

What do you call love

Sun, 06 May 2012 02:02:11 -0400

There is something that has been rattling around in my head for some time. It is an ever developing world , and as things become more scattered to the times, I am drawn to wonder about love.

Here is a call for all those who come on to my page to repost this and give some description of what they think love is. It should be anything and everything. A picture, a poem, a description, anything. What is love for you?

I mean this not as an existential cry for help, or even as a nihilistic point of view, but rather as a definitive look at the concept and viscera that is love.

This is what I think of love

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_hUvhekft45g/S7WCd1hePKI/AAAAAAAAABI/3VJi76c-8S8/s1600/sloth_chunk.jpg

Love is:

An Experience. It is something that we cannot begin to fathom. Creativity only touches the very outer shell of love. Many different kinds of art and creation allow for us to experience love. Sometimes it is the lack there of, which is where songs of lost love and the feelings of hopelessness spring. The depth of love gives us the willingness to create something beyond ourselves, because love is something beyond ourselves.

Love is:

Connection. To feel the love for another human being is to feel connected to them. It removes the trivialities of social behavior and allows the person to exist with you. When you allow someone to be who they are, it means you gave them the love that you also share internally.

Love is:

Realization. To see what we are, and to experience all that we have, is to love your world. Realization of yourself and the acceptance and love there following, enables one to have all forms of connection.

Love is:

Minimal. There are no caveats or extenuating circumstances; to love is to love. All else takes little importance.

Through this, I feel some at peace. Love is simple. Humans are complex only because we choose to ignore love in all forms.

But I cannot convince those to believe me; Love is, after all, ours. Nothing more.

Along the Journey

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 19:44:54 -0500

In the process, which is life, it is a constant structuring of our conscious mind. Every definition is the process of our subjective eye trying to structure reality. This structuring, that I am currently in the process of allowing, has become very evident in my struggle for personal definition. The eternally subjective questions of who am I, what am I, where am I, etc., are becoming part of a larger allowance.

It is.

I look at these words as not just an obvious answer, but a paradoxical one. There is no one answer to a question, but there is one way to be within the question; one way to be within the moment. Being doesn’t just answer every question, it just contains both. A question that is an answer: an answer that is a question. That is truth. And truth is innumerable.

I stepped away from what I knew

To find everything to know

And in stepping away

I stepped off myself .

The river that flows only stops

When dammed by the debris

Of your own mind

The rocks and debris

Flow when the practice

Keeps the river consistent

Not like you'd read it anyway

Sat, 09 Jul 2011 02:49:14 -0400

There is little reason for me to expect anyone on this site to take a second out of their busy lives to perceive this moment; to put down their expectations and desires for one moment and truly look around. Because what could possibly be learned in a single instant, such as this? Will it get you laid? Will it get you money? Food? What can be obtained now that can enrich the life so dramatically? Even further, what can I give you that would possibly add anything to your already copmlex life?

There are moments that arise when I feel the urge to slash out a few words about life, politics, the world, etc., and don’t know where to begin. There really is too much. Life has too many moving parts in it to try to fix all at once. But so much of the time we want something to alleviate the pressures at hand. Be it new fuel, food, water, leaders, (again)etc., there is a necessity for the quick fix. We want our leaders to give us what it is we want now. We have been fashioned into a hole that we can’t get out of—instant gratification.

We want our leaders like we want our food; ordered online and delivered in 30 minutes flat or its free. Its why I fear that this paper is only to hit unphased eyes. Its just another “note” that someone has thrown down at an attempt for interpersonal status or approval. But I want this note to be a catalyst. To start people that I know, perhaps even those I don’t, to spend a moment away from their need to have something now.

Little appreciation is implicit when it comes to instant gratification. the things that we earn we are proud of, things we are given we have to take more time to be appreciative of.

So, just a parting thought before I lose your attention completely. What have you done to earn the time that someone else is giving you? Or how are you showing your appreciation for what they are giving you now as opposed what you think it ought to be?

Give life a sec. you only have so many before you don’t

Forget

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 21:33:17 -0400

Take a breath in. Hold it for as long as you wish. As you feel the need to exhale fill your mind, tie along the memories of yesterday. The ivy-like growth that invades every inch of the brain must be purged only when it interferes with everyday life. When every time you touch a new object you are reminded of the vegetation that is infesting your brain, it is time to breath in the flame of the new day.

Purge what you can, leave what you need. tomorrow is anxious, yesterday is done, today is beautiful

And they are :D

Wed, 25 May 2011 13:29:22 -0400

And they are :D

Socialism, Defined

Wed, 25 May 2011 13:10:07 -0400

Socialism, Defined

MMMM YEA, Elbow, you know me so well

Sat, 21 May 2011 16:15:53 -0400

MMMM YEA,

Elbow, you know me so well

Technology

Sat, 21 May 2011 15:43:15 -0400

Technology has afforded us opportunities beyond what foresight could have predicted. The world is interconnected, transforming into a playground of information and art. We can talk to each other from pretty much any part of the world and spread text virally. Music is a commodity, pictures are a must, videos work best to make people laugh, cry, etc. Things are so easily transfered that we can’t really appreciate what true patience looks like. I know I cannot see it.
I expect things to be done almost as soon as I download it. But if we look back even 10 years, the information transfer speeds were a fraction of what they are now. We look back 20 years now, cell phones weren’t even readily accessible for general consumer purchase. Do you know someone now that doesn’t use a cell phone? Sure…like one.
I heard a comedian say, ” do you remember what dating was like before texting?” Some people want to stay so connected, they demand texting almost every hour. For what? There is no time for people to actually say anything because they are spending all their time saying nothing.
I appreciate technology for the advances in communication and removing the barriers that distance implicitly creates, but there has to be a cut off moment. Talking all the time doesn’t necessarily mean anything is actually being said. In fact, it assures that nothing is being said at all. So many words couldn’t have that much meaning.
You don’t have to talk constantly. Give it a sec. Wait for true words to come.
Maybe even listen a little.

Sir Ken Robinsondo it NOW

Sat, 21 May 2011 01:37:52 -0400

Sir Ken Robinson

do it NOW

PLEASE WATCH THIS, this man is a great speaker. And really has a...

Fri, 20 May 2011 22:15:46 -0400

PLEASE WATCH THIS,

this man is a great speaker. And really has a good point

Gestation

Fri, 20 May 2011 20:47:27 -0400

For those of you wondering why it is I am doing this blog ( I know there are only a few people in this category), I am writing this as an attempt to surmount something that is a huge problem for me; I am lazy. I am the epitome of lazy. If i find time to push myself away from something, I will. Rarely is there a time when I force the uncomfortable on myself. Its that lazy boy that is sitting in the center of my mind, just waiting for me to do something.

So this is my attempt at changing that problem.

You can try any blog, or banter about changing yourself, but when it comes to the actual act of change there is no one left but you. Its a mirror staring back at you, wondering what it is you will do next. And what is that?

Do you want to change your body? mind? clothes? job? career?

then do it. But it is always more complicated than that isn’t it?

I have tried to embody change in many different ways. I made a goal about 8 months ago. It was a small goal of reading 2 books in the course of a year. Seems doable, right? In fact, it was so successful that I ended up reading 6 books in the course of 6 months. There was something that clicked inside me that just allowed a change to occur. First book just went like a breeze. next one even faster.

Now, to make it more believable, I tried to change my diet and exercise regiment at once. I bought the p90x workout regiment and was stoked for about a week. The next week I needed multiple massages to make up for the amount of life I bit off at once. The next week I had to swallow what it is I bit off—I can only handle so much at a time.

You can’t miraculously change every aspect about your life in one-fell-swoop. It is just impossible. Perhaps you can change someone inside of you to facilitate change in the rest of your life. But the fact still remains that you need to do one thing at a time. And like with most things, giving it a second to sit is probably more beneficial than realized.

Take change slowly. Change is shocking when it is approached from a place of anxiety. It becomes an obligation. In fact, it becomes more daunting than inspiring.

Change should be inspiring. And when things are given their proper gestation period, anything could be inspiring.

Listen

Fri, 20 May 2011 20:41:23 -0400

Listen

Listening is one of the hardest things to do, but probably one of the more important things to master. It is a subtle art that has a close relationship with speaking. Both connect us, validate us, and diffuse us. We can vent our frustrations to an open ear and feel the weight of things being lifted off (and be the ear for venting in other cases). However, in today’s society, listening has taken a back seat to speaking. The prevalence of councilors and psychiatrists for the use of unleashing our frustrations should be telling. The feeling that no one hears us causes a need to find someone who does; to find someone who understands.

It is a basic human trait, wanting to be heard and validated. Many generations have made songs about having their “voices heard” or “you just don’t understand me”. It is a basic need in life to find and have understanding. But being understood doesn’t mean you speak and others understand. Understanding comes from listening to them talk with you, even when the impulse is to blather on. I have observed conversations, much with friends, and I just wanted to unveil a thought—try taking a step back and listening even if you have something to say.

The self-absorption that takes place with people around my age (22) is quite staggering only to be perpetuated by many of today’s culture. Speaking has turned into words per minute. Like in typing class, everyone wants to have the highest words per minute to be validated. My age group is the pivotal point in development where we as, “young adults”, have to make grown up decisions and have a job. The need to be heard at this age plunges conversations down a blathering of non-enriched thought processes as an attempt to be validated. This leaves little time for absorption within a conversation

As time progresses, people get to a more comfortably validated age, where the veil of adulthood has long since past. This breeds a level of authority that is still coupled with the lack of absorption. I have observed this age group to be 25(ish) to 35(ish). They tend to offer opinion like it was prescription and listen as though they aren’t being paid to; they’d much rather tell you what it is, than hear what you think it is.

The moment someone comes to you and talks about what it is they are going through, they are looking for validation first—That what they feel is right on. There is a pit fall, however. When someone comes to you with these problems, it is very easy to tell them how you got through it and how they should listen to you.

Let their words be yours, and listen. Take what it is they are putting out to you as a sign for absorption. Much time is spent creating all the energies inside our hearts and minds, that when we are really given the chance to connect with someone and feel like they understand, we try to tell them our life’s story. When do we take someone else’s input and possibly allow them to carry you forward. Listening is, in part, introspection.

So, the next time you are talking to someone, let their words be yours. In the end you are both vying for the same thing:

To feel loved.