Epiphany: “Into the Wild.”

There are people who get camping.  And there are people who don’t.  I never understood camping.  Stumped would probably be a better word.  I mean how can such a large part of the human population spend their free time embarking on such a savage-like experience?  What bothered me most wasn’t the fact that I didn’t like camping, it was that I just didn’t get it at all.  I’m all about seeing other people’s perspectives on things but I could not grasp this idea.

Well I recently had the rare experience to sit on my deck and stare into the stars.  Well I thought I was staring up into the sky looking at stars and birds, until I was rudely awakened that I was looking at stars and…bats.  After screaming and running inside, I was just thinking to myself “Why do I even have to leave the house?” when someone asked me, “it’s shocking that you even leave the house.”  I quickly realized, that it’s actually pretty sad that every time I see a bug nearby, I wonder if there’s a place on earth without insects.  Clearly there’s not, so I either need to live in disgust or get over it.

So I decided to get over it.  And then I did what any other go-getter would do, and watched a movie about someone living in the wilderness.  Why read, when you can get a visual?  Why go camping yourself when you can just observe someone else doing it?

Specifically, I watched “Into the Wild.”  Which, long story short follows a young college graduate in his journey across the country to eventually live in the Alaskan wilderness.  He donates his trust fund to charity, abandons his car, and other unnecessary material items, leaves his family without notice, and just goes.  With only his bare hands and feet.  And oh my God, 15 minutes into it and I was instantly mesmerized.  Suddenly this foreign concept of fun became translatable.  The world.  The grass.  The trees.  The dirt.  The sky.  Are such a gift of beauty.  Can I write a poem?  Or start reading philosophy?  I mean why do we place so much importance on material items?  Why are we so vain?  And the fact that a human being can use their strength mentally and physically and survive with only their bare hands and mind in the harsh wilderness was just amazing to me.  Why have I not realized this concept of life sooner? I mean sure I read all those Thoreau poems, they were nice, but eh I didn’t get the whole idea of secluding yourself in the wild.  I mean what about secluding yourself on an island?  You’d get a tan out of it.  But now I was just so excited to get out and experience the Earth.

Well those were my thoughts during the first half of the film.  Then he killed a moose and ripped it apart with his bare hands in hopes to eat it for sustenance.  And then I thought, eh maybe I won’t go camping.  Maybe I’ll just take a walk in a park and call it a day.

Still disgusted from that visual I witnessed over a week ago, I still consider my once closed eyes, now open.  I realized that there’s something and some form of adventure out there for everyone.  Some people like jumping out of airplanes.  Some people like climbing up ridiculously tall mountains.  And some people just like going for a walk down the street.  Don’t discount something that makes other people happy, even if it happens to be shooting a wild moose and cooking it for dinner.  You can’t judge someone else for their perception of the world, all you can do is try and understand and appreciate their perspectives. 

On Sunday the Lord Said "Let There Be Rest"

Today was Sunday.  Is Sunday.  Will cease to be Sunday in 3 minutes.  I woke up at 1:30 in the afternoon.  Therefore I missed the first half of Sunday.  I woke up late because I went to sleep late.  Its such an endless cycle. 

I woke up and then I showered.  If you don’t shower everyday then you’re probably depressed...or smell.  So I showered.  I styled my hair.  I ate lunch and I drank coffee.  Coffee is by far the highlight of my day everyday.  I mean there’s just something about the taste of pumpkin spice. 

I watched Saturday Night Live because for some reason I have a hard time watching things on television when they’re actually on and feel the need to complicate things for myself.  And also because I don’t like football and that seems to be the only acceptable topic of conversation on a Sunday.

Then I drove to a different US state.  I was in two different US states today.  And then I went home.  I watched endless amounts of TV.  I ate dinner.  I watched more TV.

So now here is the point of the story where I can go deeper and write some exotic metaphor about showering and mental health.  Or the monotomy of life and how to break out of it. Or about what the deal with pumpkin spice coffee is.  Or about binge watching tv-is it a bad thing? Or a how-to on organizing your tv schedule and still living a productive life.  Or football mania and how its such an important part of American culture.  But....it’s still technically Sunday. 

Sunday.  The only day of the week where it’s acceptable to do nothing and speak to no one and feel proud about it. 

There's 6 other days of the week to make sense of it all.  Sunday is your moment sit back, relax, be a narcisist, and be proud.  I mean its kind of written in the Bible.  Well the relax part is.  

Priorities of a Spoiled Brat

Priorities of a Spoiled Brat 

(particularly a blonde one)

(In order of importance)

1.     Sleep.  Most people might be on a 7-9 hour sleep cycle.  I require at least 9-11 hours of sleep.  If I’m not well-rested and then some, what’s the point?  I’d rather be pleasant and productive and be a living member of society for less hours of the day, than miserable and slow moving for more hours of the day.

2.     Looking good.  Am I the only one who feels like I should get a round of applause for getting ready everyday?  Probably.  But seriously it takes a century to shower, style my hair, pick out my outfit, etc, etc. 

3.     Money.  So money can’t actually buy happiness because you can’t really buy an emotion.  But it can buy many things that do make you happy.  Material items, a maid, preferable travel methods, etc.

4.     Boys (also interchangeable with money) Yes sleep is more important to me. 

5.     Living in a beautiful ambiance (hence #3. money for hence a maid).

6.     Giving back to society. Yes i would like to donate a dollar to whatever you're sponsering at Walgreens or your local supermarket.

7.     The occasional adventure to a foreign country. Preferably somewhere warm. In an Americanized resort, where everyone speaks English.

8.        Alcohol.

9.     A nearby small animal.  A fish counts.

10. A tan. 

I’m not serious.  But I’m kind of serious.  Stay strong and stay firm.

Speed Round: Shedding The Sweetness

So I haven’t written in awhile and was thinking about writing a whole thing on the great mysteries of life.  You know things like, What happens to whales when they die? Did Dr. Suess have a drug problem?  What is the actual point of camping and why do people enjoy it?  But you know I decided that topic may be a little too high brow so I decided to go a different route.  Still high brow but not soooo high brow.   Hence, my entry inspired by the one and only Simba, superstar of the classic movie the Lion King.  A movie that is also by far the saddest Disney movie ever made.  How could they kill Mufasa?  And not only kill him but, but kill him brutally?  And have Simba be right there?  I could cry just thinking about it.  Anyway to the point.......:

The Self-Entitled 

Many people have this subconscious idea that they own you.  For some deranged reason they think you owe them for their simple existence.  Self-entitled much?  Unless you’re Bill Gates- get off of the high horse and walk on the ground like the rest of us common folk because I’m not digging your shit.  If you came into this earth through someone’s vagina then no one owes you. (That was a little vulgar.  Gross.)

But unless you were raised up Simba status in the Lion King with the entire Animal Kingdom bowing down at your beautiful birth into this world, no one owes you anything and no one has the right to make you feel that way….unless! they push you away from a moving train and save your life, that’s the ONLY exception.  I actually do mean that last statement seriously, it could definitely happen one day.

Niceness is a disease, not always a choice

The majority of my days, I let people have their self-entitlement because I don’t want to be the one to kick them off their high horse.  I’m not a kicker, I’m a lifter.  Sweetness is just a part of me. 

 But just because I leaned on you to help me lift myself up, I was still the one who lifted myself up.  I did all the work.  Not much effort is required for just standing there.  Yet somehow people still get this idea that they own you and you owe them.

Being a nice person and having a sweet personality makes you the perfect prey for the self-entitled.  They all prey on you and they all have this amazing ability to contradict one another.

Exhibit A, B,C, D, E, F, G, etc.:  “Youre hair is too light.  Your makeup is too bright. You hair looks better light.  You look depressed.  You seem too happy.  You take fashion too far.  I love your clothes.  You have great handwriting.  I can’t read your handwriting.  You’re doing everything right.  You’re doing everything wrong.  You’re voice is annoying.  Youre voice is cute.   I like you.  I don’t like you.  Hi I love you.  Hi, Fuck you.”

Well fuck you and you and you and you.  And fuck you and you too.  I’m trying to lift you up and you’re pulling me down.  It’s giving me a bit of a headache and frankly I’m not into physical pain and mental distress at all, let alone putting them both in the same sentence. And how do I always get into these ridiculous predicaments time and time again?  Because I wanted to be nice. 

Shed it, Shed it, Shed it 

Well my friends, as a recovering niceness-addict- I suggest for you to shed the sweetness if you’re not getting it in return.

I’m not going to feel guilty for not handing over my soul and happiness to you just because you stuck your head out for me once or twice.  You don’t owe anyone for anything that they choose to do. 

I would hope that people do things for other people because they genuinely want to, not because they want something in return.  If that’s not the case, then shed the sweetness, shed the guilt, and shed the weight.

The more you can shed from yourself, the more potential there is to be gained.