Love

I was in the midst of going on a tirade about people getting plastered on a week day and the types of people I avoid contact with (hint, hint: people getting plastered on week days is one of them), but then I was reminded of a question someone recently asked me, and thought, "Why not focus on something a bit more positive?". Heather (the inquirer) asked me my definition of Love; so, I turned off my Slipknot, threw on some Lana Del Rey (ultra change FTW!) and thought on the idea.

My answer is going to be pretty bad, and I have to say this, not because I am embarrassed by the answer, but because it is such a difficult theme/idea that it takes much more than the amount of thought I've poured into it. That disclaimer released, let me begin.

Love, from a perspective, can be defined as a perception that is encapsulated best by an obsession with a thing (be that thing a physical thing, a person, an idea, etc.) to a point that if that thing separates from your presence it actually creates a reaction of sadness, nostalgia powerful enough to illicit a conscious recognition of said sadness, nostalgia.

(Reads like a scientist, doesn't it? Lol)

Love can be subtle, love can be loud, love can seem obligatory, love can show in the most beautiful of ways and the most horrendous. I could argue that there are almost no instances in which a person does not love - in many cases to a fault. So, what I'm getting at is: Love is not necessarily a positive, but a relatively neutral reaction/feeling. Anyone who understands my philosophies would recognize that I appreciate a neutral, middle of the road view on almost everything. Nothing is absolute if not all is absolute (technically rendering it relative).

Honestly, the writing above is extremely broken and unsatisfactory to my standards, but since I did "disclaim" that the thought processes change, the topic is so vast it crushes single ideas attempting to harness understanding from it - makes things tough to type out. The best way to reach any conclusion on the topic is to discuss, through a medium quicker than writing, with fellows to shave off the more redundant thoughts and really burn a hole in the subject with which to really take more constructed, fleshed out ideas and write them down with more precision and structure.

At any rate, there are some thoughts - raw, weak, but existing - make of them what you will.

People I Know Scare Me

I keep several people in my contacts via Snapchat, Facebook, what have you, because they scare me. Now, I don't mean in the traditional sense of "I'm frightened", but more of, "I'm repulsed to a point of scare".

These people post things about their lives, and I see their lives as empty, worthless existences - so much so, that every time I receive information from them or what they are doing, I am reawakened to the overwhelming feeling of fright to not end up like them. I am refueled, re-energized to work my ass off to keep charging forward in who I envision myself to be - something greater than I am now, and any deviation from that path disappoints me.

Debate over GMO safety

Debate continues on this thread, instead.

Ridiculous Quotes

On Facebook, I started posting some statuses similar to what I see a lot of people posting; namely, pictures with quotes written across the middle, as such:

People have been "liking" them, and I am unsure if they realize what I'm doing with these, but regardless, I am happy they get something from them. On one hand, it is nice to post things people connect with, but on the other hand, I find it a little scary that these posts are being taken seriously, and by extension, do reach out to people. Why? Because, read the quote above...

"Love is not something you force, it is something you do not force."

This quote is one I made up and means absolutely jack shit nothing (I just cussed a few times and ended it with "nothing" for emphasis, haha). It creates a point and then reaffirms that previous point (a meaningless point to begin with) by repeating the same point with different verbiage. I really hope people are understanding that I am sarcastically poking fun at these kinds of posts, because they are not much better than the one presented above.

I'm doing this, because I think quotes like this do more harm than good. Firstly, they are lazy thought strung together to illicit reaction without saying anything of real value. Secondly, they are often a written form of already popular sayings (not that severe, but they condense ideas into few words, losing the true meaning of the initial idea 9/10 times). Finally, I believe they promote lazy, shitty advice giving. It makes me steam when I hear someone going through a hardship they have expressed and people begin quoting these lazy ass quotes in an "attempt" to make the person feel better. Good advice comes from listening, thinking, sympathizing, empathizing, and responding emotionally, rationally, or a combination of the two - not by quickly vomiting bullshit as the likes of the above quote (or actual quotes that are equally laughable).

I appreciate the fact that some people can achieve comfort and meaning from quotes like this, but it does scare me that this is the extent of our human ability to understand and garner comfort.

Listening to: "Fire Fire" by Flyleaf