Another day, it starts again, in the town in which we live
When heat is felt, some criticize, but most enjoy the rays
A season's change, plants to breathe, the sun does not cease to give
But on one day unlike the rest, our sun absorbs the news
A messenger informs the light of the nearby star burnt out
T'was the sun in nearby space, a brother he did lose
Although the sun becomes consumed with anguish and despair
Providing comfort if we could, the son we would repair
But day by day, he does not rest, all alone up there
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Thursday, July 19, 2012
In Good Company
If "a man is known by the company he keeps" I would argue that the same could be said for the companies that an economy keeps.
In my last post, I discussed two types of companies that I have encountered in My Search for a Career(TM pending). I have recently devised a theory - which may already exist, it's pretty difficult to come up with truly original thoughts these days - about different types of companies and how they affect the economy.
I believe there are 3 different types of profitable companies. I use the word "profitable" because profitable companies are the only companies that matter anyway; they are the only companies that will be in existence for excess of five years... barring a government bailout that is. But that's another topic for another day.
1. A Bad Company - Profits are the bottom line. Fails to recognize that, without people, there could be no profits. These companies tell their customers what they want to hear to make sales (cough: APX*), they often use fear tactics to motivate employees (e.g. "if you don't make quota, we will find someone who will" regardless of employees history), and they tend to prey on vulnerable and uninformed (cough: Infamous Utah Pyramid Schemes that somehow still exist even though they aren't all that difficult to detect or avoid... Seriously people, how are we still falling for these?) The attitude of a Bad Company is comparable to a professional athlete who charges fans for autographs or flips off the home crowd after being pulled out of a game.
2. A Good Company - Product quality and public image are important because they directly affect profit. This company understands that reputation does directly contribute to long-term success. The attitude of a Good Company is comparable to citizens who abide by the law because they fear the legal repercussions of failing to do so. They are good because they feel compelled to be.
3. The Best Companies - Think on a higher plane of thought. These companies seek to create a genuine win-win-win environment.
The customer wins by receiving the promised product/service with exceptional delivery (i.e. lack of buyers remorse).
The employees win by earning a competitive wage, excellent benefits, and a positive working environment.
The company wins by finding happy, hard-working employees who do their jobs, which makes happy customers, which results in profits and growth. The attitude of the Best Companies are comparable to good mothers. Good mothers put their children first, they sacrifice their immediate desires and selflessly give everything they have with the hope of all of their sacrifice making a positive difference. For the Best Companies, it's about much more than the money... Or at least that's what Zuckerberg would have us believe.
What's the point of starting a business if not for the profit?
There is nothing wrong with caring about profit. Starting a company without wanting a profit would be the same as starting a career and not wanting a pay check. A responsible person who earns an honest pay check puts some money into investments and savings, some they donate for causes they believe in, most goes towards bills and necessities, and the rest they may spend to bring joy to someone they love such as a spouse, children, or close friends. Whereas an irresponsible person will take their money and spend some on bills and necessities and the rest on self fulfilling immediate desires.
Similarly The Best Companies use their money responsibly and put it towards higher purposes. They care about the organization that has been created and how its existence contributes toward creation; creation of improved relationships, creation of positive influence, creation of long-term economic stability.
The Best Companies understand that the average employee spends about 36% of their day on work related activities and 32% sleeping. This means that the bulk of our time awake is spent at work. What a person does and how a person feels during the 36% of the day is sure to influence the remaining 32% of "free" time. The quality of a persons life and their contribution - positive or negative - to their community is greatly affected by their working environment. The Best Companies recognize that this is a great opportunity to extend their reach of influence within their community.
What ingredients are necessary to create The Best Companies?
First and foremost is a leader with a a lot of character, integrity, and common sense. If an organization takes on the characteristics of its leader, which characteristics promote the best work environments? There are many good characteristics that can be used to answer this question, but I have chosen the top 5 characteristics that I believe make the greatest impact. Many of the characteristics overlap and contain sub-characteristics but all relate to the overall concepts.
Top 5 in no particular order:
1. Selflessness - Members in any organizational unit are much more effective and efficient when they stop worrying about themselves and focus on the bigger picture. If you think of a company like a person, there are companies that are selfish and companies that care about others. Companies that are not overly concerned with their own well being create an atmosphere of giving and sacrifice. Ironically - for whatever reason - the individual benefits of selflessness seem to outweigh those of self-centeredness. Or in other words, if you care about what's in it for you, then stop caring about what's in if for you, you will get more out of the deal.
2. Integrity - AKA unequivocally doing what is right. This creates an environment of honesty, hard work, responsibility, and accountability. In this environment, doing the right thing requires about as much thought as breathing does.
3. Organization - The Best Companies are organized and ready to go to work. There is organized communication so everybody understands the plan, objectives, and mission. Organization leads to superior training, constant determination, and focus.
4. Tolerance - Employees should feel safe to openly express themselves and their ideas. A tolerant environment makes adaptability seamless and promotes confidence, openness, and even humility. This type of environment will ultimately lead to more ambition - which will lead to more hard work and education - which will lead to exchanging of more ideas - which will allow for risk-taking - which will lead to innovation - which will benefit the customer - and in-turn completely benefit the company.
5. Optimism - An optimistic approach on life is important for generating excitement and ideas. Optimism includes focusing on the positive and giving others the benefit of the doubt. This creates an environment of safety, good attitudes, and energy. Some confuse optimism with naivety but they are not the same. An optimistic realist - as I am self declared - doesn't ignore realities to avoid troubling news, he accepts reality and then finds a way to use it to his advantage.
Incorporating these characteristics will not create an environment of perfection, there will still be challenges and issues that arrise, sometimes even as a product of these environments. However, the negative encounters will not come close to the positive affects.
What affect do these companies have on the economy?
The Best Companies are built on a core of important values that will enable a company to adjust when necessary and weather the difficult economic storms. People want to work for these companies giving them the talent, customers will want to buy the companies products/services, making the company profitable, the company will grow and create more jobs for the people who are lining up to get in. These companies contribute to great long-term economic growth and stability. The 2008 housing bubble crash was a result of a small handful of selfish large Bad Companies followed by a panic of a lot of smaller Good Companies and Bad Companies. 2008 is not the only example of economic turmoil caused by Bad Companies either.
In summary, The Best Companies benefit the lives of their employees, the lives of their customers, the good of the community, the growth and stability of the economy, and ultimately millions of people with an influence over the course of multiple generations.
*I am talking about APX prior to their name and image change. I can't speak for the practices of Vivant but I hear they have improved, for what that's worth.
In my last post, I discussed two types of companies that I have encountered in My Search for a Career(TM pending). I have recently devised a theory - which may already exist, it's pretty difficult to come up with truly original thoughts these days - about different types of companies and how they affect the economy.
I believe there are 3 different types of profitable companies. I use the word "profitable" because profitable companies are the only companies that matter anyway; they are the only companies that will be in existence for excess of five years... barring a government bailout that is. But that's another topic for another day.
1. A Bad Company - Profits are the bottom line. Fails to recognize that, without people, there could be no profits. These companies tell their customers what they want to hear to make sales (cough: APX*), they often use fear tactics to motivate employees (e.g. "if you don't make quota, we will find someone who will" regardless of employees history), and they tend to prey on vulnerable and uninformed (cough: Infamous Utah Pyramid Schemes that somehow still exist even though they aren't all that difficult to detect or avoid... Seriously people, how are we still falling for these?) The attitude of a Bad Company is comparable to a professional athlete who charges fans for autographs or flips off the home crowd after being pulled out of a game.
2. A Good Company - Product quality and public image are important because they directly affect profit. This company understands that reputation does directly contribute to long-term success. The attitude of a Good Company is comparable to citizens who abide by the law because they fear the legal repercussions of failing to do so. They are good because they feel compelled to be.
The customer wins by receiving the promised product/service with exceptional delivery (i.e. lack of buyers remorse).
The employees win by earning a competitive wage, excellent benefits, and a positive working environment.
The company wins by finding happy, hard-working employees who do their jobs, which makes happy customers, which results in profits and growth. The attitude of the Best Companies are comparable to good mothers. Good mothers put their children first, they sacrifice their immediate desires and selflessly give everything they have with the hope of all of their sacrifice making a positive difference. For the Best Companies, it's about much more than the money... Or at least that's what Zuckerberg would have us believe.
What's the point of starting a business if not for the profit?
There is nothing wrong with caring about profit. Starting a company without wanting a profit would be the same as starting a career and not wanting a pay check. A responsible person who earns an honest pay check puts some money into investments and savings, some they donate for causes they believe in, most goes towards bills and necessities, and the rest they may spend to bring joy to someone they love such as a spouse, children, or close friends. Whereas an irresponsible person will take their money and spend some on bills and necessities and the rest on self fulfilling immediate desires.
Similarly The Best Companies use their money responsibly and put it towards higher purposes. They care about the organization that has been created and how its existence contributes toward creation; creation of improved relationships, creation of positive influence, creation of long-term economic stability.
The Best Companies understand that the average employee spends about 36% of their day on work related activities and 32% sleeping. This means that the bulk of our time awake is spent at work. What a person does and how a person feels during the 36% of the day is sure to influence the remaining 32% of "free" time. The quality of a persons life and their contribution - positive or negative - to their community is greatly affected by their working environment. The Best Companies recognize that this is a great opportunity to extend their reach of influence within their community.
What ingredients are necessary to create The Best Companies?
First and foremost is a leader with a a lot of character, integrity, and common sense. If an organization takes on the characteristics of its leader, which characteristics promote the best work environments? There are many good characteristics that can be used to answer this question, but I have chosen the top 5 characteristics that I believe make the greatest impact. Many of the characteristics overlap and contain sub-characteristics but all relate to the overall concepts.
Top 5 in no particular order:
1. Selflessness - Members in any organizational unit are much more effective and efficient when they stop worrying about themselves and focus on the bigger picture. If you think of a company like a person, there are companies that are selfish and companies that care about others. Companies that are not overly concerned with their own well being create an atmosphere of giving and sacrifice. Ironically - for whatever reason - the individual benefits of selflessness seem to outweigh those of self-centeredness. Or in other words, if you care about what's in it for you, then stop caring about what's in if for you, you will get more out of the deal.
2. Integrity - AKA unequivocally doing what is right. This creates an environment of honesty, hard work, responsibility, and accountability. In this environment, doing the right thing requires about as much thought as breathing does.
3. Organization - The Best Companies are organized and ready to go to work. There is organized communication so everybody understands the plan, objectives, and mission. Organization leads to superior training, constant determination, and focus.
4. Tolerance - Employees should feel safe to openly express themselves and their ideas. A tolerant environment makes adaptability seamless and promotes confidence, openness, and even humility. This type of environment will ultimately lead to more ambition - which will lead to more hard work and education - which will lead to exchanging of more ideas - which will allow for risk-taking - which will lead to innovation - which will benefit the customer - and in-turn completely benefit the company.
5. Optimism - An optimistic approach on life is important for generating excitement and ideas. Optimism includes focusing on the positive and giving others the benefit of the doubt. This creates an environment of safety, good attitudes, and energy. Some confuse optimism with naivety but they are not the same. An optimistic realist - as I am self declared - doesn't ignore realities to avoid troubling news, he accepts reality and then finds a way to use it to his advantage.
Incorporating these characteristics will not create an environment of perfection, there will still be challenges and issues that arrise, sometimes even as a product of these environments. However, the negative encounters will not come close to the positive affects.
What affect do these companies have on the economy?
The Best Companies are built on a core of important values that will enable a company to adjust when necessary and weather the difficult economic storms. People want to work for these companies giving them the talent, customers will want to buy the companies products/services, making the company profitable, the company will grow and create more jobs for the people who are lining up to get in. These companies contribute to great long-term economic growth and stability. The 2008 housing bubble crash was a result of a small handful of selfish large Bad Companies followed by a panic of a lot of smaller Good Companies and Bad Companies. 2008 is not the only example of economic turmoil caused by Bad Companies either.
In summary, The Best Companies benefit the lives of their employees, the lives of their customers, the good of the community, the growth and stability of the economy, and ultimately millions of people with an influence over the course of multiple generations.
*I am talking about APX prior to their name and image change. I can't speak for the practices of Vivant but I hear they have improved, for what that's worth.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
The Good, the Bad, and the Profitable
Over the past couple months of my search for a career, I have encountered many different companies across a variety of sectors. I have learned that there are such things as good and bad companies and the definition does not necessarily lie within quarterly profits.
I came across a company called AFA Press. AFA Press is hiring a new International Media Sales Consultant. Upon initial inspection of the job description and summaries, this seemed like an amazing job and I was excited to apply. The position required 100% travel with a small team to countries all over the world. The team would go to a country, gather editorial content for several months, and then head off to the next project. Awesome for a few years right?
I went from thinking, "This is perfect, I don't have a wife or kids or any ties to anything to keep me from so much travel and it would be a great experience to work with different nations and cultures while improving my writing skills, how cool would it be to get this job?" To "I am glad I didn't waste my time and apply, how awful would that have been if I got myself stuck in that?" In only a few hour timeframe.
What compelled me to shift tempos so quickly? I did what I normally do when I start getting really amped up about applying for a job that I am excited about, I started finding out as much about the what the company does as I can in a reasonable amount of time. Luckily, there is not a shortage of information in the internet galaxy about what it is like to work AFA Press.
I was surprised to read about so many discouraging encounters, most testifying of the companies dishonest practices with both their customers and employees. Yes, it is true that there are two sides to every story, and yes we can't believe everything that we read, but it is also true that often where there is smoke, there is a fire. Unless you have a smoke machine, but the smell isn't the same so I think that we can smell the difference between a fire smoke versus other types.
I spent about 3 or 4 hours reading up on this company still debating on whether I should at least give it a chance. What would it hurt if I applied and got interviewed and then decided against it? While there may not have been much damage from furthering my investigation into the company, the thought came into my head, "What are your instincts telling you? Whenever you reason your way out of your instincts what are you the results?" That was the end of that conversation, I closed the search windows and went on with my day.
On the flip side of that, I heard about a company today that offers their employees "paid, paid vacations". The CEO of the company offers his employees $7,500 to go on vacation under the following conditions:
1. You have to actually go on a real vacation.
2. Absolutely no work allowed on the vacation including checking emails, making phone calls, or anything work related at all.
The difference between these two companies has got me thinking about business in a capitalist economy. My next post will examine what I believe makes for a good business and how good businesses strengthen our long-term economic growth.
I came across a company called AFA Press. AFA Press is hiring a new International Media Sales Consultant. Upon initial inspection of the job description and summaries, this seemed like an amazing job and I was excited to apply. The position required 100% travel with a small team to countries all over the world. The team would go to a country, gather editorial content for several months, and then head off to the next project. Awesome for a few years right?
I went from thinking, "This is perfect, I don't have a wife or kids or any ties to anything to keep me from so much travel and it would be a great experience to work with different nations and cultures while improving my writing skills, how cool would it be to get this job?" To "I am glad I didn't waste my time and apply, how awful would that have been if I got myself stuck in that?" In only a few hour timeframe.
What compelled me to shift tempos so quickly? I did what I normally do when I start getting really amped up about applying for a job that I am excited about, I started finding out as much about the what the company does as I can in a reasonable amount of time. Luckily, there is not a shortage of information in the internet galaxy about what it is like to work AFA Press.
I was surprised to read about so many discouraging encounters, most testifying of the companies dishonest practices with both their customers and employees. Yes, it is true that there are two sides to every story, and yes we can't believe everything that we read, but it is also true that often where there is smoke, there is a fire. Unless you have a smoke machine, but the smell isn't the same so I think that we can smell the difference between a fire smoke versus other types.
I spent about 3 or 4 hours reading up on this company still debating on whether I should at least give it a chance. What would it hurt if I applied and got interviewed and then decided against it? While there may not have been much damage from furthering my investigation into the company, the thought came into my head, "What are your instincts telling you? Whenever you reason your way out of your instincts what are you the results?" That was the end of that conversation, I closed the search windows and went on with my day.
On the flip side of that, I heard about a company today that offers their employees "paid, paid vacations". The CEO of the company offers his employees $7,500 to go on vacation under the following conditions:
1. You have to actually go on a real vacation.
2. Absolutely no work allowed on the vacation including checking emails, making phone calls, or anything work related at all.
The difference between these two companies has got me thinking about business in a capitalist economy. My next post will examine what I believe makes for a good business and how good businesses strengthen our long-term economic growth.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Do You Know the Cupcake Girl?
What's up with blogging chicks and cupcakes?
I rarely click on the authors bio of a blog i'm reading unless the blogger is an attractive female. Yep, i'm shallow... who knew? In the last two weeks I have read 5 biographies of attractive female bloggers and 4 of those 5 mentioned something to do with eating a cupcake.
Seriously, these bios are a maximum of 6 sentences. These 4 blogging babes found their passion for baked batter with frosting so important that it ranks among their top qualities they desire their readers to know about who they are as a person.
How could this be?
Are cupcakes 2012's version of what sushi and Mazda 3's were in 2010, VW Beatles were in 2004, and New Kids on the Block were in the late 80's? Or maybe there was one famous blogger somewhere who wrote about a cupcake in her bio and now it's the trendy thing to do? Or maybe it's a marketing ploy by the cupcake industry; they go around to all of the attractive (maybe unattractive too, I wouldn't know... shallow remember?) lady bloggers and give them cupcakes with sprinkles of cocaine on it to get the bloggers hooked so they get a ton of free internet advertising? Genius!
Or...
This Thought Just In: Maybe for some reason I am genetically predisposition to be attracted to girls who love spending more money on a little handheld cake than my sister will spend on my nephew's entire spiderman birthday cake tomorrow?
Yep, it's probably the genetics one.
Well I am glad we got to the bottom of this! What did we learn? We learned that one of the top qualities that I look for in a girl is if she loves the cupcake.
It reminds me of the time that Jerry Seinfeld informed Elaine that she was attracted to a weird guy just because the weird guy couldn't remember anything about her.
Elaine admitted, "But that's so sick!"
To which Jerry replied, "That's God's plan. He doesn't really want anyone to get together."
Seriously, these bios are a maximum of 6 sentences. These 4 blogging babes found their passion for baked batter with frosting so important that it ranks among their top qualities they desire their readers to know about who they are as a person.
How could this be?
Are cupcakes 2012's version of what sushi and Mazda 3's were in 2010, VW Beatles were in 2004, and New Kids on the Block were in the late 80's? Or maybe there was one famous blogger somewhere who wrote about a cupcake in her bio and now it's the trendy thing to do? Or maybe it's a marketing ploy by the cupcake industry; they go around to all of the attractive (maybe unattractive too, I wouldn't know... shallow remember?) lady bloggers and give them cupcakes with sprinkles of cocaine on it to get the bloggers hooked so they get a ton of free internet advertising? Genius!
Or...
Yep, it's probably the genetics one.
Well I am glad we got to the bottom of this! What did we learn? We learned that one of the top qualities that I look for in a girl is if she loves the cupcake.
It reminds me of the time that Jerry Seinfeld informed Elaine that she was attracted to a weird guy just because the weird guy couldn't remember anything about her.
Elaine admitted, "But that's so sick!"
To which Jerry replied, "That's God's plan. He doesn't really want anyone to get together."
Saturday, July 14, 2012
The Secret to the Rise of America - World Power
I recently came across a document, “What Is An American?”, written by J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur in 1782 discussing the concept of an American. J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur was born in France, made his way to Canada and served as an officer in a militia. He moved to New York to get a fresh start on life, changed his name, language, occupation, everything. Later he made his way back to France but still held onto his concept of an American.
I really found it fascinating that even though America was just a brand new nation, John de Crevecoeur saw the potential of this place. He discussed the idea of America being a melting pot of acceptance and diversity.
I especially liked how he described the family: An Englishman married to a Dutch woman had a son who married a French woman. The son and the French woman had four sons who each married women from 4 different nations.
Throughout U.S. history, opposition toward immigration has always been prevalent, so it was interesting to read praises in support of the melting pot concept rather than fear of the unique and unknown.
My favorite part of the entire document are these sentences, “Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men, whose labours and posterity will one day cause great changes in the world… The Americans were once scattered all over Europe; here they are incorporated into one of the finest systems of population which has ever appeared, and which will hereafter become distinct by the power of the different climates they inhabit.” And then he continues, “The American is a new man, who acts upon new principles; he must therefore entertain new ideas, and form new opinions.”
I love that! Several races from around the world came together to combine and form a new race of man, acting upon new principles to make the finest system ever to inhabit the world; John de Crevecoeur saw the big picture, he could see the potential that was being established.
John de Crevecoeur also recognized that this great gift of being an American would carry enormous responsibility; “he must therefore entertain new ideas and form new opinions”. In a time where there was little National Pride; our nation was not yet the world power that we have the privilege of growing up in. In a time where the framework was still in the infant stages, John de Crevecoeur almost seemed as if he was able to glimpse into the future to see the influence that this nation would have on the world.
His message was not just to those who inhabited the Americas in 1782, but rather to anyone who chose to become a part of this race – all have the responsibility to continue to seek new, innovated ways to help the progression of mankind, to make the world a better place for all of its inhabitants. The ideas of civil liberties and self-reliance were never meant to be only for the lucky 5% of U.S. citizens; it has always been the intention that this 5% would be the breading ground for new ideas and new opinions that will benefit America as well as the other 95% of mankind.
I really found it fascinating that even though America was just a brand new nation, John de Crevecoeur saw the potential of this place. He discussed the idea of America being a melting pot of acceptance and diversity.
I especially liked how he described the family: An Englishman married to a Dutch woman had a son who married a French woman. The son and the French woman had four sons who each married women from 4 different nations.
Throughout U.S. history, opposition toward immigration has always been prevalent, so it was interesting to read praises in support of the melting pot concept rather than fear of the unique and unknown.
I love that! Several races from around the world came together to combine and form a new race of man, acting upon new principles to make the finest system ever to inhabit the world; John de Crevecoeur saw the big picture, he could see the potential that was being established.
His message was not just to those who inhabited the Americas in 1782, but rather to anyone who chose to become a part of this race – all have the responsibility to continue to seek new, innovated ways to help the progression of mankind, to make the world a better place for all of its inhabitants. The ideas of civil liberties and self-reliance were never meant to be only for the lucky 5% of U.S. citizens; it has always been the intention that this 5% would be the breading ground for new ideas and new opinions that will benefit America as well as the other 95% of mankind.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Are Challenges Opportunity in Disguise?
I was having an interesting conversation with my mom the other day which lead to the following questions:
Why is it natural to not fully appreciate a good thing until it's gone?
Are trials and challenges really for our personal benefit?
Or is it like when we tell ourselves that, the girl who we kinda have a crush on who has been making up lame excuses for why she can't hang out with us, must be a lesbian? Or maybe it's like when we tell ourselves that the jerk who didn't wave in the rearview mirror when you clearly went out of your way to slow down so they could move into your lane, probably learned to drive in Utah and doesn't know any better. You know, whatever it takes to make life a little more bearable.
I took to the internet to answer this question and found reasonable arguments for and against the notion that challenges build character. From my prospective, challenges themselves don't build character, rather they provide opportunity to grow. In an effort to explain this concept more clearly, I broke down the word "character" into several traits that I believe define a strong character. With each trait, I thought of people who I admire and I speculate on how they developed their character trait.
Grateful - Most of us were born into families with at least one loving parent who tried to raise us the best they knew how. From the time we take our first breath everything is provided for us since we are not yet capable of providing for ourself. It's only natural that we only see what we don't have because we come into the world being handed what we need for survival.
True appreciation comes with obtaining something that is difficult to obtain. The harder we have to work or the more we want something, the more satisfied we feel when we get that thing or the more we regret not showing our gratitude once a good thing is taken away from us. Hopefully, we don't end up spending our lives chasing false satisfaction. Those who have the ability to be grateful for what they have now and work hard for that which they desire for the future have more often then not experienced times when they have lost a good thing that they took for granted and times when they had to put forth a lot of hard work to achieve a goal.
Loving/Charitable - From my experience, this seems to be a trait that comes more naturally to women than to men. For whatever reason, I think we have a difficult time selflessly caring about others, especially those we do not personally know. It seems to me that those who are most charitable are people who genuinely love themselves. It could be that as we overcome the challenge of learning to love ourselves (AKA embracing that which makes us unique and forgiving ourselves of our weaknesses), we are then better equipped to project our acquired internal love outwards.
Understanding/Tolerant - Tolerance of others comes with education. As we grow older and experience life we come into contact with people who are different, weird, or quirky. Our own life experiences to this point have lead us to draw conclusions and provide at least a little logic to the decisions we have made. Therefore, if others have not drawn the same conclusions, they must not be rational or logical and something must be wrong with them because something is not wrong with us, right? But then the universe does a funny thing and places us in a situation that would be in our best interest to somehow not allow differences to become the focus. 
Maybe you are working on a common goal together or maybe your ability to perform your job relies on your ability to cooperate with a werido. Whatever the reason, you pretend to like them for the sake of the greater goal. As time goes by and you reach your goal or accomplish whatever it was that forced you to be around the spaz, you come to find out that as you no longer have to spend so much time around them, you don't have to fake like them anymore... because you kinda actually appreciate or respect some aspect of their personality. You realize that, while you still view them as the heavy set boy at the local pool swimming with a t-shirt on, maybe they have a good reason for drawling the conclusions that they have drawn? Or if not that then at least that their positive attributes outweigh the negative.
Patience - Patience takes practice. It's true. Patience comes with age because we encounter enough challenges that rarely get worked out overnight, but yet, the world continues to orbit the sun and life moves on.
Virtuous - Virtue or high moral standards begin with the ability to control what we think. This is yet another trait that takes a lot of practice. Some of those who I have encountered who are best at this are those who have come to a fork in the road, one road leading toward personal control, the other leading toward self-destruction. When they chose the road of personal control, they became good at virtuous thoughts out of necessity; this is not easy and takes a lot of persistence and dedication but with time and practice can be achievable.
Knowledgable/Wise - Knowledge and wisdom come with life experience. When we encounter a situation, we take at least a little away from it and store it away for another time where that experience will help us handle a new experience in a more effective or healthier way. Nobody is born knowledgeable or wise, knowledge and wisdom are a gift of being alive.
I believe that challenges can be a blessing or a curse dependent upon prospective. In the end, personal growth only matters if you want it to matter. We all are going to face our fair share of challenges and obstacles, I don't believe that challenges are given to us based on what we can handle, but I do believe that whether we think we can handle them or not, they are going to keep coming. We have little control over most of the challenges we will encounter but we have a lot of control about how we are going to view them.
Is the challenge, trial, obstacle, hardship, misfortune, etc. a blessing, a curse, or an opportunity? I'm not one to pretent that I have all the answers. I have opinions but my opinions change all the time. If you have an opinion about the purpose or lack thereof regarding challenges and character, please express it with a comment.
Why is it natural to not fully appreciate a good thing until it's gone?
Are trials and challenges really for our personal benefit?
Or is it like when we tell ourselves that, the girl who we kinda have a crush on who has been making up lame excuses for why she can't hang out with us, must be a lesbian? Or maybe it's like when we tell ourselves that the jerk who didn't wave in the rearview mirror when you clearly went out of your way to slow down so they could move into your lane, probably learned to drive in Utah and doesn't know any better. You know, whatever it takes to make life a little more bearable.
I took to the internet to answer this question and found reasonable arguments for and against the notion that challenges build character. From my prospective, challenges themselves don't build character, rather they provide opportunity to grow. In an effort to explain this concept more clearly, I broke down the word "character" into several traits that I believe define a strong character. With each trait, I thought of people who I admire and I speculate on how they developed their character trait.
Grateful - Most of us were born into families with at least one loving parent who tried to raise us the best they knew how. From the time we take our first breath everything is provided for us since we are not yet capable of providing for ourself. It's only natural that we only see what we don't have because we come into the world being handed what we need for survival.
Patience - Patience takes practice. It's true. Patience comes with age because we encounter enough challenges that rarely get worked out overnight, but yet, the world continues to orbit the sun and life moves on.
I believe that challenges can be a blessing or a curse dependent upon prospective. In the end, personal growth only matters if you want it to matter. We all are going to face our fair share of challenges and obstacles, I don't believe that challenges are given to us based on what we can handle, but I do believe that whether we think we can handle them or not, they are going to keep coming. We have little control over most of the challenges we will encounter but we have a lot of control about how we are going to view them.
Is the challenge, trial, obstacle, hardship, misfortune, etc. a blessing, a curse, or an opportunity? I'm not one to pretent that I have all the answers. I have opinions but my opinions change all the time. If you have an opinion about the purpose or lack thereof regarding challenges and character, please express it with a comment.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
What If?
What if there were no accidents?
What if we could see the meaning in it all?
The good times; the tough times; the happiness; the sadness; the pointlessness; the obvious; the passion; the depression; when emotions rule supreme; when exhaustion declares mental Martial Law.
I am fascinated by the notion of how the smallest event can subtly shift the course of a life; shaping and defining character, providing directions to specific invaluable individuals, transmit guidance to a particular time and place.
As I continue my job search, I recognize, not only would I have been taken down a specific life path had I been offered and accepted any of the positions I have thus far interviewed for, but even though I feel a lack of progression (sitting around looking for work, playing MLB The Show on Play Station, watching TV, wearing the same clothes pretty much every day all week) there are small events that are taking place that are changing my view of the world (maybe i'm supposed to be a little more cynical?).
I like to think that there is a force orchestrating these plans for mankind. So until science can definitively prove that we are all walking, talking accidents, or until Jesus falls out of the sky to preach His sermons, or anything in-between, I choose to believe in a meaningful, thought-out life... Follow my blog for the next 30 years or so to see how it plays out.
PS I bet you thought this post would be more patriotic coming from me the day before the 4th... Gotcha!
What if we could see the meaning in it all?
The good times; the tough times; the happiness; the sadness; the pointlessness; the obvious; the passion; the depression; when emotions rule supreme; when exhaustion declares mental Martial Law.
I am fascinated by the notion of how the smallest event can subtly shift the course of a life; shaping and defining character, providing directions to specific invaluable individuals, transmit guidance to a particular time and place.
As I continue my job search, I recognize, not only would I have been taken down a specific life path had I been offered and accepted any of the positions I have thus far interviewed for, but even though I feel a lack of progression (sitting around looking for work, playing MLB The Show on Play Station, watching TV, wearing the same clothes pretty much every day all week) there are small events that are taking place that are changing my view of the world (maybe i'm supposed to be a little more cynical?).
I like to think that there is a force orchestrating these plans for mankind. So until science can definitively prove that we are all walking, talking accidents, or until Jesus falls out of the sky to preach His sermons, or anything in-between, I choose to believe in a meaningful, thought-out life... Follow my blog for the next 30 years or so to see how it plays out.
PS I bet you thought this post would be more patriotic coming from me the day before the 4th... Gotcha!
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Own It
Would you rather be really liked by a lot of people and disliked by the rest or mildly liked by most and disliked by very few?
On paper, the answer may seem fairly obvious but for my friend, lets call him David Carter Bentley (or Davey for short), he finds that when he is not comfortable with his audience, he doesn't always walk away loving his behavior. For whatever reason, Davey tends to concern his thoughts with the one person who might respond negatively to his personality.
Instead of standing out, Davey tries to go unnoticed in hopes of avoiding potentially confrontational situations. Most of the time he succeeds at his goal of avoiding negative backlash, however, he finds that he leaves these particular encounters feeling cheap and begins to get down on himself.
You see, Davey is very aware of his actions and desires to not shy away from himself. However, in the heat of the discomfort, he continually resorts to playing it safe. The following is an account of my advice to sweet insecure Davey.
Dear Davey,
This is an intervention letter. You are a good guy and have a lot going for you. That is why you need to quit being a vagina. Be yourself, man! Own it, man! Look at you being all, "oh somebody might be mean to me or get in my face about something... it's not worth it to be competitive like that." Dude... Seriously?.. Nobody even knows what the heck you're talking about? You get yourself worked up over something that hasn't even happened... c'mon! Regardless of how you're behaving, I still like you, but I like you WAY MORE when you let lose a little and just enjoy yourself... even if that means saying something stupid or looking like a spaz sometimes. It's cool man, we aren't going to judge you for it cuz we all look stupid and spastic sometimes.
Also, please stop doing us all the disservice of pandering to the common denominators. Behave, write, quip, and perform for the leaders of thought. So what do you say? How about we just relax a little, live in the moment a little, and enjoy some rockin' good tunes... a little?
Your scareBRO,
Danny B
On paper, the answer may seem fairly obvious but for my friend, lets call him David Carter Bentley (or Davey for short), he finds that when he is not comfortable with his audience, he doesn't always walk away loving his behavior. For whatever reason, Davey tends to concern his thoughts with the one person who might respond negatively to his personality.
Instead of standing out, Davey tries to go unnoticed in hopes of avoiding potentially confrontational situations. Most of the time he succeeds at his goal of avoiding negative backlash, however, he finds that he leaves these particular encounters feeling cheap and begins to get down on himself.
You see, Davey is very aware of his actions and desires to not shy away from himself. However, in the heat of the discomfort, he continually resorts to playing it safe. The following is an account of my advice to sweet insecure Davey.
Dear Davey,
This is an intervention letter. You are a good guy and have a lot going for you. That is why you need to quit being a vagina. Be yourself, man! Own it, man! Look at you being all, "oh somebody might be mean to me or get in my face about something... it's not worth it to be competitive like that." Dude... Seriously?.. Nobody even knows what the heck you're talking about? You get yourself worked up over something that hasn't even happened... c'mon! Regardless of how you're behaving, I still like you, but I like you WAY MORE when you let lose a little and just enjoy yourself... even if that means saying something stupid or looking like a spaz sometimes. It's cool man, we aren't going to judge you for it cuz we all look stupid and spastic sometimes.
Also, please stop doing us all the disservice of pandering to the common denominators. Behave, write, quip, and perform for the leaders of thought. So what do you say? How about we just relax a little, live in the moment a little, and enjoy some rockin' good tunes... a little?
Your scareBRO,
Danny B
Thursday, June 28, 2012
The Complexity of Simple
I tend to associate the word "simple" with uneducated, nascar loving, tabacco chewing, cowboy looking, mustache growing, gun toting, hill folk. AKA not something to be desired.
I don't know if I developed this notion from American culture, living in Utah, my religious background, or a decision I unconsciously made a long time ago (probably a combination of them all), but for as long as I can recall, "simple" has carried a negative connotation.
My resistance to simplicity has caused an inclination toward over-complication... who knew? As I mature, I realize that everything has it's opposite, therefore, nothing can truly be simple without being complex as well.I don't know if I developed this notion from American culture, living in Utah, my religious background, or a decision I unconsciously made a long time ago (probably a combination of them all), but for as long as I can recall, "simple" has carried a negative connotation.
Take these famous quotes for example:
"One small step for man" - Neil Armstrong
"Rome wasn't built in a day" - English version of a French Idiom
“The most instructive experiences are those of everyday life” - Friedrich Nietzsche
"Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step." - Martin Luther King Jr.
"The slogan 'Press On' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race."- Calvin Coolidge
If you think about the reasons behind the inspiration of these quotes, it can become complex fairly quick. However, by focusing on the simplicity of these words, a common theme can be seen; paying close attention to the little details of life can lead us to greatness. We won't see it until we look back at it, but if we make the little decisions now based on the bigger goals, we will see how it all fits together.
It's like taking a test and then studying for it.
It's like running a marathon you didn't know you were participating in until you reach the finish line.
It's like constructing a building and then drawing a blueprint to match the final product.
It's like a bunch of other things.
I need to remember that simple is not such a bad thing. The answers to most of the difficult questions in life are simple in nature and only become complicated when applying them personally. Therefore, simple cannot exist without complex and complex cannot exist without simple. They're codependent best friends.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
College: What Did You Learn?
As I look back on my College experience, I realize lessons learned as well as great mysterious left unsolved. Time will only tell whether it was all worth it, until then, here is my list of top 5 things I learned over the course of five years as a student at Utah Valley University, along with the top 5 I still can't quite figure out.
TOP 5 LESSONS
Lesson 5. Everyone has a unique way to spin information. In regards to classes of the social science variety, I could have taken the same class taught by 5 different professors and it would have been the educational equivalent of taking 5 different classes.
Lesson 4. Just because a professor says something, doesn't necessarily mean it's true.* But more often then not they are careful about what they say so if you believe them you will be right most of the time.
LESSON 3. In life, there is often more to accomplish than time allotted. If I had read everything I was assigned to read, assuming I didn't sleep, I would be reading until the year 2018. I learned how to get enough information to do well in my classes without allowing the work load to consume my soul.**
LESSON 2. Prolonging graduation by a year doesn't actually make post-graduation any easier.
LESSON 1. In my opinion, the best skill I learned in college was the ability to intelligently BS my way, undetectably, through a topic I know very little about.
TOP 5 MYSTERIES
MYSTERY 5. The real purpose of Student Government. They didn't do anything. The school gave them no real authority, so why even have the organization? I'm sure it was some sort of control the masses conspiracy. "Give them fake representation so they think they have a voice" you know, like how Washington D.C. has a representative who can't vote.
MYSTERY 4. The purpose of an academic advisor. I saw mine every semester and I don't think he ever told me anything I couldn't look up on the University website. Don't get me wrong, I really liked my advisor as a person, though when I really needed advising I couldn't seem to find anyone on campus who gave sound advice. Although, his office did really come in handy when we needed to perform a blessing on someone who was sick - I think this mystery is solved... thanks blog!
MYSTERY 3. What I want to do for a career. I thought I would figure it all out before graduation... nope!
MYSTERY 2. How could student athletes miss around 40% of class time and pass their classes? Is there a different standard for student athletes? "Well, you don't SOUND as intelligent as the other college grad's who are applying, there are a bunch of typos in your resume and your cover letter just says 'me want job' over and over. But I do see here that you played college ball, which is just as good as critical thinking skills... you're hired! Welcome to Enterprise Rent-a-Car!"
MYSTERY 1. The number 1 mystery I never could solve was the mystery of the hot chick. I would see attractive girls all over the hallways everyday, then I would go to class and it was mostly ugo's and sausages. What classes were all of these girls taking? My best theory is that the school hires dumb pretty girls to walk around the hallways as a recruitment and retention tool. Because these girls sure as heck weren't attending normal classes.
*I actually learned this in high-school. Thanks Mr. Whelan!
**I probably could have learned this skill without spending 5 years and $30K.
TOP 5 LESSONS
Lesson 5. Everyone has a unique way to spin information. In regards to classes of the social science variety, I could have taken the same class taught by 5 different professors and it would have been the educational equivalent of taking 5 different classes.
Lesson 4. Just because a professor says something, doesn't necessarily mean it's true.* But more often then not they are careful about what they say so if you believe them you will be right most of the time.
LESSON 2. Prolonging graduation by a year doesn't actually make post-graduation any easier.
LESSON 1. In my opinion, the best skill I learned in college was the ability to intelligently BS my way, undetectably, through a topic I know very little about.
TOP 5 MYSTERIES
MYSTERY 5. The real purpose of Student Government. They didn't do anything. The school gave them no real authority, so why even have the organization? I'm sure it was some sort of control the masses conspiracy. "Give them fake representation so they think they have a voice" you know, like how Washington D.C. has a representative who can't vote.
MYSTERY 4. The purpose of an academic advisor. I saw mine every semester and I don't think he ever told me anything I couldn't look up on the University website. Don't get me wrong, I really liked my advisor as a person, though when I really needed advising I couldn't seem to find anyone on campus who gave sound advice. Although, his office did really come in handy when we needed to perform a blessing on someone who was sick - I think this mystery is solved... thanks blog!
MYSTERY 3. What I want to do for a career. I thought I would figure it all out before graduation... nope!
MYSTERY 1. The number 1 mystery I never could solve was the mystery of the hot chick. I would see attractive girls all over the hallways everyday, then I would go to class and it was mostly ugo's and sausages. What classes were all of these girls taking? My best theory is that the school hires dumb pretty girls to walk around the hallways as a recruitment and retention tool. Because these girls sure as heck weren't attending normal classes.
*I actually learned this in high-school. Thanks Mr. Whelan!
**I probably could have learned this skill without spending 5 years and $30K.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Idioms for Idiots: "You Hit the Hammer on the Head"
As requested by Nathan in a previous post, here is my new segment: Idioms for Idiots. This is where I will take a misquoted idiom, explain the meaning and origin of both the correct idiom and the misquoted version.
"You hit the HAMMER on the head"
The correct idiom is, "You hit the NAIL on the head". The exact origin of this idiom is unknown, however, it first appears in ca 1438 in The Book of Margery Kempe.
"You hit the HAMMER on the head" is a phrase that originated in Salem, MA 1692-1693. While it is a wide known fact that in a religious mass hysteria, the Puritan based town held witch trials based on wild accusations that resulted in a couple dozen of its citizens being hanged.
It is less known that Puritans also used the idiom, "you hit the HAMMER on the head" whenever a persons witch-i-ness was ever brought into question. As was proven in Monty Python, everyone now knows that witches were believed to be made out of wood. The Puritans would take a hammer and smash it into the skull of an accused witch. If the accused was not a witch, the hammer would break her skull. If they were a witch, then their skull would not crack and everyone would hear the solid sound that echoes as a hammer strikes a solid 2x4.
This was often considered more humane than hanging an individual because the hammer would not always kill the innocent and would only cause mild to severe brain damage. Another benefit of this method was that the brain damage of those who survived would often cause them to have no recollection of the trial that they were just falsely convicted in.
Thus if someone says to you, "you hit the HAMMER on the head" you now know that the person is making reference to your merciful and slightly more humane way of exposing the devils witchcraft - the sole threat of our Christian values.
"You hit the HAMMER on the head"
The correct idiom is, "You hit the NAIL on the head". The exact origin of this idiom is unknown, however, it first appears in ca 1438 in The Book of Margery Kempe.
"You hit the HAMMER on the head" is a phrase that originated in Salem, MA 1692-1693. While it is a wide known fact that in a religious mass hysteria, the Puritan based town held witch trials based on wild accusations that resulted in a couple dozen of its citizens being hanged.
It is less known that Puritans also used the idiom, "you hit the HAMMER on the head" whenever a persons witch-i-ness was ever brought into question. As was proven in Monty Python, everyone now knows that witches were believed to be made out of wood. The Puritans would take a hammer and smash it into the skull of an accused witch. If the accused was not a witch, the hammer would break her skull. If they were a witch, then their skull would not crack and everyone would hear the solid sound that echoes as a hammer strikes a solid 2x4.
This was often considered more humane than hanging an individual because the hammer would not always kill the innocent and would only cause mild to severe brain damage. Another benefit of this method was that the brain damage of those who survived would often cause them to have no recollection of the trial that they were just falsely convicted in.
Thus if someone says to you, "you hit the HAMMER on the head" you now know that the person is making reference to your merciful and slightly more humane way of exposing the devils witchcraft - the sole threat of our Christian values.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Things We Say
I am starting a little segment I am calling, "Things We Say". I think our use of language to communicate with others is fascinating and often hilarious. In these segments and I will have some fun with the definitions and/or implications of commonly heard phrases.
If someone says to you, "I shouldn't ______" fill the blank with "judge", "complain", or "eat this cookie"; then you're about to get a mindful of honest opinion, an earful of negativity, or an eyeful of a mildly overweight women packing a double fudge cookie into her mouth as fast as she can in hopes of nobody seeing her eating it... "If nobody sees me eat it, then it didn't happen!"
If a religious figure sincerely asks, "are you happy?" You're getting philosophies
If a psychiatrist sincerely asks, "are you happy?" You're getting a prescription
If a commercial sincerely asks, "are you happy?" You're getting a sales pitch
If your spouse sincerely asks, "are you happy?" You're getting a divorce
If your boss sincerely asks, "are you happy?" You're not getting a promotion anytime soon
If a friend sincerely asks, "are you happy?" You have a good friend
If your hair dresser asks, "are you happy?" She wants to talk about her problems
If your grandma sincerely asks, "are you happy?" You're getting a meal
If a really awkward shy guy asks, "are you happy?" You're getting a stalker
If a shark sincerely asks you, "are you happy?" You fell off a boat and are in the process of dying
If you read many more of these questions about people asking, "are you happy?" You're getting annoyed
If your weed dealer sincerely asks, "are you happy?" He's already high
If you're discussing politics and anyone sincerely asks, "are you happy?" The answer is no
If someone is responding to you sincerely asking, "are you happy?" but you didn't ask. You have split personalities
If I hug you and you ask me, "is there a banana in your pocket...?" My answer is... probably
PS As of right now I have one person following my blog. According to Google Analytics and the comments responding to my post, there are more than two people reading these. If you have read more than one of my posts and like the things I say, or even just like the pictures I post, please don't be shy about following me. I appreciate the support.
If someone says to you, "I shouldn't ______" fill the blank with "judge", "complain", or "eat this cookie"; then you're about to get a mindful of honest opinion, an earful of negativity, or an eyeful of a mildly overweight women packing a double fudge cookie into her mouth as fast as she can in hopes of nobody seeing her eating it... "If nobody sees me eat it, then it didn't happen!"
If a religious figure sincerely asks, "are you happy?" You're getting philosophies
If a psychiatrist sincerely asks, "are you happy?" You're getting a prescription
If a commercial sincerely asks, "are you happy?" You're getting a sales pitch
If your spouse sincerely asks, "are you happy?" You're getting a divorce
If your boss sincerely asks, "are you happy?" You're not getting a promotion anytime soon
If a friend sincerely asks, "are you happy?" You have a good friend
If your hair dresser asks, "are you happy?" She wants to talk about her problems
If your grandma sincerely asks, "are you happy?" You're getting a meal
If a really awkward shy guy asks, "are you happy?" You're getting a stalker
If a shark sincerely asks you, "are you happy?" You fell off a boat and are in the process of dying
If you read many more of these questions about people asking, "are you happy?" You're getting annoyed
If your weed dealer sincerely asks, "are you happy?" He's already high
If you're discussing politics and anyone sincerely asks, "are you happy?" The answer is no
If someone is responding to you sincerely asking, "are you happy?" but you didn't ask. You have split personalities
If I hug you and you ask me, "is there a banana in your pocket...?" My answer is... probably
PS As of right now I have one person following my blog. According to Google Analytics and the comments responding to my post, there are more than two people reading these. If you have read more than one of my posts and like the things I say, or even just like the pictures I post, please don't be shy about following me. I appreciate the support.
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Life, You're Such A Buzz Kill Sometimes! (Part B)
Initially, I had this post semi-planned out while writing Part A, I closed Part A by leading into the topic of hope, which I planned to explain here why I chose to always rely on hope and where it comes from. But before I got the chance to sit down and hammer out my discourse on hope, something interesting and completely unexpected sent my day on a dangerous tailspin that may or may not have just taught me a lesson and has for sure completely changed my approach on the topic of hope.
A little over a month ago, I was not having much luck finding a job. I decided to apply to four positions at UVU, two of the jobs I was very qualified for and the other two I was very OVER qualified. I saw these applications as fall back plans in case I don't find another job, so that I can at least get some income flowing and not be forced to move back to my moms house because I couldn't make rent. Within the first week I got calls to go to two interviews at UVU, both of the jobs were good jobs that I could excited about. I felt like both interviews went really well and I fully expected to be getting two job offers pretty quickly.
Time went by and I got an e-mail from the other two jobs that I didn't get an interview for informing me that the position was offered to someone else and it was now closed. I didn't care, I had two good choices to chose from. More time went by and I got a second interview, which took place on Wednesday, with my top choice of the UVU jobs I applied for. I nailed it too! This interview was with my would-be boss and her and I seemed to hit it off well and she seemed to be acting excited about the possibilities of me coming to work with her. She told me that I would be hearing from them in a week or two so that UVU H.R. can do a reference and background check.
I never heard back from the other position but later saw online that it had closed. I was a little annoyed that they didn't even give me the professional courtesy of letting me know that they were going with another applicant but I shrugged it off because my top choice was still on the table and practically in the bag.
Today I got a phone call from a UVU number. I thought to myself, this must be about the job!
I answered the phone, "Hello".
"Hi Danny this is Sara from UVU, how are you today?" Sara works in the department that I would potentially be working in and she was in charge of the hiring process.
"She must be calling me to have me come in so they can offer me the job!" I thought to myself. My excitement was met by a surprise attack from my old friend disappointment when Sara went on to explain that for some reason plans had changed and the position that I was applying for was no longer going to exist. She sympathetically explained that I was their top choice of the candidates but unfortunately they wont be able to offer me a job.
This job was sort of my last hope. Since I have graduated I have applied for 67 jobs (many more if you date back to the couple of months leading to graduation). Of those 67+ applications I have received 3 legitimate interviews. Of those 3 interviews I have received 0 job offers. When I first hung up the phone with Sara I was consoled that I was justified in my feeling that I nailed the interviews... all for about 3 seconds. That consolation quickly turned to disappointment which manifested itself through anger! I haven't felt that pissed in a LONG time! The worst part was, I didn't even know who to be pissed at. I searched my mind for someone or something to blame all of these misfortunes on, but come up with nothing. I tried to turn it on myself and blame something I did or something I should have done better.
I sincerely don't know how I could have handled anything differently in my life that would have taken me down the path that avoided these disappointments. For the most part, I have made good decisions, I have worked hard, and no matter how bad things got or seemed, I maintained optimism and a positive attitude. But this was the last straw. I immediately thought about coming home and writing every negative thought and feeling down for this post. I probably would have if my mom didn't take me out to dinner and then to a movie.
PS Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, totally worth seeing!
Hanging with my mom helped distract me for a little bit. Later on in the evening I went and visited a close friend. We mostly talked about politics, history, and Young Women's Camp (that's where his wife was tonight, we're not perverts). We did talk about this job thing a little bit and he related a similar person experience and seemed confident enough that these disappointments will make more sense down the road. It wasn't so much of what he said that helped me find my hope again, I think it was more his faith in me that helps me believe in myself and look onward to the obstacles with a more resilient determination.
I originally planned to write this post to share some things that i've learned. Instead I learned that i'm still not sure how to deal with a lot of discouragement and disappointments. I think my old theory (by old theory I mean the theory I had up until today) was centered around overcoming adversity by creating a mentally tough environment in which a person remains hopeful through controlling their thoughts and actively trying to chose to have a hopeful outlook.
Today my view has changed. My new theory is that we can get through discouragement and disappointment and maintain hope by choosing to surround ourselves with good and positive friends and family that we can rely on to pick us up when we down. I don't think that "not being alone" means that you have somebody by your side through every life experience that you encounter; I think it means that when you need it most, you have someone that provides a little encouragement and reassurance. I guess I just learned that it's ok to rely on some people, it's not something i'm particularly good at, but I am starting to believe that it's something im just going to have to get over.
But what do I know? Honestly, it's probably some sort of combination between my old theory and my new one... Or it could be neither... I have no freakin clue.
A little over a month ago, I was not having much luck finding a job. I decided to apply to four positions at UVU, two of the jobs I was very qualified for and the other two I was very OVER qualified. I saw these applications as fall back plans in case I don't find another job, so that I can at least get some income flowing and not be forced to move back to my moms house because I couldn't make rent. Within the first week I got calls to go to two interviews at UVU, both of the jobs were good jobs that I could excited about. I felt like both interviews went really well and I fully expected to be getting two job offers pretty quickly.
Time went by and I got an e-mail from the other two jobs that I didn't get an interview for informing me that the position was offered to someone else and it was now closed. I didn't care, I had two good choices to chose from. More time went by and I got a second interview, which took place on Wednesday, with my top choice of the UVU jobs I applied for. I nailed it too! This interview was with my would-be boss and her and I seemed to hit it off well and she seemed to be acting excited about the possibilities of me coming to work with her. She told me that I would be hearing from them in a week or two so that UVU H.R. can do a reference and background check.
I never heard back from the other position but later saw online that it had closed. I was a little annoyed that they didn't even give me the professional courtesy of letting me know that they were going with another applicant but I shrugged it off because my top choice was still on the table and practically in the bag.
Today I got a phone call from a UVU number. I thought to myself, this must be about the job!
I answered the phone, "Hello".
"Hi Danny this is Sara from UVU, how are you today?" Sara works in the department that I would potentially be working in and she was in charge of the hiring process.
"She must be calling me to have me come in so they can offer me the job!" I thought to myself. My excitement was met by a surprise attack from my old friend disappointment when Sara went on to explain that for some reason plans had changed and the position that I was applying for was no longer going to exist. She sympathetically explained that I was their top choice of the candidates but unfortunately they wont be able to offer me a job.
This job was sort of my last hope. Since I have graduated I have applied for 67 jobs (many more if you date back to the couple of months leading to graduation). Of those 67+ applications I have received 3 legitimate interviews. Of those 3 interviews I have received 0 job offers. When I first hung up the phone with Sara I was consoled that I was justified in my feeling that I nailed the interviews... all for about 3 seconds. That consolation quickly turned to disappointment which manifested itself through anger! I haven't felt that pissed in a LONG time! The worst part was, I didn't even know who to be pissed at. I searched my mind for someone or something to blame all of these misfortunes on, but come up with nothing. I tried to turn it on myself and blame something I did or something I should have done better.
I sincerely don't know how I could have handled anything differently in my life that would have taken me down the path that avoided these disappointments. For the most part, I have made good decisions, I have worked hard, and no matter how bad things got or seemed, I maintained optimism and a positive attitude. But this was the last straw. I immediately thought about coming home and writing every negative thought and feeling down for this post. I probably would have if my mom didn't take me out to dinner and then to a movie.
PS Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, totally worth seeing!
Hanging with my mom helped distract me for a little bit. Later on in the evening I went and visited a close friend. We mostly talked about politics, history, and Young Women's Camp (that's where his wife was tonight, we're not perverts). We did talk about this job thing a little bit and he related a similar person experience and seemed confident enough that these disappointments will make more sense down the road. It wasn't so much of what he said that helped me find my hope again, I think it was more his faith in me that helps me believe in myself and look onward to the obstacles with a more resilient determination.
I originally planned to write this post to share some things that i've learned. Instead I learned that i'm still not sure how to deal with a lot of discouragement and disappointments. I think my old theory (by old theory I mean the theory I had up until today) was centered around overcoming adversity by creating a mentally tough environment in which a person remains hopeful through controlling their thoughts and actively trying to chose to have a hopeful outlook.
Today my view has changed. My new theory is that we can get through discouragement and disappointment and maintain hope by choosing to surround ourselves with good and positive friends and family that we can rely on to pick us up when we down. I don't think that "not being alone" means that you have somebody by your side through every life experience that you encounter; I think it means that when you need it most, you have someone that provides a little encouragement and reassurance. I guess I just learned that it's ok to rely on some people, it's not something i'm particularly good at, but I am starting to believe that it's something im just going to have to get over.
But what do I know? Honestly, it's probably some sort of combination between my old theory and my new one... Or it could be neither... I have no freakin clue.
Friday, June 22, 2012
Life, You're Such A Buzz Kill Sometimes! (Part A)
As I have been searching for a job the past couple months, the feelings of frustrations and discouragement that accompany repetitive disappointments have become ever present in the cross-heirs of my life.
There's the big stuff... Dad passing away 7 months ago; dad not being there to see me graduate; dad not being around on holidays; zero respectable job offers to start a career with; countless job rejection e-mails; not ever hearing back from a company after an interview that seemed to go well; my inability to make the payments on my creditcards; areas I chose to place my blief, not delivering on promises; watching people I care about make poor decisions that will cause years, potentially decades, of unnecessary trials and emotional/spiritual repair.
And the smaller stuff... Seemingly promising potential dates falling through due to claimed illness or getting serious with another guy days before our date was to take place ("Danny, that's just bad timing, i'm sure that the girl was just uncertain of where she stood with the guy"
I would agree that it was bad timing, except this same reason came up 3 times in a month period by 3 girls with no affiliation to one another); coming within a midgets reach of advancing another week in my men's league softball tournament; my chap sticks disappearing from my pants pockets.
Like most people, when multiple things in life seem to all go wrong, I am inclined to question EVERYTHING! Nothing is off limits, my subconscious tells the other departments in my brain, "nothing is going right, you guys must not be doing your jobs correctly!" and so the metal analysis goes into hyperdrive to identify the decisions I have made incorrectly and areas where change may be beneficial. This approach causes anxiety and the portion of my brain that requires some stability panics and begins to get a strong grasp on any idea that hasn't been confiscated by the analysis.
If my decisions in education, religion, morals, opinions, socializing, and expectations are all under intense investigation, what is left for stability?
Answer: Not a whole lot. The only thing that feels safe to rely on is personal experience. What can I know other than what I have personally witnessed? If I have witnessed it, how can I know that my conclusions were A. Correct and B. the only viable conclusion? As the contrasting gobbles up the remaining data in the pool, the stability has little left to feast on causing it to become weak, unguarded, and defenseless.
The philosophical area of my brain that was previously in exile, hid patiently by the wayside, waiting for an opportunity to storm the gate and cause even the most basic of existential assumptions of what is real face the interrogation light.
In the past, this situation felt a little terrifying and caused a lack of self confidence. But this isn't my first rodeo, I have faced discouragement and disappointments enough times that this time I welcome the uncertainty of existence and lack of personal direction.
What's Different This Time?
In the past, I would become depressed when I felt I was without guidance or direction. This time, i'm not scared, I don't feel depressed. I once had a philosophy professor who related to having similar experiences that would cause him to go into deep depressions. He told me that this had continued to happen until he met his wife who is an extremely loving women who he cares very deeply for. He said that he no longer loses himself in philosophical thought because whenever he feels himself start to go down that road, he can focus on the love he has for his wife and the love she has for him and that is more important to him than anything. He feels it so greatly that it doesn't matter to him whether that experience is real or not because he doesn't want anything more than that love.
Now some might say that a real philosopher would only want to know the truth even if it wasn't beneficial for his perception of existence, but maybe that is why this professor works for UVU instead of an Ivy League University. For me personally though, I am not a philosopher, I don't have to devote my life to answering all the questions, so for me his advice was extremely helpful. While I am not married nor have I loved anyone to the extent that he was describing, I thought about it a little and recognized that it wasn't just a feeling that kept him grounded, it was that he made the concept of "love" and absolute truth for himself. No matter what questions he was faced with, he could always rely on "love" to be stable and immovable in his life.
So How Do You Overcome Disappointment?
I think the way to overcome times of disappointment and discouragement is by finding a perceived absolute truth in your life that you know you can turn to be stable and unquestionable. For example, in the movie Inception the only way they could be certain that they were not in somebody else's dream was if they had a totem, a detailed object that nobody knew the complete look or feel of. If they wanted to be certain they were not living in a dream, they would check their totem and would then know without doubt. Much like the effect of the totem, a perceived absolute truth will help you regain focus and give you a place to start.
For me, I do not have that love that my philosophy professor has to rely on, but what I do have access to is hope
What If Having Hope For Something Is The Very Thing That Caused Disappointment In The First Place?
It's true that you can't really be disappointed if you didn't have hope to begin with. But there are two different types of hope.
1. Hope that brings excitement to life.
2. Hope that brings meaning to life.
The hope that helps bring meaning to life will not disappoint. Tune in to part B of this two part post for more on hope.
INSPIRATIONS FOR THIS POST: Angela Baranowski, Professor Chris Foster, Ben Larson, Terri Baranowski, Eric Baranowski
There's the big stuff... Dad passing away 7 months ago; dad not being there to see me graduate; dad not being around on holidays; zero respectable job offers to start a career with; countless job rejection e-mails; not ever hearing back from a company after an interview that seemed to go well; my inability to make the payments on my creditcards; areas I chose to place my blief, not delivering on promises; watching people I care about make poor decisions that will cause years, potentially decades, of unnecessary trials and emotional/spiritual repair.
And the smaller stuff... Seemingly promising potential dates falling through due to claimed illness or getting serious with another guy days before our date was to take place ("Danny, that's just bad timing, i'm sure that the girl was just uncertain of where she stood with the guy"
I would agree that it was bad timing, except this same reason came up 3 times in a month period by 3 girls with no affiliation to one another); coming within a midgets reach of advancing another week in my men's league softball tournament; my chap sticks disappearing from my pants pockets.
Like most people, when multiple things in life seem to all go wrong, I am inclined to question EVERYTHING! Nothing is off limits, my subconscious tells the other departments in my brain, "nothing is going right, you guys must not be doing your jobs correctly!" and so the metal analysis goes into hyperdrive to identify the decisions I have made incorrectly and areas where change may be beneficial. This approach causes anxiety and the portion of my brain that requires some stability panics and begins to get a strong grasp on any idea that hasn't been confiscated by the analysis.
If my decisions in education, religion, morals, opinions, socializing, and expectations are all under intense investigation, what is left for stability?
Answer: Not a whole lot. The only thing that feels safe to rely on is personal experience. What can I know other than what I have personally witnessed? If I have witnessed it, how can I know that my conclusions were A. Correct and B. the only viable conclusion? As the contrasting gobbles up the remaining data in the pool, the stability has little left to feast on causing it to become weak, unguarded, and defenseless.
The philosophical area of my brain that was previously in exile, hid patiently by the wayside, waiting for an opportunity to storm the gate and cause even the most basic of existential assumptions of what is real face the interrogation light.
In the past, this situation felt a little terrifying and caused a lack of self confidence. But this isn't my first rodeo, I have faced discouragement and disappointments enough times that this time I welcome the uncertainty of existence and lack of personal direction.
What's Different This Time?
In the past, I would become depressed when I felt I was without guidance or direction. This time, i'm not scared, I don't feel depressed. I once had a philosophy professor who related to having similar experiences that would cause him to go into deep depressions. He told me that this had continued to happen until he met his wife who is an extremely loving women who he cares very deeply for. He said that he no longer loses himself in philosophical thought because whenever he feels himself start to go down that road, he can focus on the love he has for his wife and the love she has for him and that is more important to him than anything. He feels it so greatly that it doesn't matter to him whether that experience is real or not because he doesn't want anything more than that love.
Now some might say that a real philosopher would only want to know the truth even if it wasn't beneficial for his perception of existence, but maybe that is why this professor works for UVU instead of an Ivy League University. For me personally though, I am not a philosopher, I don't have to devote my life to answering all the questions, so for me his advice was extremely helpful. While I am not married nor have I loved anyone to the extent that he was describing, I thought about it a little and recognized that it wasn't just a feeling that kept him grounded, it was that he made the concept of "love" and absolute truth for himself. No matter what questions he was faced with, he could always rely on "love" to be stable and immovable in his life.So How Do You Overcome Disappointment?
I think the way to overcome times of disappointment and discouragement is by finding a perceived absolute truth in your life that you know you can turn to be stable and unquestionable. For example, in the movie Inception the only way they could be certain that they were not in somebody else's dream was if they had a totem, a detailed object that nobody knew the complete look or feel of. If they wanted to be certain they were not living in a dream, they would check their totem and would then know without doubt. Much like the effect of the totem, a perceived absolute truth will help you regain focus and give you a place to start.
For me, I do not have that love that my philosophy professor has to rely on, but what I do have access to is hope
What If Having Hope For Something Is The Very Thing That Caused Disappointment In The First Place?
It's true that you can't really be disappointed if you didn't have hope to begin with. But there are two different types of hope.
1. Hope that brings excitement to life.
2. Hope that brings meaning to life.
The hope that helps bring meaning to life will not disappoint. Tune in to part B of this two part post for more on hope.
INSPIRATIONS FOR THIS POST: Angela Baranowski, Professor Chris Foster, Ben Larson, Terri Baranowski, Eric Baranowski
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
My New Found Passion In Life: Poetry
THIS POST (or at least parts of it) WAS INSPIRED BY: Alex Caldiero, Angela Baranowski, Jon Baranowski, Nate Murray, Terri Baranowski, Eric Baranowski, Jake Tolley, Troy from the show Community, some random chick I sat next to at graduation, and the movie Role Models.
I am not one who is big on poetry. I mean... I appreciate the idea of poetry... I am glad there are artists out there who write it and people out there who like to read it... i'm just not one of those people. It's not that I have anything against it, It's just that I typically can't focus long enough to understand what the heck message the poet is trying to deliver. I always assumed that me and poetry just do not understand one another. I went through high school and college with this assumption; that is, until the 27th day in April in the year twenty twelve, the day of my graduation from Utah Valley University.
During my graduation convocation, Alex Caldiero, Senior Artist in Residence at UVU, read one of his poems. It was at that moment that I realized that me and poetry could actually coexist. It wasn't that there was no place for poems in my life previously, it was just that up until this particular day nobody had delivered a poem that spoke to me; a poem that could launch its words from its pages to perform a perfect symphony, Nay! To display an enlightening theatrical performance because it could be both seen and heard. Alex Caldiero was the first to ignite a passion within me for the art of poetry through this reading:
I totally understood all of that. If you didn't it's probably because you didn't graduate from UVU. It's not your fault though, how could you know?
When Alex was later asked about his thoughts on flowers, he had this to say:
I do want to say in all seriousness though, having watched several of Alex's videos on youtube, his passion for what he does gives me a sincere desire to become that passionate about anything! I resolve to look for the opportunities in life where I can simply experience the moment.
May we all gain/enhance our ability to find the things in life that we can get excited for and feel deeply about. Once you find your passions, "own it!" Whether it's poetry, genealogy, LARP (Live Action Role Playing), or even something as retarded as gardening... If you love doing it then own it and enjoy every minute of it and all that becomes a product of it.
I am not one who is big on poetry. I mean... I appreciate the idea of poetry... I am glad there are artists out there who write it and people out there who like to read it... i'm just not one of those people. It's not that I have anything against it, It's just that I typically can't focus long enough to understand what the heck message the poet is trying to deliver. I always assumed that me and poetry just do not understand one another. I went through high school and college with this assumption; that is, until the 27th day in April in the year twenty twelve, the day of my graduation from Utah Valley University.
During my graduation convocation, Alex Caldiero, Senior Artist in Residence at UVU, read one of his poems. It was at that moment that I realized that me and poetry could actually coexist. It wasn't that there was no place for poems in my life previously, it was just that up until this particular day nobody had delivered a poem that spoke to me; a poem that could launch its words from its pages to perform a perfect symphony, Nay! To display an enlightening theatrical performance because it could be both seen and heard. Alex Caldiero was the first to ignite a passion within me for the art of poetry through this reading:
I totally understood all of that. If you didn't it's probably because you didn't graduate from UVU. It's not your fault though, how could you know?
When Alex was later asked about his thoughts on flowers, he had this to say:
I do want to say in all seriousness though, having watched several of Alex's videos on youtube, his passion for what he does gives me a sincere desire to become that passionate about anything! I resolve to look for the opportunities in life where I can simply experience the moment.
May we all gain/enhance our ability to find the things in life that we can get excited for and feel deeply about. Once you find your passions, "own it!" Whether it's poetry, genealogy, LARP (Live Action Role Playing), or even something as retarded as gardening... If you love doing it then own it and enjoy every minute of it and all that becomes a product of it.
Monday, June 18, 2012
No Easy Ballots: Why I'm a Romney Supporter Who's Voting For Obama
Quick Background
In our electoral college system, an elector can vote for whoever they want to, however, the electors pledge to vote for a specific candidate, so when we place a vote we are in reality voting for an elector who will then vote for the presidential candidate based on the majority of that state. To win a presidential election, a candidate is required to obtain 270 electoral votes out of 538 (half + 1). Before a presidential race even begins, most of the states electoral votes have been called for either of the two main candidates. The handful of states whose electoral votes are not already decided are known as a swing state or battleground state.
Does my vote count?
Easy Answer: It depends on what state you are voting in. For states such as Texas, California, Arizona, and all of the rest of the 42 out of 50 states, your vote doesn't matter. As of June 18th, 141 days until the polls even open, 434, or 81%, of the nations 538 electoral votes have already been decided!
THE PROBLEM
I am registered to vote in Utah. As a resident of Mormonland,
it is difficult to see a point in taking time out of my day, standing in a long, slowly inching forward line (in 2008 I had to stand in line for over an hour and a half to vote) to place a vote for the first serious Mormon presidential candidate? Mitt Romney is a lock to take Utah. Some might say, "but Danny, what if everyone thought that way? Then nobody would vote!" To that I say GOOD! If only old people in Utah turned out the polls, it would be the difference between Romney winning Utah by 88% instead of 96%. Who cares? If I were a presidential candidate, why would I spend time worrying about any state that was already decided one way or the other? Honestly, I wouldn't! If I did, I would most likely lose the race. Instead, I would focus all of my resources on trying to win over the swing states, if I had some extra time and money I would spend it solidifying my hold on the weaker states and just maybe I would toss a few bones to the states that weren't for sure completely guaranteed to go to my opponent. To the presidential candidates in 2012, the people of America don't matter, the people of Florida, Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina, and Wisconsin are who count. Their support is the difference between the history books or retirement. Danny, it's not a problem if there is no solution
I'm glad you said that. Imagine this: We live in a country that requires our presidential candidates to truly care about the will and desire of the citizens. A country where my vote and your vote actually matter. A country where presidential candidates cannot win by simply pandering to a small percentage of citizens.
I am NOT talking about getting rid of the electoral college, I do not believe our congress will seriously consider switching to a popular vote any time in the near future, nor do I want them to. There are certain aspects of the college that I actually do like.
I am NOT talking about a system overhaul or extravagant rule changes.
I AM talking about taking matters into our own hands through simple and reasonable actions that can have lasting affects of how politicians run for leader of the free world.
HERE IS WHAT WE CAN DO
Partisanship is the reason the media is able to declare winners of states months before the actual election. Most of us belong to either the Democratic or Republican Party for a reason. I am not against having a two party system, my intention is to find some common ground between the two parties long enough to at least improve upon our fighting process. Whatever the reason for our differences, I think all Americans can all agree on at least one thing, and that is we care about the direction of our Country and want a prosperous future.
The way to always ensure the stability of our future is not to rely on the thoughts and opinions of any one person but based on the collective thoughts of educated Americans.
I believe that if a presidential candidate were required to "win over" all of the states (or even at least half of them) not only would our votes count, but we would see and hear a lot more about the presidential candidates, what they stand for, and what their plan for the future is. We would place Americans in a position to elect a president in a fair election based on the candidates honest beliefs, qualifications, and morals.
We can achieve this ideal by making every state a battleground state. That is why I am casting my vote on November 6th for Barack Obama, even though I personally want Mitt Romney to become the 45th president in 2012. Making every state a battleground is not going to happen in one or two elections, but it is the principal behind my vote that I care about, even more so than who wins the election this year. While your personal belief may be that Obama or that Romney will benefit the country now, if you do not live in a swing state, it doesn't really matter what you think. Therefore, why not put your vote this November to good use? Why not help make an effort to improve the future of presidential elections so that what you do think will matter in the polls?
I'm sold, I want my vote to matter, how can I help make this possible?
-If you live in a red state, cast your vote for Obama. Regardless of whether you want Obama or Romney to win.
-If you live in a blue state, cast your vote for Romney. Regardless of whether you want Obama or Romney to win.
-If you live in a swing state, learn what both candidates stand for and cast your vote for who you believe will be the most beneficial to the future of our great country.
Eventually, your state can become a battleground state and require the candidates to pay attention to your state... to visit your state... but most importantly, to sincerely convince you that he/she is worth your vote. This November, don't stay home and waste your vote. Don't cast a vote that will widen the gap of partisan Americans. Put your vote to good use by placing a vote to keep presidential candidates honest. See you at the polls:)
Sorry I'm Late
Over the past month or so, the topic of creating a blog has been a consistent recurrence in my life leading me to believe that the universe is guiding me to undertake this project.
As with most things, I am excited to see where the evolution of this experience will take me. There are four specific reasons that I want to be a "blogger" but I am sure other valuable reasons will manifest themselves throughout this journey.
Reason 1: I recently graduated from college and have a lot of time on my hands. This seems to be a semi-productive use of some of my free time.
Reason 2: I want to sharpen my writing/research ability. As a student of a social sciences degree, I wrote so much that by my final semesters in school, writing became as habitual as driving a car or even breathing. I want those skills to stay sharp and I am excited to finally write about the topics I care about and in any style I desire.
Reason 3: I am horrible at keeping a journal. I have tried several times to make some sort of record. I had a physical journal at one point, I tried a digital journal, I made spreadsheets of personal daily life data, and I even tried an audio journal. None of these record keeping tactics stuck and I think it is because I despise looking back to see how stupid and immature I used to be. The process seemed forced and I eventually convinced myself that I no longer had the time for it. This blog is different because my focus is on writing for an audience here and now (even if my mom is the only person who follows it).
Reason 4: In 2004 I graduated from High School and by the end of the year I was beginning my two year LDS mission. Because of my status in life, I missed out of few experiences that for some reason has taken me 8 years to make my way to the bandwagon (Nothing worse than riding in an over crowded bandwagon... by hopping on the 2004 bandwagon I get my own seat with plenty of legroom).
Therefore, so far this month I have...
*Complained about the cost of gasoline reaching about $2.10 a gallon
*Opened a MySpace account only to delete it and join (rejoin in my case) Facebook
*Made a sign to hold up outside of the Today Show that reads "Free Martha Stewert!"
*Watched the movie The Incredibles
*and finally, I started this blog
As with most things, I am excited to see where the evolution of this experience will take me. There are four specific reasons that I want to be a "blogger" but I am sure other valuable reasons will manifest themselves throughout this journey.
Reason 1: I recently graduated from college and have a lot of time on my hands. This seems to be a semi-productive use of some of my free time.
Reason 2: I want to sharpen my writing/research ability. As a student of a social sciences degree, I wrote so much that by my final semesters in school, writing became as habitual as driving a car or even breathing. I want those skills to stay sharp and I am excited to finally write about the topics I care about and in any style I desire.
Reason 3: I am horrible at keeping a journal. I have tried several times to make some sort of record. I had a physical journal at one point, I tried a digital journal, I made spreadsheets of personal daily life data, and I even tried an audio journal. None of these record keeping tactics stuck and I think it is because I despise looking back to see how stupid and immature I used to be. The process seemed forced and I eventually convinced myself that I no longer had the time for it. This blog is different because my focus is on writing for an audience here and now (even if my mom is the only person who follows it).
Reason 4: In 2004 I graduated from High School and by the end of the year I was beginning my two year LDS mission. Because of my status in life, I missed out of few experiences that for some reason has taken me 8 years to make my way to the bandwagon (Nothing worse than riding in an over crowded bandwagon... by hopping on the 2004 bandwagon I get my own seat with plenty of legroom).
Therefore, so far this month I have...
*Complained about the cost of gasoline reaching about $2.10 a gallon
*Opened a MySpace account only to delete it and join (rejoin in my case) Facebook
*Made a sign to hold up outside of the Today Show that reads "Free Martha Stewert!"
*Watched the movie The Incredibles
*and finally, I started this blog
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