Letter To My Parents

Dear Mom and Dad,
             Eighteen years I have come to know you both as my mother and father. I often call you "Ma" or "Pa" as my own way of referring to you. Kinda like terms of endearment. It's not often that I tell either of you that I love you. I guess it's kinda embarrassing for me to express affection to my parents. But I really do love you both. Needless to say, without you I wouldn't be here today. Your support and love through the years has done great things. You've never been super strict nor easygoing. I think that you've been the perfect kind of parents. You always believe in me and let me work at my pace. Sure sometimes things can get bumpy but we always smooth it out in the end. I truly believe that you've been amazing parents even if dad works every day until midnight. Even if mom is always tidying things up. Because when we're all together, we share laughs and smiles. The jokes we share and the stories you tell are always great. It's little things like those that I appreciate. I don't think I could ever articulate something like this to you in person. Maybe because of some dumb pride in me that says I can't be lovey dovey with my parents. Or maybe that I would have to translate this all into Spanish. I just don't know. But I think you know that I love you. I'm proud to be your son.
                                                                                                             

Frankl-y Speaking

I find Frankl's belief in a search for meaning admirable. I find it inspiring that although he had to suffer through the horrors of a concentration camp, he was able to hold onto what he found meaningful in his life and emerge alive from the camp. He didn't lose hope in his life and kept all that was meaningful to him close in spirit. He was motivated to remain moralized and I find that amazing. I would find it very difficult to remain inspired by the things that are or were meaningful to me after being placed in a tragic situation. The will to meaning is very interesting to me. In "The Meaning of Life", Frankl writes "Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life to carry out a concrete assignment which demands fulfillment. Therein he cannot be replaced, nor can his life be repeated. Thus everyone's task is as unique as is his specific opportunity to implement it." There is no universal meaning to life but rather each individual has their own meaning to their own life. They must find it for themselves by searching for the things in their life that are meaningful to them. I find that inspiring because it feels to me that nothing but yourself can dictate your life. There is no universal meaning to be striving for but rather there are the things that are valuable to you. You are your own person with your own meaning and reason for living. In "The Psychiatric Credo", Frankl writes "An incurably psychotic individual may lose his usefulness but yet retain the dignity of a human being." The fact that he views someone that has been labeled as "psychotic" as a human being is admirable and I find Viktor Frankl a very admirable and respectable man.

Our Stranger Meaning

"What inspires me? I am so inspired every day. I am inspired by thinkers. I am inspired by rebellion. I am inspired by children. I have been inspired by love." -Nikki Sixx
Being inspired by something makes it meaningful to you and your life I would think.  Being inspired every day makes it sound like Nikki Sixx lives a pretty meaningful life every day of his life.  Personally, I think Nikki Sixx is an inspiration too.  He overcame an addiction to heroin and still finds life worth living. He still finds life meaningful even though he's been at one of the lowest possible points in life.  I think that's worth something.
What inspires me? I am inspired by the bright horizon.  I believe that even when things seem their darkest, the sun will rise and shine hope upon the darkness.  I cherish the relationships in my life.  My family and my friends mean so much to me and I look forward to every new day.  Living life is meaningful to me. Music is meaningful to me.  Art is meaningful to me. Life is pretty great honestly. Even when things seem meaningless, there's always something worth living for.  That's how I feel and I try not to let anyone or anything make me feel otherwise.

Thankful For A Classmate

The person/classmate/friend I am the most thankful for would be Thomas Egan.  I've known him since we were ackies and he's been my locker partner for the past four years.  The thing I like the most about him is that he genuinely cares when you have a problem. He's always willing to listen and help. He gives really good advice and is honestly just a good person. Every morning we greet each other with the firmest of handshakes.  Every now and again we meet up with our other friends in the Beverly area and just act pretty damn stupid together. Stupid but fun.  He's the type of friend I wouldn't want to ever lose.  I would go as far to say he's the best friend I've ever had. I know for a fact that we both have different plans for the future but I have hope that our friendship won't die. We'll keep in touch and share our stories as we continue to grow up. I'm thankful that I can call him my friend and hopeful that we will always be friends.

Into The Wild-Alone

I had never heard of this movie until we were shown it in class but man did I like it.  I feel like Chris is a person that a lot of us can either empathize with or see ourself in. Chris is a smart guy to say the least.  He has a lot of ideas and ambitions that I think are admirable. He wanted to break free of the constraints of society and so he took off on his journey.  I find that admirable because I don't think there are many people that can be so passionate about something that they decide to leave everything behind and go off on their own. Now, Chris's situation isn't just about rebelling against society but also about dealing with the suffering he experienced as a child. It's not just a matter about passion but also about taking your life into your own hands. I think he provides a powerful insight into how a human's mind can work.  His whole life got flipped upside down when he discovered the secret his parents had kept hidden away.  He decided that he wanted to get away from all the hypocrites and liars in the world.  What better way to do this than to go to Alaska to experience the joys of nature right? Chris learned that it wasn't that simple.  He started to lose hope and got lonely when things started to go wrong.  He came to the conclusion that happiness was only real when it was shared. He came to accept his parents and love them even after all they had done. He saw the beauty through all the suffering. Being able to love after you've been wronged is an important thing to be able to do. I think Chris was a hero. He may have had some mistakes, but at the end of his quest he was able to learn and be happy.

We Still Haven't Figured This Out Yet!

Figured what out? Life? It'll be a long time before life can be figured out in a universal point of view. But I believe that people can figure their own lives out. Every individual is unique and thus has their own unique life that is only theirs to live.  Maybe there is no universal answer for life because each life is so different.  Siddhartha lives life as a Samana for awhile before moving on and trying something different because he does not believe he can achieve Nirvana through this lifestyle.  He then goes on to meet the Buddha with his friend Govinda and does not think he can "figure" his life out with this lifestyle but Govinda is captivated by the Buddha's teachings and goes on to follow that lifestyle. This is illustrative of how people need to make their own choices in order to figure out their life on their own path.  Perhaps this lifestyle will work for Govinda but Siddhartha knows that it will not help him be rid of the Self.  Siddhartha goes on to realize that he was afraid of himself. He's been trying so hard to be rid of the Self but lost himself along the way. He "awakens" and knows that he cannot accept any other teachings. He cannot learn about himself from others. "I will learn from myself, be my own pupil; I will learn from myself the secret of Siddhartha." He must figure himself out without help from anyone else because only he can truly know himself.

I Know That I Know Nothing

I cannot know anything with absolute certainty but I can feel confident about certain things. I know what my name is.  I know how I feel.  I know what kind of music I like. Or do I? For all I know, my name could be Deryck Whibley.  I could be feeling something entirely different than what I think I feel.  And who knows if I really like the music I think I like?  Thinking is not knowing. I do however feel confident in saying that what we know is gained through experience.  However, everyone knows everything differently because two people cannot possibly go through the same thing in the same way.  Or can they?  I can't know for sure.  I can only know that I know nothing.  I could be sitting in front of the cave wall right now and I wouldn't even know it.  Can I know that I exist? If I were to deny the notion that the world I perceive is real, could I deny that, I too am real? But then how could I, not existing, come to even consider this? Through this I conclude that because I doubt, obviously I must exist. Knowing we each exist to ourselves, because thought is self-aware does not necessarily mean we exist to each other. Nor does it mean anything else around us exists to us. Doubt is something that I feel confident about. We rely on our senses to form our knowledge, and our senses are flawed and limited, and therefore can fool us. We can only question our perceptions and confirm them to a reasonable certainty, but never absolutely.  Doubting something can potentially lead to gaining knowledge or lead to some kind of truth. We each have truths that exist to ourselves. But, is there truth that is evident to everyone? We could definitely never find, and ask every living being in the universe about even one single simple truth, to make sure we all agree. How do I know what I know? Who knows? All I know is that I know nothing.