Walking Through Darkness To Find Life

As I begin my decent down the side of the winding mountain road, the air is frigid and the world silent. This night is young and shall welcome emotion all along the way; let it be fear, love, the search for something more, or just serenity. I have left my home on a voyage seeking something unknown for an unknown reason, but tonight my feet shall carry me.

As I walk through this frigid world, I have nothing to distract me from what is inside. I open myself up to everything that enters my mind. I am only on this journey for the pleasure that may wait on the other end. As I reach the bottom of the mountain, the lights begin to grow dim from the world above. I have a strong sense of fear growing over me as I don’t know what awaits around the next turn, could be nothing, could be pain. I hear a river rippling off in the distance and walk towards it, because I know it will be my guide through the night. My only friend, the only sound in the dark, it leads me along yet never fails me. This shall go on for multiple hours, tonight.

After about two hours, my mind begins to wander, “What have I done?”, “Why are you doing this?”, “What do you seek that is this important?” My answer to the first is a triviality, because there is no turning back from here, not now. I can only assume that I have to do this for my fear or for the fact of my own humanity. ” What do you seek that is this important,” how do you answer, so many possible things. This is when I come to realize I have lost myself in society. We have no knowledge of what it is to be free from everything, no one to bother you, nothing to distract you, just the open mind that you find filling your body with brash feelings.

The mind shall fill you full of hope, even when there is none. The mind shall fill you full of the memories of love, even if they be only memories. The mind shall fill you with dreams and delusions, even if they can never come true. Some dreams can come true; all they require is a steady will and a challenge for it. Your will can get you over the obstacles in life, if you allow it.

This is the challenge that I face, and is one I cannot do without in my life; the challenge of understanding me and what I want from life. I realized then that all I ever wanted was to take care of everyone that I care for. I cannot do this in my current state so I will have to apply everything to make this work. I have to force my way through life, ambition will get me there but only if I am wise enough to know how to control it.

An Insight Into My Life

I found this old post that I removed from the internet several months ago on a CD containing a lot of my former works that expounded on the raw emotional insights of my life. I wrote it at the end of Thanksgiving Break ’07 and I have, since, found a small sense of self motivation that helps me keep going. (Mild use of highly vulgar language within.)

During break, I took the time to understand why I’m not doing well in school. Since school began, I’ve found that I have no standard for self-motivation. This lacking sector therefore has caused quite a bit of strife in my life. So I went in search of a solution for my problem.

Quite frankly, the problem I found is I lack any reason to give a fuck about anything related to myself if another is not getting anything from it. Now I’m not saying I’m a selfless person, because that’s not true, I achieve my highest potential when acting in a selfless regard by which I normally benefit from the action itself. I find that I’m am merely a mediocre being with the potentiality to achieve above most peoples standards if I choose to. This brings forth my dilemma, I don’t give a fuck about achieving anything if I don’t feel it helps someone other than me.

It’s been this way for years I was merely mediocre in high school only achieving about a 3.0 on average. However, when it came to achieving for the chance to please another I was capable to achieve almost a 4.0, if only to prove myself to another I expressed my potential. I have adopted this methodology once again in an attempt to try and achieve more than merely mediocre. The problem in doing this is that I now have no one in which I would wish to prove myself to, no reason to achieve above mediocrity for.

I have turned to an unlikely source for motivation my ex. The reason I have chosen her is because she is the only thing that I ever wished to achieve anything for. The problem is I understand that I have about a 0% chance of ever re-achieving anything with her. I fail to want to prove to her knowing this. However, with nowhere else to turn I shall turn to the one source of past inspiration for the future inspiration of my
life fleeing from mediocrity.

The realization that everything that I seek means nothing to me in any sense. I am not worried about money, except to live from, I seek no indulgences outside my personal vices which I have begun to abstain from. I feel that everything shall fall together as it may and I really have no reason to try and influence the cosmos’ actions to affect myself. I seek no reason for life, life is what it is there shall be no reason in seeking the unseekable, I shall just live it.

The realization that one shall not try to change another’ view of life unless it would be beneficial to the other party to see life as something else. The influence one has on others should provide a more meaningful presence or essence to that persons life.

The realization that I have no reason to worry about anything no reason to wonder what could happen, just wait to see what will. I mean if you were to worry yourself with the wonder you will have wasted the time you could have been experiencing what happened or enjoying something else while waiting.

“Memories are nothing, Memories are everything, Memories are what was and will be.”

A Life Defined By Death

(I wrestled with the posting of this article, even though this is the story of one of the most defining moments in my life. I hope his wisdom will spark your ambition also.)

I’ll begin with who I used to be. I was a geeky kid who had a hard time socially, who was slowly devoured by his pain. His pain led him into a world that was self-centered and effortlessly anti-social. He desperately wanted to be like the other kids, but feared giving a bit of himself away and of rejection. So for years he stayed in his head and remained seperated from the people in the physical world that surrounded him.

This all changed with an inspirational story about someone close to me. It was the telling of my cousin’s life, he died at the age of five, yet he held the wisdom and heart of a man. He was born with a disorder that caused deformation of the majority of his organs, extreme pressure on his brain, and an enlarged tongue. Even facing such hardships, he was always filled with hope, happiness and courage. When people told him he couldn’t do something, either because they felt he wasn’t capable or just worried about his safety; he would prove them wrong by atleast attempting to accomplish that which they said he could not. The boy understood more about life than most people ever do.

Knowing that someone this young and in his state had the courage and hope to take what people told him and go in the face of it, changed my life for the better. I found that trying to open up to others was better than not trying at all, that the world doesn’t revolve around me (or you), but by people caring for others. I realized I was a nobody that was currently headed to nowhere and I needed to change. i found the person I am seeking to be today, the person I wish I would have known so long ago. I found the person who is helpful to those who seek it and even those who do not. I found a person who no longer fears his emotions and rejection, but lives with what he gets. A person who knows he finds happiness by helping others. A person who lets others get know him and who he is as that person. A person who will try his best to get were he plans to be and plans to be trying his best once he gets there. Thus,  my life as it is now can be defined by my cousin’s death, an event I will never forget.

Reformation Of The Self

Lately, all my foundations have begun to collapse. My filing systems, both physical and virtual, aren’t functioning at a proper capacity to keep me organized. I’m overloading them with great stuff but it’s becoming harder for me to keep up with everything. At least until the New Year, I’ll be working on refiling and reprocessing pretty much every aspect of my life. Since, I’ll be working on this the next two weeks I’ll be putting up some (older) introspective pieces on myself to let you get to know me a little better, these are some of the defining moments in my short life, thus far.

Physical Filing Objectives that I’ll be working on is finding a way to organize my books and films so that I don’t have to dig through piles to find what I’m looking for; right now, I count 15 stacks of books scattered around my room. I’ll be going through and organizing all my bank and credit statements, balancing everything out of course.

Virtual Filing Objectives that I’ll be working on are setting up a better system for RSS feeds, right now I’m satisfied with the system but, with 3+ hours a day it’s just too much. I’ll be redoing my bookmarking so I can find web pages that I use on a more consistent basis and links from others saved for reading. I’ll be redoing the majority of my computers filing system as it has files scattered in random folders.

With the blog I’m working on a redesign that fits who I am and provides a cleaner interface than the one that your reading this on, even I find it hard to read on. I’m also debating on adding more content that fits the innovation theme. Originally I had planned on this being a more technology focused blog with a few political and philosophically innovative ideas; if you look back that’s not how it turned out.

So for the next few weeks I’ll be doing some introspection, try and clear my mind, and get set to roll out some better content in ’09. This is mainly for my benefit but hopefully it results in some positive effects for you also. I think I may continue this process every year if it turns out something that is effective. This idea of redeveloping your internal and external systems is something that everyone should try to force change on themselves.

Compilation of Twinspiration Oct. 10-Nov. 10

With the depression looming I decided that everyone needs to have some positive inspiration provided daily. So I began posting aphorisms, proverbs and quotes, a few from me. I know some people aren’t on Twitter that read this blog so I felt I should aggregate, latest first, them here.

“Nature never appeals to intelligence until habit and instinct are useless. There is no intelligence. Where there is no change and no need of change.” ~ H.G. Wells

“The beginning is the most important part of the work.” ~ Plato Do what you want but, don’t let fear stop you from starting now.

“All things are possible until they are proved impossible — and even the impossible may only be so, as of now.” ~ Pearl S. Buck

“Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone just remember that all the people in the world haven’t had the advantages you’ve had.” ~ Gatsby

“There never was a moment, and never will be, when we are powerless to alter our destiny.” ~ Steven Pressfield

“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

“Don’t give up when you still have something left to give, Nothing is really over . . . till the moment you stop trying.” ~ Anonymous

“You can get everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.” ~Zig Ziglar

“Have compassion for all beings, rich and poor alike; each has their suffering. Some suffer too much, others too little.” ~ Buddha

“Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark; professionals built the Titanic.” ~Anonymous

Its hard for many people to believe that there are extraordinary things inside themselves as well as others I hope you can keep an open mind

“An efficient and valuable man does what he can, whether the community pay him for it or not.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

“Every organization must be prepared to abandon everything it does to survive in the future.” ~ Peter Drucker

“Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly, and they will show themselves great.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

“When you reach the top, keep climbing.” Enjoy the day. Keep reaching for the elusive fruit of success even after you grasp it in hand.

“Don’t worry about what anybody else is going to do. The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” ~ Alan Kay

“May I never be complete. May I never be content. May I never be perfect.” ~ Fight Club

“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”~ Confucius Everyone, let’s rise from this stumble.

“The truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end; there it is.” ~Winston Churchill

“Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly, and they will show themselves great.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

If a butterfly can change the weather on the other side of the world with a beat of it’s wings; why can’t you change your neighborhood

Our nature is to surround ourselves with those that bare semblance with us and, through them we can see our imperfections.

“Don’t handicap your children by making their lives easy.” ~ Robert Heinlein

“Extreme hopes are born from extreme misery.” ~ Bertrand Russell

“It’s only after you’ve lost everything that your free to do anything.” ~ Tyler Durden

At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want.” ~ Lao Tzu

“The fear of death is nothing compared to the fear of having not lived authentically or fully.” – Frances Moore Lappe

“The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible and achieve it, generation after generation.” ~ Pearl S. Buck

“When the Power of Love Overcomes the Love of Power the World Will Know Peace.” ~ Jimi Hendrix

A mans wealth comes not from what he carries in his wallet, but what he carries in his heart. Have a great day everyone!

“I find hope in the darkest of days, and focus in the brightest. I do not judge the universe.” ~ Dalai Lama

The world is still colorful, even though the news may be gray. Hope, everyone enjoys their day.

If you like these and would would like to get them every day add me on Twitter: @jimminy.

Constrained Systems Are Key To Innovation

A few weeks ago, I read a conversation about what innovation really is in a FriendFeed discussion started by Gregory Lent. He put the contents of the conversation up on his blog “PostLinearity“. The idea that some people think innovation is the result of strenuous work is kind of scary. So I’d like to give you all a view of what innovation truly is since I haven’t done that, yet.

Innovation (n.) That which is newly introduced; a change or, the act of innovating.

Innovating (v.) Beginning or introducing(something new); being creative.

In the conversation they discuss Innovation as being natural and being hard work. I find that it’s a natural change of thinking in order to adapt to the constraints that your facing. It is just as natural as evolution is, in fact it is real-time evolution of the mind. Anytime you grasp a new idea, your mind has innovated how you think, even if the idea came from someone else.

Innovation can’t be constrained by hard work, however, if that was the case evolution wouldn’t be possible. Look at the world, it has fauna and flora in locations where they can take the most advantage of their environs. Innovation is natural to the the universe, mathematics and sciences have reproduced constraints for this.

Imagine that you really want to get to the top of mountain with a semi-low grade, simple right, you just walk up. Now imagine that the mountain is a mesa, you can’t find a point were you could just walk up, you have to climb. That’s innovation, it’s a change from what you are used to doing with a mountain, because of the constraint of steep cliffs.

Now, many people think of innovation as changing something that is complex to make it simple. This is easily one of the most paradoxical constraints; as the solution becomes more simple, the problem gets more complex. The constraints in this case are constrained by their variability which makes it even more complicated to see the natural solution. This is why many people today see innovation as hard work, their dealing with problems that are increasingly complex.

Innovation is naturally simple and complex.

Some Inspiration From The Web Oct. 20 – Nov.7

Several articles that are all quite connected in that they are pushing the basic concepts to fight fear and become an idea generator. These articles all can help you be more innovative, insightful, better business person, or just a better person, apply the knowledge where you can in your life.

Last week, The Next Web published an article entitled The Era of Entrepreneur!, in which they discuss 5 defining elements of an entrepreneur. These 5 elements don’t just apply to an entrepreneur but, anyone wishing to change something. The discussion won’t help too much if you’re not interested in business so, I provided the list below.

  1. Be Independent
  2. Think Different
  3. Be Prepared
  4. Be Patient
  5. Ignore Everyone

Over at theBridgeMaker, they have written 7 Must -Have Personal Growth Strategies. This article has a more focused thought into Thinking Different and Being Independent in order to grow as a person.

The NYT has an article on Pursuing Big Ideas that has 10 items that will help anyone seeking to get the creative juices flowing. These different approaches will provide you with plenty of ways to think differently or “not think at all “.

Spiritual Blog provides 2 articles, the first is 10 Paths to Individualism. The article analyzes 10 Socratic quotations into finding ones Individuality.  The second is a set of 10 Insightful quotes from Plato, no analysis.

That is all of the inspiration and now I’d like to take a moment to point out another element of economic stupidity, in the secondary-education’s foundation. The NYT has posted a story that states the Downturn is driving tuition UP. The fact that multiple stories have been written on the subject of tight lenders even to students means that the majority of this money will be coming from the government. I’ve already done several articles, College is Taxing Our System and Education pt 2. on the shear absurdity that is government subsidization in this sector