interrogo

If you're aware of graffiti and the things that people find important to write on walls and other surfaces, you're probably familiar with the phrase "question everything".

Often this seems to be a defensive approach to a corrupt world.  Fed up, angsty people looking for social change and a better world spread the word via wall-writing.

Usually "question everything" seems to carry a connotation of "accept nothing" and "you're surrounded by lies and conspiracies and you're being duped" and other similar warnings.

Sometimes there is validity in this, but it certainly is not the only way to question everything.  Questioning is a very valuable skill to develop.  After all, if there's one thing I learned from Sesame Street, it's that asking questions is a way to find things out.  And don't we want to spend our lives finding things out?

I think it's important to question everything.  At the very least, to not be afraid to ask questions.  If you just accept everything, even the acceptable, you'll never learn things.

I mean, think about little kids.  They have EVERYTHING to learn because they haven't learned anything yet (particularly not how to give up) so they ask all the questions that people usually just accept.  Like why the sky is blue and why birds can fly and why cats can't talk.

Calvin's dad has plenty of fatherly wisdom to impart to us.  There's a collection of it here.

Ask questions that you normally wouldn't ask.  Ask yourself why you get up when you do.  Ask why an average diet is considered to be 2,000 calories.  Ask if there's a more efficient way to tie your shoes.  Ask why Gatsby bothered to get real books and never cut the pages.

And then answer as many questions as you possibly can.  Some questions have good answers that are easy.  Some questions have good answers that are harder, but might give you some insight you normally wouldn't have arrived upon.  Some questions don't have good answers...yet.  And some questions may never have good answers.  They might only lead to more and more questions without answers.  But it's still important to ask them.

Asking good questions makes you notice things you normally wouldn't notice.  It makes you accept things as an educated sovereign mind, rather than just ignorantly forgetting about the wonderful things around you.  You have to know a thing or two in order to ask a question, so it challenges and enhances this education called life in multiple ways.  It's delightful, really.

And don't turn into a four year old and only ever ask, "Why?"  Remember sometimes to ask, "Why not?"

sentio

It's been a while. To be honest, I've had difficulty in writing things lately, hence the blogging hiatus.

And surprisingly, none of this has been due to writer's block or a lack of ideas or drive.
No, all those necessary elements have been quite present.  In abundance.

I've actually had difficulty in writing things lately because I have had too many thoughts that I wanted to develop into posts, and too many passions that I wanted to discuss.

If you frequent literature, you might know the feeling.

Anyway.  It's probably about time I make my public announcement on the blog.  I'm going to be leaving for a time.  18 months, to quantify it.  So there really won't be much new stuff to look at here.  I doubt I'll be able to get anything up here in the time I'll be away.  But if you insist on returning to read your favorite posts, please feel free.  I encourage you to start discussions in the comments with other readers.  (I will say that's one thing that's always bothered me about a blog.  It's very one-sided interaction.  I write things, you read them...the end.  I wish there were more comments and discussions made on blogs in general.  So if I come back to 18 months' worth of commentary, I really won't complain ;D)

That being said, I still have a week here on the blagoblag.  And in order to sort out some of the things happening here in the world and some of the thoughts going on here in my head, I'd like to go out with a bang and blog ALL of the days!  After all, I have so many things to write about that I simply can't write at all.  And the quantity and quality of things to be written continues to build.

And now that we've gotten through all the announcements and apologies, I'd like to move into a small thought that might begin to summarize the surplus of thought that has been surrounding me lately.

It is this:

Hearts break, and minds blow...open.

When your heart breaks, it breaks open.  And that allows new feelings and new love to slip inside that otherwise wouldn't have had that opportunity.

When your mind blows, it becomes more open and ideas can find a home that would have been locked out previously.

So don't be afraid of breaking your heart or blowing your mind.  Embrace all your experiences with no regrets and no reservations.  Feel things.  Feel all the things.

profectus

Okay.  We are now back from the break we call "Finals".  Back to our regularly scheduled program.

So, I'm pretty sure that regardless of your personal beliefs or religious inclinations, we can all agree that while we're here on earth, regardless of what happens to us afterward, we are here to progress as individuals, families, and society.  Like I said, I'm pretty sure about this, but if your take on the world and life disagrees with this, please tell me in the comments because I would like to know if my assumption is inaccurate.
For now, though, we'll operate on the assumption that everyone want to progress as a human and as groups of humans.

For the sake of thought development (yep, this is developing as we're going...but that is one of the best benefits of writing, in my opinion) we can progress consciously, where we are actively making an effort and thinking about furthering our position in the world, or we can progress, hmm....inherently? accidentally? where you don't put specific effort into it, but you look back after a year or so and say "wow, I've grown so much."

Ah, got it: active and passive progress.

Either way, you progress.  You reach a point that is better in one area or another than your previous self was.  And this is wonderful, because it is what you wanted to get out of life, one way or another.  Mission accomplished! Congratulations!

So, my question is this: Which form of progress is worth more?  Which yields more progress?

See, with active progress, you're actively learning things about yourself and how to achieve a goal.
For example, you set out to actively become more patient.  You do things like remind yourself when you're in line at the grocery store or driving on the freeway that it's okay to not complain about the people around you, and that driving the speed limit won't kill you.  You'll get there when you get there.  When your children/siblings/uncles (whoever you have in your life to try your patience) color on the walls/borrow your clothes without asking/harass you about boys (whatever it is they do to give you so many opportunities to practice being patient), you actively remind yourself to take a breath and not explode, but patiently help them clean the walls/request that they wash and return your apparel/change the subject to soccer (whatever it is you do to make the experience a good one for your relationship).
And at the end of the day, you think back about the things that happened and the choices you made, and report to yourself whether you effectively progressed in being patient that day, or if you need to change tactics and try something different tomorrow.
The benefit with this is that you are forming yourself and actively participating in changing your thoughts and behaviors, so it means a lot to you and you're able to monitor and effect your own progress.

Passive progress gets a little more theological, it seems.  Whether you believe that everything happens for a reason, or there's someone up there orchestrating your life and putting things in your path, or that the human race is bound to evolve and the universe just naturally supports that, we are consistently being led to situations that will try us and help us grow.  This is manifest in those times that you look back on your life and realize that you've become much more patient than you used to be.  And you weren't even aware!  The benefit here is that you change and grown in ways that you never imagined.  Either it wasn't something you would have chosen to change yourself, or you end up somewhere you would never have thought you could be.  You can't limit yourself if you're willing to progress this way.

So which is better?  If you're reporting on how you've become a more patient person, does this only involve active progress, or does your 'accidental' passive progress count toward your efforts as well?  It certainly counts toward the end product...

I think the answer to this, as in most things, is that you need some of both.  You need some balance, some yin with your yang.  To benefit the most, you must on all kinds of benefits.  In careers we try to specialize, but in life we must expand and broaden.