sapiens

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat, and I think it's about time I shared a thought or two on the Christmas story.

Just a reminder that these thoughts are my thoughts, and are not necessarily doctrine or scripture or Christmas canon. But I do think they're cool, and I hope that by sharing another perspective, it may spark thoughts of your own.

So, one of the components of the traditional Christmas story is the visit of the three wise men.  This is one of the greatest examples of how culture and tradition can override the actuality of what we know and what we don't know, because the culturally accepted story goes like this:

Three wise men, named Melchior, Caspar, and Balthasar, traveled from the East, following the star that was given as a sign of the birth of Christ.  They arrived at the manger and bore gifts of frankincense, gold, and myrrh to the young King.  Legend also holds that the wise men were of various ethnic origins.

This story and some variations is a part of many different celebrations worldwide.

The biblical description (found in Matthew 2) of the wise men goes more like this:

1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judæa in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. 

9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.  11 ¶And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

So from that, about all we know is that there was an unnumbered group of wise men who came from the east, following the star.  They arrived at a house and gave gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

The rest is speculation.

Here comes my speculation:

Because the Bible is so unspecific about the identities of these wise men, and
Because the Bible often refers to all humans as 'mankind' or 'man' (such as "Peace, goodwill to men,"), and
Because all are invited to come unto Christ and worship him,

I suggest the idea that the group of wise men could have included women and children as well.
The visitors from the east could well have been a family.

Whether this is a valid theory or just a neat idea isn't all that important. But I enjoy the thought because it brings another example of the importance of family into the Christmas story, and supports the fact that Christmas is a family holiday.  Whether you are religious or not, Christmastime is one of the greatest times to create memories with family.  And spending time with the family is indeed a wise thing to do.

I hope that we each can spend time during the holiday creating joy and goodwill with our families.  I believe that the best way to do this is by centering the family on Christ, as the wise men may have done millenia ago.

Happy Christmas, all.

verba [words]

So I should be studying for my final final, but life is pretty good right now and there's no need to be stressed, so it's a good time to post. :)

Also, a great time to go through all these emails that have piled up:

Haaa...these things are important.

On occasion, I do not get the opportunity to expand my vocabulary via email and my inbox is graced with a "word of the day" that I already knew.  Like "lexicographer" or "bibliophile".  I only wonder if there are people who subscribe to the word of the day who did not yet know those words...

But every now and then I find a word of the day that I really like, and I snatch it up instantly.  "Nominalize" is a great one.  I want to use it in sentences.  Also "antipodes".  The only difficulty, of course, is actually using these words in sentences.  This has a couple causes:

1) It is unfortunately infrequent that there is a conversation in which it is appropriate to use many of these words.  Often these words are large, ridiculous, and/or little-known simply because they are so specific and specialized to a certain topic or group.

2) Even if a good word-using opportunity does come up, the use of the word typically warrants and immediate definition of the word.

But, being the lexophile that I am, I still try to do it as often as possible.

So aside from being a bit of an insufferable know-it-all or winning hard in Balderdash, why on earth is it important to have big words?  Most of these words can be explained in only a few, much more familiar words:

• Bibliotaph: a person who hoards (doesn't necessarily read) books
• Gormandize: to eat ravenously
• Oniomania: an uncontrollable desire to buy things
• Hortatory: urging or encouraging action
• Gambol: to dance, skip, or frolic
• Crepuscular: active during or relating to the time of twilight; dim or indistinct
• Pandiculation: the act of stretching oneself
• Gratulation: a feeling or expression of joy (makes "congratulations" make sense, no?)
• Saporific: producing flavor
• Empyreal: pertaining to the sky; celestial

Obviously, Dictionary.com needs to have a discussion with Google's spell-checkers, because according to their program, none of the above are words...

Perhaps the most important reason to have big words, even if they're cumbersome and smaller words are easier understood, is because having big words give us the ability to change how we think.  

One of the few things that I remember distinctly from psychology is the Sapir-Whorf Theory of Linguistic Determinism.  The theory is that our linguistic capabilities are based largely in the languages we speak.  The words that we learn and use give us a distinct frame of reference for how we interpret and think about the world. For example,  someone who grows up in a snowy climate tends to have many more words to describe different kinds of snow, whereas someone who has only heard of snow may only use one word to encompass it all.  The theory tends especially toward indigenous languages that were developed along a specific culture and territory.  It has several criticisms (as all psychological theories do) but seems to generally be upheld to varying degrees.

For example, as I learned Spanish, I began to learn ideas that I hadn't ever had in English.  Sometimes things have a translation, but it still doesn't carry quite the same intrinsic meaning.  Sometimes the syntax changes everything around and you start realizing that 'getting married' is actually 'marrying yourself to' someone else.

But you don't even have to be bilingual to experience this. I think that this theory applies even within one language.  For example, many people speak and behave differently among different groups: with friends, at home, in professional settings, and so on.  In fact, one of the first things that you do when you begin to study something or join a new group is learn the vocabulary distinct to that discipline. Having those new words will help you to think along the same lines with those around you, communicate yourself better, and plant new ideas that you never even considered before...simply because there were no words for it.

Let's do an experiment:

The word 'coriaceous' means 'of or like leather'.

So think about leather for a minute.

And how it is.

And what it feels like, or looks like, or smells like.

Except this word, 'coriaceous', is an adjective.  And using it to describe leather would just be redundant.

So now think of some nouns you could put 'coriaceous' with. 

Go wild with it!  Forget all the things that are typically regarded as coriaceous, and just find ways that it might fit with something new.

Something you've never even thought was "leather-like" before.

...Did you find any exciting ideas?

Having words for things allows us to expand how we think about something.  It can help us be more empathetic when we finally put a finger on that feeling, whether that word be completely made up or not. It gives us a new frame of reference for the world we experience and, most importantly, allows us to share those thoughts and that world with the people around us.

Bigger words can indeed be better.

“The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.”

-Thomas Jefferson.

libertas

We as the world in general (the world as we know it, or perhaps the world as we choose to acknowledge it) have been running the emotional gamut lately.  We've gone from extreme shock and dismay, to a united patriotism (even across national boundaries), to righteous indignation, to searching for (and finding!) the fragments of hope left in the wreckage.  We've been brought to our feet, to our knees, and to arms.  We've spent the last few days searching for meaning, peace, justice, and solace.

A bit of a fray has developed in the midst of it all as everyone tries to decide what may be the best course of action to take.  We want to respond reasonably but seriously, and show that safety is not something we take lightly or for granted.  But we also don't want to feed the terror with more terrible acts.  It's a conundrum no matter how you look at it, and I believe that if there were a clear answer, we would already be moving as a whole in that direction.

But there isn't a solution so clear.  This is why it's necessary to take a moment to take it all in, weigh the options, and debate it out before making any huge moves.  

The above is to remind us all to be patient with each other and ourselves, and to respect others even when their views call for a reaction completely opposite of what we deem to be necessary.

The spotlight of the world has been on Paris in light of the recent tragedies there.  These events have been a catalyst in bringing an entire world of suffering closer to our attention--in every hemisphere and nation, people have been clamoring for attention and help.  And the events of last weekend only made it that much more real to us.

As citizens of the United States of America, we stand in a distinct position in the world--especially in a world now bleeding so openly before our eyes. I have found myself surprised throughout the past few days as my life has gone on so apparently normally while so many lives in Paris, Baghdad, Beirut, Syria, Mexico, Japan, and elsewhere have completely stopped--figuratively or otherwise.

Relative to the majority of our brothers and sisters worldwide, we in the USA live in penthouses, far away from much of the strife that characterizes their everyday lives. This is not inherently evil or shameful. It affords us the ability to effect great changes upon the lives of those around us. It is up to each of us individually to dictate whether or not those changes are for the better.

The incredible thing is that this country didn't start out with comparatively richer citizens or larger cities. It was never known as the land of great benefits or easy goings. This country was made great because it is the land of opportunity and a place of liberty.

This status is boldly declared by the Statue of Liberty, which has received special attention lately, seeing as she was a gift from France.  The project is an enormous symbol of the friendship and alliance that the two countries have fostered over the years. It also serves as a French investment--not only in America's future, but in the future of the world, seeing as statue was originally titled, "Liberty Enlightening the World".

In order to more fully be a beacon of light and liberty to the world, the statue is placed on a pedestal.  The artists and architects who designed the statue put just as much significance into the foundation of the statue as they did the statue itself.  After its original dedication, the following inscription was added to the pedestal on which Lady Liberty stands:

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

                                                     -Emma Lazarus

That's right, Liberty herself stands on the foundation of providing refuge and comfort to those who need it most.  One of the greatest symbols of Americana is an open door to immigrants. It's part of the great definition of freedom. And so far, it appears that there is something holy about the practice of freedom that changes people from 'huddled masses' and 'wretched refuse' into successful workers, hopeful leaders, and loving families. We are fortunate enough to practice this freedom daily and uphold the standard to the rest of the world.

Because of the liberty that we enjoy as an integral part of our lives, we owe a responsibility to that same ideal. Liberty is what the world needs, now more than ever. Obviously there are many ways to develop freedom and share it across borders. And a crucial part of defending freedom is maintaining our own security while we offer it to others. But if we heed the faithless cries to close our borders, we are abandoning the spirit and foundation of liberty that this country stands on.

My hope for our nation in these definitive moments is that we will respond gracefully to the turmoil around us, both without and within our own borders. My desire is that we arrive at a solution that defends our own security as well as the rights and humanity of those in other parts of the world. We cannot rely on government to fix the problem for us--not because the government is incapable, misled, or selfish--but because these problems are simply too big for a single entity to tackle. It will require a thoughtful effort from individuals, families, and communities to make small differences in the worlds around them.  Those small differences accumulate and create bigger and bigger changes.

The acts of terror and the acts of heroism that have headlined over the past days were nothing more than individuals making choices. Simple decisions can make a world of difference.  This is a power we each have. I hope we will all actively decide how we can open our hearts and the borders of freedom to improve the world we live in.

refoveo [refresh]

In case you've been wondering why the blog here has been silent for the past six weeks, it's school.  School happened, and suddenly all my hobbies were swept away.  Goodbye, my former life.

Actually, all that school means is that I just have to relearn (once again--I swear this happens every semester) how to have a life.  School will do a great job taking over your life, you know.  Especially if it's Engineering school.  And especially especially if you let it.

So this is me saying, "Hold on, school.  You are not the single most important thing about my life.  You do not have a monopoly on what defines me."  If I don't look out for my hobbies and explore things that interest me here and there, this education thing will obscure my mind.

And yes, right now I have a few more pages to read in my textbook, and a quiz to study for, and several engineering problems to work out before the morning comes again and brings new assignments as effortlessly as refreshing a webpage.  I put all this stress and effort into this long list of assignments, and every morning someone pushes a big F5 and everything I had checked off of my to-do list the night before is suddenly there again, box unchecked.  I turn in one assignment only to receive a new one. The world is mocking me. Evidence can be seen below.

Behold, evidence.

Anyone who has completed tasks such as laundry or doing the dishes will recognize the feeling of always having more work to do and never truly being done.  It's like running on a treadmill; you can crank that sucker up and run as fast and as hard as you can.  You can pace yourself and run for hours.  You run until you can't see straight and your skin is soggy with sweat.  And when you get off, you're still in exactly the same place you were when you started the process.

Behold, the treadmill of engineering.

But there has to be some value to the process of running in circles, because otherwise treadmills would be known only as torture devices, and engineering school (or any study or discipline or employment, really) would be a hilarious trap for otherwise clever people.  I think the students would have figured it out by now though, and if it weren't worth something at the end of running all those circles, we'd be smart enough to avoid all the pain and effort in the first place. 

Evidently, this is why I subject myself to a never-ending list of tasks to be completed.  And it's hard to keep up with life because life keeps updating itself.  Thanks, life.

Because my education-imposed list of tasks can often make it seem like so little is actually getting done, the small victories in doing something on my personal, "want-to-do list" bring a much greater sense of accomplishment.  Even though that list refreshes just as often.  But it's more refreshing when it does.

For example, look at that.  I made this blog post just now.  Aww yeee.  It feels refreshing just having accomplished it.

Of course, you have to work on both of these lists during your life--your to-do list and your want-to-do list.  The to-do list is important because it's normally relieving when a task is completed. And the want-to-do list is for when you need to be refreshed yourself in order to keep up with your ever-refreshing life.

denarium [penny]

I've found that in the English language and American culture, we have a lot of sayings that don't always make sense.  They're often derived from some strange anecdote of the past and people have been saying things like, "don't spill the beans", "this smells fishy", or "it came out of the blue",  ever since-- without really questioning why in the world that's an effective mode of communication.

Regardless of how accurately expressions like this may reflect the reality you'd like to share with those around you, we use idiomatic expressions and colloquialisms because there  remains some figurative truth to what's being said.  And we appreciate those things, because they help us see some sort of significance to the harsher realities that surround us.

Included today are two such expressions regarding something commonly found on the ground: pennies.

"A penny for your thoughts" was first published in 1522, in Sir Thomas More's book, "Four Last Things".  The phrase existed before then, but became more widespread when it was penned:

“As it often happeth that the very face sheweth the mind walking a pilgrimage, in such wise that, not without some note and reproach of such vagrant mind, other folk suddenly say to them, ‘A penny for your thought.’”

Mm.  Good old Literature.

Of course, I have never seen anyone actually exchange coinage for the thoughts of another (until we get into themes like patent law, I suppose) but the proposal still stands; the desire to know what's on someone's mind--and perhaps glean some wise insight--is worth, it would seem, a small investment.

"My two cents", on the other hand, is an expression used to denote one's opinion.  People often use it either timidly or caustically to depreciate the value of their input, or to avoid possible contention.  It has many possible origins, but nothing definitive as to why or how it entered colloquial speech.

Even though the original finances and meanings related to these phrases have become rather obsolete, we somehow still managed to agree that these phrases are acceptable methods of communication.  While the former tends to magnify or exaggerate the worth of a penny and the latter does the opposite, they still form an appreciable contribution to our language and idiomatic communications.  And together, they might teach us something:

If you offer "a penny for your thoughts" and someone gives you their two cents, you got a great return on that investment.  You just doubled your investment!  That's good business right there.

Microfinances aside, though, investing yourself in what others think or have to say is an incredibly valuable and worthwhile expenditure.  Of course things like friendship and teamwork require you to invest some sort of principal.  Your time, your efforts, even your emotions.  And listening to another and allowing them to return that to you often enlarges whatever thoughts or feelings you had previous to that.  You gain another perspective and a more thorough understanding of the world around you--even if that world around you is as localized as the workings of another mind.  These things are important.

The great thing about investing "a penny for your thoughts" is that the investment is so simple. It really requires nothing more than you caring enough to take notice.

pulchrae

So, in case you somehow didn't notice, the 4th of July happened last week.  For my fellow Americans, Happy Independence Day!  For any international readers, this is still important.  Don't stop reading!

There have been a lot of changes going on in the world lately as well as in the United States: changes in government, in policy, in economy, in society... the world is a thoroughly dynamic place, and we've already discussed this to some extent here.  Some of the changes have happened overnight, others have come in subtle shifts that can only be seen over decades or even centuries.  I sometimes wonder if the Founding Fathers had any idea what this country would look like today.  It was, after all, an "experiment in democracy."

In anticipation of the 4th of July, I read the words of a patriotic hymn, America the Beautiful, and they really touched me.  I will include them here for your reference:

O beautiful, for spacious skies, 

For amber waves of grain,

For purple mountain majesties

Above the fruited plain!

America! America! God shed His grace on thee,

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet,

Whose stern impassion’d stress

A thoroughfare for freedom beat

Across the wilderness!

America! America! God mend thine ev’ry flaw,

Confirm thy soul in self-control,

Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for heroes proved 

In liberating strife,

Who more than self their country loved,

And mercy more than life!

America! America! May God thy gold refine

Till all success be nobleness,

And ev’ry gain divine!

O Beautiful for patriot dream

That sees beyond the years

Thine alabaster cities gleam,

Undimmed by human tears!

America! America! God shed His grace on thee,

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea!

Please stop to appreciate those lyrics.  Take the time to look up any of the words you don't know, so you can fully appreciate their meaning.  We'll wait.

Ready?

Oh, I could probably write tomes here; I have so many thoughts about this song.  
My initial reaction was one of disappointment and remorse; the greatness that was in America--as a beacon of freedom, a place where struggle leads to success, where brotherhood abounds-- is no longer there.  The boundless potential of this land seemed to be cut off because of how things have changed.  From riots and poverty running rampant through streets once "paved with gold", to conspiracies and lies and a general distrust of the government, to pollution and carelessness littering the alabaster cities and destroying the fruited planes...There is a lot to be wanted here.

Luckily I got pulled out of my bitterness after a few days, once the Fourth actually rolled around.  Despite all of the problems and plagues in this country, I saw that people are generally doing their best to live the American Dream--to work and establish their own position in life, to serve their neighbors and wipe others' tears away.  I drove through the majestic mountains, paid respect to the sacrifices of soldiers, veterans, those defending our freedoms by deeds and by words.  We're certainly not where Katharine Lee Bates envisioned when she wrote the lyrics to America the Beautiful, but that doesn't mean that we're not on our way.

For all I know, America never has reached that Beautified state described in the poem.  Maybe it's just me, that I tend to idealize the founding fathers and their generation.  I forget that the Union struggled so hard to even envision unity in its infancy.  I revere Abraham Lincoln, and think "if only we still had the values of that day..." while looking over the immense crises that the country faced at that time.  I think of the "greatest generation" and wonder why, in only a few short generations, things seem to have fallen apart in society.  But I must remember that the greatest generation only earned that title after being proven by a childhood during the Great Depression, only to grow up and fight in the Second World War.  Certainly these ideals were hard to see at those times, too.

I've come to realize just how much of a vision America the Beautiful is--a vision of what is to come in the future.  Generations of Americans, after coming from other parts of the world and so many different circumstances, have fought for that dream.  Millions of people have given their lives in exchange for getting one step closer.  The dream isn't lost if we're still working towards it.

I believe that this nation and this land have certain promises and rights associated with them.  Be it through divine providence, the grace of freedom, or the plain and simple opportunity and legacy of hard work, this is an incredible place.  But with those rights comes responsibility.  In order for this to continue being the Land of Promise that it is, it requires the best out of each of us.  In order to uphold the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, we must treat life responsibly, cherish freedom, and work hard to magnify the happiness we have and share it with others.

I honestly think that this nation is still in its infancy, and that it has yet to grow and achieve its full potential--even taking into account all the many advances that have been made so far.  But reaching that potential is a dream that belongs solely to us, the American citizens. And it is our responsibility to make it happen.

cognoscere

Okay.  Continuing on with thoughts from places: the return from Europe.

One of the things that I really want to emphasize--that being in Europe has demonstrated to me in daily abundance--is the absolute dearth of knowledge I have.

Please note that the word there is not depth, it is dearth; a word which here means the opposite of depth or breadth or really anything impressive. A veritable lacking, if you will. So there is no typo.

For one thing Europe has history that predates recorded history, and it's so dynamic and diverse across the continent that it's impossible to not learn something that you've never even heard of almost every time you turn around.

Couple that with the myriad languages and dialects you never thought you'd encounter, the foods you've never fathomed, the ways of life you've never considered living.... everything just combines to remind you that you must keep learning, all the time. Don't get lazy and assume you know enough. There are vast realms of things worth finding out and perspectives you didn't know existed!

I mean, I thought myself a clever, well-educated person; well-read enough to at least know a little about most things. But even after all that, I've come to see that the amount of stuff that I know can be condensed into something that might be best described by comparing the volume of the earth to that of the sun.

Earth for scale

Take into consideration the amount of stuff that I truly understand, and we're talking the earth compared to the milky way and beyond here.

One thing I understand quite clearly, though, is this:  I understand nothing.  Which makes for a good paradox, especially because it's true. In my world, the one constructed by me, I understand the majority of things--like 51%. But once I get outside of myself, that amount quickly converges to zero.

And no matter how much learning and experiencing I do in this life, the amount of understanding that I capture will really never rise above zero.

I say this not to belittle our individual mental capacities or existences, but because I think it does us a great deal to realize that the perspective that crowds so much of our consciousness and understanding is frequently hopelessly inadequate at understanding another person.  We can catch glimpses and sympathize. On occasion we even manage empathy. But we cannot assume that we know how someone feels, or can judge them for what they're doing. That's as presumptuous as claiming to understand the intricacies of the universe!

At the same time, we can't expect other people to be able to get on our level, either. Their level of understanding you is just as incomplete as your level of understanding them.  I think that if we both understood this and remembered it more, we'd be more patient and compassionate and, paradoxically, understanding.

So don't forget how much of the World you've left out there completely unexplored! Good luck exploring it all :)

abnormes

It often astounds me how quickly time runs.

So, for the past three weeks I have had the incredible opportunity of touring Europe with my family. Between making an honest attempt at doing everything, seeing everything, and smelling everything, coupled with the effects of an 8-hour time difference, virtually all the spare time I usually grab for writing has been used for sleeping and other mental and physical reconnaissance. Which, while necessary, is also regrettable.

Good thing the plane ride is so long, and the novelty and wonder of flying over icy Greenland is enough to make me feel that falling asleep now would be distasteful.

 

I shall hopefully be able to share some thoughts from my experiences in Europe but for now, shall only attempt to give a summary of what I've gained there.

For one thing, it's been a long time since I've lived the family life. Having moved out some years ago and being single and fabulous since then, once again spending time with a whole flock of people you can't quite get away from and who know your every nerve can be an adjustment, at best. Especially under the constraints of going everywhere together, sharing hotel rooms and hotel beds with everyone and potpourri of individual foot odors, and in general just trying to avoid calamity in so many new and confusing cities and languages.  Good times.

But in all reality, it really does make for good times. Of course we all had our struggles. I think family vacations are probably the most trying on family relationships; everyone spends a lot of time at their worst. Mom and Dad are constantly stressed with making the itinerary work, keeping the bouncy 8-year-old out of oncoming traffic, hushing the quarrels that erupt more reliably than Old Faithful, and appearing like a nice happy family that doesn't annoy the other tourists. Everyone else is hungry,  bossily trying to help the fellow kids bouncier than themselves, and getting those bossier than them off their back.  Everyone is exhausted, no one knows exactly what's going on, and everyone is having a hard time communicating.

Nevertheless, family trips are one of the greatest things for family relationships.  Aside from being stuck with each other (on ten hour flights, no less) and having to get over how awful we've been to each other (great opportunity to learn how to apologize well. A skill I think we're all still working at), family trips form milestone memories for the family. Getting out of the norm and sharing new experiences with each other enriches relationships and adds new layers that otherwise wouldn't be formed. Some of us have discovered new common interests to share, new ways to depend on each other, and even new favorite siblings. ;)  We've all had to pull together to make things work out.  We've made memories of playing too vigorously on a merry-go-round, of burying each other at the beach, inventing wacky translations of all the signs we couldn't read, and inside jokes of all the ways we made each other laugh to ease up the tension. We've learned how to encourage and help each other do new things. Over the past three weeks, we've invested a lot in our family.

I don't say this to brag about Europe, but definitely about my family. Turns out, they're all pretty awesome. :)

And I really believe that you don't have to go all the way to Europe to find that out. Family trips can be simple, for a few hours or a few weeks, but doing things together is so challenging because it is so worthwhile.  

This is, of course, not the only big picture I learned from Europe, but definitely an important one. I'll continue to share summaries as I go, throughout several posts, due to the fact that my summaries often become analyses and are no longer adequately short.

But of all the lessons learned abroad, the thing that comes first (even before breakfast) is family. 

mora [wait, time]

You would think that now that it's summer and classes and homework are no longer taking up all my mental real estate, I would have some time to put some good stuff up on the world wide web, no?
Well, evidently, we're both wrong about that time.

So, with my admittance of being lazy with the blog lately, comes a life lesson I learned while in Arkansas:

You only have time for what you make time for.

Ultimately implying that you are in control of your time more than your time is in control of you.  Obviously, there are days and times when life takes you for some unexpected turns and even though you had set apart time to finally read that book or to get the lawn done before it becomes a forest, other things end up happening.  Unexpected priorities take command from time to time, and this is a normal fact of life.  But it's the occasion.

On the regular, you fill your time each day with tasks and obligations and meetings and even sometimes a little sleep.  And each person has to choose what is most important for them to make time for.  And amidst the hectic scheduling and growing to-do lists, we each have a list somewhere of things to get around to, "if I have time".

Well look around! You have time and space all around you.  In fact, you travel through time on a very regular basis.  No matter what, you're always progressing forward, into the future.  Every moment of your life you witness the inexplicable conundrum of the future becoming the present--short-lived, and then slipping into the past.  Doing this, you acquire more and more time behind you.  The more you age, the more time you've had!  You have plenty of time!

The difference, of course, between your run-of-the-mill time traveler (like most of us) and someone who commands time, is what you do with it.

One of the most underutilized resources we have on this planet is ten minutes.

Think about it.  Ten minutes isn't that long of a wait, and you probably wait for about ten minutes several times throughout the day. For the train to come. For the water to boil. For that person you're meeting.  For the customer service representative to take you off hold.  And it's not too big of a deal, because ten minutes really isn't that long of a time.

But once you're using those ten minutes...it somehow becomes much longer than you thought.  You would be amazed at what you can accomplish in ten minutes.  I often am, whenever I remember to stop wasting my life.  If you will get off of Facebook and look at your to-do list, you'll probably find that most of those items would take only a short time.  You could call that lady back about the thing (two days later than you intended to) while you walk to work.  You could write that thank-you note from two weeks ago on your lunch break.  And then write the other one while you're in the car to pick someone up.  You could even write a blog post while you eat your lunch!

Ah.  It feels really good to get this done and stop having it hang over my head.

And the nice thing is that the more time you make for things, the more time you have.  I still haven't worked out how this actually works with the physics and the motion of the universe (since that's how we measure time these days) but I have found it to be true time and time again.  When you have a productive day and fill in the time gaps with useful things you've been meaning to do, it somehow all gets done.  More things done in less time.  It's probably witchcraft.  But it helps.  It even starts a productive cycle.  You do more, so then you feel better, so then you do more, so then you feel better.  Yeeee.

So if you feel like you don't have time for all the important things and all the things you want to do and all the things you need to do and all the things the other people want you to do....

Just make some time.

exitus

It's the last day of April, and for me, the last day of the semester.  Hallelujah.

Everywhere I turn, people are packing up and moving out. Finishing classes, saying goodbyes, graduating, moving on to different things...
The world is abundant with endings today.
And as humans, we tend not to like endings.  In general, we think they're sad.
Except for endings like strenuous runs or hard classes, which are victorious.

But here's a little secret about endings.  We need them.

We need finish lines and goals and even the goodbyes.  Without them, we would accomplish much less, under-appreciate most things, and sell ourselves short in almost every way.  And life, even though it goes on, would lose much of its savor.

Endings push us beyond the limits we put for ourselves.  One excellent example is the story of Florence Chadwick, a brilliant swimmer who enjoyed pushing the limits.  She swam the English Channel both ways, and had decided to do a long-distance swim along the coastline of California.  It was a foggy day, and she swam for hours despite barely being able to see the support boats alongside her.  After fifteen exhausting hours, she finally relented to the chilly water and her aching muscles, and asked to be pulled into the boats.  They continued to land and discovered that Florence had swum all but half a mile of her intended distance.  Upon learning this, she said, "All I could see was the fog.  I think if I could have seen the shore, I would have made it."



Setting a goal and seeing the finish line helps us to dig deeper within ourselves and push through the tiredness, the aches and pains, and whatever else comes our way.  Going on an endless swim into the ocean, we're more likely to sell ourselves short and stop before we realize how close we are to achieving our goals.

The other opportunity that endings afford us is a moment to reflect back on what we've done and who we've become.  It's usually the most natural time for people to say things they should have been saying all along: "Thank you for being a good friend," "I'm glad to have you in my life," "You are a quality human being and I hope you have a wonderful life."  You know, those things that your friends might write in a yearbook, given they actually know you and are sincere about the things they write in yearbooks.  Without the goodbyes we have to say, I fear we would take a lot more relationships for granted.  We would fail to express our appreciation and respect for each other like we should.  Our relationships would be much less fulfilling on the whole if we never had to face the reality of saying goodbye.

When we realize that endings come and at some point, we must all be left, or leave ourselves, I think we gain a better understanding of how valuable the present moment is.  We tend to spend our time better, realizing that it will come to an end.  We won't always be at this place, with these people, doing these things.  We'll have to move on some day.  And turns out, that day is rapidly approaching.

So as much as we must seize the day, I find that we must also embrace the endings.

dimensio

I've been somewhat inundated with thoughts lately and don't even know where to begin.

I suppose it all started when I realized just how much school had taken over my life, to the extent that I didn't have time anymore to do 'normal human' things.  Read: I didn't have time to do the things I love.
Granted, I had realized this stuff for a while or so before I ended up doing anything to fix the problem.  I've since been much better at writing a little bit every day, playing soccer when I can, and even having friends. :D
It helps, of course, that the homework is over.  And that I would go insane from studying for finals if I didn't take those breaks.

But one of the things that I have noticed in this shift in my life is just how different a person I am based on the things I'm doing in and with my life.

A quick Venn diagram, if you will:



Gotta love those Venn diagrams.

So basically, when I allow school to consume me and fail to make time for other people...I feel like a robot that does homework all day, rather than a human being.  And it takes a huge toll.
I will not deny that a large part of the paucity of posts lately is due to this robot's failure to have ideas worth writing and expanding and sharing.

So I was talking with the Dean of my college recently and one of the things she said about the intent of our education is for us to become three-dimensional people.  Colleges are really good at spitting out one-dimensional people, who know their stuff and can do a great job at engineering or math or teaching literature or singing...whatever it is that they've been studying now for years.  But a large part of our education should be to enhance that dimension of ourselves with other dimensions.  To learn how to communicate across other disciplines and to see how our area of focus can help other areas or can be developed by other areas.  To have experience in differing fields, and that even though you've dedicated all you are to this one great discipline (in my case, engineering), you should still be able to say that you make time for hobbies and you like to find new interests.  You have a grab-bag of skill sets because of all the volunteer projects you've helped with, and you're able to understand more of the world because you've taken the time to see it from more than just one angle or dimension.

Not to mention that three-dimensional people just stand out. ;)

So I've been having greater success at that lately, and it's true; it makes you feel more real.