Thursday, April 29, 2010

Counts

Nine days and eight assignments separate me from Summer.

Eight assignments = two papers, one essay, two finals, one take-home final,
one in-class essay final, and one final paper.

An additional school-related activity takes place on Saturday. Volunteering!

Plus one more piano lesson and two more jazzes.







Nine days 'til.

Eight assignments to go.







Nine days 'til home.

Eleven days 'til two months.

Fourteen days 'til Jazz Tour.

Sixteen days 'til home again.

Eighteen days 'til Commencement.

Nineteen days 'til work.

Twenty-one days 'til HOBY.

Twenty-five days 'til official Summer (nothing but Tom's!).







I twittered this yesterday. It probably constitutes my favorite personal
twitter ever in the history of my twitter.

"Approx 9 things remain til freedom. 91 days since the beginning, 78 days
since the knowing, 48 days since the reality, 10 days to go."








Apparently, I really enjoy countdowns (and ups!). This probably explains why
I also enjoy to-do lists.

Perhaps it stems from my new-found deep dislike of denial?





I deeply dislike denial. :)

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Happiness and Satisfaction

I dislike the word "happiness," but for the sake of clear communication
with the rest of the world, I shall momentarily put aside my preference
for personal connotation and utilize the word to express the generally
accepted meaning.










Happiness and Satisfaction. It's what everyone seems to be seeking.

It's also what none of them seem to be finding.



As easily-stressed out as I may be, I consider myself to be a fairly happy
AND satisfied person. Especially in terms of relative happiness and satisfaction,
when compared to the overall average of everyone else.

Why?

I am happy and satisfied because I know what I want.



How else can anyone expect to be happy and satisfied? With the exception of
general statements about every kind of negativity possible, there is nothing
I hear people say more than, "I am looking for happiness" or "I am trying to
find happiness."

Happiness is not an object that can be found. This is why so many people
remain unhappy and cannot coherently express WHY they are unhappy.

Happiness is not an object, it is a derivative. Happiness is a derivative
because it must be derived from something, whether it be possession, person,
or place.

One does not simply "find happiness," it simply is not possible.



It is absolutely impossible to be happy without first knowing what exactly
will satisfy you.

It is absolutely impossible to be satisfied without first knowing what
exactly will make you happy.







I feel like I have not said this enough.

But really! This is the problem! People are unhappy because they simply
have not taken the time to define what they believe can have the power to
bring them happiness.







I certainly understand that there are other causes for unhappiness, but
this is the most fundamental one.

Another chief cause of unhappiness occurs when a person does know where his
or her happiness would potentially be found, but cannot reach that place.

For instance, the person that wants to find happiness in a high-paying job
cannot achieve happiness because of a lack of job openings or the requirement
to work his or her way up the employment ladder.



How to cope with this? How to be happy when happiness is being blocked?



Steady happiness (joy, fulfillment) cannot be found within such impermanent
(shallow) things like money and jobs because of their changing nature.

Therefore, for a more steady happiness (joy, fulfillment) to be achieved, one's
goal should not rest in such impermanent (shallow) things, but rather a more
steady and unchangeable goal.







For me, these steady and unchangeable goals are very humanitarian in nature.

Sanctified and selfless compassion
Altruism
Balance and moderation
Catharsis
Non-proselytism
Empowerment
Empathy
Non-complaining
Responsibility
Outspokenness
Positive attitude
Integrity
Synergy



These steady and unchangeable goals can be achieved anywhere, regardless of
job status or current wages; regardless of living condition or current situation.

When one's life is focused on such "higher-callings," the superficiality of
material things is revealed and a concern with "happiness" fades away.








That was a weak conclusion. My apologies.

Upcoming topic: Advice-Giving.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Ideas and Aspirations

Our hopes and expectations
Black holes & revelations





It's weird how those words sound so much more beautiful within
the context of the song, when they are communicated by the voice
of Matthew Bellamy.







Hopes and expectations, ideas and aspirations... ...dreams.







My Idea.

In considering why school is currently making me unhappy, or
rather why I am currently unhappy with school, I decided that
it has a lot to do with the concept of this being a Liberal
Arts school.

I wholeheartedly enjoy the Liberal Arts philosophy. I consider
myself to have had a Liberal Arts life through homeschooling.
I like it.

There are two different kinds of people here at Bridgewater; two
very different kinds of thought processes, learning styles, and
general philosophies of life.

There are the science-thinkers... chem, bio, math, comp, etc.

There are the thought-thinkers... socio, psych, eng, rel, philos,
educ, etc.

Bear in mind that there sometimes is some overlap, but...

These different kinds of thinkers consequently have extremely
different opinions about the Liberal Arts philosophy. The science-
thinkers tend to view Liberal Arts as an unnecessary and painful
burden. The thought-thinkers adore the Liberal Arts and view it
as inherently invaluable.



Therefore... in order to create the best kind of school at which my
kindred spirits and me would thrive, there needs to be a Liberal
Arts school that only offers thought-based majors, such as sociology,
psychology, english, religion, philosophy, education, and so on.

This would be my utopia.

Certainly, there would still be a chance for a small percentage of
students to be unhappy (because I have met some science-thinkers that
are thought-thinking majors), but this is why the admissions process
would have to be stricter.

A lot of the issues I see at Bridgewater have to do with the lenient
admissions process.

There is a difference between lenient admissions and lenient education.
Bridgewater has lenient admissions, but its education is not necessarily
overly lenient. Just because my utopia school would have a more trying
admissions process does not mean that its degree of difficulty would be
too much to handle.

My Idea: Utopia School.











My Aspiration.

Recently, a common theme has been arising throughout my educational
assignments and educational thoughts.

I always end up talking about school.

NCLB, Pennsylvania State Budget, Community Colleges, etc, etc.

Apparently, aaaaaaaPAREntly, I am very interested in the public
education system. ...isn't that odd.

Ironic, sure. But it's an issue I'm particularly interested in
because of my unique experiences. It makes sense to me. Reform from
the inside-out, lol. It really does make sense, though, in regards
to what I really want to do... youth counseling, specifically
simply allowing kids a place where they are listened to by someone
who demonstrates compassion, empathy, and empowerment.

:)

Just like hospitals need to employ a hospital chaplain or hospital
counselor to talk with and listen to dying patients (because the
doctors and nurses deal with it every day and would be too emotionally
distraught to discuss such heavy topics each day at work), schools
need to employ a counselor to talk with and listen to students (because
teachers and principles have other priorities to which they must attend).

I know there are Guidance Counselors, but I feel like they mostly deal
with educational planning, not life topics.

I know there are School Psychologists, but I'd rather hold off on the
requirement to get my Doctorate.

It seems to be like there should be a third position to discuss life
topics and LISTEN TO THE STUDENTS.

What I expect might end up happening is that I become employed as a
Guidance Counselor and create my own guidance counseling philosophy of
integrating compassion, empathy, empowerment, and listening into my job
description of initiating educational planning.

My Aspiration: Within-School Counseling.