Stay to the Center

Oftentimes throughout my day, which are as unvaried and more often than not boring as anyone else’s, I stop to breathe. On a practical and superficial level, this “1-minute-meditation” is cognitively worthless, although having benefits for stress-management and the like. To me however, this simple act is of incredible importance. Many of the great thinkers within our history more or less have eventually come to reconcile with the idea of “oneness”; the concept that rather than being individual, categorized and self-identifying beings, driven by the concepts of money, the perpetual pursuit of Success, and the building and maintenance of skill or knowledge; we are all part of something far greater and more important than any of those manufactured and peddled ideas are.. that we are all one. This idea has essentially been decimated by Western media, who repeatedly tells us implicitly that we are all essentially powerless, of little worth, expendable, ugly and above all else, to be feared.

This is important because it ultimately leads to a loss of one of the most important human characteristics. This universal emotion is nowhere to be found in the perpetrators during times of war, slavery, epidemic or apathy. It is an emotional ability greatly lost in our society of Success. This emotion is empathy, the ability to essentially view the world through the eyes of another and understand the mechanisms behind their opinions or actions. This type of insight is of immeasurable power to the bearer, allowing one to grasp an issue in the purest sense, and apply a solution with the most compassion and effectiveness possible. But more importantly, it allows to bearer to understand the commonality between all beings that exist, and therefore see the Oneness in it’s purest form. Free from money, deities of any kind, greed and urgency, we are able to experience reality in it’s truest form, rather than reality as perpetrated by a select group of people motivated by these same hindrances.

This is the root of what it means to be a human being; and in all of our attempts to identify ourselves through the skills we have, the ideals we hold, which political puppet we agree most with, our jobs, down to what music we like and what clothes we wear, we have appallingly and deliberately missed this point.

This is what I experience during my minute of breathing; the realization that I am fluid, and live my choice of love over fear, expansion of thought over dogma, and empathy over indifference. Through these basic principles I am free to experience reality as we have since the dawn of time, prior to our illusions of money, excess, success and elitist socioeconomic, national and religious segregation. Fuck it all.

Of course I am not naive enough to believe I am not influenced by these things. However, I believe I possess the power to acknowledge the presence of these phenomena in my life, choose for myself which are justified, potentially harmful or beneficial, and the like, and take action on them based on what I feel it best for me.

If you have been reading this striving to understand my standpoint, to attain in essence this “empathy’ I have been preaching, you have missed the point entirely.

“The words are fingers pointing at the moon; if you watch the finger you can’t see the moon” – Lao Tzu

Instead, live the words. Breathe them. Take action according to them. The end result will be what you, as well as I strive to understand and conceive.

“As if that’s the way it’s supposed to be.”

This one’s gonna be a dandy.

Of all things I could be inspired to write a post from, anything ranging from the eloquent, the emotion-ridden, even simply the animated, this post is inspired by no more than 3 grapes. 3 grapes! And from this noble beginning, I will express the final point of what I’m sharing with you today; the media has our collective consciousness by the balls. Yeah. Watch me fill this one in.

The other day I was just getting into my car to go to work, and remembered that I had not eaten anything aside from a piece of toast and some coffee. I was already slightly late, so I walked to the fridge in my garage, grabbed a few grapes off their stem without looking, and shoved them hurriedly into my mouth, now walking back to the car.

Within moments I was in a state of sheer panic.

Within my never-ending stream of thoughts that occur throughout the day, at the very second I was chewing up my modest breakfast, a memory surfaced from my unconscious mind, surging it’s way into my psyche, flooding every sense with it’s message; the “message” being a product of the following insurgent memory. This memory was of a news report I had seen in passing as a child, a concerned young news reporter interviewing a wide-eyed woman in a grocery store. ReporterGirl, with an authoritative and even slightly condescending tone was telling the interviewee about “the dangers of imported foods”. More specifically, she was talking about black widow spiders making nests within batches of grapes, being picked by unsuspecting migrant workers, who load them onto trucks to have them sold to us unsuspecting whities, who then eat them and perish indefinitely.

 

 

 

Be afraid.

ReporterGirl’s message couldn’t be more plain and true. What she was telling us is that our food is not even fit to eat without a certain amount of scrutiny, and moreover fear. Through the wide-eyed woman’s eyes one could see panic, bewilderment, every emotion that would lead to her becoming more reserved, more guarded, more inclined to close her mind.. more afraid of day to day life.

 

And as much as I had rubbed off her stupid, incredulous expression, the reporters laser eyes piercing into her victim’s soul, the intensity of the imagery, there was only one thing on my mind as I stood there stupidly in my garage, eyes welled up with tears. I looked about for a place to spit out what was surely dozens of tiny baby spiders, breeders of death and holocaust swarming in my mouth. I began to sweat as I walked toward the garbage.

 

Then I stopped.

 

Breathing in deeply, I stopped to think of how the grapes tasted, how delicious and juicy they were; and also the absence of any evidence there were spiders in my mouth. Slowly my heart rate returned to normal, and my body hummed with order as I mastered what was seconds ago a matter of paramount importance.. 3 grapes.

 

This experience re-enforced within me a terrifying realization of how strongly the media impacts not only simply our thoughts and opinion, but our experiences. Even through the passage of time between watching the news report as a child and the Grape Incident the other day, through even my own initial small amount of objective thinking back then and my next-to-paranoid sense of objectivity at present, that amount of panic came through.

 

I was so ashamed of this event that I thought to never write about it, even though the inspiration was almost instantaneous (after I began breathing properly again that is). I’m happy I have.

 

Introducing a Revolutionary, Life-Changing Tool for Task and Time Management!

Ladies and gentlemen, I’ve done it. Adopting this device has changed the way I live and work through each day, and the way I perceive the value of my time and money. It has increased my focus on the task at hand immensely, and is able to remember tasks which I have to complete at a later time, as well as prioritize them according to time sensitivity! Not only that, it weighs about 100 grams, and fits unseen into my pocket throughout the day. Behold:

Sweet eh?

No joke folks, turns out this stuff actually works. I thought I’d go more in depth this time around about how I’ve been going about meeting my goals, and you’re looking at the central tool in which I’m achieving them. While other systems may work better for you, this is what I have been doing with my simple to-do list:

• The night before or the morning of a day, I write down at most 3 things which either absolutely have to be done, or things that I’ve been putting off for a while and need to complete. A personal example of the latter would be making phone calls. I hate to use the phone and put it off like crazy; but if I make it one of the 3 things (3 MIT’s: Most Important Things) I have to do it, before the end of the day.

• Make at least one of the things on my MIT’s a movement to progress myself toward my long term goals (which will be discussed later).

• Items listed as “optional” are less time intensive, and able to be bumped to the day after, They’re basically just surplus from the three MIT’s. These usually get done nonetheless, just because they’re on my list.

• Most importantly: CARRYING THE LIST WITH ME. Things will pop into my head out of the blue during the day, that are important nonetheless and that I should make a priority. What I used to do is tell myself I’ll remember them, and of course forget, screwing myself over later on. Writing these things down not only serves to get these important tasks on paper so I don’t forget them, but also it gives me peace of mind, knowing I don’t have to worry about forgetting about them. This in turn allows me to focus as much as possible on what’s at hand.

Adopting this simple tool has allowed me to do all of the above, as well as increase my general well-being by giving me the confidence in knowing that what I’m doing in the moment is exactly what I should be doing. Whether it be housework, research, working out, I know that I’m making the best of my time and my day. The power of this level of confidence is limitless. Of course things come up during the day that require your attention, but MIT’s are not designed to be done one after the other, it’s only required that they’re done! I simply can’t recommend this enough to anyone wishing for more control over their lives.

More on said long-term goals very soon.

I’m Not Dead.

Apologies for my very long hiatus, the stress of having to write my final exams came on very strong, and left me with little time nor will to write in my WordPress. However, I have indeed made quite a few new good habits in my life, being partially influenced by the writings of Leo over at zenhabits. I highly recommend this guy’s blog, as it has tips on everything from weight loss to cooking to time management to philosophy. It all really hit the nail on the head for me, someone who is looking for more direction and control in their life, and if you are in the same boat I heartily recommend at least perusing his site.

Specifically, some changes I’ve made in the past month include:

• Becoming an early riser. I don’t mean this in the sense of getting up at the crack of shit for no reason and just sitting there with one blood-shot eye open, barely conscious. Waking at 8 or 9 AM and being able to sit and enjoy my coffee, read the news on digg, and set my goals for the day (most importantly) is very liberating, and sets a great foundation for the day.

• Set my 3 MIT’s for the day. MIT’s being Most Important Things, these are the things that need to be done in a more immediate sense. They’re usually big things, like organizing my bank account (I do all my banking online), running important errands, or making progress in a project or hobby. I find that if these are set early in the day, and you make them important enough to do as soon as humanly possible, they don’t seem like chores anymore, and you attain a sense of empowerment in being so productive. Success breeds success, and if you’re looking to start an excellent habit, start doing this either every morning or every evening, to set the goals for the day ahead.

• Cut out drinking to a minimum. If you’ve been reading my stuff from early on, you know full well my moral dilemma on alcohol, at least the over-consumption thereof. However looking at it just objectively, it’s really come to my attention that it’s just a waste of time and money. I blow tons of cash at bars to over-drink and then feel like a huge pile of manure the next day, which slaughters any hope of being productive or even alert. Waste. Of. Life. A few social beers or a glass of wine at dinner is where I’m at right now.

Also, a very huge change is that I’ve become a lot more objective about my life’s path, and my vocation. First coming into university I was flirting with the idea of going to med school, then to professional programs in physiotherapy. However, after learning about what those jobs are like, and what kind of stress they have to deal with in terms of being away from their families, having work to take home, lawsuits, etc, in addition to the ridiculously stringent academic requirements needed to even get into medical school or the like, I’ve become more open to new opportunities.

This may seem like it would stress me out more than what my previous objectives were before, going from having a set path to basically just knowing what I’m interested in and having an open mind, but really it’s very empowering. Instead of getting mediocre marks in school after trying my hardest and feeling like a failure, knowing that they’re not nearly high enough to jump through the first of many hoops that would be put before me, I can play to my strengths and choose which hoops to jump through. And I’ve got a whole bloody summer to choose the hoops, with a nice job lined up for both now and during the school year next September.

I think I might set a day of the week that’s designated for career exploration for the summer, as to not get too side-tracked with how awesome it is to not have to worry about labs, exams, assignments, tests, class, and restraining myself from punching my biology professor in the chops.

Anyway, I’m still alive, and feeling empowered and learning more and more each day. I highly recommend you check out the above website and try adopting some of the habits I have, it’s worth your time.

Race in North America: Part 1

Yup, I’m gonna do it. I’m a white dude and I’m gonna talk about issues of race.. even have multiple parts, as the title suggests! And I’m not gonna tip toe respectfully around the issue like I’m supposed to, as we’ve been shown in so many movies and talk shows. Just to prove it to you, check this out:

Nigger.

..pause for effect.

Breathe it in people. While I do not at all believe in using this filth of the English language, I like to think that we’re all mature enough to not resort to this “n-word” shit. Especially if I’m not using this word toward anyone, but to solely talk about the word itself. If you can’t handle mature discussion or inquiry about this word, you don’t belong on here. Please leave and take your superficial views of racism with you. Issues of race run a lot deeper than the language we choose or the extent to which we censor our outward inquiry about prejudice.

To those who can handle this, and even let themselves think about issues of race in an intelligible manner, you are not alone. It is normal. The reason I resorted to exposing this is the filth that we’re fed to make us believe nigger is such a terrible thing to say, that it’s such a travesty to humanity to even THINK it, as if just by saying the word in question we’re reverting back to a sad time in American history when people believed they were superior to another based on the pigmentation of our skin. While my faith in my fellow man’s ability to think objectively isn’t the highest, I like to believe that we’re enlightened enough to realize we’re one in the same.. ya know, the whole fact that only 0.01% of our genes are reflected on a physical basis (1), let alone on racial profile leaves us a pretty slim margin for prejudice. ..but oh how folks LOVE HATIN’ them darkies.

Genetics aside, I believe the biggest reason for this whole mess about generalizing, prejudice, stereotypes and the like is very simple. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you an excerpt from “Rush Hour”, one of the approximately 98743443 black cop, white cop movies Hollywood shits out in between movies about teenagers bopping around at keggers, buying stuff, and comically trying to relieve their inherent, constant, and proliferating sexual urges.

(Note: Previous to this scene, Chris Rock’s character “Carter” shares his comradery of skin pigmentation with the owner of the bar by saying “What’s up, mah nigga?”. Being foreign (although surely not black), Jackie Chan’s character attempts to use what he thinks (rightfully) should be a regular North American greeting. Hilarity ensues.)

It’s all so real isn’t it? You may be thinking “Dude, it’s just a movie, chill out. Pepsi.” But this is the shit that’s causing huge problems, and not just for people who aren’t black. All the sudden this double standard occurs, as was perfectly and thoroughly demonstrated here (with sooper-cool karate-action!!!11ONE!1). Then we start treating black people as special, off-grounds for inquiry. Then we’re not allowed to say nigger. THEN we’re not allowed to discuss the word, or any issue of race, for fear of being propped on that slippery slope between either being an all-accepting, all-loving, colour blind social retard or a blood-thirsting skinhead breeder of hate.

Are we still in this stone-age mindset of heresy and witchcraft? I say fuck you to the slope, and to anybody who thinks of me as a racial tyrant for saying what I’ve said today. Take your heads out of your asses and think for yourself. Besides, I’m much better looking than Jackie Chan.

Today I tackled a word. More on the general issue at a later date.

1: Trinicenter.com: Race and Genetics

The Sauce

Ladies and gentlemen, I of all people would be a complete and utter hypocrite if I started chastising the general public concerning the consumption of alcohol. Having a firm past in the hooch, I had my first drink at 11, and began drinking steadily from the time I was 14 or so. Positive influences caused me to think more about all that at 16, and here I am at 20, an occasional, headstrong drinker. Sure, I have my wild nights with friends, blowing up my already god-sized ego to levels one can’t even perceive. But as of late, I’ve come to realize a few things about the world’s favourite legal high (or low if you’re into drug interactions with the nervous system).

It’s come to me slowly after thinking to myself for a good while about what my tastes are, what I like to do, who I like to associate with and what I want to become. Going out to a bar and getting drunk would cost me about $40, sitting in a place with people I don’t know and usually don’t want to know, loud, painted, stupid women, macho, raucous, sex-enslaved men, new-age, crappy, fuckhead music, and cheap beer for $40. Not to mention the shit I feel like the next day.

It only took 3 odd years to realize that this isn’t my scene. I’d much rather forgo the charade of dressing like someone who I’m not, having meaningless shallow conversations with people I know full well don’t give a rat’s ass about “What I’m sayin’ nowadayz”, and cringing under the brunt of the newest pop music. Having a few drinks with close friends beats the hell out of that circus. Ditto for just being around a few close friends, without the booze.

Then there’s the whole issue of how people feel they’re obliged to act whence within the throws of alcohol intoxication. Girls who have trapped themselves into being reserved about their sex life, whether or not that means they make themselves unfulfilled or unhappy, all the sudden let loose from their self-induced shackles and act like complete lapdogs, objects, a perfect replica of what the media wants them to be.

We insult her everyday on TV
And wonder why she has no guts or confidence
When she’s young we kill her will to be free
While telling her not to be so smart we put her down for being so dumb

- “Woman is the nigger of the world”, John Lennon

Males are no better, but that’s a whole other story. What I want to get across is that I’m tired of the charade that this drug causes. Also, I’m tired of the lies that the media feeds us about it. I believe Bill Hicks said it best, regarding TV networks censoring his content:

“Do you understand how much contempt the networks have for us, who put on that purile bullshit, and not give anyone else with a point of view that you may not agree with on television. They kowtow to their fucking special interest groups, and a couple of deranged motherfucking people who hear the word “Jesus” and immediately think I’m making fun of Jesus, when I’m not. They hear the word “gay”, I did not make fun of gays, what I made fun of was the double standard that exists in this fucking country. And they think you’re too stupid to see through that, and that’s exactly what they fucking count on, while they sell the #2 killer drug in this country, alcohol, and they have the gall to do it in your fucking living room, with your fucking children there!

You drug-peddling capitalist motherfuckers!”

There’s really nothing more I can say that affirms the conflict I’m feeling right now than what Hicks said the night this was performed. I’m not saying people are bad for drinking. Most things in moderation are perfectly fine. I’m saying people are bad for not thinking about how they’re influencing this cycle of bullshit by acting the way we’re told to. But hey, it’s Miller Time (TM) , so shut the fuck up Risi.

 

An Introduction

Hey folks.

The name’s Matt. I’m a 20-year-old student at Brock University out of Ontario, Canada, currently earning a BSc. in Kinesiology, where I’ll later go on to professional programs in physiotherapy, or the like.

Of late, I’ve taken it upon myself to make a serious attempt at simplifying my life. Not that my life is overly chaotic right now, but I really feel as though the clutter in my life, both physical, mental and emotional, is holding me back from becoming all the things I’d like to be.

Not being one to undergo radical changes in diet or abstinence from things I enjoy just for the sake of self-torture, I created this WordPress as a sort of inner monologue, where I can try to sort things out before I begin this path into making my life more black and white, my mindset more polished, my movements more deliberate, and my consciousness under purely my control. Also, I’ll be discussing various views on the open-source movement, Linux, and desktop computing in general.

Any comments or suggestions are welcomed from anyone who is/has undertaken what I’m attempting.. or even knows what the hell I’m talking about.