'cellf' absorbed

don’t look unless you want to be taken back a little. the crazy thing is your probably within one foot of it and it is absorbing you. slowly.

so many things in life that i want to learn. if i could implant some microchip in my brain and instantly learn kung fu, spanish, how to cook breakfast, and a full knowledge of architecture i would. but learning takes time, and anyone will tell you that to really master something you must practice for 10,000 hours. i don’t have that much time, i just need more time. we can find time, perhaps its that we don't really want to look in depth where our time is actually going.

curiosity is the beginning of learning, you have to be somewhat interested in a topic for you to fully explore it. sir issac newton holed up on in his room on a summer break from college in his early twenties with a prism and changed our entire thinking on light and color. imagine if he had access to internet radio and the app store, would we even know his name?
phone.

everything in moderation. i can’t imagine a life before my ‘phone’, after all i found this coffee shop that i am at writing this using my smartphone. there is a need for it, i keep in contact with home and friends, i discover new music, i am even listening to a history class from yale using itunesu. our world is smaller because of technological advance, with opportunities to learn and progress and it fits in our pocket. but then what. are we learning and growing or are we consumed and addicted.

last night we had ‘family dinner’, which is just the guys on the bus going out to eat all together on the day off. we played a game where we all set our phones in the middle of the table and said the first one to pick it up before the tabs get there has to buy a meal. i have to be honest, it was harder than one would think. someone would say something about a video and i immediately wanted to see it, someone would mention a random fact and i wanted to double check it. you are not alone in your addiction… trust me.

i love post-apocalyptic literature and films, the lead character is usually trying to eek out some time of survivalist existence. if i am honest with myself i am sometimes jealous. sure he has no shelter and does not know where his next meal is from but he is also not obsessed with checking twitter or emails marked important like i am.

are you ready to look yet? i am letting you know that you will probably be taken aback a little. under your setting there is a usage button on most phones. check your cellular usage. i did. i have been on my phone almost a week of my life, and this is a newer phone one of many i have owned. one week of my life has been spent with this machine to my ear. on my death bed i will wish for that week back.

my phone is ringing. ironic. i am going to let this call go.

Pascal

“All of man’s (or woman's) misfortune comes from one thing, which is not knowing how to sit quietly in a room”- Blaise Pascal

all alike

i daydream of planting people on an island with like-minded souls, it sounds odd but randomly enough i think about it a lot especially when i am watching the news. you know those people, their extremists in their belief to where whatever it is they are ‘standing up for’ has become more of a lifestyle for them rather than a simple opinion or a complex philosophy. and it is not one thing in particular, its republicans and democrats, its pro mother nature and anti establishment, it’s the super religious and the acute atheist’s. just out there. just so obsessed that no one else is allowed an opinion or another view opposing his or hers.
so my daydream consists of putting all people of one particular extremist view on an island together for just a year or so and let them see what happens. think about it, what if you put all the anarchists together, no social rules, no laws, no religion, and just let them live. they would instantaneously believe that they had found true freedom and liberation from whatever invisible hand was holding them down. pure anarchy. that’s actually what would happen, pure anarchy. i would be so curious as how many of them would be alive after a few years.
after those who survived came back to society i would like to see how their views had changed, would they still want to be on an island with essentially only their own opinion staring them in the face all day?
…which begs the question, what if i put you on an island by yourself. what would you be staring in the face? perhaps the first week the companionship with the other like-minded people would be harmonious, but what about a month, what about a few years? people have tried to force people into being like-minded, one such incident was called socialism, but it didn’t last because they forgot to factor in the simple fact that at the end of the day we are… human. at first the idea was that we were all going to be equal, a wonderful/blissful concept. then one people decided to elevate himself or herself above the rest, and suddenly it looked more like a dictatorship than equal reign. that was there island, which was the eventual end of the island as well.
so what is the eventual end of your island. what one concept that you are so firmly planted it could cause your eventual demise?
well here is honesty, a few years back i was a drink-the kool-aid republican. i listened to rush, read coulter, and subscribed to hannity. i was a sound bite poet quick on the draw with an antidote on how to save america from itself. i am not saying i have swung to the complete other side, nor have i stayed the same. i am learning how to see each and every argument and stance from a different angle. why do they want this particular program? why do they believe that this is how our country should be run? if i was placed on an island by myself then we would have one sided ourselves into a fearful oblivion.
no i am not perfect, nor do i think i could survive on an island with like-minded people today, i am still learning and growing. however, by looking at every possible scenario and outside perspectives for life’s most daunting questions might be the quickest way to finding internal resolution for all mankind.

Rob Sato

king... of an island of one.

its amazing how easy that we as humans can justify whatever we want to revolve around this ever changing universe called ‘us’. i have watched over the years as men and woman of all ages have tunneled their way so deep into the caverns of their own selfishness that they end up lost and suddenly have the need to blame God or others, without taking a step back to see what got them there.

the breathtaking irony is that we as people know when we are wrong, we know when they have reached a place where we have isolated themselves from humanity , right, and wrong, and yet feel comfortably numb to remain there. the course in correcting this colossal mistake is not easily corrected because selfishness and pride are can be easily chalked up to individuality and ambition.

have you ever lied to others so much that you actually started to believe it? have you ever repeated a story so many times that it became a true mythological tale in your own life? i have. because for whatever innate reason we all have a longing to be gods among men. but gods are simply legends, and not human. you may not believe me, or disagree with my wording, but if you take in a brief observation of our current culture the goal is not to be rich, but to be famous. everyone longs for the attention of another’s eyes.

there is beauty in mortality and humanity, there is beauty in this triumphant tragedy called life. if with no one else… try beginning to be real with yourself. tell yourself the truth, allow yourself to feel guilt and regret because without it there is no course correction. sometimes the shame of a past failure is just enough to open our eyes to our own humanity and become a better person.

stop justifying the ‘sins’ in your life, stop pretending that you know what your doing. look in the mirror today and this time just stare. just look into your own eyes because only you know what is happening behind that blank stare. do you like who you see? is this the person you thought you would be? are you proud of all the actions this person has committed? who is this person looking out for?

author g.k. chesterton wrote of a man who sailed from america to england, but early on in his trek he got of course by only a few degrees. when he finally touched down on land he soon came to the realization that he was in africa. you see it is not massive failures that lead us to a life of self-absorption but a few small ‘insignificant’ mistakes that have been corrected so easily if we would just stop and change our course.

you are safe here...

i only have one memory of my grandfather, anton. we were wrestling in the living room of his house on niles avenue in saint joeseph, michiagn. he was egging me on to wrestle, but being shy and very young i avoided his taunts but remember clearly the big smile and heavy accent that accompanied the moment. my grandfather died in 1983, much to early for me to have a deep or meaningful relationship or conversation with him. growing up he had always been a folklore to me, the stories that were passed around at sunday dinners were my childhood mythology.

my grandfather wrote a short journal when he was in a hospital in the 1970’s. it has circulated my family for years but wasn’t translated from german to english until recently. the first time i read it i was in tears, then the second time, and so on. this short book takes that original journal and turns it in to a story, where all the characters and events were absolutely factual. i kept as close to the journal as i could, even using word for word descriptions.

through this process i got to know the man, the myth, and the human that i never had an opportunity to know. i hope that you find inspiration in his words and hope in his survival, like i did. please check out my new title 'you are safe here...' online for free. it is a passion project, one that i am really proud to be apart of.

i am not an editor, and i do not claim to be a writer, i really wrote this for my family, but wanted to share it with you because i believe that we can take a lot of strength and encouragement by watching others succeed over seemingly insurmountable odds.

click here to read: http://youaresafehere.tumblr.com/

-stephen christian

you are safe here...

i wrote a 'book' for my mother, it is about her parents and their escape from the hardships of germany in world war II. i am in the process of creating a website for it for those who want to read it for free. i found my opa's (grandfathers) 30 page journal and set out to create into a dialog and story without distorting the truth or message. i will deliver soon, hope you enjoy it.