I'm Back!!! (for the Umpteenth Time Now...)

After having two somewhat surprising posts sprinkled in a desolate landscape of nothingness (I'm talking about California Institute of Abnormal Arts and moving to Tumblr), I've decided to kickstart this blog post again, in hopes to become more consistent with this. 

It began with She Didn't Text Back, a podcast in which two friends, Will and Daren, discuss anything and everything that comes to their minds. In one of their more recent episodes, they had talked about how they had to remove all the clutter in their lives in order to make room and make more time for their passions, comedy and music (Will and Daren, respectively). One of the few things they've done was removing just about everyone from their friends list on all social media platforms and instead, replacing those friends by following people that inspire them to do greater.

I have to say, it's a pretty ballsy move, since they definitely got a lot of flack for doing so, but that advice stuck out to me. I want make room and time for my passions too (namely music and writing), and having so many people weigh me down isn't helping. Furthermore, I don't even know over half of these people *personally*!

They are people I don't know at all!

So why am I so caught up on trying to befriend them? At first, I had decided to delete my Facebook. Though after hearing that particular episode of She Didn't Text Back (ep. 9 or 10, I forget), I began to realize, "It's not me, it's them!" And so, as a first measure, I've decided to remove 95% of the people from my social media platforms - these are people that don't do anything to help me, nor do I do anything to help them. Essentially, they are dead relationships and I don't want them in my life anymore. If they want to still be connected (and I don't know why would they, considering our tenuous connections) they can find me here, on Instagram, and Tumblr

Tomorrow, I will write more about what the plan is for the rest of August and more importantly, what I'll be doing next to get my life going forward again.

My Great Social Experiment

I don't have many quality friends on Facebook. Most of the people that I have on my friend's list are mostly mutual friends or (much more honestly) acquaintances. For a good while, this didn't bother me at all, since I was just randomly adding people relentlessly over the course of several months. However, now I have this lengthy list of strangers who are, apparently, deemed "friends" of mine. Only...they're not. Rather than to eliminate them from my friends list, I decided I would try to befriend them, to know a thing or two about who they are. While that's a daunting task to do, I'm feeling confident that not everybody will respond to the message I will send them (which I'll mention in a moment). Instead of having, say, 100 ongoing conversations, I might only have to deal with 70. 70 is still a high number, but at least it's not 100. As for the message, I plan on sending, I'm thinking something along the lines of this (keep in mind that this is only a draft question, and may be changed sometime in the future):

Hello. It's embarrassing for me to admit this to you, but the truth is, I don't know you at all, other than your name. I don't know who you are, where you come from, and where you belong in this mad, blue world (and if I do know who you are, and you got this...sorry that I forgot?). However, I do want to know you: what makes you happy, your favorite art and its myriad forms, your regrets, your dreams, the last time you cried, something you hope you'll never be, what keeps you awake at night. At the very least, describe yourself in one word. I'm not asking you to reveal your authentic, personal self all at once, but I am asking that you'll slowly (even if you're hesitant - and that's ok: I'd be hesitant myself!) reveal yourself to me. For the sake of equivalent exchange, I'll share something about myself also, giving you something in return for what you have given me. The hope is that someday, in the distant future, we can become friends (even if this is just upon this digital landscape), rather than remain a subconscious, subtle blip in our lives. I trust that you'll read this lengthy message and take the chance to meet somebody new, or at least, somebody who subtly lingered about your news feed and friends list for some time.

I hope that at least one person bravely responds back to me...

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

"My name is Benjamin Button and I was born in unusual circumstances..."

I had the fortunate pleasure of watching The Curious Case of Benjamin Button a few days ago. For me, this was one of those movies where it just snuck past me. I knew about its existence since its theatrical release, but I never was compelled to watch the movie until recently.  In short, I loved it. While it was essentially Forrest Gump in reverse, Benjamin Button is one of those rare gems in film where you're not only watching it, you're immersed in it. However, it's just not the story alone that draws you in. It's the people, the places, and even the circumstance that do so. For as long as time moves forward, many people will age, circumstances will give and take life, and life itself is never still.

In some ways, taking the time to watch films that are more artistic, story-driven, and at times emotional seems to reflect the growth I'm going through as a person. For those who've known me over the years, these types of movies were not always my "cup of tea," so to speak. Maybe it has to do with all the reading I've been immersing myself with lately, as well as my binging on so much music that is sometimes unexpected, even for myself. Now, more and more of these types of films are giving me a satisfaction that, if my younger self would encounter the same film, he would dismiss them altogether. I want to continue going on this path and see where it takes me and just how much I'll change in the days, months, and years ahead of me. 

"One Sky, One Destiny"

"Thinking of you, wherever you are...There are many worlds, but they share the same sky - one sky, one destiny."

As I've posted something earlier this year, I have signed up for an Instagram account. For the most part, I've been quite lax with my activity, having developed a modest following and such, but I suppose I could put more effort into it. However, that's not the point. The point is that I try to interact with others and I feel that there are several people that I've taken a liking to, mostly because we are able to practically have exchange conversations through the comment sections. As I have more conversations and learn more about the other people that I follow, it always takes me by surprise that some of the people that I interact with are from different parts of the world. Scotland, the Philippines, Canada...the countries go on! Of course, I shouldn't be so surprised that this is the case - this is the modern age of the Internet, after all. So why does it take me by surprise that it does?

Perhaps it has to do that there is a personal connection (albeit a small, distant connection), since users that I follow and converse with regularly become more than just a clever user name and a series of random photographs. They become nurses, gamers, photographers, dog lovers, celebrators of life, and so much more! I guess this can be compared to the random strangers in our daily lives. Maybe that's why I'm always taken aback when I learn more about the people I follow or who follow me. They become a person, with hopes, fears, hopes, and despairs, (although the Internet always shows the best of us, never the worst of us). I can add a face, a personality, and perhaps if I'm ever lucky enough, a voice to those so far away from where I'm from. 

 

But it isn't just technology that connects us, as the quote reveals. There are some many things we share together. The sun, the moon, the stars, the skies, the world, the human condition. Only we forget to that we do, since it seems that we're always drowning in a sea of our own problems to remember that our lives are much more than the forever now. I know I'm at fault at this from time to time. Which is why I'm writing this now - I had to be reminded of those connections. The hope is that I (or rather, we) don't forget this simple truth and the we continually reach out and impact the lives of those around us, both near and far away.

"No Excuse."

Ugh. Today was simply...sub-par. I didn't feel productive, efficient, or even have the drive to perform the tasks that were present at work. Fortunately, this type of day hasn't been occurred in the past few months (which is amazing, considering I deal with all types of people - mainly those that are angry and stupid, but still people nonetheless.) With school coming up soon, I probably won't have a day like this for a good while =D