Lost In The Haze.

A lot of people that I know would call me an antique. I enjoy vintage items, old styles, and music that isn't really popular anymore. Plenty of jokes are perpetuated around my preferences, but I'd like to try and explain (at least to a degree) why I gravitate towards such things and styles. In our world today, we want the newest and coolest gizmo, the shiniest car, and the phone with an electric mirror in it (haha). The only problem with this mindset, in my opinion, is that while we continue to want more and more new products, the things that are already in our possession become neglected. In essence, we become so enthralled with whats next that we don't cherish what we've been blessed with already. The Bible says that the eyes of man are a bottomless pit. What that means to me is that no matter how much we accumulate, we'll never be satisfied with it. There will always be a covetousness for more. What I see in today's products is that they're not made to last anymore. And why should they be? Most people are going to throw everything away in a couple years anyway. But while this is the popular mindset these days, I don't agree with it. Not to say that I don't find new and cool things... cool, but that I try and understand that these things cannot bring me joy. And by living a life with that thought in mind, its possible to be content with what I have, and even enjoy what other people have thrown out. Heck, if a VHS tape was good enough for people to watch a movie on 15 years ago, why shouldn't it be good enough for me? I understand that I don't "deserve" the best. In reality, I don't have any "rights," and everything that has been a blessing in my life from my lovely wife to the fillings in my teeth from eating too much candy is simply by the grace of God. Instead of fumbling my way through the haze of what is next, I'll be not only content, but satiated finding treasure in what others would consider trash.

What Captures Our Hearts.

When I was in high school, I remember playing an NES game entitled "Astyanax." A great video game if I do say so myself. The plot is about a boy in high school that is summoned by a fairy to rescue a princess in a parallel dimension. The character is equipped with a sword, shield and a suit of armour to aid him in his quest to rescue the princess. Throughout the various levels of the game, the player is presented clips to view that tell the story of whats happening in the game more in depth. The dark lord is hell bent on destroying Astyanax (the character) and will stop at nothing to thwart his attempts. But the princess continues to beckon Astyanax! If you complete the game, the last clip shows the princess thanking Astyanax for saving her, and she sends him back to his own dimension. Of course, the first time I played this game, I was expecting Astyanax to marry the princess and stay in the parallel dimension with her. But just as I was about to turn off the game and cry myself to sleep, the clip shows the fairy enter Astyanax's dimension in human form and stay with him! This made me feel so happy that I could have jumped through the roof of my house! I didn't want to turn off the video game after watching that, and I actually didn't for about 20 minutes after. When I finally did turn it off, I felt a hole that made me want to curl up and die. Why couldn't this happen to me? I wanted to be summoned by a fairy, rescue a princess, then return to my own dimension with spoil! But it never happened. My point of writing all this is... this: Don't let wild fantasies capture your heart. Its not worth your energies, and all you'll get in the end is a handful of nothing. Games are nice, but they're not worth living for. Never forget who you are, and keep your feet on the ground. Blessings come from trusting in God, and hard work. See ya!

How Perpetuating Rasism Is Done.

I just read a Yahoo news article about some racist hate crimes being committed in San Diego, California. Its really horrible that these things are still going on in our country today, but are we really doing the right things to move past them, or are we actually fueling the fire? I once read a theory on how to overcome (seemingly) impossible problems in one's life. Supposedly, the reason that so many people fail to overcome problems (i.e. addictions, bad mind sets, etc.) is that a human being cannot just take something out of their life and call it a day. A hole is left in its place, and if its not filled with something else, the behaviours that the person had been trying to overcome would fill that hole right back up. The writer asserted that to effectively overcome a problem isn't by "fighting" against it, but by focusing the energies that were used to perpetuate the problem on something else (preferably more positive). To give an illustration, say a person is addicted to alcohol. Instead of "fighting" the urge to take a drink, the person should simply throw out all alcohol and buy mass quantities of chocolate milk, and drink some every time he or she craved alcohol. In essence, its a total elimination of the temptation altogether by simply keeping the same habit, but changing subjects. So what does all this have to do with racism? Horrible crimes have been committed in the past regarding race. And by what I've read today, they're still happening. But these are just the outward manifestations of what has already been brewing. All plants have a root system. I once heard a stand up comedian tell this joke, "When you walk down the street, black folks raise their head, look down at you and frown. White folks lower their head, look up at you and smile." Everyone broke out in laughter. This is just one of many "jokes" that I've heard that have been totally accepted by the public at large. However, I believe that these seemingly small deals are what keeps the ball rolling concerning racism. What is a "white" or "black" or "brown" folk? They're people. All of us are the same. As long as we keep the idea that races are what designate us from other kinds of people, racism is still alive and kicking. I strongly believe that to overcome racism, we need to focus on something else, and just forget about "races" altogether. We're people, that's it. And every last one of us is unique.