Thought of the Day

Why is it so hard to just say what you are thinking? If you are sitting next to someone new in class, why does it feel like it takes as much effort to ask them their name as it would to try and slay a dragon? I have to work up just as much courage! Why is it that when I want to talk to someone I don't talk to very often, I can't just talk to them because it feels awkward to just walk up to where they live or their window or text them or call them!? Is it some sort of sociological boundary that everyone inherently feels? Somehow all humans just naturally want to hole up inside themselves and never reach out to anyone. But that can't be true because I want to, but at the same time, I suppose another aspect of I doesn't. What the heck. Life is hard.

But I'm gonna suck it up and I'm going to force myself into the world of outgoing-ness, even if I have to drag myself kicking and screaming. Watch out random citizens, you are about to be talked to.

Thought of the Day

I currently have no thoughts to share... Mostly because my mind is melted (more than usual!) from trying to compose my last post whilst watching She's the Man (shocker... really...). So I'm just going to share one of my favorite quotes in lieu of any original thought. Not that I have any original thought according to a certain Anthropologist, but we won't get into that... :P

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frighten sus. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

-Marianne Williamson, quoted by Nelson Mandela

And now you know, 'cause it's Mike's Super Short Show! Or the Amanda show... 'Manda, 'Manda, 'Manda, 'Manda, 'Mand... Nobody sing with Raaay, okay.

Thought of the Day

"I believe in spectacles, but I think eyes are necessary too"
-John Stuart Mill

There are so many things in this world, so much technology, that we tend to become reliant upon it. These things are all fine and dandy, don't get me wrong! I love things that make life easier. But we have to remember that some things are better done on our own. Things that are meant to improve cannot do their job unless we are willing to use what they are acting upon in the first place. Those things that are meant to help us cannot do so unless we are pulling our weight. Yes, glasses are wonderful, and they help us see better, but they don't create sight in the first place. That is something we must do for ourselves.

Point is, effort. We must not forget that we are human, that we are capable of great things, and that sometimes it is up to us to do those great things without the crutch of nifty gadgets.

A Daily Look Into My Minnnnddd!! Exciting, I know.

I've decided I'm going to a "Thought of the Day" kind of a thing. My mom is currently keeping this journal where you write one thought every day for 5 years. That's a lot of thoughts... I don't know if this will last for five years... But if it did, it would be a gem by the end of it! All of my posterity could revel in the majesty that is the inner workings of my brain! Yeah no... Probably not.

Anywho! My thought today has to do with what I was reading for Sociology this morning. It was all about how our culture is changed based on our communication, which is based on technology and the change in media. The part that I found most interesting was when it was talking about epistemology (what is knowledge and how do we know what we know) and how we apply those concepts to writing and speaking. In our culture, the written word is what we turn to when we are looking for veracity. When writing a paper in the academic world, quotes and references have to be from books and other written things rather than what someone told you the other day. Things written down seem to hold more water than word of mouth. And yet, when we are searching for truth, we want it to come out of the mouth of a witness. In the court room, witnesses must say their stories out loud. When we want to know if our significant other actually means what they say, we want to hear it come out of their own mouth, and not over a text... Why is this? Why does this paradox exist? The written word is more authentic, but the spoken word holds the truth? And why is it that pictures don't seem to hold any truth at all? It's all based on our styles of communication and how our culture has been influenced by it.

I just found that very interesting and rather thought provoking. With Anthropology, Sociology and Philosophy all on my plate this semester, I'm starting to see the world in a completely different way. Everything I thought I knew is a lie! Just kidding, it's not... I'm just not exactly seeing the whole truth. Not yet anyway :)