Technological Advances... and Setbacks

I work with children.  Most of them are average children from different areas of suburbia.  The classrooms I teach in are on the third floor, and I don't think I have once taken a group of children up the stairs without at least one child commenting on the amount of stairs or the "difficulty" of climbing them.

Many changes have taken place over the past few decades.  One of them is laziness, which I believe is rooted in technology.  Today you can get singing cards, play video games online with your friends through a headset, make a phone call through your car just by saying their name, and carry around a small computer in your back pocket.  People are stealing cell phones to steal not just the phone but the internet, your bank account, and your music player all in one.  But is this actually a GOOD thing?  There is one commercial in particular in which Verizon Fios is telling you television is no longer for the television!  "You can even watch tv on your iPod Touch."  I seen children who are out to dinner with their parents watching shows on their iPad, iPod Touch, & iPhones.  It's becoming a common occurrence, actually.

Having grown up in the 90s, I spent a great deal of my childhood outdoors.  My brother and I played outside with the neighbors nearly every day when we got home from school until the sun went down.  It's hard to believe that just 10 to 15 years later, so many more children spend the majority of their time inside, watching one of many "devices" instead of actively living out their "childhood."  Somehow I don't think that word has the same meaning as it did a decade ago.  Things are rapidly changing.  Call it "advance" if you wish, but I wonder when we will realize that "advancing" in the direction of technological "simplicity" is actually synonymous to advancing toward laziness.

A Christmas Wish

Just Found a Poem I wrote in High School & sent it out to everyone...

A Christmas Wish

Dear Santa Clause, guess who?
This year I made it easy on you.
My Christmas list is short this year,
I want everyone to share in this holiday cheer.

I don't care for all the "stuff,"
All of that is just a load of fluff.
I've no need for mundane things,
Only to bask in the spirit Christmas brings.

Christmas is a time to share,
And show each other that you care.
So, I'm only asking one little favor,
To make this Christmas something to savor.

My only wish this year is this:
A big hug, and a slobbery kiss,
Both given and received
On the night of Christmas Eve.

As for Christmas Day,
I wish for all to say:
"God bless us, everyone,"
And have a little bit of fun!

I absolutely love this poem.  I haven't really changed since high school, and I don't intend to.  Gift-giving is great, but nobody should feel 'obligated' to & I don't want to contribute to the stress & commercialization of Christmas.  So, this year I didn't ask for anything but love.

Spread the LOVE!

The Wizard of Oz

Have you ever noticed that when you watch a movie when you're older, you find hidden/adult jokes within the script? The Wizard of Oz, I discovered tonight, is full of them!

Scarecrow: I haven't got a brain... only straw.
Dorothy : How can you talk if you haven't got a brain?
Scarecrow : I don't know... But some people without brains do an awful lot of talking... don't they?
Dorothy : Yes, I guess you're right.

The Wizard of Oz: “Every pusillanimous creature that crawls on the Earth or slinks through slimy seas has a brain.”

Dorothy: We brought you the broomstick of the Wicked Witch of the West. We melted her!
Wizard of Oz: Oh, you liquidated her, eh? Very resourceful!

Scarecrow: “They took my legs off and they threw them over there! Then they took my chest out and they threw it over there!”
 
And then you realize that there are some really great/famous quotes that many people use, probably without realizing it. They were really inventive when movies first came out, and there are so many great lines to choose from (I picked a few to include here).

Tin Man: “Now I know I've got a heart, 'cause it's breaking...”

The Wizard of Oz: “Hearts will never be practical until they are made unbreakable.”

The Wizard of Oz: “A heart is not judged by how much you love; but by how much you are loved by others.”

The Wizard of Oz: “You are talking to a man who has laughed in the face of death, sneered at doom and chuckled at catastrophe. I was petrified."

 I feel like people subconsciously watch those kinds of movies when they are lost.  A whole generation of us have "Disney" movies we watched which were full of morals, messages, and meanings.  Sometimes I consider the possibility that people really do lose wisdom throughout their lives, and then regain it (well... most of us) at the end of life.  Simple concepts that parents try to instill in their children such as sharing, common courtesy, honesty, and general kindness slowly disappear as we get older.  We take shortcuts.  We tell 'white lies.' We take credit for things other people did.  We lash out at others because they hurt us, and sometimes say or do things we will regret.

When spelled out like that, it could be describing the three-year-old or an eighty-year-old.  Although the three-year-old barely understands the sentences you're stringing together, he knows that what he's doing is wrong.  That knowledge of 'right' and 'wrong' becomes blurred as we get older.  We cross lines we didn't mean to but then we can't go back.

Everyone is driven by different things, but we all try to appear strong.  We do this in different ways; some people become bullies, some hit the books, some pick up a sport, and others just take abuse and put it all in a bottle.  It's important to let all of those feelings go eventually.  If you took all the hurt inside of everyone on the planet, I'm not sure that it would be overpowered by the good.  So, in filling this world with good, we need to expel the bad from ourselves.  No lingering hatred.  No 'hard feelings.'  No jealousy.  No animosity toward others.  "An eye for an eye, and soon everyone will be blind."

"It's human nature..." is a phrase that is WAY too commonly used.  People come in different shapes, sizes, colors, and personalities.  But we all share one very important thing in common.  We have access to all of the wisdom of our elders, and we have the ability to change.  Through those simple concepts, the argument that "it's human nature" should be invalid.  Yes, nobody wants to get hurt, but you have the ability to let it go.  You also have a voice.  You can say 'don't treat me like that,' and walk away.  That is your choice to make.  Nobody can 'make you feel' any way that you don't let them feel.  If you approach every situation with love in your heart and a calm demeanor, then nothing and no one can hurt you.

Those Who Have Gone Before Us...

I've thought quite a bit about this topic over the past ten years. I lost two family members between 2000 and 2001, and it hit me pretty hard. It hit my family pretty hard. We're all dealing with it differently, and everyone's beginning to heal all over again.

...but I also lost a friend my first year of college, and that hit me just as hard. We weren't particularly close, but I knew him in a different way than everyone else did. It still bothers me that he died so young. My cousin was 17, and that has just begun to sink in after 10 years... but my friend was close in age to myself, and he lived near me. Then one day I got the news that he just wasn't there anymore. Similarly, my grandmother and I had just begun to hang out, and she died the day after we reconnected. I guess it was a good thing that we got that last opportunity, and that I got to know my friend pretty well before he died - I don't think that he would have made as much of an impact on my life had he not passed. But it's still scary.

I've lived with allergies all my life, and the idea that every day could be my last is something that I've struggled with for a while. It has made me who I am. The way I look at it, it can be motivating or completely unmotivating, depressing or invigorating, but

It's always bittersweet. Living each day as your last is a wonderful concept
...attempting to make sure that your life is "worth watching..." but then someone dies.
...& you have to remind yourself of all the good times you spent together so that you don't feel hatred or spite or upset or fear.
...& then you well up with tears anyway. So live each day as your last, but hope it isn't.
...& remember all those who have gone before us from this world for the good times we had, and for the lessons they've taught us.
...& hope that our lives will one day be just as impressionable on others.

Been A While

As hectic as my life is, not writing in months is bad even for me. My goal is to write once a week.

I was reading my Aunt's blog earlier and I had this weird revelation. Some old people aren't so old after all. I grew up with pretty conservative parents, and so there are many "taboo" topics, which I think is an immature and ancient viewpoint. I've just recently discovered that older folks can be just as open-minded as us young folks sometimes, and it's a very refreshing thought.

Sleeptalking...

I have recently been talking to my ex-boyfriend. This is a good thing because all we knew how to do before is yell at one another. Last night, we were exchanging a few stories about my "sleeptalking" habit. He outlined for me his (fine-tuned) plan to figure out when I had fallen asleep. He claims that after two months of living with me, if I started responding in a nonsensical manner, or if I stopped talking at odd times, he would call my name and gauge how I responded (there's a scale here), and then he'd poke me (if I didn't move, I'd been asleep for about 30 minutes to an hour). I was laughing hysterically at this, because I warned him after the first time that if I'm tired & someone tries to talk to me, they risk me not remembering the conversation in the morning!! This usually just annoyed him, hence why he created a "procedure" for deciphering how conscious I was!!

Day at the Beach

For me, there is nothing better than a day at the beach! Yesterday, a couple of friends and I went and had a Barbeque at the beach. It was pretty amazing. The lake isn't quite like the ocean, but as long I have some soft sand, I'm happy :-)