Y25

Yes it has finally arrived.  Quarter centuries are so passé.

For those of you who haven’t gotten the memo yet, I’m old.  But I choose not to worry because in my lengthy time upon this lovely earth, I have found lots of other lovely things that are old:

• Rock formations
• Cheese
• History
• Dinosaurs

Pretty soon, I hope to be worthy of induction to that list.  

I decided long ago to make it a custom on this here blog, so long as it shall stand, to make a birthday post every year in which I recap the major lessons that I have learned since my previous birthday.  I’m always amazed at how much can happen in a year.  They always seem to be jam-packed with experiences and things to churn with my brain.  Last year was mind-blowing.  My mind spent months reforming just to be blown again this year.  And I expect it’ll just be more intense going forward.  It’s almost time for me to start being an adult.  But we’ll get there when (read "if") we get there.  Either way, for now, here are my musings as a man-child from Y25: 
 
The Power of Love
Aside from being probably the best Celine Dion song of all time, it is also a poignant concept.  

Powerful is the experience of learning to love people for who they are rather than—and sometimes in spite of—what they are.  Of the utmost value is the capacity to do so; of the utmost worth is the discovery of what to do to broaden that capacity.  Love includes putting the best interest of others (or those of a group, of which you yourself may be a part) above our own.  This means that love is sacrifice.  Love is a choice—one that too often we choose not to make.  Love is action.  Love is unconditional.  Love is hard sometimes.  Love is worth it (I promise I didn't plagiarize that, SugrCookie).

Heavily involved in the process of love and its manifestation in any given relationship is the making of oneself vulnerable.  This can be manifest in many times, in many ways, and at many different levels.  The ability to allow oneself to be (or be made to feel) vulnerable (when and how appropriate) leads to strength—strength of relationships, strength of character, strength of self.  That being said, this particular aspect of any relationship presents a high level of difficulty:  it takes a lot to allow oneself to be vulnerable.  But I suppose something as valuable as love should take a lot.  Why should love be a cheap experience?  


And as is always important in any discussion of relationships, we musn’t forget the relationship with self.  It may sound a little odd at first to claim that it’s important to be able to be vulnerable with oneself, but it really is.  Important, not odd.  Included in this is the ability to recognize and live with one’s flaws and weaknesses—to accept yourself for who you are in the time it takes to become what you wish to become.  And even when you get there.  So do what you must to get all cute with yourself.  Take yourself on a date.  It may be awkward to ask yourself and to find a time that works for both of you.  The conversation may be a little forced at first.  But after a while, you’ll discover a lot about yourself, your convictions and aspirations.  You might end up liking yourself quite a bit once you     get some      one-on-one time.  Half-on-half time?  I don’t know.  I’ve never been good at math.

All of this is something that I’m horrifyingly bad at.  But I just admitted it on the internet and solicited that you all read about it.  Is there anything more vulnerable than that?  Baby steps, baby.


Community  /  > or =
I’m seemingly becoming very forgetful in my old age, because I constantly need reminders to be humble.  Humility is a principle of empowerment.  The act of focusing less on ourselves awakens within us attributes that otherwise would require years of unbroken focus and determination to develop, could they be developed at all.  I believe that the feelings and desires that accompany those of humility give us a peek into our true nature and capabilities.  

Tucked neatly under the umbrella of humility is a belief in or relationship with something greater than ourselves.  Such a belief allows for growth into something greater than what we are.  If there is nothing greater than us, what else can we aspire to?  From what can we draw strength?  To what can we look for for resolve and purpose?  Linked to this idea are things like hope and faith, which transform and refine.  And again, in a circular relationship, tied to this idea is that of humility, which ironically paves the path to grandeur.  

I personally believe that that something is God.  It is from the relationship that I have formed with Him through careful thought and effort that I draw strength and hope.  

Also tied to the concept of humility is that of interdependence.  I’m a firm advocate of positive relationships, as I’ve stated often on this blog.  I fear that many adopt the mindset that in order to be as strong as one can possibly be, they must cling to their independence and strive to do things alone.  There is strength in numbers.  Developing friendships and relationships builds us up in so many more ways.  Maybe if we were all perfect, independence would be fine.  But we’re not.  And I would be willing to wager that any semblance of perfection is impossible without interdependence.  Other people excel in the things that we’re missing, and coming together and combining our excellences creates a more perfect community.  It’s okay to lean on that and to allow someone else to share their strengths with you.  Aside from filling in your gaps, it creates a bond that wasn’t previously there.  The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.


Willpower / Power of Self
From my belief in a greater power comes a belief that I have power to become greater.  I believe that we all can learn and achieve things that we never have before.  I’ve had several experiences with this within the past year.  I have come to recognize more than ever the ability we have to effect positive change and forward progress.  Successes and accomplishments are available to everyone, they just take a concentrated effort to discover and achieve. Sometimes great opportunities come knocking at our door. Overwhelmingly more often, we're the ones that must go a-knocking in order to find them. It seems to me that we don't always need to go far to find these great opportunities. We just need to go.


Time for Time
In many cases, time is one of our greatest advocates and allies.  The healing of wounds, progression, growth...  So often we want things instantly, but that’s never (time reference) how it works.  Some things take time; most things are worth the time they take. Perhaps instead, when we want something worthwhile (time reference), what we should really want is more time to earn it/prepare for it/let it unfold.  Sometimes (time reference), we just need to let time run its course.  Eventually, we’ll be able to look back and be surprised at how far we’ve come or how much we have accomplished.  But in order to do so, we have to be active travelers with time as it marches on.  With the passing of time can come distance:  distance from old selves, old habits, old situations...  This distance can be physical, emotional, mental, or other.  With that distance we press ever closer to the new—new selves, new habits, new situations.  Time passes regardless.  We should take advantage.

Also included under this heading according to my organizational skills (and oh—I’m the one dictating this) is the notion that things work out.  They really do.  In and because of some situations, that fact can end up being the furthest thing from our thoughts, often when we need it most.  But with honesty, faith, and a little bit of effort, timid as it may be, it always comes back to that.  And I’ve come to notice that they often do more than just turn out.  They turn in—into something much better than we originally hoped or planned for.


Conclusion
Life is good. Don't live it otherwise. Here's to Y26. Hope to see you there. If my vision holds up.

Double Dispension

Guys.  Let me tell you about my new favorite thing.  But let me start by explaining one of my least favorite things:  automatic paper towel dispensers (or PTDs for short).  They bug.  And they bug hard.  I don’t know what it is...  Oh wait.  Yes I do.  I use more than one paper towel to dry my hands and I hate having to wait for the second one.  There’s always that moment after the churning starts and the paper towel slowly emerges and you tear it off that you have to wait almost forever to get another one.  If you don’t give the sensor enough time to recover from the first dispensing, you shan’t get another.  It doesn't matter how much you shake and wave your hand under it.  Trust me.  I know.  So sorry to wear you out, dispenser.  So then you have to remove your hand, wait almost for forever a second time and then replace it so the churning can start up once again as another paper towel takes its sweet time rollin' on out the box.  All the while, your hands await relief from their moistly dripping state.  Crap.  All of it.  And it happens every time.  It’s like when you’re waiting for someone to unlock the door of a car so you can get in.  After waiting a second, you start to question whether they’ve already done it and maybe you just didn’t hear it so you lift up on the handle and it’s always just as they hit the unlock button.  Every time.  And then you have to wait.  And your friends get mad at you.  Just like the paper towel dispenser.  Well except that last part.  Unless you bring your friends to the bathroom with you.  Well I guess not really the first part either...  Anyway.  It makes going to the bathroom a terrifying experience.


So now the good news.  Guess what my work did.  Upgraded the bathroom.  In what way?  By going from regular PTDs to automatic PTDs.  But what about your freshly-finished rant, Kameron?  I’ll tell you what about it.  There are two automatic PTDs.  

That’s right.  Two.  One less than is needed to form a company.  The perfect amount of wheels in a relationship.  The minimum number of thirds that makes Meatloaf satisfied with a set of results.  The loneliest number since the loneliest number that you’ll ever do.  Also the perfect amount of paper towels needed to dry one’s hands.  And they’re right next to each other.  And the awesome thing about this is that you don’t have to do the annoying waiting game after you get that first towel.  You just activate both of them at the same time and get two for the wait of one.  But wait—there's more!  Not only do you get the perfect amount of towels without having to wait, you look so cool while doing it!  Just walk up, place yourself perfectly in between the two automatic PTDs, rub your hands in preparation, reach out in a cool way to set off both of the dispensers, strike a cool pose while waiting and then reach out and tear them both off at the same time.  The double rip makes it sound loud and powerful, which makes you look strong and powerful.  And then you just dry off your hands and go.  You just saved yourself about 2 seconds.  Don’t spend them all in one place.  Really the only downside to this is that, by nature of the venue, there are no individuals of the opposite gender around to see how cool you look.  Although also by nature of the venue, that could be considered a good thing.  Isn’t technology great?  So if you want to see what cool looks like, just come visit me at work and I’ll take you to the bathroom with me.  I won’t take no for an answer.

Happy Blog-iversary!

Does that sound happy to you?  Does it?

Welp.  It has been a year since I started up this lovely blog of mine.  I feel I’ve learned a lot since I began blogging over everything everywhere.  I also consider it a large personal victory when anything I start lasts longer than a few weeks. I feel like part of its longevity is due to the enjoyable nature of writing the posts. As I was perusing some old pics, I actually found some of me writing a few of my blog posts from this past year.  Someone grabbed my camera and took a picture of me almost every time.  What are the odds?  Behold—a peek into the creative process:

I also thought it would be nice to plan out some fun activities for my blog.  So we:

Went to the beach.

Sailed over Niagara Falls.

Hung out with some Aborigines in the Australian Outback.

Hiked to the top of Mount Everest.

Journeyed to the center of the earth.

Chilled on the surface of Mars.

Pit stop to the Future.

Anniversary trips are easy on the internet. I also didn't shave my moustache. And I even made a cake:

Man.  Good times.  

Although I still maintain my stance on blog being a disgusting word, I'm happy I started one/do it.  It has been quite fun.  And also meaningful.  Within the last couple of days, I've gone back and read some posts from the pasts.  It has been nice to have somewhere to expound on some thoughts and experiences that I've had.  I think some of them may have gotten lost—or at least not received the attention they deserved—had I not had somewhere to share them.  It has also been a creative outlet.  And though maybe it would've been better had I not let out some of my creatives, everyone's entitled to embarrass themselves on the internet every once in a while and shamelessly invite people to witness it.  Some just do it more often.  And on purpose.  But here's to another year without shame.  Or at least as long as my attention span holds out... Let me know if you have any suggestions or anything on how I can make it better. I promise I'll at least briefly consider them.

To Be A Pioneer

Today is Pioneer Day in Utah!  That means no work!  And that opens up the day to a million possibilities of things to do!

But that requires planning.  And planning requires foreknowledge.  And foreknowledge was something I lacked regarding and coming into Pioneer Day.  Yes, being from outside of Utah, and this being only my second summer in Utah, and working for an international market last summer despite living in Utah, I was not aware that the majority of Utah shuts down for Pioneer Day.  And they, knowing that it did, planned all of these fun activities, one of which was not work.  So imagine my surprise when I show up to work, expecting to work, and the building is closed.  That makes it hard to work.  Oh well...  What better way to celebrate the pioneers who settled the West than to leave the comfort of your home and walk a great distance in immense heat for something you’re unfamiliar with and not even guaranteed to obtain?

This morning my roommate was watching the Pioneer Day Parade on the TV.  A cute little commemoration activity they did was to have people send in reasons why they don’t think they could have been pioneers.  People responded with things like, “I need warm showers,” “That was too long to walk,” and “They didn’t have properly maintained baseball fields to play on.”  Aside from the baseball comment which encompasses an eternal truth and necessity, many people pointed out basic comforts and privileges that we daily enjoy that they would not want to live without.  In addition to being a fun idea, it got me thinking about the sacrifices of the pioneers.  Indeed, they gave up many things they had grown accustomed to having.  But they did so knowing that whatsoever was lost would be replaced with something better.  They were willing to leave behind things that they held dear.  But they held instead to the belief that something dearer awaited them should they choose to trust in what they knew to be right, no matter the cost.  And a century and a half later, we see the results of them having done so.  Their legacy is evident in the growth and prosperity of settlements throughout the western United States, despite harsh and unforgiving circumstances.  None of this came immediately or easily.  Nor would it have happened had they held on to what they knew and refused to hope and leave for something better.

I admire and feel gratitude towards many pioneers, and not just those that earned the title through physical relocation.  Whether it be physically, intellectually, morally, religiously, or in countless other ways, it is through pioneering that we see progress.  It is because of forays into the unknown that the unknown becomes known.  And it is through this process that advancement is made.  

So I rephrase my previous question:  What better way to celebrate pioneering than to leave what is comfortable for something you’re unfamiliar with and not even guaranteed to obtain?  Or, even more simply, what better way to honor pioneering than to be a pioneer yourself?  To be a pioneer doesn’t necessarily mean that we have to revolutionize the way something is done or understood on a worldwide scale.  It doesn’t even mean that we have to be the first ever to do something.  Much of the pioneering that is within our capacity is personal.  An act of personal pioneering would be one in which we blaze a new trail in our own lives—in which we do something differently than we have done it previously.  This could be in the way that we treat other people or one person in particular.  It could be in the way that we make decisions.  It could be a departure from a longheld tradition or vice, personal or otherwise.  Or it could simply be in doing something that we haven’t before.  So long as we leave what was past and attempt to begin anew, this is, in our own lives and for our own purposes, an act of pioneering.  Perceiving our situation in the light of sacrifice towards advancement allows us to change it just as effectively and powerfully as did the pioneers.  We simply have to recognize what needs to be sacrificed and be willing to do so.  And often times, when we improve ourselves through personal pioneering, we increase our capacity to affect others for the better.  In the name of progress, find something to pioneer and head out to do so.  


Nowadays, we don’t really get the chance to sacrifice all of our physical comforts to go and settle ‘Zion’ as did many of our predecessors.  But on a day-to-day basis, we do get the chance to sacrifice (or adjust) the components of our current situation in favor of a new and better one.  Not everything needs to be sacrificed, mind you.  Some things should be in our lives to stay.  But as we see (and/or feel) the need for change and trust that we are able to do so, we move step-by-step towards our Zion, just like the pioneers before us.   

Happy Pioneer Day.

Prancesteps to Becoming a Basilisk

Time for more Arts & Crafts fun!  I will be your host because....  it’s my blog.  And I’m feeling crafty. Today:  Harry Potter costume party.  Check it out.

A friend of mine recently caused a brouhaha by blazoning ‘bout a birthday bash.  Theme?  BHarry BPotter.

My mind pranced about the possibilities of all the mystical creatures or characters I could choose to dress as:  The Boy Who Lived, one of those weird things from the third book, the badger on the Hufflepuff crest, a resurrection stone, a Weasley because I have red hair (if you thought that already, -10 points to your house)...

But instead I made the obvious choice and decided to be the basilisk. Practicality, functionality, and logical thought patterns aside, this is probably the best costume you could come up with.


My mind began to prance anew as I mulled over the different ways I could recreate such a horrifying creature.  But recreate it I did.  Behold my mind’s prancesteps:

Basilisk Ingredients:

• 1 milk carton (gallon)
• 2-3 notecards
• varying colors of paint
• floss or string
• tape
• A Basilisk-colored bed sheet
• No desire to use your arms for any duration of time

Prancestep 1:  Face Time


Time to face it.  You start off with a gallon of milk carton, sans milk.  Unless you want things to get really exciting.  And wet.  Chop that sucker in half like so:

Once the sucker is chopped, then comes the paint.  Apply the desired basilisk-colored paint to the chopped sucker.  Let that layer dry.  Then you can paint the eyessss.  Let that layer dry.  Then you can paint the pupilsss.  You’re looking like a basilisk already.

Once the paint has all dried up, it’s time for some dental work—without even going to dental school.  Dreams do come true.  Cut the notecards into pointy, fang-shaped fang shapes.  Then with the magic of tape, tape them so they’re hanging from the inside of the face in a menacing pattern.  Then put that on your résumé and consider getting a job as a dental hygienist.  Probably never seen someone who has worked with a basilisk before.  ...and/or lived to put it on their résumé.

After you get home from your foray into the world of dentistry, it’s time to continue.  Drill some holes in the back of each of the basilisk’s jaws.  Just like you do with your patients, I’m sure.  Then, stick a piece of floss (or string if spearmint’s not your thing) through each hole and tie it on.  

When you’re ready to suit up, you simply put the top of the head on top of your head, and the bottom on bottom.  Of your head.  You then tie the flosses on each side together so the head is securely mounted on your head.  Like so:

Prancestep 2:  Rock that bod


Time for the finishing touches.  All you do is wrap a musty old $2 dollar sheet around your body and it’s like you’ve transformed into another creature entirely.  Look, smell, feel—you are authentic as can be.  It’s like you really have been sliding your body across the ground for an undisclosed amount of time without bathing.  Congratulations.  

So there you have it.  That’s how you become a basilisk.  Now all that’s left to do is find an entourage and go enjoy your evening.  It’s going to be a blast!  No one will look you in the eye, you won’t be able to touch anything, and the smell of the old sheet will stick to you for days as you sweat up a storm and it all soaks into your skin.  Also, make sure no one tries to stab you through the head or extract your real teeth.  If they do, you don’t have arms to stop them. 

 

Good luck and may the force be with you.

Vantage

An experience I found to be noteworthy for reflective purposes:

I recently attended my brother’s wedding in Portland, a city that is infamous for its much raining and cloudiness.  After only a few brief reprieves from the clouds all weekend, I was feeling pretty tired when the time came to go back home.  The day I was to catch my return flight was overcast from the time we got up in the morning to the time I boarded the plane.  As we ascended, I caught the occasional glimpse of the cityscape as it sunk further beneath, causing what once were individual buildings and landmarks to blend together into one neatly industrialized patch.  It is a much prettier city than I had previously given it credit for, both from ground-level and a bird’s-eye view.  But, despite the august scene unfolding below, I proceeded to sink back into my seat, still feeling mildly gloomy.  After a few more minutes, the earth had disappeared completely as we entered the cloudy blanket that hung over the city.  This seemed to me like as a good a time as any for a nap.  As I sat there, eyes closed and peaceful, I was suddenly surprised to find myself tightening my eyelids to keep out a burst of sunlight from without the window.  I came to and glanced about the cabin, which was now filled with sunshine.  To my curiosity, my tiredness seemed to vanish with the cloud cover; I was actually feeling a bit chipper now.  My gaze was drawn once again out the window and I beheld the clouds, this time from above.  The sunlight glistened off the flocculent surface below, accentuating its fluffy texture.  They stretched far off into the distance, finally converging with the azure sky in a makeshift horizon.  What once caused the day to seem so heavy and woebegone had transformed into something beautiful and majestic.  Or had they transformed?  After all, these were the same clouds that had been there all day...  The sun shone brighter than ever, causing me to forget that it had ever been absent in the first place.  Or was it ever absent?  On second thought, neither of these things had changed at all.  Really, the only thing that had changed was the way, or the perspective from which, I was looking at them.

I probably wasn’t very cryptic in my redaction of the event, so I’ll be brief.  Often times, life, or the situations in which we find ourselves, can get bleak.  But no life stays cloudy forever.  And even if it seems to stay that way for a long time, the mere presence of cloud cover doesn’t mean that the sun has extinguished or failed to give its light.  We simply must learn to see in a different light.  Doing so doesn’t put us out of touch with reality.  Quite the opposite, in fact.  I’d say it keeps us in touch with reality.   No matter what our surroundings may be, the sun never stops shining.  There's always hope and better days are ahead.  Sometimes we just have to change our vantage point to see it.  Considering and changing one’s vantage gives one the advantage.

Phraseology

This will be another geek-out post about language stuff.  In a recent fit of curiosity over an idiomatic expression, I turned to the source of all knowledge:  the internet.  But what google found for me far exceeded my expectations.  Feast your eyes on this little number:




Now look at what google found:

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/index.html

It’s a website--with phrases and idioms!  It’s essentially a dictionary for idiomatic expressions.  You can search keywords, search by beginning letter, and there’s even a thesaurus!  This site is the cat’s pajamas.  Or the bee’s knees if you prefer, which I usually do.  Use it the same you would either of those things.