My small, humble college town that I share with 6,325 other students. All of us aimlessly searching, hoping to find a career that will bring us to the number one goal in life: Happiness. I'm sure there's a number of people my age who know exactly what company they want to work for, where they want to live, and maybe even who they're going to marry and how many kids they want. . . too far? Ya probably. Then there are those that just want to have fun while they can before being thrust into the real world; bathing their brains in alcohol, having no idea what day of the week it is, let alone what career to invest their entire lives into. I believe I'm somewhere in between these two polar opposites. Wandering on and off the straight and narrow path, trying to experience and learn as much as possible so that I can decide for myself, "What makes me the most happy?"
Earlier this year I was stuck in a rut. I felt discontent, lost, and unsure. I was running low on ideas and inspiration. So I decided to, of all things, enroll in not one, but two Philosophy classes. Best decision of my life. The past few months I have been reading, writing, and thinking more than I ever have in my life. Talking to my professors and reading books like "The Republic of Plato" and "Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics" have given me more insight and wisdom than I ever could have imagined. Philosophy is unlike any other class you will ever take. Almost all traditional classes, such as math, science, english, etc., provide you with knowledge, or memorized facts . . but they do not give you wisdom. The difference is you can have all the knowledge in the world and still be a complete fool. Take a Philosophy class and I promise you will gain years of wisdom which in turn gives you the ability to use your knowledge to the highest degree. Your life will never be the same . . . in a good way!
Have you ever had a class where you thought to yourself, "I have not learned a single useful piece of information this entire year." Yet you go to that class day in and day out, jumping through the hoops just to get a damn degree, then sit in a cubicle and work for the man while your wife and kids have to listen to you complain about how much you hate your job. Society doesn't want you to think about that. Shut up and do your job, you're not paid to think about that. Now I sound like an obnoxious "fight the system" type of guy. . I digress. I may not have it all figured out, but one thing I am proud of is that I am always thinking. I will not settle for a normal, boring, mediocre life like I just described. I will find a career where I love going to work in the morning and have a significant purpose by having a positive effect on people's lives daily. I just don't know exactly what it is yet. I will not contribute to the tangled mess of a game that people play in life where the winners are decided based on who can acquire the most shit before they die (i.e. material possessions). This is what we're surrounded with. A bunch of selfish adults hoarding their toys in order to have bragging rights over their peers. It's sad but many times true. I want meaning, purpose, truth. I want justice and virtue. Very rare, but beautiful things in our world.
I have so many dreams and adventures I want to experience. But some of the best memories in life are the ones that are unplanned and out of the ordinary, and if there's one thing I want from my life, it is to be far from the ordinary. I want random adventures, crazy stories, heroic moments. But can these things be planned? Absolutely not. Have you ever noticed that you laugh the hardest at the worst possible times or in the wrong places? It's all about the moment! "You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment." -Henry David Thoreau.
Here I am, a seemingly average, normal skinny kid smack dab in the middle of the United States; a place some might think of as a state with no paved roads or electricity. I'm young, I don't have all the answers, (or very many at all for that matter but that won't stop me) but I do have passion and ZEST. Yes, zest. And that, I believe, is half the battle. With this blog, I am just jotting down whatever comes to mind as a means to: 1) Document my life so that I follow through with my goals and dreams, as well as observe the development of my thoughts and actions throughout my lifetime. 2) Vent through writing. 3) Hopefully inspire or impact someone in a positive way whether that be by following their own dreams or having a change of heart about an important issue that I bring up. I'm here to live, learn, and experience just as we all have been set on this earth to do. I hope the wisdom I gain over the years can be translated well enough to this blog so that my children, my children's children, and anyone else who may encounter it, can gain something, anything positive to take away from it and pour it back into the world. Comments, questions, or thoughts are more than welcome. It's fun writing this stuff and even more fun talking about it with people. So jump in!
Make today and everyday count for something meaningful to you.
Quality stuff nick, I like.
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