I enjoy the poetics of language. The way words may laugh, taunt, or tease. The silvery sound slight- and slant-rhyme expound on the page, on the lips — order issued by human air. The Word wielded through verse or rant {lacking form}, carries meaning, capturing our experiences. Poetry experiences the essence of life.
Click HERE and check out DavyD’s original post that prompted my answer.
#WorldPoetryDay
Ok – does that mean I can be anything I think that I can become? Context holds supreme value. If I think I am a unicorn…crickets. However, if I think I am I writer, I can be one. In fact, I am a writer as demonstrated by writing this very blog. Now, if I intend on being a successful writer…well, that takes a bit more time, effort, skill, and product. This is important: Thought requires action as a follow-through.
Excellent, but how do you apply the concept? As with many things, sheer belief is not enough. Belief in the self requires more than simply thinking, and one must act on their desires for effect in the material world. What that means is that one must apply their thoughts actively in their lives. In example, Steve believes he will become a brain surgeon. Steve knows he needs education and experience so that he may become a doctor. Steve toils away, challenging himself at university so that he has realistic tools that provide validation for his belief. Steve becomes a doctor because he believed in himself – but the only way he could make it happen was through action.
That initial belief in the self is a crucial element, but belief is not strong enough on its own and cannot produce results. Way back in Communications and Public Speaking, I learned about “self-fulfilling prophecies.” What one tells the self holds much authority with what that individual holds as true and/or possible. Consciousness is shifty like that, the more often we hear or say something is true, the more true it becomes.
In application, the concept works at improving or destroying one’s self-conscious opinion of what they can or cannot attain in life. This can be seen clearly in abuse. Imagine Molly has an abusive boyfriend who tells her everyday that she is unattractive, overweight, and stupid. Because Molly value’s her boyfriend’s opinion of her and trusts his judgement, she will eventually believe the negative comments are true and real. Molly’s judgment is clouded by outside prophetic limitations.
However, if she considered the statements with a positive manner, she could see that the boyfriend defeats himself with his claims. Molly cannot be completely unattractive or else she would not have attracted the boyfriend. Instead, the negatives listed are probably fears the boyfriend has in regards of himself. Abusive boyfriends often project their flaws on their victims. What Molly needs is a better self-image – and that goes back to what one thinks they can be. Molly can accept she is not a supermodel, and focus on her true qualities, hence altering her perception of herself.
“The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes” (William James).William James’ quote caught my eye this morning on Twitter.Great quote, with excellent intentions. However, I wonder if people unfamiliar with James’ variant philosophies catch the meaning. And, I consider the dangers lurking in the Law of Attraction when taken out of context.
I cannot accept concepts of the Law of Attraction. I’ve tried; I’ve read, researched, theorized, and exhausted myself searching for firm ground. I decided not to include a link because I cannot feel good about any of the sites I’ve studied. The main issue I hold is that struggle is necessary for growth, just wishing for something does not make it so.
I do recommend The Dore Lectures by Thomas Troward, but I caution that his look at Mental Science relies heavily on religious belief. Click HERE and read free online. Now, that’s not to say that there is no value in the theory of like attracting like – the fundamental holds true for implementing positive perception in life. However, perception must at one point come to terms with reality.
And so…we must take a closer look at Metaphysics. What exists and what does not show face in reality. A deeper interest in reality has led me towards Objectivism. Ayn Rand developed Objectivism Philosophy and wrote novels that revealed societal issues, including The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. Currently, I am about one-third through the latter, and I see numerous elements of corruption present in contemporary society as described by Rand in 1957.
The Ayn Rand Institute carries values of her philosophy and offers further study. Check out ARI and learn about Objectivism. Share your comments below. I watched Prof. Peikoff’s lecture yesterday, and I really like the sound structure of Metaphysics, Epistemology, Ethics, Politics, and Aesthetics as seen in Objectivism. Of intense interest is how to implement laissez-faire Capitalism – it sounds scary, but I think that’s false-morality talking. Definitely deserves a .
I can think many things. I can imagine numerous thoughts. However, I must select which thoughts are worthy of implementing through action. What thoughts I will have in my reality, what is really possible. And here is where positive thoughts attract positive things. Whatever one looks for is what they will find. Why? because it was there all along, the mind just missed it because it was set to a different “channel.”
Altering one’s reality begins with altering the self, or how one perceives the self to be. Starting out basic, let’s set a sound, realistic version of who that self is, what that self can do, and how that self behaves. Think on it; really work it around in your mind. Then, realize that for the self to improve, that self must act on its desires, goals, and wants. Altering the self begins in the mind and continues through implemented action.
ShoutOut to Sources: Quote Investigator,
Dear Readers …
Apologies for the absence, but life she be hectic recently. I wish I found time for Friday Fictioneers, but…I also wish for a unicorn, unlimited travel, and brief moments of peace.
I graduated with honors from American Public University on 15 August 2016 with a Master of Arts in the Humanities. <> I am a Master <> While many have asked if attaining the degree is relieving, satisfying my intellectual needs. But…no ~ the degree has invigorated my thirst for more knowledge, more research, more academia. I cannot wait to find the perfect doctoral program. I currently am turning my gears around a project proposal for a desirable university.
First, however, my attentions belong with my upcoming poster presentation for the Humanities, Literature, Cultures, and Arts Global Conference on 18 Oct 2016 in DC. Excitement level out of control – ahh…sharing research<> Heaven – so looking forward to the conference!
I began tutoring for Brainfuse, Inc. last Friday. This will be a fabulous way for me to get a little teaching experience. Extra flexible, the tutoring position – Writing Submission Specialist – is online. This allows me the ability of working throughout the day. Recently, there is a high volume, and I have only stolen away a few moments to get a post out.
Husband and I are preparing for travel of the relocation variety. Finally! a return to the West! O Fortune! graceful blessings upon us! After a drawn-out process, the housing approval came through; bummer being that we opted to rent in efforts of avoiding the headache. However, anything that is valuable requires effort. Let me stew in patience until my nerves calm themselves. The desire for our new life overwhelms me, I feel I live there already. Here, in West Virginia, remains a ghost – a fragmented memory of a girl who escaped. Roll on evolution, keep spinning me…on we must grow for the better.
The absence, more than likely, will continue. Once we’ve constructed a new beginning, routine will follow. Until then… Tu me manques
Funny you should ask, I’ve been rolling through theory for ten weeks. I am evolving, twisting turning. Shedding old skins that no longer fit my season. Its weird, to say the least…but we like weird. And the further I crawl in evolution research – the more I begin to see that we are all a little weird in our own right {not just the “us-es” that live in me, all those “you-s” too}. And that’s not even opening the can of “species” in which one is indeed many different things. Most recently, I’ve considered transcending dualism…you know, asking “What is next?” Are we really two? Or a form of one with multiple expressive components. A large, flexing plurality micro-sectioned into millions of individuals. Creepy, I know<>. If there were a choice, to be be all body or all mind, which one would you select? Here, I see the need for unification. What would be the point if action held no meaning, or if thought could not experience? The two go hand in hand. We must have both.
Anyway… The rest of my Grad School update – I’ve constructed a reviewable rough draft! The original, rougher-rough draft, is a sprawling beast. However, when I began the cuts I could not bring myself to really “throw the draft out.” I saved it, and – as recommended by my peer – will possibly look into book form once my degree is attained. Really, this is a bonus – now there will be a paper and a book possibility for the future. That is not to say that I am not nervous as all get out that the paper will bomb from the heavy cuts. O Fortune! smile upon this wayward researcher. Motivation is for the degree, but also… I’ve grown to love my topic, and I see much truth in the words – I hope that publication is possible because I want others to read my discoveries. I think it will help with real-deal life. I know that the research and writing helped me with my daily issues. This thesis led me out of the valley of despair. I want to lead others out, that valley is not good for the genes – much pickling and souring goes on there.
What else…?
My music journalism internship was officially complete 27 May 2016. A hectic day – my SweetJane graduated High School and James Bobin’s Alice Through the Looking Glass released. Exhaustion seized me, and I went to sleep around ten p.m. What a day!
I use the term “officially” because I still have one music assignment waiting to complete. An amazing interview with Bev Zizzy will be published 17 June 2016 – in conjunction with her new album release. I say “amazing” because I am the one that interviewed her – she is hands down the most interesting woman I have met in my physical life.
Followers of this blog will note that I am not a “believer,” but I am a “seeker.” Unfortunately, my MO in the past has been “seeking” to shatter “belief” with “truth.” Ultimately, a lesson I learned nearly a decade ago resurfaces: truth is subjective. I know this, yet seemed trapped in that terrible Pursuit of Truth. I broke free, and switched it up for the Pursuit of Optimism – but positive living is dependent on will power and forcing the good. Needless to say, it takes work and effort.
I went through a stage where I thought “signs” were pointless, or rather, imaginary. A trick of the mind, leading to delusion. Now, after the internship, after speaking with living, breathing artists…
After the strange Tibetian Monk approached me in New Orleans with a message… After I randomly met the YouTube TruthTalker I once followed online and danced with him in the street… After I philosophized with a new friend of Middle-Eastern culture… After much contemplation of “the egg”… After Bev Zizzy released “Stay Soft”… I am not certain.
Embedding issues :-< apologies… Watch for the interview on 17 June 2016. MTF
I am curious again, maybe not fully “curiouser” yet, but I see my own purpling underway. I’ve come to the point where I am seeing more and more signs, but I am trying to ignore them. Trying to cling to science, reason, and the physical world. One thing – I am reminded that I am an Artist. Whether I am a “good” one or not is to be determined, but I am one. Not a musician or songwriter, not a painter or sculptor…but an Artist all the same. I am an Artist because I look at reality and see more than other people do. Sometimes, I see more absence where there should be presence, but that is still more than meets the eye. Mundane life is not enough, there is more if we make there be more – juice it up like a turkey.
I am an Artist, and life can get thick.
My canvas is the mind, my brush dripping in consciousness. I wrap words and break down complex situations. We Artists see the beauty most vivid, and we relate that to others. We Artists see the horror in thirty-three tints of terrible, and we relate that to others. We see
the “good” and the “bad.” We share awareness for altruistic encouragement. Artists revive other Artists, reminding them of the meaning hidden behind it all. Artists bravely look in reality’s face and demand more. Recognizing this makes me monitor what I share, say and side with – I am an Artist, and others will follow. Careful then, as to where we lead them.
Artists are a light, guiding species through evolution… We may not know the answers, but we are brave enough to explore possibility. #RageOn fellow Artists. There is much to be revealed.
Researching Darwinism and the Alice texts this week, I came across a slang terminology that applicably embodies half of my theory<>…so very exciting. Also reading Alice beyond Wonderland ed. Cristopher Hollingsworth and The Selfish Gene by the great Richard Dawkins, but today I need to do a lil research assistance for a fellow scholar. The topic is political {gnashing-of-teeth} so I approach with caution – timidly toting Max Weber’s Essays in Sociology. The Capstone is progressing, and I am enjoying the process. Again, I apologize for not disclosing these amazing concepts I’m working, but I cannot take my info public until the end of session (August).
My editorial internship with Punchland.com proved positive this week with an exciting opportunity to chat with Earl Pereira from The Steadies. Click HERE to read the full interview, “Silver Lining Sensation: Love Revolution by The Steadies,” and listen to their contagiously-happy tracks. What brings me extra <smiles> is that The Steadies incorporates positivism with music. As followers may note, my #PursuitofOptimism research has been lacking since the project was rejected as Capstone theory. Picturing positive vibes pinging off Pereira recharged the authority of optimism. I’ll make sure to visit the group today with an up-lifiting update, inspiring poem link, and band website. Listening to this album invokes reggae-beach-happiness. My fav track: “Phoenix.” Check out The Steadies latest video below to energize your weekend.
Picture and video c/o @TheSteadies
You were not enough,
– warped genes on mass destruction.
I took bits of you that glimmered,
left the hull to wither.
Your best parts shined unique,
– wasted in you but infusing in me.
When I don your flair every eye
stares. Rolling your flow, bobbing your
track, the words just go – cruel attack.
Despair not, I will carry your good.
– nurture perspective wrapped in thunder.
This part of you I immortalize
while you siphon poison –
rotting the physical, losing grip.
Unaccountable amounts of energy surge through theory,
Reduce, it is still too big.
Ideas rattle like odd, unfitting puzzle-pieces,
Find the connective thread.
Conjecture cannot battle empirical data,
Develop your own research.
…but the concepts I capture refuse reason.
Slippery, they escape my grasp.
…boiled down: nothing is real, nothing is true.
How to convince the world that they create their own reality<>…
maybe its not a thesis, after all, but an entire philosophy for living.
{unsure why this file isn’t supported}
My Capstone is nearing, two weeks away, and it is becoming my sole thought and function. The above is labeled “poetic” – but if that’s the case, it is a rather lackluster effort. My head is full of diverse concepts and ideas – a positive, it is good to have many thoughts. However, wrestling said idea into a proper proposal is bogging me down. It really is way too big, but I have not figured out how to let my brain accept that and reduce. I cannot bring my entire library to a poetry recital – I must choose one. So true for the thesis – it needs be ONE idea, with ONE clear message, ONE clear purpose.
Maybe this is not a poem at all, just a mad attempt to get control of my mind – make her understand the brevity expected. This will not be the only paper I write, it will not be the end – but the beginning of expository creation. My thesis is not the last breath of my academic career but more an initial scream to let the academic world know that I am here. I have unusual ideas and a cultivated perspective. I have the spark of curiosity. Artists see semblance and seize sublimity to media, sharing revelations. Writers know they speak to an audience; this audience will only hear of ONE method. I must write for my audience, not for myself. {old lesson still difficult to accept} I must not take this personal; this is larger than me.
Now, I have to make it small. So small that it is only ONE idea. ONE piece of a larger puzzle that I may approach later, after years of researching has guided me instead of my inventive hunches. Just ONE. Let it be a sub-chapter, a short path on the road of theory.
Picture c/o: http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/08/0f/f1/080ff1af3362547cdc947e6718704a77.jpg
My session is nearing the end, two more weeks. I have minimal assignments due, and I note that I work much better under pressure. A few months ago, while carrying three courses, I thrived. Much writing and contemplation was required. Now, I have only one topic. And – as a cruel twist – I have to say that I am not real fired-up about said topic. The sad part is, I could be. Maybe one day, my non-traditional thinking will be noted as “ahead of her time” but for the present…’tis socially conditioned that I retreat “back to the mountain.”
Off I crawl, licking my wounds inflicted by society’s barbs, with a text from Herr Professor clung to my breast. Searching for inspiration. {for Life in general, not for the piece} However, while beginning my read the other night, one of Nietzsche’s maxims jumped out at me. Well…much of Nietzsche explodes off the page, but this one, it felt so true I have to share:
“There are times when we psychologists are like horses, and grow fretful. We see our own shadow rise and fall before us. The psychologist must look away from himself if he wishes to see anything at all” (Nietzsche 35).
The quote reminds me to remove myself from philosophical consideration as well as interaction with society in efforts to see the issue – whatever that may be – through an objective lens. By making the situation just that, a situation or a happening, instead of my situation, the experience may be noted from more than one perspective. Applying this to life, I see this method as able to reduce emotional connection to an experience. To look at problems as puzzle pieces to put together – the important factor is that the “I” is assembling the puzzle and not just another piece.
Works Cited
Nietzsche, Friedrich. Twilight of the Idols (1888). Trans. Anthony M. Ludovici. Ed. Dennis Sweet. New York: Barnes&Noble, 2008.
Picture c/o: http://www.jamesmaybe.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/Dominic_Rouse-Twilight_of_the_idols.jpg
Thank reason, I thought to myself while scrolling through my unorganized memory system, I finally released the intrusive urge for uniqueness of being. I knew the thought catalog would become fluid soon, now that reason is understood as natural and morality is released of dogmatic obligations. I smile and casually sip my coffee, as I remember how I relinquished authority from the supernatural. My younger-young self tragically shattered, she asked how a faery-creature could continue without wings…but the answer was simple – I had legs my own all along. What good are imagined wings when real feet carry one much further?
Picture c/o: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/b1/7a/13/b17a13affce61067ebf70ce224c1b89a.jpg Reminding us that Yes! it is okay to not believe. Thanks for a lovely image.
curiouser contemplations 
