Homo sapiens to Homo narrans, the storytelling person

"I heard... two men talking about a third old man who had recently died. One of them said, 'I was visiting him at his home. He started to tell me an amazing story about something that had happened to him when he was young. But it was a long story. Night came, and we decided that I should come back the next day to hear the rest. But when I arrived, he was dead.'

The man fell silent. I decided not to leave that bench until I heard how the other man would respond to what he’d heard. I had an instinctive feeling that it would prove to be important.

Finally he, too, spoke.

'That’s not a good way to die — before you’ve told the end of your story.' "

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/11/opinion/sunday/in-africa-the-art-of-listening.html?_r=1&src=tp&smid=fb-share
By HENNING MANKELL
Published: December 10, 2011

When the Leaves

A few of my friends performed some Ingrid Michaelson at school little while ago. With the winter season coming, I thought that their choice of "When the Leaves" was particularly fitting. The lyrics are gorgeous.

When the leaves turn brown
And they cover this lonely town
And I miss your kiss
When the leaves turn brown.

When the snow comes down
And it covers this lonely town
Then I miss your kiss
When the snow comes down.

On Christmas evenings like this
I wonder if it’s me you’ll miss
When Christmas carols fill every space
And I think of your hands upon my face

When the trees come down
I’m sweeping needles up from the ground
And I miss your kiss
On a Christmas night like this
On a Christmas night like this
On a Christmas night like this.

The YouTube link is http://www.metrolyrics.com/when-the-leaves-lyrics-ingrid-michaelson.html#
Enjoy!

On school and motivations

Are you living for the weekend, or are you living for the week?

The cities that we build

The other day, a friend and I were discussing human perceptions of the world. We settled on the idea that each of us build cities in our minds. The cities that we build exist as a result of our experiences, our memories, our admiration for our mentors, our perceptions of ourselves, and much more. Essentially, our cities are reflective of the world as we each see it, as well as how we see ourselves within that world.

Cities, however, are not stagnant. With the development of new technology, the immigration and emigration of residents, changing media values, growing personal values, and the occasional and unexpected storm or natural disaster, our cities are constantly having to be repaired, renewed, and revised to suit our needs and the needs of the rest of the world. An issue therefore arises when we, as the architects and engineers of our minds, fail to allow our cities to grow and change as they must. Inflexibility is a serious issue; in many cases, inflexibility goes hand in hand with brittleness and fragility. The collapse of our minds' cities is not an easy task to bear.

Objectiveness and Emotional Investments

I'm currently reading Shakespeare's masterpiece King Lear and have been thinking about how emotional responses to characters and empathy with characters can often cloud our argumentative judgement. If we're trying, for example, to analyze the character Cordelia, it is difficult to remain objective if we have emotionally invested ourselves in liking her character. Such is especially the case when viewing a well-acted and well-made film interpretation of the play, such as the PBS Great Performances series of King Lear directed by the talented Trevor Nunn (which can be watched at http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/tag/trevor-nunn/). We are often moved to empathize with all of the characters in the play; the relationship between the Fool and Lear makes our hearts wrench, and some sympathy can even be felt for Lear's antagonistic eldest daughter, Gonoril.

The same can be said for life outside of literature. Our ability to empathize with the people around us is what makes us more kind, more compassionate, and more human. Empathy is often the basis of philanthropy. However, empathy is also often the basis for bias. How can we objectively analyze a situation, a person, or ourselves if we have become emotionally invested in a certain viewpoint or perspective?

choice emotions

Is happiness a choice?

And if so, is sadness likewise a choice?

What is depression, if emotions are all chosen?

And what is the feeling of spontaneous joy if or sudden heartbreak if it is all by choice?

What is life with emotions by choice?

And what is choice?

Post-Graduate Aspirations

It's the start of a school year, and high school seniors throughout the country are spending countless hours at university fairs, booking guided campus tours, and surfing an uncountable number of university websites. Despite the wide variety of available resources in our quest to identify our post-graduate aspirations, many of us still feel overwhelmed and confused.

With application deadlines quickly approaching, there is not only the pressure to improve and maintain grades and demonstrate commitment to extracurricular passions, but the 'obligation' to discover one's interests (and potential careers) seems stronger than ever.

It is important to remember, however, that post-secondary studies and activities are not about setting one's life path in stone. Rather, post-secondary studies is just another stage in life where each individual as even more opportunities to delve into the areas in which he or she enjoys, be they traveling, sciences, thinking, music, research, medicine, entrepreneurship, volunteer work, and so much more.

The difficulty therefore lies in determining one's passions and identifying what areas and fields are enjoyable. What does one do when one would like to do it all?