Know yourself...

"As human beings we are constantly changing. Knowing yourself is therefore an on-going, never ending process."

There have been countless of times where I wonder who the heck I am. Am I the person who likes to drink and party? Am I the person who likeds to get busted by her parents for doing something stupid? Am I the person who listens to people's stories and tries to help them the best that I can? Am I the person who puts her heart and soul into whatever she is trying to strive for? Am I the person who likes to quit on things at the last minute?

Times are a changing. I think anyone with a brain can tell that they are. For example: the new president has surly issued some changes. Health Care reform, the increased Border Patrol, or delving the economy into a bigger and deeper hole than in was in the first place. Those who come from the younger generation, myself included, are now at the brunt of all the previous government mishaps and mistakes. We are struggling to find jobs just like the older generation before us. Sometimes I think that while we are out searching for jobs, the companies somehow give the older people our jobs because they have "more experience" and deserve it. Well sure....but how are we supposed to pay off student loans if we actually want to spend and live our lives not freaking out if we are going to go bankrupt or not? We need jobs too right? I guess if you can't find a job now then its better that you do something important like volunteer for something that you enjoy or hang out with the people that you love.

Many of us may feel that we know ourselves to the fullest extent. However, something suddenly comes up and we begin to really wonder who we really are. Sometimes people put labels on us that we just do not understand and therefore we begin to search and think about the person that we truly are. Are they wrong? Or have the hit everything right on the nail? If they are wrong, then how do you prove it to them?

Growing up our bodies constantly change, therefore our appearance inner and outer changes as well. For some, we decide to stay a certain way the whole way through life and never really get a wake up call. For this I would like to refer to an example. On the TV show Make It Or Break It, one of the gymnasts, Lauren Tanner, is stuck up and uses her daddy's money to get everything that she wants. She doesn't have respect for any of her teammates and treats them all like crap. In some instances it appears that she is trying to be genuinely nice, but really its just another one of her facades. I can't help but think that there are tons of people out there who act like her and never really take the time to grow up.

Looking back I can safely say that I know who I am now. I know where I belong and I know what type of person that I am. I know that these next few years are going to be tough, but the fact that I know who I am I can help guide myself onto the path of success and to stay on that path and to not fall off. Having an idea of who I am, doesn't not mean that I have casted myself into stone. There is always room for growth, more maturity, kicking bad habits, and forming new connections. 

Times are a changing. Hold onto what you love. Let go of regrets and of the things that hurt. Welcome kind changes. Think of what's best. Love with all your heart. 

A Strangers Footsteps...

"But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger, you'll learn things you never knew, never knew." 

~ Pocahontas, Colors of the Wind

Many times we often judge people by their looks. If someone's appearance looks scary, don't we try to stay far away from them? With the appearance of being scary isn't there an inkling that the person is a bad person or has a troubled life. How do we know what that person is going through or why they dress the way that they do? For all that we know a normal dressed person could be going through tougher things than a person who's appearance is scary. Growing up we have always heard the term "stranger danger". Of course that is referencing young children to not talk to adults that they do not know. But don't we carry that sense of "stranger danger" when we meet new people? Do we not guard and protect ourselves from people we do not know, and then only slowly do we begin to reveal parts of ourselves to them? But then again Strangers can becomes our greatest Friends. 


In the Disney movie Pocahontas, John Smith is a stranger. He has come from some unknown land and to the Native Americans he is dangerous. The chief warns Pocahontas to stay away from him. But their was something about this stranger that attracted Pocahontas to him. As she began to hang out with John she began to teach him her culture and her likes and dislikes, and in return John began to teach her new things too. Suddenly the tide turns and Pocahontas' dad finds out about their secret meetings and wants start a war between the Native American's and John's people. It was only by walking through John's footsteps for a few days that she began to realize that he really wasn't a stranger at all, he was a friend.


I have this one friend who is definitely out of this world. His views on life simply blow my mind and I really honestly have no idea where the heck he gets the ideas that he puts in his head. Of course by going to a private school nobody can really look scary, because we all look the same. I remember girls complaining about that because there is no way that they could express themselves. Anyway, this one friend in particular scared me. It wasn't by the way that he dressed or by the way that he walked, it was merely by the way that he talked and expressed his views and ideas. I was one of the upper class-men that lead peer discussions with the freshman. During those sessions I would be afraid to call on him because I was worried he was going to say something that I could not handle. I would simply just say, "Hmm interesting, alright now moving on." With that being said, I would avoid calling on him all together. 


About two years later, he and I wound up on a Kairos experience together. And it wasn't until then did the lyrics of "Colors of the Wind" really kick in. There were underlying reasons that caused this person to be the way that he is. Reasons that made him a stranger to me and reasons that I did not know until I walked in his footsteps through listening to him talk about all the things that conflicted inside of him. Now, I'm not so scared anymore. 


If you walk the footsteps of a stranger, you will learn things that you never knew. You will learn things to help you understand a person and will learn things that wil lead you to become a better friend. Take a chance to walk in the footsteps of a person whom you don't know or maybe walk in someone's footsteps to help you get to know them better. 

Inception for those who've seen it...

Okay, I will admit it. When I first saw Inception I was confused within the first couple of scenes. I guess I'm just one of those people who understands things when I talk out loud to someone about the thoughts racing through my head. However, as the film continued on I began to understand it. I think I more began to understand what all was happening as Cobb was explaining the whole dream thing to Elle Page's character, Ariadne. Maybe that was Nolan's idea of trying to get the confused people to understand. I don't know. 


But what about the last scene with the top? I don't know about you but I sat in my seat and thought, "Seriously, you're going to end the movie like that!?". If I was confused before the movie then I sure as hell was confused now, is Cobb still dreaming or did he actually make it back to reality. Thinking back. It did show Cobb waking up on the plane with everyone else, it showed Saito making the phone call to allow Cobb to come back into the country, and it showed Cobb successfully passing through security and meeting back up with his father. All of these things led me to believe that Inception ended with a happy ending. 


I didn't really pay all the much attention to whether or not the top was wobbling, to me it looked like it was spinning smoothly but the film ended before there was any indication that it could have wobbled. So, walking out of the movie I was thinking, "Well was he in a dream or was he not in a dream? How the hell did it end?" After seeing many pictures, like the one above, it certainly shows that there is a slight a wobble in the top, so Cobb was back in reality. Then a week later I stumbled across a post that one of my friends put up on Facebook. It led me to this link: Inception Spoiler. Go ahead read it. You will soon understand that it all makes sense.


After reading the article, I went back through all the scenes of  the movie. If the ring really is Cobb's totem, like I believe it is, then the movie ended with a success in inception and a happy ending for Cobb. Having the ring be Cobb's totem makes perfect sense to me. Did he not tell Ariadne when she first began the dreaming that she needed a totem that was unique to her and different from everyone else's? Therefore I believe that the spinning top was just someway of Cobb holding onto Mal. I don't think that he would have been allowed to use Mal's totem because it wasn't his to begin with. I think that at the end when he spins the top on the table before he goes out to see his kids he just spins it as a way of saying "the job is done". 


So there you have it. That's my take on it. Without having read that spoiler, I probably would want to see the movie again to fully understand it. But I decided to save myself some money. 


Thanks for reading.