On New Starts and Becoming

Welcome back! I don't imagine anyone has really been here since I last wrote.  It certainly has been longer than I intended.

I have been thinking about and experiencing new starts recently.  For anyone reading this who doesn't know me personally, I was married recently (three months ago) to my best friend Cora.  She and I have been undergoing many many changes and fresh starts recently.  First is the transition from engagement to marriage.  It has been remarkably simple and smooth, but it has been a change; an improvement.  I have been more conscious of her needs and desires than before.  A large part of the change can be attributed to the marriage itself.

Cora and I are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormons, and were married in the Temple.  This is a sacred building where ordinances such as Eternal Marriage (also known as Sealing) take place.  I will be sure to talk about temples more in depth at another time.  In any case, we have been married not only for our life while here on earth as mortals, but we will continue to be married after death.  Because of this, we have even more motivation to put energy and attention into making our marriage wonderful.  In any case, it requires more selflessness than I was used to, and I like the change.

That's the thing about new starts and fresh situations; they make it much easier to grow and change into who you would rather be.  I experienced this over and over while serving as a missionary in Colorado and being transferred (usually every three months) to a completely new area with people I'd never met.  I found it was very easy to start fresh and get better every time I had a fresh start.

Life has thrust upon me many of these types of changes, and they have helped me grow.  However, there's a secret I'd like to share with you.  You don't have to wait for life's changes to change you.  You can create the change.  Your own character can change instantaneously- just as soon as you decide.

Really.

This can go either way, actually.  You can improve or digress in a moment.  These events and decisions can also be reverted or corrected, of course- again, sometimes instantaneously- but they do change your character immediately.

Here's my recent example.  Cora and I have been thinking about doing consistent exercise for quite a while now, but haven't done anything about it until recently.  Having both been in excellent shape at one point, we wanted to return to that.  One day we chose to become healthy, exercising people.  So we did.  One morning we got up to run, and just like that we became runners.  The real key is the mindset.  If I go off on a run thinking, "Oh, now this is just dreadful.  See how tired you are? That just hurts! See how far from fit you are?  You are a lazy couch potato and shouldn't be running," then of course I won't ever try it again!  That sort of attitude is as good as a death sentence for any goal you claim to want to achieve.  Since Cora and I went on our first run thinking, "What a beautiful morning!  That burning in my legs and lungs shows just how much stronger I'll be for next time!  I'm so glad I'm a runner," it actually was enjoyable!  We became runners in a heartbeat (okay, maybe a few heartbeats), and the attitude we chose to have dramatically affected our next time running.

I have many more situations of improvements I have immediately implemented, but I'll save you the tales.  What I'm getting at here most of all is that each human being is totally and completely capable of improving and becoming much better, often much faster than they think.  Get out there and be the new and improved version of you!

On profanity and other pathetically unimaginative language

I am regularly annoyed by profanity and poor word usage in general, and frustrated with many aspects of the utter mindlessness of the practice; therefore, this post shall be divided into parts addressing each of my complaints. 

I may ramble and intermingle my points a bit because they tend to overlap.

Ignorance of Grammar

The first thing I will address is the grammatical murder that is generally committed with profanity, typified by the most frustratingly abused word: The F-bomb.  First off, it does have a single definition.  That is, sexual intercourse.  I want to make a point of how ridiculous people really are in their misuse thereof. 

I will start with a few examples.

1. "I have a [f-ing] math test today." 
2. "Where the [f-] is my phone?"(Alternately, "Where in [f-] is my phone?")
3. "Lucas sold Star Wars to Disney?  That [f-ing] [f-er]!"
4. "You voted for [insert politician here]?  That's [f-ed] up..."

Here are my comments to each example.  The general principle behind this is that if it doesn't fit context exactly, or can't have a reasonable metaphor made out of it, do not use it.

1. It's a math test involving sex, is it?   I should hope not.  That teacher ought to be fired.
2. This is my least favorite of all of them.  Let's use another verb in place of it, just to put things into perspective.  "Where the murder is my phone? / Where in murder is my phone?"  The first makes no logical sense whatsoever.  The second arguably can have illogical meaning drawn out of it, if we torture it mercilessly.  "Where in [f-] is my phone?"  In other words, "what part did my phone have while involved in sexual intercourse?" If this is your legitimate question, either you or the person you are talking to are utterly disturbed.
3. That's redundant.
4. If you say so.  My vote for a politician, whoever it be, would not legitimately have anything to do with sex. (Again, unless horrible, horrible things are going on.)

If by chance that particular word (the F-bomb) does actually describe what you are trying to convey, it is still poor word choice.  Here's why. 

Frequency of Use

In order to make your point in a manner that broadcasts your precise meaning, it is imperative to avoid over-usage of any word.  This blog makes mention of that.  As does this webcomic.
When repetition is abused in such a manner, the word (or phrase) completely loses its potency.

Shock Value

There isn't any. Whatsoever.  If you're trying to be edgy or whatnot, try something else.  Somewhat recently, the FCC legalized using the "F-bomb" on the radio, on the grounds that it was already so common that it wouldn't really make a difference.

Offensive Capacity
 
There are seven billion people in the world, and not all of them appreciate throwing around profanity.  Whether or not you personally have an aversion to it really isn't very relevant.  If you are in the company of other people who find profanity acceptable, fine.  If you are in the company of those who dislike hearing that said around them, it is a measure of courtesy to refrain while in their presence.  Part of the duty of being a member of the human race includes trying, (wherever possible, ethical, and safe), to be kind and respect your fellow beings.


In summary, swearing isn't earning you any points on the intelligence scale, is completely unoriginal, and damaging to potential relationships with people you may actually really get along with.  Please find a better way to express yourself.

Temporal duration and misplaced value

I may end up having to explain all of my titles.  Remember, though, that there is a method to my madness.  But it likely won't come together and make sense until the end.

This morning after planning to get up a bit earlier, I hit the snooze about four times.  At about 8:50, I finally got out of bed and rode my bike over to my church, in order to help clean it.  I do have a car, but I felt like biking; part of this is because I used to love biking while serving on my LDS mission in Colorado.  Another is my pathetic lack of exercise normally.  Yet another is that it is a nice, cool morning, and I like to rush through the world completely under my own power; I can do exactly what I want to.  If I want to go faster, I pedal harder.  This may seem very simple and elementary, but the principle behind it is that I get to see exactly what my work accomplishes.  I have the ability to change my reality based on the work I decide to put in.  But that was a tangent.

After arriving at the church and starting to wash windows, I was talking with a friend about the things I'm willing to trade.  I told him that I'd come straight there from sleep, and that I had traded any time for breakfast (before cleaning, at least) for just a few more minutes of dozing; not even sleep.  He told me he'd done exactly the opposite.

I started thinking about that.  Why had I traded my breakfast for sleep?  Had it really made a difference?  What hadn't everyone else biked there like I had?


I realized that in many cases, people have lost their perspective of the future.  Our minds have become stuck in the present.  We have started to place more value on things of lesser worth and shorter duration.  Just a few examples to demonstrate:

• How many Chess players do you meet these days? Risk?  Those games are too long.  Yet you could find thousands of people at any given time playing Angry Birds or Farmville, which theoretically take less than ten minutes each.  
• Have you handwritten a letter this month?  Probably not.  Have you sent a text, 'liked' a comment, or updated your status within the last six hours? Hmm.
• From this link, I found that the average length of a song is about four minutes.  Any classical music fans out there will shake their heads at that- the average length there is probably around 20 minutes or more (I apologize for no citation there- the best I could find was WikiAnswers).

 While I did end up eating breakfast this morning after we finished cleaning, the fact remains that I still put more value on five or ten minutes of dozing (after getting plenty of rest all night) than I did on giving myself life-sustaining food.

Yes, I understand that my particular examples are very simple and not particularly horrible and life-changing, but here are more serious examples:

• Students skipping class
• One-night stands
• Sex before marriage at all (I will address why these first two are damaging- and chastity in general- in another post.)
• Incurring debt for vacations and other nonessentials
• Crime

Each of these has the same mentality: "I want this right now.  What future?"

I think I'm going to eradicate this method of thinking from my life.

A method to my madness

Well this is certainly a surprise.  I never expected to create a weblog.  It never appealed to me.  Recently I realized that I have some thoughts, deep ones, that never get expressed.  Because of this, I never completely comprehend them.  This blog is to help me understand myself better, and hopefully to reach out to other people. I'd like to understand this world, the reality of things, and Truth. Care to join me?

My blog's title, Musings of a Madman, is an allusion to Kansas's "Carry On Wayward Son."  It has historically been one of my favorite songs, and the lyrics are just full of meaning.  I take it to mean this (my comments are in parenthesis. Also, please forgive my abridging.):

• Once I rose above the noise and confusion (The entire world is absolutely full of senseless noise and distraction)

• Just to get a glimpse beyond this illusion (I can tell what the world has isn't what I want, nor is it real- there is more. A higher plane of living.)

• Though my eyes could see I still was a blind man, Though my mind could think I still was a mad man (I may be considered crazy or blind because I don't like to do things the way the world does. I take a different approach to life.  I can see what's going on. That does not mean I agree with the rest of the world.  Call me "blind" if you will.  I am thinking for myself.  I consider myself a man of reason.  Yet because I try to understand things deeper than surface level, you may call me mad.  So be it.)

So that's where I get my title from.  I do what I can to understand, to see, to reason for anything and everything I encounter.  My conclusions may be different from yours.  That does not mean I dislike you.  I sincerely try to understand any and all sides of an argument.

I discriminate.

Let me define that word.  I don't mean the definition that includes judging people based on their class, color, creed, etc. rather than merit.
Rather, this is what I mean by discriminate:

1. to mark or perceive the distinguishing or peculiar features of   
2. to make a distinction <discriminate among historical sources> 
3. to use good judgment 

I think it is the duty of mankind to do so, especially the third definition.

I look for depth in meaning, even in the mundane and everyday.

I am a deeply spiritual man, so you will hear me make religious references fairly often.  My personal belief is this: I do believe in Absolute Truth.  I believe God knows it.  All of it.  I believe that bits and pieces of this Absolute Truth have been scattered across the world, and that we need to collect them.  I believe in goodness and light and truth in most, if not all, religions.  I also believe that my own faith, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly referred to as Mormon), is the Church of Jesus Christ.  It is His.  Led and directed by Him.  I do not believe that any one mortal has gathered all of the Truth yet, though they may come very, very close.  I do believe we can get all of it eventually, and I am certainly trying to.

I believe in correction, improvement, betterment, growth, and positive change.  Yes, that sentence is a bit redundant, but I wanted to be clear.  None of us is yet perfect, so we need to change for the better when we recognize that "better."  This requires that we be open and willing to hear out any principle or creed, and discriminate it.  Weight its value.  Compare and contrast.  Throw your biases out and look at things factually and honestly.  Then either accept it because it is true, or reject it because it is false.  Do not reject and belittle the person presenting it.  Aristotle said, "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."  

(Edit: October 17, 2012
I forgot to mention something important in regards to that last paragraph.  

I will change my mind on certain things as time goes by. 

This is not because I was never firmly committed to whatever it was, it is because I have found a better viewpoint, a better solution, etc.  One philosophy I cannot stand in the least is that of never changing your mind.  If you find out you are wrong, admit it.  This is not to say that you should deny that your opinion was once otherwise; It is merely to admit that you are not perfect, saw the light, and found a better conclusion.)

You may occasionally find me vehemently opposed to something.  Please be clear that I am not against any one person or group of people, I am against poisonous and destructive ideas.

So that's it for an introduction.  Hope you enjoy this. :)