thirtyone

if someone wrote a book on your life up to this point.. would anyone want to read it? 

Try staring at a baby picture of yourself for a good 2 minutes. Memories of how you grew up will start to rush through your head. You feel a sense of innocence, naivety, humility, joy. You will start to recall how you used to think, what used to be important to you. Youll remember what you wanted to be when you grew up. Youll see who you really are. As you grow you change how you look, dress, act, your likes and dislikes, your goals and aspirations, but you will never change who you are. You wont be able to take your eyes off that picture after 2 minutes, you wont want to stop reminiscing. Then look at a mirror I guarantee you will be truly humbled. Children are born with the virtue of trust and vulnerability. Would the child you see in the picture, be proud to say that they grew up to be the person you see in the mirror? Stay humble and true to yourself. 

Looking back a part of me wishes i had the chance to be apart of the US military. endless respect to all those serving in US armed forces. the level of honor, pride, integrity and courage in a true military man or woman is beyond compare.

There is a point early in life when it stops being about the fun and it becomes abouthow people see you.

Then it stops being about how people see you and becomes about what people think of you.

…then what you think of yourself

Later in life it stops being about your appearance and becomes about success.

Then it becomes about the money and the prosperity.

….and if youre lucky enough to have your eyes opened by one thing or another theres a point in life when it stops being about personal gain and life truly becomes about thefun again. You learn to swallow your pride, stop searching for satisfaction in trying to outdo others; your happiness is not dictated by your impression and appearance. You start to realize just how blessed you are, decentralizing your life from material possessions and you start respecting life for what its worth; the key to happiness is gratefulness

people dont change unless they want to.. and usually they dont want to unless they need to.

you should never treat priceless things as if they are common and cheap nor should you try to materialize a feeling.

It is said that this generation has been a time of hindered development, a time of lost cause and a time when your impression means more than your word. 

Words can have a sense of authority over any relevant truth, the power of words can beimmaculate. The power of words can start fights and even wars, can save lives and win awards and competitions, the power of words can heal, mend or destroy a relationship. The power of words, can inspire, motivate and crush the strongest person. The power of words can even create a shield forth coming the eyes of society. 

Societal principles have directly persuaded the depletion of not only the meaning but the sanctity of words that once held high merit and high value:

marriage, love, trust, sorry, perfect, pure, just, amazing, talent, epic, historic.

Words that were once used to perpetuate a feeling of pride, accomplishment, heroics or greatness are now common vocabulary amongst all grades of society. These words are conversed daily with no weight behind them. Portrayal of power through words is lost. 

Words have not only been stripped of their stature and degraded, inversely some have lost all integrity and the infamy has been abolished.

drugs, sex, addiction, violence, alcoholic, lust, suffer, hurt and heartache,

bare the same complexities. These words which were almost painful to say due to theconnotation of physical anguish are now seen as terms of everyday conversation.Drugs, sex and addictions, have lost all meaning its own accord. An awkward andunexplainable sense of pride is coherent when this topic is being held. A feeling ofcomfort and ordinary experiences is present when in fact tension, awkwardness and humiliation should fill the air. Violence, suffering, hurt and heartache: unspeakable terms once upon a time; once upon a time brought about reverence, sorrow, agony and support. The lightness of all these terms pale in comparison to how they were intended. The word suffer, antecedently would make a person cringe in pain and agony at just the sound of the word, as it well should be. 

These developments in modern speech, have undeniably brought morals, values, respect and honor to an all-time low. Our generation has come to feel a sense ofpseudo-confidence, thinking the meanings of the words as used today have prevailed over the years. Our generation is seemingly, dull and almost illiterate, with a shallow vocabulary of elementary and phrases, mixed with falsely defined words. Using words and terms in such light manners has brought this to be a common occurrence today. 

The power of words is still strong -  an individuals power of THEIR OWN WORD is what is in question.

Have respect for yourself, by meaning what you say and saying what you mean. Give your words a strong sense of worth. Let your word have weight and merit: the most honorable way to gain respect from others is to have “your word” actually mean something. 

I know enough to know that I don’t know much

to really move on with your life, you have to put your present-state in the past and move forward

keep it simple.

Every generation has an undeniable preference and comfort to societal lifestyle, defined by the decade or two when they grew up and were raised; accompanied with a strong opposition of the developed conventions of the current pop-culture.

The 90s into the early millennium acts as my time of solace. My memory lane.

Media influence, popular style, personal values and overall culture are continually changing; generation to generation. The main difference I see between now and then: precedence of ego over genuineness and replication over ingenuity.

I think about how different life would be if I were living my current state, in the 90s. Limited technology, when getting to know someone took more than clicking the info tab on their facebook. When words had meaning and the value of conversation was high and someone’s word had weight merit.

Now a days trust is almost taboo; which reveals such utterances as :

Why do people share so much about personal life and status on social networks?

Has privacy become that complacent in society?

Does a computer screen really cause a persons ego and confidence to skyrocket?

Is that really what is important to culture today?

Which leads to the inclinations: has the evolution of the Internet and technology made me more intelligent, or have I been able to grow with the nostalgia of the ideals of the 90s culture nestled in the back of my mind. Has the internet made me ignorant and blind to the morals I grew up believing in: hard work, sincerity, respect or has it evolved to the point where my pride has blinded me of my ignorance.

Maybe I am just acting as the older generations acted towards our generation: “back in my day….” Maybe my pride for the decade when I grew up is a little high? I guess this dissociation is what defines generation gaps. 

social networks have made people completely ambivalent to the values and significance of privacy.

(edit)

One of the most powerful words in the english language: nigga. A word extremely prolific and pretentious. The fact that this word is thrown around as if it has no ostentatious pretense, is a sad, unspoken truth. A word that should have been abolished with slavery itself has found its way in the common vocabulary of ALL people in society.

When the word “nigga” is muttered, heads turn to see if a black person is within earshot. A word so powerful: in the absence of a black person it is spoken freely, in the presence of a black person it is nothing short of incongruous.

This fear and hesitation comes from thinking that someone might be offended if it is spoken: further implying that if a person is of african descent, they are born with the right, to say nigga. No one should have this right, no one should want to.

Don’t claim to ‘embrace the hate’ thinking it justifies your use of the word. I doubt a rape victim or even the daughter or grand-daughter of a rape victim would use the term “rape” freely. “I’m about to rape this math test right now”. If they truly understood its pretenses.

Ill be the first to admit that I have regretfully fallen victim to using this word freely and openly around all ppl, black ppl included. I thought nothing of it to be honest. I wish I cringed when I heard the word. I wish the word made my heart drop when it was said around me. I wish I would associate such a harrowing, repulsive term with its origin of human beings being dealt as property. I wish I felt uncomfortable when I heard the word. But the truth is society has made the word is so common to peoples ears that its almost acceptable.

This word should be as uncomfortable and taboo as the term “concentration camps” and “terrorists”. People of Jewish and Middle Eastern descent show respect for these terms as terms of hatred and understand that people with their background suffered profusely with little to no hope for a different life. Imagine if those who suffered thru slavery heard the word being thrown around in a seemingly positive manner.

All nuances of the word “nigger” should have been abolished with slavery itself. Its power should not force people to fear a black person, who might get offended, who will then turn around and use it themselves.

The power of this word should make a person feel uncomfortable to the point where it is impossible to even say; to the point where it is almost painful and to the point that it invokes a feeling of emptiness that is hardly a fraction of what was felt by the people for which the word was intended.