Spurius

Sometimes, you get the feeling that it would be best if you just disappeared.  Escape what you know, and explore somewhere unknown.  At times, you may feel like you need to close yours eyes to the world and just hide away for a while.  We all run into this feeling, or a similar one at one point in time or another, usually when everything in life seems to be working against us.  These moments that make life sometimes hard to live, and when the future seems to go down the drain.  It is how you treat and handle these, that dictate how the next step in the path of life is to go.

"There is a sky full of stars.  Just because you look away from one, doesn't mean the rest aren't there." ~ Spurius

This quote comes from Spurius, an unknown author of unknown origin.  But, that does not matter, since it is the quote we are here for.  This quote is so vague that it could fit in the context of a thousand different things.  But, this is the very thing that makes it such a great quote.  It reaches all sorts of audiences, and is so relateable in almost in any situation.  

It could fit in a relationship sense.  Maybe that one person you always liked never came back to feel the same way.  Maybe that boyfriend or girlfriend that you thought you would live forever decided that it couldn't last.  That person is the one star that you closed your eyes to, and this can sometimes become a devastating moment, where you think there is nothing left in the world.  But, just as the quote says, there are more stars.  And many of them shine just as bright if not brighter.  

But, it could also fit in a aspiration sense.  There was this one goal you always wanted to achieve, that one thing your wanted, that one experience you wanted to have, you just reach it.  That star was that aspiration, and not achieving it can be devastating for some people.  But, they need to be reminded that there are other goals or things that they can achieve.  Ones that could be even more impactful to their life. 

Spurius, whomever he is, can really express a lot in so few words.  There are endless situations in which this can be applied.  Just remember to open your eyes after you close them.  There is much more to see, I promise.

A Cookie with a Fortune

A lot happens in one year.  We age physically, we develop emotionally, and we learn new things.  We become wiser than before, and more experienced to the world around us.  But, as we reach the end of one adventure, we simply are staging the platform to begin our next.  As school comes to a close for students across the country, we look back and see the valuable lessons we learned, that we may or may not have realized were useful before hand.  And, of course, we have developed unforgettable memories with our closest friends, loved ones, and lost ones.  After a quick lunch at a Chinese restaurant, a Fortune Cookie summed up these in a very efficient way.

"I hear and I forget.  I see and I remember.  I do and I understand." ~ Anonymous

The quote we are covering today is not the one that is in the picture, just as a heads up.  Only the one that is labeled "Anonymous" above.  This quote seems simply like a collection of 3 short sentences.  But they are much more than that.  They act more as levels.  Every single day, you hear things.  Even with your eyes shut, you cannot stop hearing.  There is no way to actively shut it off, without using ear muffs or something of the like.  It is something we can't control.  But, of all the things that you hear, how much of that do you actually remember?  Probably less than one percent of everything you have heard in one day?  Naturally, most of that is forgotten unless it pertained specifically to you.  

The next thing is seeing.  You can partially control seeing.  You can close your eyes to that which is in front of you.  But, no one forces their eyes to be closed forever, unless they are closed and can't see for a reason that isn't something that they have no choice but to live with.  There are things that I have seen in the past that have haunted me to this day.  And other things that I have seen, that the beauty of that person just does not disappear.  It remains, reminding of the good in this world.  But these are all things that I remember when something in a conversation triggers the thought or memory to reoccur.

And the last section is all about doing and not just doing it blindly but doing it with understanding.  When you do something, your not only seeing it, your not only hearing it, but you using your physical ability to do it.  And, in order to do it well, you have to understand what does what.  I know that description is slightly vague, but is a hard concept to put into words.  You can listen to baseball on the radio.  Then, you can watch on TV.  But, it will never be as good as actually playing it yourself, on the field, with the rest of the team.

With the memories that we have forged over the past year, we can count on the future being even greater.  But those memories that you were a part of, will be with you for a life time.

Avoidance

This week we have a quote from a fairly famous person.  You might recognize from his involvement in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies as the main character, Captain Jack Sparrow.  Yes, he is the comical Johnny Depp.  I never thought he would be one to be quoted after seeing his films, since he is always sarcastic.  But, new information to my ears, he is also a musician.  Read the quote below, as I always ask you to do, and think, as usual.

This one struck me deeply when I first saw it.  I have no idea why, but when I saw it, just seemed to fit.  What he says is definitely true, perhaps that is why it sounds so right.  There is the term "turning a blind eye" for a reason.  It usually is so that we avoid doing something we should do or letting something happen that shouldn't.  We have that choice to make that action. 

If there is something we don't want to see, we just simply close our eyes.  Then we can't see.  What we see is the darkness of our inner eyelids.  Perhaps you can see some of the light through them, dancing as you or others around you move.  But what you had seen before is gone, seperated by a veil of skin.  



The heart, however, is different.  You can't hide that giddish feeling when you see someone you care about.  You can't do anything to stop that leap in your chest when its your turn to speak in front of a large audience.  You can't remove the feeling you get when you are embarassed.  You can't hide the joy when something great happens. These feelings just happen.  You cannot close your heart off to them. When you turn a blind eye, its easy to do physically.  But, after that, how do you feel?  In most cases, you might feel regretful or shameful.  You knew what the right thing was, yet chose otherwise.

One might thing that this quote is very straightforward and they would be right.  Yet, this quote is such an interesting realization that most would never think about.  Johnny Depp has a keen way of looking at things.  It is so easy to relate this into your own life, and I hope you found this just as enjoyable and meaningful as I did.

~Lazarus, May your Journies be Daring

Loving Another

This week, we will delve into a topic that people have debated for centuries.  That topic is love.  We have always wondered what it is, always tried to describe it in other words, but there is no better word to describe love than the word "love".  Everyone seems to have a different opinion on the topic and a different idea of what it is, how to attain it, and its purpose in one's own life.  It is one of the few topics that are tangible but theoretical. It also describes something that is very real, but also not materially existing.  The following quote came from a man named Lao Tzu, a Chinese philosopher.  He also founded Taoism, which is based off of his writings.  Read the quote below and think about it for a few minutes.  Let it bounce around, and see if it sparks any ideas.

Were you able to make sense of it at all?  Does it almost seem pointless?  Or does it make no sense whatsoever?  Is there any way you can apply this to your own life?  I will start with this; I understand that this subject can be touchy for some.  However, it may be worth discussing, perhaps learning something new in the process.

I can quickly associate this quote in my own life, but I myself, am not entirely sure why or how it exactly fits.  We all have parents, and we are told that they love us unconditionally.  It has always been a part of human nature to have a sense of belonging and to have this desire to be cared for by someone and to care for others.  When you do have that sense of belonging, it gives you the strength to go new highs and new distances.  You stop worrying about belonging, and finding a home, and worry more about living your life.  You always know that there is someone who has your back when something goes wrong, and that there will always be someone that will catch you when you fall.  It gives you the strength to make that leap, even though you may not be sure if you can make it to the other side, because you know that there are those that are holding the rope to bring you back to try again. 

That is what it feels like to be on the receiving end.  So what happens to us when we are the delivering end?  According to this quote, it gives us courage.  Courage is another one of those ideas that there are so many different interpretations of.  It's difficult to label exactly what courage is.  It gives you courage to move on in life.  To get through those bad days and to look forward to the next day.  It allows you to know that there is something good in this world, that all is not just full of bad things.  It takes courage to push on in this world.  

Don't forget, that Lao Tzu specifies loving DEEPLY.  I don't believe he means just the everyday talk of loving someone, as we know it, or just liking someone.  He means unconditional and love that is lasts until death.  The care and love you have for someone that you know will never, ever go away.  And not only do you know that it won't go away, but you then experience over the course of the life time that it still remains.  

The Funny Past

In this week's quote feature, we will be taking a look at C.S. Lewis, an author who will be familiar to most of you.  If you don't know who he is, he is the author of The Screwtape Letters, the Narnia series, and Till We Have Faces.  Read the following quote and think about it.

Interesting, isn't it?  Can you relate to what he means?  I know I can.  Every day, I'll come home to my father or my mother asking me how my day was, and I say "good" every single day, because it seems as if the same events happened.  Each day was the same when given little thought at the time.  But now, as a grown man, I look back at my middle school and Elementary years, and it its no longer the normal day that I see.  But a collection days, in which I learned something new every day.  And something different in each of the classes But, that's not how it felt like back then.

I think this is the point he is trying to get across.  Even though it may seem that every day is the same, in reality, it is not.  Each and everyday is important, different, and unique.  This quote doesn't require a lot of translating to understand it fully, as it is pretty straight forward in the message it wants to get across.  I have to say that I have never noticed this, but I do find it funny, now that it has been pointed out.

The Dead End

        Has there ever been a time when you have just wanted to hurt someone?  Not just hurt them because you want to, but because you felt as if they did something wrong against you.  Or, they actually harmed you, not just doing something wrong.  This feeling is most commonly referred to as revenge.  Read the small quote below by Douglas Horton.

Now, think about this for a second.  Dig a second grave?  You might at first be confused, as how would killing or hurting one person come back on you?  Actually, it is very clear and simple.  There has never been a story of revenge that has ever come to make the revengee happy or feel better.  It only makes them feel worse in the long run, even if it does feel good for a second.  All you will do in the end is drag yourself down with the other you are trying to pull down.

This can be seen in Shakespeare's famous work of Hamlet.  Hamlet's father, also named Hamlet, orders Hamlet to take revenge on the man who killed him, which is Hamlet's uncle.  The whole play is based upon this, and Hamlet gets his revenge in the end, killing his uncle to set thing's right.  But, in this heroic tragedy, Hamlet also dies from the poisoned point of a rapier that he had been stabbed with during his sword duel with Laertes.  He literally became the second grave.

Revenge only steeps you down to a lower level than where you actually belong.  Someone who forgives is usually a happier person than the one that seeks revenge and drives himself or herself mad in the process.

Courage

Sir Winston Churchill is a widely known historical figure.  He was the Prime Minister of England during the course of the World War II.  As soon as World War II was over, he was removed from his position at Prime Minister.  Today, we have a quote from him in the image below concerning courage.  Take a moment to read and ponder it.

When I first read this, I was extremely confused.  I view this situation as a classroom, so standing up, sitting down, speaking, and listening are seemingly the four main things that go on during a class period. So, according to this quote, it takes courage to do anything?  That seems pretty odd.  Everything I do takes courage, which I can see as true in a way, but I don't believe this is what he means.  What is it that he could possibly mean by this quote then?

We know, or if you didn't know, that Winston Churchill was a politician.  Throughout his life, some of his beliefs and writings were very controversial in the political community.  When we have a controversy, then there tends to be an argument to which there tends to be at least two sides.  Let's look at it from a political perspective, and a controversial one.  I believe that this quote needs to be split down the middle, since he is talking about two people showing courage in different ways in the same situation.  This isn't advice for just one person.  We begin with a statement that is made by someone in a room.  Now, everyone can just sit there, takes this statement as fact or as the right course of action, without voicing their own opinions.  But, the person who does stand up and speak his opinion, especially if he or she believes it is wrong.  At that moment in time, the opposing person is fighting peer pressure and stepping outside of the norm.  That is the first half of the quote anyways.  

The second half of the quote goes back to the person that made the original statement.  This person could just cut off the opposing person and not listen to anything he says.  Or, he can seemingly listen, but really disregard everything that is said.  In either case, he is essentially ignoring any advice or insight that he, himself, may not have had in the first place.  Therefore, it takes courage to sit down and listen. Actually listen to what is being said, and take it into account.  And, if you are wrong, then it is okay to admit it in front of everyone.  

This just goes to show that there are so many ways to show courage, and each situation will be different.  Each of these people are doing completely opposite acts, but they are showing courage because of the situation at hand.

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