Monday, April 26, 2010
There aren't any pros of procrastinating.
It's late Monday night, and you’re struggling to create an introduction that has the ‘wow’ factor. A few simple phrases that will launch you’re post, and debut your ideas, all tied up in a little package to demonstrate creativity and ability. Time however, is blocking the one path you wanted to travel down. As the clock ticks you have no choice but to finish. You enter panic mode. After freakishly and frantically scrambling to type the words, you re-read what you have so far. Displayed on the screen is the most utterly horribly written piece of writing you have ever seen. Your mind is blank and lifeless, as you have no conception how to formulate the flow of words. All you can think about is how this desperately needs to be done for tomorrow. How did it get to be Monday so suddenly? It felt like just yesterday that the blog topic was posted.
And then you ultimately realize: When you were hanging out with friends, the clock didn’t stop. When you were watching America’s Next Top Model, not once did it miss a tick. When you spent your whole night on the computer, stalking Facebook, and playing games, the seconds continued on. The clock has sneakily devoured all of your time. It has vanished, disappeared, and is entirely unable to retrieve. So why procrastinate?
It goes much deeper than a few computer games, and the click of a TV remote. Most of us procrastinate because we simply just don’t know where to start. We are stuck on where to begin, so the easiest solution is to hide your textbook and pull out your laptop. Or at least that seems the easiest. Unfortunately, eventually time catches up until the point where you have to finish that French project for third period, and you have absolutely no idea what it is you are exactly supposed to do.
You may just feel plain overwhelmed. With all those extra curricular activities, your best friends birthday party, and practicing for your piano recital, you just can’t fit anything else in. How does that leave a single shred of time for anything else at all? “I’ll just finish it later,” you may think. In the long run, that minor task will keep stacking up on your list of things to do, like a powerful wave in midst of becoming a tsunami. The end result becoming unmanageable and troublesome, trust me, I know.
I know for a fact I am a victim, and I’m sure you are too. Separating urgent tasks, from those less critical can be baffling. It is difficult to give in to going to the movies over studying for exams, or watching the newest episode of Glee, when you know you haven’t even scribbled a single number in your math workbook. Try to fight the urge to leave things until last minutes; I myself need to learn as well, as I primarily procrastinated this post. ;)
And then you ultimately realize: When you were hanging out with friends, the clock didn’t stop. When you were watching America’s Next Top Model, not once did it miss a tick. When you spent your whole night on the computer, stalking Facebook, and playing games, the seconds continued on. The clock has sneakily devoured all of your time. It has vanished, disappeared, and is entirely unable to retrieve. So why procrastinate?
It goes much deeper than a few computer games, and the click of a TV remote. Most of us procrastinate because we simply just don’t know where to start. We are stuck on where to begin, so the easiest solution is to hide your textbook and pull out your laptop. Or at least that seems the easiest. Unfortunately, eventually time catches up until the point where you have to finish that French project for third period, and you have absolutely no idea what it is you are exactly supposed to do.
You may just feel plain overwhelmed. With all those extra curricular activities, your best friends birthday party, and practicing for your piano recital, you just can’t fit anything else in. How does that leave a single shred of time for anything else at all? “I’ll just finish it later,” you may think. In the long run, that minor task will keep stacking up on your list of things to do, like a powerful wave in midst of becoming a tsunami. The end result becoming unmanageable and troublesome, trust me, I know.
I know for a fact I am a victim, and I’m sure you are too. Separating urgent tasks, from those less critical can be baffling. It is difficult to give in to going to the movies over studying for exams, or watching the newest episode of Glee, when you know you haven’t even scribbled a single number in your math workbook. Try to fight the urge to leave things until last minutes; I myself need to learn as well, as I primarily procrastinated this post. ;)
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
The inside on the outside
There is no doubt we are all different. Then why are we all forced to look the same? All of our unique personalities are unwillingly blended in together into a sea of navy pullovers, tucked in blouses, and gray trousers. You have to look by certain standards, measurements and rules that block our creative expressions and disrupt who we are. These little inventions are a thing called uniforms. Uniforms have both a negative, and positive argument. I'm not quite sure which side I'm ready to fight for, see me as Switzerland in the world of clothes. Neutral.
You’ve heard of freedom of speech, what about freedom of clothes? I get the point that you shouldn't be wearing inappropriate clothing to school, but we should be able to convey our own character. Our uniforms are so generic, simple and basically boring. They can be uncomfortable, unattractive, and when we try to modify them in the smallest way, we are sent to the bench to get a green slip. No loopholes. I myself love wearing my own clothes, and despise pulling up those itchy knee socks that stop all circulation in my calf. I feel freer in my normal clothes, kind of like I’m wearing my inside on the outside. Could we somehow pull a Black Eyed Peas, and meet halfway?
As amazing as it would be to wear whatever in the day, a uniform is easy to slip on in the morning, causing no stress if the sweater you were hoping to wear is encrusted with an annoying purple stain from the grape juice you had at dinner. With our uniform environment, not only do we look official, like mini professors, but we also don't need to care about having the latest designer clothing, or trendiest shoes. You know that no one can ridicule or tease your style choices because they will only be taunting themselves, as they are wearing the same thing.
On the surface we may look identical, but uniforms can bring out the brightest colours of every individual. They can classify us from what's on the inside, and make our inside personality shine, even though our outside might not reveal it. Most people judge based on looks, giving the illusion that our world is shallower than a kiddie pool. People won’t judge you at first glance, but get to know you based on you, not the amount of superficial things you own. As unappetizing as the thought to wear those near-choking ties, and puffy supposed-to-be-tucked-in shirts, they give us 'it'. It being it. It being whatever you want 'it' to be. Besides we do get a few days that require spirit and dressing up, or wearing our own clothes… :)
You’ve heard of freedom of speech, what about freedom of clothes? I get the point that you shouldn't be wearing inappropriate clothing to school, but we should be able to convey our own character. Our uniforms are so generic, simple and basically boring. They can be uncomfortable, unattractive, and when we try to modify them in the smallest way, we are sent to the bench to get a green slip. No loopholes. I myself love wearing my own clothes, and despise pulling up those itchy knee socks that stop all circulation in my calf. I feel freer in my normal clothes, kind of like I’m wearing my inside on the outside. Could we somehow pull a Black Eyed Peas, and meet halfway?
As amazing as it would be to wear whatever in the day, a uniform is easy to slip on in the morning, causing no stress if the sweater you were hoping to wear is encrusted with an annoying purple stain from the grape juice you had at dinner. With our uniform environment, not only do we look official, like mini professors, but we also don't need to care about having the latest designer clothing, or trendiest shoes. You know that no one can ridicule or tease your style choices because they will only be taunting themselves, as they are wearing the same thing.
On the surface we may look identical, but uniforms can bring out the brightest colours of every individual. They can classify us from what's on the inside, and make our inside personality shine, even though our outside might not reveal it. Most people judge based on looks, giving the illusion that our world is shallower than a kiddie pool. People won’t judge you at first glance, but get to know you based on you, not the amount of superficial things you own. As unappetizing as the thought to wear those near-choking ties, and puffy supposed-to-be-tucked-in shirts, they give us 'it'. It being it. It being whatever you want 'it' to be. Besides we do get a few days that require spirit and dressing up, or wearing our own clothes… :)
Monday, April 12, 2010
Will YOU Survive the Crazy?
It's a Friday night; you are comfortably snuggled up on your couch, holding the sleek black object completely hidden under countless buttons. This simple object gives you the access to the world of television. ON. Your finger molds to the shape of the button as you press it. You explore the unknown world, by scrolling up and down on the arrows. What do you seek? Entertainment. You’re not absolutely in the mood for a drama as fake as the Hills, and definitely not wanting to watch a CSI type show, that requires your logic. Most definitely nothing like Hannah Montana either, because you can't stand to hear the word Uncle Earl one more time. Despite all of these great selections, you finally settle on a Japanese game show. Why? It makes for great entertainment.
You find pleasure, as you watch these people fall and tumble, slur an answer, or simply fail at a challenge. Somehow within this you also find incredible entertainment. From one second you can go from a complete rumble of laughter to total focus, making sure you don’t miss a crucial second. While eyeing the competition, you choose sides and pre-pick the winner then aim your full attention back at the screen. Sweat beats down their faces as they rush over obstacles to beat there equal determined opponents. Nonetheless, it also drips as they struggle to find the answer, because they know that if they get this wrong, they will be long gone. Their willpower shows to be that one person who actually wins, the one who will rise above all of the others. This is the game you've been craving to watch, but the screen flickers to an overplayed shampoo ad before you can see anymore.
The commercial break rolls to an end, and you suddenly hear burst of spirited people scream and cheer encouraging phrases – In Japanese. It is after all, partly ‘reality’ TV. The host announces the ludicrous, yet skillful task. The contestants stand with a puzzled look on their faces, partly pondering as to why they are to do this, and partly ready to bring on their game. They crash, spin, splat, pop, bounce, all to see who is the ‘best’ of the best.
As exciting as the people are, it is the games and actions they face that bring the insanity to a whole new level. The challenges on this show are so simply thought out, yet creative in the most imaginative ways. Nothing like Wheel of Fortune, Deal or no Deal, or Jeopardy can compare to paint splat, dressing up in quirky costumes, and as a whole, having a one-of a kind time you can only obtain at a Japanese game show.
So why would I want to be on an insane, lunatic, sumo-fighting game show? Why not? It’s all in the name: I survived a Japanese Gameshow. The title really says it all, if you win, you get to say you survived a Japanese Gameshow!
Maybe the $250,000 would be nice too… Are you on?
Monday, April 5, 2010
A goal is an Understatement.
I don’t know what my future holds, or how the odds will play out, let’s face it. However, I do know one thing, I will have dreams for as long as it takes for an everlasting gob stopper to dissolve. Dreams that I will ever long to do, that may not necessarily happen, but it would be incredibly amazing if they did. One may argue that these dreams are completely pointless, and don’t show any beneficial gain. Then, again, you may share some of these very dreams with me as well.
I want to be remembered, long after I’m gone. A bit far fetched, I know, but imagine something as big as having your own star on the Hollywood star walk, as tourists run up to greet the famed name engraved within the outlines of the golden star. People will ever so lasting walk up down the crowded strip, yet never will your name dissolve, even from the dirtiest soles of shoes.
Maybe something not so based on fame, but perhaps, finding a cure for something as deadly as cancer, and winning a Nobel Prize for changing the face of mankind. My biography plastered within the pages of some grade 8 science textbooks, describing my shocking discovery.
I do want to make a difference in the world, somehow. Something like a cure may sound ridiculously crazy, but if I look at the world in front of me, children, just like me with dreams like mine, are ignored, by roadblocks of education and health. Maybe an opportunity to travel to a place like Kenya on a Me to We trip will fulfill the same goal.
The world doesn’t stop there. I want to travel, a lot. Every time I go somewhere new, I learn something new. It’s the whole experience, which sucks you into the intriguing urge to revisit. Different cultures, different people, and different food, make up for a different, and unique environments. Maybe along the way I’ll discover something as hidden as the lost city of Atlantis. After all, it only makes sense to see the entire world before I leave it.
But, I'm thinking bigger than our world itself, something much more than a planet. I'm thinking, space. What more fascinating place, than outer space? It's so foreign, and unusual to study the billions of twinkling lights that we glimpse as we look up into the midnight sky. These very stars would be right outside the window as the futuristic ship soars through the galaxy giving the incredible experience of weightlessness.
I would also like to journey around in a giant human hamster ball. This is one thing I would absolutely love to accomplish as weird as it may sound. Although running around in a giant hamster ball doesn't seem like a life accomplishment, you're just not thinking big enough. Imagine, aside from it's environmentally friendly impact. The clear spherical walls of an orb surround you, running rapidly along the earth's crust.
The list will go on, as i must say. From publishing some sort of a book, to becoming pro at a sport, to inventing something useful to our chaotic daily lives. From breaking a world record, to painting something as famous as the Mona Lisa. Maybe I’ll throw skydiving in there too, as most people would. I want my life to be filled with mind-blowing adventures like these and new experiences while enjoying what the world and its people have to offer.
There’s a lot of things on my mind right now, things a simple and unglamorous as the fact that I need to study for the allusions test, wake up for soccer tomorrow morning, and even, well, ponder on what I will type next because the post is getting a bit long. But then there are things that are more distant, like what I want to do when I’m older, and what kind of a person I want to be. Consider my goals, and hopes, that I can only imagine to happen. Right now, I’m just living in the moment, balancing things like dreams and reality, so there will always be a place for both.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)