Deep (Ordinary) Letter

Dear Mom and Dad,
It's been 17 years since you guys messed up my hospital papers when you accidentally wrote Jennifer Lopez instead of Jennifer Hernandez. It seems like that's how it's been ever since. Not me feeling like Jennifer Lopez (LOL) but rather you guys messing up. I'm not saying it's a bad thing because everyone messes up. In a way I'm glad that certain things have happened between the family because those situations have made me who i am today. And i don't blame you for any qualities i may not be content with. I only partially blame you for teaching me all that you know and raising me to become a dependent child. All that you know is not the truth and sometimes you guys forget that. We have begun to think in distinct ways and no one will ever be right when on opposing sides.  I love what you've been able to teach me and I love that you guys care so deeply about me but I'm scared that one day you'll blame me for wanting to be my own person and create distance between us. But you of all people should know that it's as hard to be the parent as it is to be the child and let go.
Sincerely,
Pumba

Frankl-y Speaking

Throughout the whole book, there was no part that struck me so much as the question on the first page of the preface. Why do you not commit suicide?
So many are the times that I've heard people complain about their "terrible" lives and so many are the times that I've unjustly judged them in secret. Of course I will never understand what they go through or how they process what they do but I do understand that they are not aware of what life really is. It's not about going out and finding a meaning whether it be a hobby or a person but about letting a meaning come to you. I believe that the unexpected is what comes with the greatest outcome. Most of the time when we search, it's harder to find. rather than when we aren't looking, what we want tends to find us. So is there a meaning to our lives? Yes. A different one for each but we must let it find us. And while we're waiting we shouldn't be upset that that everything is temporary but more so grateful. Sure the good things are going to come and go. But so will the bad, and I believe that's one of the greatest gifts of life.
Of course not every person contemplates suicide considering how extreme of an option that is, but most do. Sadly those who go through with it miss an opportunity at finding a happiness so great that only they could understand. I'm thankful for those who don't because they realize that there's something waiting for them on the long road ahead. And we have to remember, it's a long and broken road.

Wow what is the meaning of life

"Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone- we find it with another."

Thomas Merton- American Catholic writer and mystic. A Trappist monk, poet, social activist and student of comparative literature.

When I first read this quote I thought that it was very accurate. Mostly because my whole life I was taught by fairy tales that once you find someone you find true happiness and everything is perfect. Obviously we've all gotten to that age when we realize that things are far more complicated than we thought they were. Maybe it's just me but the first thing that popped into my head when Merton wrote the word "another" was a lover, a partner. But it could really mean anyone. With that I agree. I don't agree that we must find a lover to find happiness or to have meaning in our lives. There are so many people worth loving and the first one that we should learn to love is ourselves. So that is what I believe is the meaning of life. To love and not necessarily to be loved in return, other than by yourself. I truly think that it is absolutely necessary to love oneself. Without doing so then of course you are going to find no meaning in life, you can't even find meaning in yourself. But yes in my opinion, if you love, you laugh, and thus you live. And that is what life is all about. Do that every day and the only thing you'll cry about is being overwhelmed with happiness.

Thankful for the Jenkin

I forgot the exact moment when i met Deja. Wait, no. I met her my freshman year when i decided to join the Young Company. After that i pretty much spent a whole year calling her Maranda but it had become normal for her to be confused with her sister. What i love about Deja is that she is actually her own person. Twins tend to be similar even though they try really hard to be different but Deja has come to be a person far from that of Maranda. I definitely think she'd love to hear that. But anyway, Deja is such an amazing writer. If that is what she plans to pursue then she will surely accomplish that which she strives for. She also says things like they are, which is something i truly admire because to me, honesty, regardless of the harshness, is always for the best. I'm so thankful that i got to meet Deja because she is one those necessary people in life that has offered me such a different view on life that i will consider not only now but in the future as well.

Into the Wild- Alone

I think that what Chris decided to do was selfish and selfless at the same time. I understand that people sometimes need to take time for themselves to figure themselves out and I believe that that is necessary but the way he came about things was selfish. He left without telling anyone and even if there were problems between he and his family, they were left worried and basically fell apart.

He also lacked knowledge of how to survive in the wild and it was ignorant of him to think that there would not be such a terrible consequence. Maybe it's just me putting others before myself but i would not have done things that way. At least leave a letter or something Chris.

I did like that in the end he did find happiness though. It showed me that you need the struggle so that at the end of your life you have something to truly be thankful for.

we STILL haven't figured this out yet!

This might be a little more abstract than i would've hoped but i still can't believe that we haven't found a way to be happy and at peace not just with ourselves but with the world. There is so much violence everywhere that we turn and it's not the most difficult thing in the world to rid ourselves of that. If adults learned to see things from a maybe immature perspective, then decision making would be easier. Kids for example, live in bliss and happiness. Something by which we all aspire to live but we make our lives a lot more difficult than they have to be. We cause our own problems and we find it easier to blame others or turn to others with our anger. Kids could literally have a physical fight and two minutes later will be the best of friends. I think that what we really haven't figured out is embracing every part within us. Maybe it's not about ridding ourselves of the parts we don't like but instead learning to accept them and perhaps embrace them to have a different outcome, and maybe, just maybe, we'll be happy.

how do i know what i know if i know anything at all?

Throughout the years, people have depended on science and facts to be sure of what it is that is truly known. Others rely on, ironically, the unknown to explain what it is that is true. Allow me to explain. Obviously when it comes to science we've pretty much grown accustomed to believing that such things are true because all of the facts seem to ass up and knowing that gives us a sense of comfort. Others rely on things such as religion. Things that are thought to be true but can never me proved. And that's what it's all about. If it can be proved then it's true. Why is it this way? Science. Basically i stand with the fact that we all know what we know thanks to the facts, or at least what we believe to be facts. Then again it thanks to the fact that society believes these facts. So technically, society is the root of how we know what we know. Not just in the sense of knowing how it is that the world works but society also helps us form ourselves throughout the years. Like Siddhartha we could choose to leave but, essentially, society was the root of that.