Binary Light and Darkness

"One thing you learn when you've lived as long as I have-people aren't all good, and people aren't all bad. We move in and out of darkness and light all of our lives. Right now I'm pleased to be in the light."
-Neal Shusterman

So I really love Neal Shusterman, he's written a really profound book—called Unwind—about morality and what it means to be alive. Some people have different views on his books because although it's a 'middle school age,' novel, it has quite a serious topic. You can find the book here. But, that all aside, I really love this quote. Often times, a certain question is asked, "Are you a good person?" If you answered 'yes,' you're wrong. And if you answered 'no,' you are also wrong.

For some reason, we believe that we are a very binary people. We're either right or wrong, good or bad, nice or mean. But the truth is we're not all one thing or another. We're neither good or bad, we're both. And this is why I love this quote so much. It puts the thought so eloquently. Every day is different, you can't be a good person all the live long day. We're human and we make mistakes; now don't get confused, that doesn't mean we should give up. That means that we should improve ourselves and try to do better next time. That is the whole reason for life; to improve yourself and be the very best version of you, that you can be. If we make the wrong decision, we are technically in the 'dark,' but there's always a way to step into the light. People are never all in the light or all in the dark, but there's certainly a way to be more in the light than the dark. Moving in and out of darkness only means we're human, but hopefully we're the kind of human who likes the light, not like Hitler or anyone; he definitely liked the dark.

Are You Certain You're Right?

"The people on the extreme sides of such questions often seem very certain about the right answer. But some people would rather be certain than right."
-Bruce C. Hafen

I like this quote because it has a lot of truth to it. I think that the fear of being wrong partly stems fromt the fact that we are human, and simply don't like to be wrong. Period. The end. In other regards, I also think that we don't want to be wrong because the truth is hard; it hurts.

Take the situation of Person A currently dating Person B. Person A has dated Person C a period of time ago. Person A and Person C meet together and have lunch. Later that day, Person B asks, "Where were you at lunch?" Person A responds, "Oh I had some homework/meeting/work thing to attend to." Person B is certain Person A is lying, and yet tells himself or herself "There's nothing to worry about." This is a microscopic example of how people would rather be certain than right. Person B's intuition is that Person A is lying, but is so sure, so confident that person A would never ever lie to himself or herself. So he or she deludes himself or herself into the lie.

Although a small example, the same process occurs with bigger issues on a communal, national, even global scale. When the truth manifests itself, the world comes crashing down. We relise that nothing is what we want it to be, and more importantly how we think it should be. Although people usually laugh when the phrase, "the truth hurts," this statement really hits home. Unfortunately, sometimes there is more comfort in a lie than in a truth.

Be Your Own Individual

"Groups tend to be more immoral than individuals."
-Reinhold Niebuhr

Although pretty self-explanatory, I like this quote because it pretty much explain about 70% of all problems in the world. For example, on a large scale, Nazi Germany. If the Nazis didn't have the support of the German people, there's no way those atrocities would have gone on for so long. I mean, they had lots of other things going for them too, but one of the easiest ways that Hitler controlled them was through herd-poisoning.

On a smaller scale, bullies in any setting (but we'll just focus on the playground). How many bullies do you see waltzing around by themselves? Chances are something you'll find them with at least two side-kicks. Bullies might start off by themselves, but they often attract other bullies. This them boosts their ego and then the group frequently moves from occupying the slides, to dominating the swings—the most sought after real estate on the jungle gym.

There is strength in numbers and it is painfully easy to go with the group, yet another reason why groups are dangerous. When separated, with no other influence, individuals are more likely to state their own opinion; rather than when standing next to the person who has the executioner on speed-dial.

This could be a reason why so much emphasis is placed on people to be their own person, unique, an individual; individuals can think for themselves, they have the morality groups will never attain.

It's YOUR Soul

"I will permit no man to degrade me soul by making me hate him"
-Booker T. Washingotn

I love this quote so much. It's one of the first ones I ever wrote down. But this quote contains so much power. It tells the reader plainly and frankly that you are always in control about how you feel about someone. Adding in a little religion. The Bible says to "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;" Matt 5:44, and I agree with that. It means that you should love and forgive everyone no matter what they do to you. I don't know about you, but I just feel happier and lighter when I'm not fighting with someone. Life seems better and brighter. It's your soul and your life. Why should you taint it just because someone did something to upset you. Why should you waste your thoughts on something you had control over?

If you spend your entire life thinking about all bad things people have done to you, you'll never live, because you'll use up all your time thinking. I know it's easier said than done, but just choosing not to hate someone is so much of a relief. In my experience, it takes effort to be angry at someone. But it's easy to let the anger go. You are in control of your own actions, so why not be in control of your own soul?

The Person You're Searching For

"Home is wherever I'm with you."
-Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

Going to Brigham Young University-Idaho is such a great experience, despite the cold and dry climate. Even though I'm only entering my third semester this fall, I've already seen 3 of my friends get married/engaged. There's people all over the place tying the knot and somewhere in the middle of it I'm supposed to find that 'special someone' too. Can you say nerve racking? If you said 'no,' you're obviously already married or are in a committed relationship. So because of all of this, I think about marriage more than your average young Joe.

I confess, I'm actually really nervous about it. Being with someone for eternity is an awfully nice idea, but making it happen is a whole other ball game. I'm worried that I'll choose the wrong person. But, because I have been thinking about it a lot, I've come to the conclusion that the person you should marry is the person you can talk and laugh and just spend time with, fluently. Someone you feel at home with... And I figure, people almost always feel at 'home' in their physical houses; and whom may be in those houses? Why the people you love of course. For better or worse, for rich or poor, in sickness and in health, there's no way I'd ever desert my loving and patient mother, and energetic and witty sister. I always feel effortless when I'm with them.
"Home, let me go home./
Home is wherever I'm with you/"

Our Positions in Society

"Men are naturally equal, and none ever rose above the rest but by Force of Consent:"
-John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon

At first when I first wrote this quote down, I thought it was quite clever. Then when I put it on here to write about it, I hit a wall. I wasn't sure what to write about, it didn't seem as profound until I thought about it harder and deeper. Obviously this quote heavily relates to slavery. This is clearly the case with the slave owners. The reason some were 'above' their slaves because they 'bought' them. That is a 'force of consent.' The longer I think about 'force of consent,' and the situations that it applies to, the more I think it is usually an intangible thing and how much it relates to the person 'below.' I also think it applies a lot to how we place ourselves in relation to others.

Sometimes, when we feel inferior to other people, it usually means they are a bully. Because we feel inferior to them, that makes them 'above' us. And although they didn't buy us or torture us the fact is that we gave them that consent. Now I'm not saying that the bully isn't wrong, I'm saying that we have the power to make them 'above' us; but we also have the power to make us equal to them again.

Recipe for Creativity

"To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong."
-Joseph Chilton Pearce

I don't know what exactly I like so much about this quote. But one of the things I like about it is that it implies that it's okay if we're wrong. Humans have this fear of being wrong and have the need to always be right. But being wrong is how we learn; it's how we grow and change. Creativity is what makes life interesting. If no one ever did anything wrong we would never progress, never questions, never dig deeper; we would never think outside the box, or in other words, live a creative life.