I was recently reading a book by John Steinbeck called Of Mice and Men which is about two migrant farmers named George and Lennie in the 1930s. George is a relatively smart person compared to Lennie because Lennie has a mental handicap. Now we don’t know exactly what he has but we think it is something akin to Downs Syndrome. Throughout the whole book, Lennie makes mistakes and George fixes them. This book really brought the fact that people struggle with mental illness all the time and it doesn’t just affect the people with the affliction, but the much of their family and friends. I believe that everybody should be educated on the problems that people with mental illness face. It’s truly sad to see how many people suffer from mental problems in their lives. There’s also only recently been a call to action for the aiding of mental illness in public schools and other related public places. If people were more aware of the problems faced by people with mental illness and the challenges their family faced then I think that every person would be a little nicer and grateful for what they have.
Author: tuckfran
Cars
I recently got very into cars and how they work. I am just now realizing how absolutely fascinating cars are and how you can do so much to them. People make their cars fast, specific for offroad or just plain stock. The cool thing is that there’s a huge following for each genre of cars. All across the nation people meet up to show off their superior off-road cars, race their cars for money, and some people show off their very old cars in near brand new condition. I also just got accepted into an Auto Technology class at a nearby college. Once you pass the class you even become a certified Honda mechanic. Due to this class, I have also been looking at a car to get that I can work on while I am in that class. A lot of older Volkswagen Bugs are very popular as project cars because you can modify them to be fast, off-road, stanced, or even just stock and they still look cool. They’re also decently cheap for parts adn accessories. The engines are a simple flat four cylinder that weighs about as much as a feather, which makes it easy to work on. Overall, I am extremely excited I have the opportunity to work on some cars and learn how to make them better. These skills are important for a persons whole life and it will help them well into adulthood.
Questioning
I personally agree with every point in this blog post. I encourage everybody to read this blog post. My family raised me christian for most of my life and forced me to go to church. It had gotten to the point that I purposefully scheduled work so that I would be able to skip work. Chris here has some very good opinions on questioning everything.
In previous generations, most ideas were accepted with little questioning. With the rapidly expanding availability of the internet and other sources, it enabled the newer generation to question things that were not to be questioned before. I believe the biggest example of this would be religion, so I’m going to talk a little bit about religion. Before, if you were raised in a house of religion, that’s just what you believed and you were brought up being told that you were right and others were wrong. This allowed for no expansion of different ideas and questions. Many parents today still raise their children in their own belief. It is odd that the religion that you were raised in happens to be the only correct religion, all across the globe. There’s a question already, which religion is the correct religion? There is no way of knowing because all religions believe they are the correct…
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Accountability
Everybody makes mistakes. It’s a simple fact that everybody makes multiple mistakes in their lives. I recently had made a very big mistake in my life and I’m struggling with taking responsibility for my actions. It’s extremely hard to know when you make a mistake, admit it, and then deal with the errors. Anytime I make a mistake I try my best to admit it, deal with the consequences, and move on. I have the utmost respect for people that admit to their mistakes. They prove that they can be adults and deal with their actions maturely and then deal with the consequences. My parents don’t always do this. My teachers don’t always do this. Even I don’t always do it. I believe it’s important to try to do it as often as you can because even though you made a mistake it shows you are capable with dealing with yourself. Whenever my parents or whoever is “in charge” makes a mistake and doesn’t take accountability for their mistake I almost immediately stop respecting them and I don’t listen to them anymore because I lost all respect for them. What’s even worse is when people blame others for their mistakes. Be responsible for your actions and people will respect you, which will go a very long way.
San Gorgonio
San Gorgonio is a mountain in Southern California. It’s the tallest mountain in Southern California. This mountain has one of the most relaxing places I have ever been to sitting right behind it. The place I’m speaking of is a little dried up lake with a campsite nearby. If you go in the middle of the lake then you can see the top of San Gorgonio. It had this feeling of serenity to it, a breeze, the smell of pine trees, and it had these beautiful sun rays penetrating the trees during dusk. I have never felt more relaxed and calm in a place other than this. It’s that pure place that I remember. While I was there, after about a 10 mile hike, slightly dehydrated, and very hungry, I decided to go to the lake during dusk and put on Holocene and Towers by Bon Iver. I felt as if, in that moment, I couldn’t possibly be torn down. I felt invincible. I was in such a state of tranquility it was a breath of fresh air to feel something relaxing because I had some stuff going on outside of this trip. That whole day was just an escape from everything. I peaked San Gorgonio, listened to Bon Iver, and felt simply calm. People underestimate what going into nature can do to us, it’s so different from our common lives and daily activities. Going to a place that doesn’t really have much foot traffic is possibly one of the best feelings. I was mentally and physically getting away from all of the stress in my life.
Problems
I often see problems in people. Every person has their own personal problems. Some have more than others. Some have less than others. The one thing I’ve noticed is that people with similar problems often group together. You can kinda see it in friend groups. Overall, you can see that people have their friends to find out the solution to their problems. One of the best places to observe it is at parties, if you’re ever at a party and you just take a step back and look around and take in the whole scene then you can see the despair in people’s eyes. They’re smiling but they have hurt hearts. While they’re often guarded very heavily, it’s still possible to pick up hints about some of their problems. I firmly believe humans are only at their best when they lift each other up. There are some problems that people have no control over and those problems can destroy honest and talented people.
Loss
Loss is a part of the human experience. Everybody experiences loss, from losing a sock to losing a family member. It happens to all of us and it changes all of us. Obviously losing a sock won’t really change anything in our lives but losing a family member, a pet, or a friend can and most likely will. The only thing we have control over is how we deal with it. Whether we lose somebody in a huge fight or we lose somebody to death it’s all about how you deal with your problems. Whenever we lose somebody the first reaction is usually anger and confusion. We ask why something like this would happen, we can’t think of any logical reason and our entire job at this point is to find something even remotely logical to give this terrible situation meaning. Eventually, as time goes on we realize exactly what I am saying. Everything has an expiration date. Love, life, and fun will only last a certain amount of time. Let’s be honest though, it’s worse if you are stuck only having good things than having bad things and good things happen. Without the bad things in life how do we know that something is good. That’s why we need loss. It sucks when it happens, but it can make everything a little bit better when it’s good. The next time something bad happens (and I mean absolutely terrible) just remember that when something good happens (and I mean absolutely awesome) that the bad thing made you realize how good the good situation is.
Compassion
Compassion is what gives humans their humanity. This feeling is what keeps humans alive, it lets us realize that somebody cares and often the people that have the most positive impact on others are very compassionate. I know from personal experience on both sides that compassion can forge lasting relationships with others. Compassion can also have profound effects on another person that can change them forever. I once heard a story from a friend of mine (he’s a little bit older) about where he totaled his car in an accident and a guy that was riding his bike by them came over and offered to pay for the repairs. Later my friend asked him why he did such an unnecessarily kind act for a complete stranger. The man answered that he believed that he should help others when they’re in need because he was once a drug addict and needed help and got none. He had sold his car and lived in a little apartment and used a lot of his money. While this story may be going over the line a little bit there’s another story about a kid named Kyle ( http://www.snopes.com/glurge/kyle.asp ). One day a kid in high school spotted Kyle being bullied on his way home and decided to go and help him. I won’t spoil the story for you but it outlines very well how compassion can have a huge impact on a person. The bottom line is that if you have an opportunity to be nice to another person then do it. It can sometimes literally mean life or death.
Art
Art is one of the few constants between all of the great civilizations. Every single community of people, no matter how big or small, needs some form of art. The ancient Romans made great works of art, the Egyptians did the same, and the Greeks not only made a bunch of art, but they paved the way for the rest of the civilizations with realistic art. Most modern civilizations go off of the realistic art forms that the Greeks created thousands of years ago. Today we still do realistic art in the forms of photography and video, something that has never been done until recent generations. I believe that our generations are much more capable of art because we are able to share ideas and art much quicker than older generations. Almost every civilization before us was limited by the speed of walking or at best horseback. Ideas took months, if not years, to gain traction let alone be pondered by scholars and people with power. Now everybody is capable of discussing art in a matter of seconds. The amount of art humans are producing in this day and age is some of the highest ever in recorded history because everybody can create ideas and share them with their peers or other similar minded people very quickly through the internet. Art affects everybody in some way, not necessarily the same way or the same art, but it affects people. Literature is ages old and the most common way to share ideas. Pictures (either drawn or photographed) can convey feelings in a completely silent room with no words at all.
TuckFran 