Ideas Love Nature

People are funny creatures. We continually try and convince ourselves that we are original and unique, and that nobody else is quite like us.

But we've all heard the old motif. "If everybody's special, then nobody is."

I don't really believe either of those. Not everybody is perfectly unique, there aren't near enough traits for every single person to have their own. But at the same time, the human race is far from homogeneous.

Really, it's just this:

Ideas are recycled.

Every great movie, book, person, action, anything has probably been done before in some way, shape or form.

But that doesn't make it any less unique. It just means that it's not entirely original.

People tend to get so hung up on convincing themselves that what they are doing comes from their own mind, not from an outside influence. I know that I do. But the truth is that everything has a motivation, and motivations are all recycled.

There is a fine line between motivation and pure duplication, however. If something is done merely because somebody else did it, there's nothing slightly original about it. If it's done in your own way but the action was inspired by somebody else's, that's simple motivation, and has been altered enough to become unique in its own right.

We heard from a guest speaker in my lit class the other day. He worked with famous poets, and is a poet himself. And when he first introduced himself to us, he started with an idea that I found very interesting.

He told us that people were all connected through lineage. If a person shares the same passions as you do, they are from your lineage. Not all people from the same lineage are really that similar though, as you well may know.

I have often met people through similar interests, thinking that because of our share passion we will immediately get along.

Most of those people end up being douches.

Which brings me to the second point that Randy made.

Of the people who share your lineage, there are only some who are also in your tribe.

That tribe extends all the way around the world.

So when you find somebody that seems so similar to you it's as if the gods just made a carbon copy, it may be tempting to think of your ideas as no longer original.

Because they're not.

They're recycled from the same sources that are drawn upon by all of the rest of the people who share your lineage, and utilized by the people in your tribe.

The ideas are still your own.

They may be recycled, or motivated by a common influence, but no matter how many people you may find from your same tribe, ideas are personal, and their similarities should be reveled in, never run from.

And although this reasoning may have been entirely circular and in the end make sense to nobody but myself, I think that it's fairly sound advice.

Love your ideas.

They have also stemmed from other brains. They are motivated by the world around you, no matter how hard you try to convince yourself that they came from your soul and not the people you associate yourself with.

But they are yours, and should be utilized as such.

Pointless Party Games

We crush the pebbles under sandaled feet
The dirt becomes a whisper in the past
to dwindle to the heart's unending beat
and leave predictions wondering, aghast.

The stars sit in their seat above our heads
with lives as tokens, tossing wooden dice
Philosophizing, lying in our beds
pretending there is room in paradise

directions circling endlessly like wind
but never blowing where the meter aims
No bets are placed on those who haven't sinned
And glory's patrons, only those with claim

There are no gods observing from their clouds
Dead six feet down, not looking to be proud.

I'm Actually Laughing With You This Time, Not At You

I had a revelation tonight. You know, one of those deep, philosophical ones? Yeah, of course you do.

Anyway, I was all, hey, I should blog about that.

I was gonna make it be a post like "guess what I just realized about human nature as a whole."

But then I realized, it's probably just me.

Because most people aren't like me.

In fact, I would say nobody's quite like me, except the special few.

I actually had somebody tell me at rehearsal the other day that I was the most frank person that they had ever met.

They asked me if I had a boyfriend.

I said no.

They laughed.

I told them that I hated them.

It really helped counter their point.

Anyway, I really did have a revelation. And it's that I, if not other people who may or may not be nicer than me, tend to take people who make me feel good for granted.

I generally just assume that unless people are assholes, I will get along with them well enough to have a good time.

But that's really not the case. People don't have to simply not suck, they actually have to be cool too.

There are plenty of people who I don't hate. In fact, I really don't hate anyone.

And there are most definitely some people I would really rather not spend any time with, ever.

So when I have a long shift at work that actually doesn't feel that long and I get home in a good mood, it makes me reflect.

Plenty of people are on what you could call my "good side." I don't love them, but I like them enough that if I am forced to spend time with them, I can at least leave in a neutral state of mind.

Some people are on my good side only because they're stupid, and their idiocy entertains me.

I like those people.

But the people who make me laugh not because they're stupid, but just because they're fun, deserve more mental appreciation from me than they're currently getting.

Just mental, though.

Wouldn't want to get crazy.

I've never thought that I was that tough of a person to get along with.

But I realize that I'm intimidating, and as my choir teacher has told me, I am a "dragon lady in training."

I'm proud of that.

People just really don't get appreciated for the way that they act, and I think it's because everybody values different personality traits in the people that they choose as their friends.

I, for one, like it when people have a good sense of humor, but they're not so uptight that they can laugh a little about stuff that may not cause the moral compass to point due north.

I also like it when they're not stupid. But hey, that's just an added bonus. Some of my best friends earned their position because of their lack of i.q. points. Haha, not really, I'm just kidding...

You know who you are.


But when people that I have not actually taken the time to pick as my friends still fit into the category, damn ees niiiice.

So gee, people, thank you.

Really.

I mean it.

Merci.