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Checking In

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A Few Reminders

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Hey guys, it's been a while. If you know me personally, you'll know that my memory is not very good. I'm pretty prone to forget dates and times and events and memories and it's frustrating to me. I don't think I have any sort of intense or problem-causing memory loss, but I just wish that I could remember things a little bit more easily. This is one of the main reasons why I like photography; it allows me to create a frame I can use in the future to return to the past. That's all photography is: a window to a moment that would have otherwise been lost in time. Of course it would be foolish to live exclusively in a frozen past, but a reflection of pleasant times now gone can be healthy and useful in a fresh present. Like I said, I don't think my ability to remember things is so bad that it impacts my day-to-day life in a seriously negative way, but I can always benefit from a reminder to help me remember the important things. Is my life going to end if I can...

Thoughts on Happiness

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Hey guys, it's been a while. I haven't been writing very much lately, and the things I have started to write have somehow never turned in to final, finished blog posts for multiple reasons, one of the main ones being that I try too hard to make each post as perfect and refined as I can. So today, I just want to share a few things I've been thinking about lately without worrying about whether each thing is right or whether it's finished or not. I hope that's okay. Over the past few days, I've been thinking a lot about happiness. Yes, the ethereal state of satisfaction and cheerfulness we all strive for. Happiness is a complex topic, but I want to offer some of my simple thoughts on the subject because, well, that's what I do here. Feel free to take what you want from this reflection of mine. 1. You control your happiness, mostly. This one is something I've been going back and forth on for a long time, but I think this is the most accurate way I can say th...

Let's Talk About Racism

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I've spent a lot of time searching for the perfect words to put into this post. I've been thinking a lot and trying to construct these sentences without flaws. But each time I worry about making a mistake, I just stop because I'm too scared of saying something wrong. But today, I am going to say what I feel I need to say without worrying whether the words are perfect or not. Today, I want to start a discussion about racism in the United States. I understand and fully confess that I, a straight, white male born into a middle-class family and raised in a predominantly caucasian region in the United States, am probably not the best source for first-hand experiences about issues of racism or really any sort of prejudice in any way. I have benefitted from certain privileges that not all people have, and while this frustrates me because I know that I'm not better than anyone else and I don't deserve those favors, I feel it would be unfair if I didn't make it clear fro...

The Waiting Game

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Hey guys, it's been a while. Two days ago, I took my last exam and I officially finished my first semester of college. This semester turned out to be a lot different than I expected it to be for a lot of reasons, but I'm still pretty happy with the way things turned out. I learned about what college is like, about myself, and more than anything, I learned that things aren't always going to go the way you think they will, and that's okay. One of the things that I definitely did not see coming during this semester was the switch that my university would make from traditional, in-person classes to going fully online. Of course this wasn't really a choice the university made just because they wanted to, but the way things are going in the world required them to. I can't speak for anyone but myself, but in my experience, online classes aren't bad but for some reason they feel a lot less real than in-person classes. It would have been really hard for me to de...

A Breath of Hope

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If I had to describe life in one word right now, it would undoubtably be weird . I don't know how else to describe it. Life is just so strange. A lot of people are sick throughout the world and because of that, most major events are cancelled, my school is online, and I'm not supposed to leave my house unnecessarily. I was woken up a couple days ago by the fifth largest earthquake in Utah's recorded history. Life just feels dramatically different than how I would have guessed it would feel at this point. This isn't like any other time I can remember in my life, and I bet it's a time like no other for a lot of people throughout the world. COVID-19, or the coronavirus, has changed a lot of things about daily life for a lot of people. Some of those impacts are small and insignificant, like people not giving as many hugs or handshakes. Some are bigger, like making people dramatically alter their plans or putting jobs on hold or closing borders. A virus that we still ...

Unfortunate Self-Discovery

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It's 9:00 PM on a Friday night. I'm a freshman in college, my homework is finished, and I'm totally down to go out and party with friends because, well, isn't that how you're supposed to spend a Friday night? But I'm not at a party. I don't even have plans to meet up with anyone. I am alone in my room, writing a blog post that I'll publish but not publicize because sometimes I want to talk but not be heard. Sometimes I just want to convert my thoughts into keystrokes at my computer and send them into the void with hopes that they won't be forgotten, regardless of the lack of readers. Because that's not what it's about. Why am I here instead of out with friends? I like blogging, but this is prime hangout time. The best time. I can blog whenever I want, so why now? In a few hours my school is going to have a fun event that I wanted to go to but I can't seem to find the willpower to actually get myself to go. What's the deal? Wel...