Volume Two:
Volume Three:
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Truth & Self Discovery
I found out something about myself tonight. It was my first class in group therapy (mandated by the court) and when it came to be my turn to speak I was asked what I want to work on thru therapy. I literally had no answer. I have had two years of therapy and with him asking me this question my drive home filled my head with spinning questions and self assurance.
At age 24 I know exactly who I am. I know everything about my past, why I did the things I did, what makes me tick and do the things I do. I know everything there is to know about myself. Most people spend their entire lives trying to figure this out and I am lucky and blessed and thankful that I am in this place in my life and can only better myself from here.
Don't get me wrong, there will always be more earth to uncover. Even if you could dig all the way to the earths core, you would be digging down and deep until you reached the molten hot magma that is truth. But, here is the tricky part. From there you can either easily walk thru the tunnel you have already been thru and see and experience all you already have OR you can keep digging because there is a top either way, there is always more self discovery. I'm sure in the coming years as I strive to find my vices and turn them into virtues I will find more out about myself. But, here... now, I feel complete, in control and satisfied with every aspect of myself (besides of course not having the perfect body that everyone wants haha)
I am Jake. Hear me roar!
Questions? Comments? Email me at Hippie2012blogspot@hotmail.com
At age 24 I know exactly who I am. I know everything about my past, why I did the things I did, what makes me tick and do the things I do. I know everything there is to know about myself. Most people spend their entire lives trying to figure this out and I am lucky and blessed and thankful that I am in this place in my life and can only better myself from here.
Don't get me wrong, there will always be more earth to uncover. Even if you could dig all the way to the earths core, you would be digging down and deep until you reached the molten hot magma that is truth. But, here is the tricky part. From there you can either easily walk thru the tunnel you have already been thru and see and experience all you already have OR you can keep digging because there is a top either way, there is always more self discovery. I'm sure in the coming years as I strive to find my vices and turn them into virtues I will find more out about myself. But, here... now, I feel complete, in control and satisfied with every aspect of myself (besides of course not having the perfect body that everyone wants haha)
I am Jake. Hear me roar!
Questions? Comments? Email me at Hippie2012blogspot@hotmail.com
Love
What is love? Such an undefinable word yet a lot of us spend out entire lives trying to answer this question whether aware of it or not.
Again I will start with a literal definition, thanks to dictionary.com. Love: 1. A profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.
2. A feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend.
3. Sexual passion or desire.
My therapist once said when I asked her how she does it all the time she replied, "It's easy, basically every single problem we face as humans is derived from love, more specifically so a need to be loved."
I took and let soak in and have found on numerous occasions that she is almost entirely correct in the matter.
I have been in love with a boy and I have been in love with a girl. I can't differentiate between the two except that the love was different because of how unique they each were. I spent 7 years chasing the feeling I had when I first met both of them, to finally let the girl go and to finally let the love I felt for the boy turn into a love of friendship. Still I yearned for that romantic "soulmate" feeling.
There are many different kinds of love as described by the definition above. There is love for family, there is love for friends, there is your first love and the people you have fallen in love with. All of which I believe can never die. My love for my family can never be broken no matter what trials we go thru. My love for friends is the same case and as for the people I have fallen in love with, the people I chose to love and tell them so, I, unlike other people also believe that never dies. All love, once felt resides somewhere in the heart. I speak metaphysically of course. I believe it is always with you, even tho I am now friends with that boy I spent 7 years pining over, there is the past me, the one that existed and the love existed too. Once something exists, you can't undo it, you can't take it away. You can pretend it never happened but that is just lying to yourself. Once in love, always in love, yet the form of love can change.
There is also the love of things such as literature, art, music or beauty which is covered under passion in the definition above. This is something innate in us, something that we have no control over, something that drives us forward each day ans the passion burns inside of us. This is easy for us to admit, my love is the love of beauty. I see it all around and it's the reason I get up everyday. I see it in the mountains, where the clouds are covering the point and dusk slowly settles upon them. The very mountains I am seeing outside the window of this coffee shop. I hear it in the laughter of the people inside here and I see it in every one of my friends and the beautiful moments we spend together. I see it in a strangers eye when I hold the door open for them and every stranger for that matter. This is why I get up, this is my motivation.
However, there is always an antagonistic point of view. There is a science behind love as there is with all things and this is where a little thing called faith comes into play. There is one side of the argument which you can't prove then there is the scientific side, which in this case unless electrodes were attatched to your head the very moment you fall in love, science can never prove their case. Which side you believe in is when faith is called into question and you choose to let faith or science guide you. This is the case for most metaphysical things in this world.
Psychologists have shown it takes between 90 seconds and 4 minutes to decide if you fancy someone.
Research has shown this has little to do with what is said, rather
55% is through body language
38% is the tone and speed of their voice
Only 7% is through what they say
The 3 stages of love:
Helen Fisher of Rutgers University in the States has proposed 3 stages of love – lust, attraction and attachment. Each stage might be driven by different hormones and chemicals.
Stage 1: Lust
This is the first stage of love and is driven by the sex hormones testosterone and oestrogen – in both men and women.
Stage 2: Attraction
This is the amazing time when you are truly love-struck and can think of little else. Scientists think that three main neurotransmitters are involved in this stage; adrenaline, dopamine and serotonin.
Adrenaline: The initial stages of falling for someone activates your stress response, increasing your blood levels of adrenalin and cortisol. This has the charming effect that when you unexpectedly bump into your new love, you start to sweat, your heart races and your mouth goes dry.
Dopamine: Helen Fisher asked newly ‘love struck’ couples to have their brains examined and discovered they have high levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine. This chemical stimulates ‘desire and reward’ by triggering an intense rush of pleasure. It has the same effect on the brain as taking cocaine!
Fisher suggests “couples often show the signs of surging dopamine: increased energy, less need for sleep or food, focused attention and exquisite delight in smallest details of this novel relationship” .
Serotonin: And finally, serotonin. One of love's most important chemicals that may explain why when you’re falling in love, your new lover keeps popping into your thoughts.
Does love change the way you think?
A landmark experiment in Pisa, Italy showed that early love (the attraction phase) really changes the way you think.
Dr Donatella Marazziti, a psychiatrist at the University of Pisa advertised for twenty couples who'd been madly in love for less than six months. She wanted to see if the brain mechanisms that cause you to constantly think about your lover, were related to the brain mechanisms of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.
By analysing blood samples from the lovers, Dr Marazitti discovered that serotonin levels of new lovers were equivalent to the low serotonin levels of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder patients.
Love needs to be blind
Newly smitten lovers often idealise their partner, magnifying their virtues and explaining away their flaws says Ellen Berscheid, a leading researcher on the psychology of love.
New couples also exalt the relationship itself. “It's very common to think they have a relationship that's closer and more special than anyone else's”. Psychologists think we need this rose-tinted view. It makes us want to stay together to enter the next stage of love – attachment.
Stage 3: Attachment
Attachment is the bond that keeps couples together long enough for them to have and raise children. Scientists think there might be two major hormones involved in this feeling of attachment; oxytocin and vasopressin.
Oxytocin - The cuddle hormone: Oxytocin is a powerful hormone released by men and women during orgasm.
It probably deepens the feelings of attachment and makes couples feel much closer to one another after they have had sex. The theory goes that the more sex a couple has, the deeper their bond becomes.
Oxytocin also seems to help cement the strong bond between mum and baby and is released during childbirth. It is also responsible for a mum’s breast automatically releasing milk at the mere sight or sound of her young baby.
Diane Witt, assistant professor of psychology from New York has showed that if you block the natural release of oxytocin in sheep and rats, they reject their own young.
Conversely, injecting oxytocin into female rats who’ve never had sex, caused them to fawn over another female’s young, nuzzling the pups and protecting them as if they were their own.
Vasopressin: Vasopressin is another important hormone in the long-term commitment stage and is released after sex.
Vasopressin (also called anti-diuretic hormone) works with your kidneys to control thirst. Its potential role in long-term relationships was discovered when scientists looked at the prairie vole.
Prairie voles indulge in far more sex than is strictly necessary for the purposes of reproduction. They also – like humans - form fairly stable pair-bonds.
When male prairie voles were given a drug that suppresses the effect of vasopressin, the bond with their partner deteriorated immediately as they lost their devotion and failed to protect their partner from new suitors.
So you can think what you want about love you can be logical or you can believe and let it sweep you off your feet. I believe it is spiritual and a spiritual connection whether family, friends, pets, your passion, or the one you fall in love with. You can explain anything away with science and sure if we messed with human brain chemicals thats exactly what we are doing. Our brain does involuntary things such as making our heart beat and breathing but at the same time when you make the statement "I am me." The me is obvious that you are talking about your body and brain, but what makes you say "I" try to explain that. There is something else out there in this world, there is something else inside you and it works thru your body and brain. So all I ask is think about the "I" every once in awhile, and keep doing it until you live thru the "I" all the time. You will become spiritual, level, clear, stress free and an all around loving human being. I believe it is at that point when two people that have achieved the "I" state fall in love, or two people meet and they help complete the "I" in the other. Either way I believe in love, not scientifically, I believe in pure unadulterated love.
SO live, love and laugh more.
Jake
Questions? Comments? Email me at Hippie2012blogspot@hotmail.com
Again I will start with a literal definition, thanks to dictionary.com. Love: 1. A profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.
2. A feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend.
3. Sexual passion or desire.
My therapist once said when I asked her how she does it all the time she replied, "It's easy, basically every single problem we face as humans is derived from love, more specifically so a need to be loved."
I took and let soak in and have found on numerous occasions that she is almost entirely correct in the matter.
I have been in love with a boy and I have been in love with a girl. I can't differentiate between the two except that the love was different because of how unique they each were. I spent 7 years chasing the feeling I had when I first met both of them, to finally let the girl go and to finally let the love I felt for the boy turn into a love of friendship. Still I yearned for that romantic "soulmate" feeling.
There are many different kinds of love as described by the definition above. There is love for family, there is love for friends, there is your first love and the people you have fallen in love with. All of which I believe can never die. My love for my family can never be broken no matter what trials we go thru. My love for friends is the same case and as for the people I have fallen in love with, the people I chose to love and tell them so, I, unlike other people also believe that never dies. All love, once felt resides somewhere in the heart. I speak metaphysically of course. I believe it is always with you, even tho I am now friends with that boy I spent 7 years pining over, there is the past me, the one that existed and the love existed too. Once something exists, you can't undo it, you can't take it away. You can pretend it never happened but that is just lying to yourself. Once in love, always in love, yet the form of love can change.
There is also the love of things such as literature, art, music or beauty which is covered under passion in the definition above. This is something innate in us, something that we have no control over, something that drives us forward each day ans the passion burns inside of us. This is easy for us to admit, my love is the love of beauty. I see it all around and it's the reason I get up everyday. I see it in the mountains, where the clouds are covering the point and dusk slowly settles upon them. The very mountains I am seeing outside the window of this coffee shop. I hear it in the laughter of the people inside here and I see it in every one of my friends and the beautiful moments we spend together. I see it in a strangers eye when I hold the door open for them and every stranger for that matter. This is why I get up, this is my motivation.
However, there is always an antagonistic point of view. There is a science behind love as there is with all things and this is where a little thing called faith comes into play. There is one side of the argument which you can't prove then there is the scientific side, which in this case unless electrodes were attatched to your head the very moment you fall in love, science can never prove their case. Which side you believe in is when faith is called into question and you choose to let faith or science guide you. This is the case for most metaphysical things in this world.
Psychologists have shown it takes between 90 seconds and 4 minutes to decide if you fancy someone.
Research has shown this has little to do with what is said, rather
55% is through body language
38% is the tone and speed of their voice
Only 7% is through what they say
The 3 stages of love:
Helen Fisher of Rutgers University in the States has proposed 3 stages of love – lust, attraction and attachment. Each stage might be driven by different hormones and chemicals.
Stage 1: Lust
This is the first stage of love and is driven by the sex hormones testosterone and oestrogen – in both men and women.
Stage 2: Attraction
This is the amazing time when you are truly love-struck and can think of little else. Scientists think that three main neurotransmitters are involved in this stage; adrenaline, dopamine and serotonin.
Adrenaline: The initial stages of falling for someone activates your stress response, increasing your blood levels of adrenalin and cortisol. This has the charming effect that when you unexpectedly bump into your new love, you start to sweat, your heart races and your mouth goes dry.
Dopamine: Helen Fisher asked newly ‘love struck’ couples to have their brains examined and discovered they have high levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine. This chemical stimulates ‘desire and reward’ by triggering an intense rush of pleasure. It has the same effect on the brain as taking cocaine!
Fisher suggests “couples often show the signs of surging dopamine: increased energy, less need for sleep or food, focused attention and exquisite delight in smallest details of this novel relationship” .
Serotonin: And finally, serotonin. One of love's most important chemicals that may explain why when you’re falling in love, your new lover keeps popping into your thoughts.
Does love change the way you think?
A landmark experiment in Pisa, Italy showed that early love (the attraction phase) really changes the way you think.
Dr Donatella Marazziti, a psychiatrist at the University of Pisa advertised for twenty couples who'd been madly in love for less than six months. She wanted to see if the brain mechanisms that cause you to constantly think about your lover, were related to the brain mechanisms of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.
By analysing blood samples from the lovers, Dr Marazitti discovered that serotonin levels of new lovers were equivalent to the low serotonin levels of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder patients.
Love needs to be blind
Newly smitten lovers often idealise their partner, magnifying their virtues and explaining away their flaws says Ellen Berscheid, a leading researcher on the psychology of love.
New couples also exalt the relationship itself. “It's very common to think they have a relationship that's closer and more special than anyone else's”. Psychologists think we need this rose-tinted view. It makes us want to stay together to enter the next stage of love – attachment.
Stage 3: Attachment
Attachment is the bond that keeps couples together long enough for them to have and raise children. Scientists think there might be two major hormones involved in this feeling of attachment; oxytocin and vasopressin.
Oxytocin - The cuddle hormone: Oxytocin is a powerful hormone released by men and women during orgasm.
It probably deepens the feelings of attachment and makes couples feel much closer to one another after they have had sex. The theory goes that the more sex a couple has, the deeper their bond becomes.
Oxytocin also seems to help cement the strong bond between mum and baby and is released during childbirth. It is also responsible for a mum’s breast automatically releasing milk at the mere sight or sound of her young baby.
Diane Witt, assistant professor of psychology from New York has showed that if you block the natural release of oxytocin in sheep and rats, they reject their own young.
Conversely, injecting oxytocin into female rats who’ve never had sex, caused them to fawn over another female’s young, nuzzling the pups and protecting them as if they were their own.
Vasopressin: Vasopressin is another important hormone in the long-term commitment stage and is released after sex.
Vasopressin (also called anti-diuretic hormone) works with your kidneys to control thirst. Its potential role in long-term relationships was discovered when scientists looked at the prairie vole.
Prairie voles indulge in far more sex than is strictly necessary for the purposes of reproduction. They also – like humans - form fairly stable pair-bonds.
When male prairie voles were given a drug that suppresses the effect of vasopressin, the bond with their partner deteriorated immediately as they lost their devotion and failed to protect their partner from new suitors.
So you can think what you want about love you can be logical or you can believe and let it sweep you off your feet. I believe it is spiritual and a spiritual connection whether family, friends, pets, your passion, or the one you fall in love with. You can explain anything away with science and sure if we messed with human brain chemicals thats exactly what we are doing. Our brain does involuntary things such as making our heart beat and breathing but at the same time when you make the statement "I am me." The me is obvious that you are talking about your body and brain, but what makes you say "I" try to explain that. There is something else out there in this world, there is something else inside you and it works thru your body and brain. So all I ask is think about the "I" every once in awhile, and keep doing it until you live thru the "I" all the time. You will become spiritual, level, clear, stress free and an all around loving human being. I believe it is at that point when two people that have achieved the "I" state fall in love, or two people meet and they help complete the "I" in the other. Either way I believe in love, not scientifically, I believe in pure unadulterated love.
SO live, love and laugh more.
Jake
Questions? Comments? Email me at Hippie2012blogspot@hotmail.com
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Change V.2
This is a hard one to describe. I'll start with a quote
Things do not change; we change. -Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862), Walden (1970)
It is so true, surroundings may change, events may change but would anything really change if we did not change? It's almost like the question "if a tree falls in the forest and there in nobody around to hear it does it make a sound?" Of course it does, but it does not have any human, emotional, rational connection unless someone is around to hear it. So does change really affect us even if we aren't around to see it.
In a way I want to say yes, because I believe in the butterfly effect, but within our own present timeline. If something happens somewhere it sends out ripples of change that eventually reach us no matter how minimal and if the wake of the pebble that was thrown into the pond that we are classifying as change, doesn't reach us, it reached somebody and that's just another pebble thrown in.
Little examples prove that quote to be correct though. Last night I was at a party or two and right in front of compromising my goals of being abstinent from drugs and alcohol. I easily turned down everything that was offered to me. That's not the usual me. I usually take a shot every time one is handed to me, I usually don't pass on the bowl. But, I was let down, it was all to easy to say no and I had just as much fun. I'm thinking this total sobriety is going to last a lot longer than a year. It felt really good as I watched one guy get sick, many others walking around like zombies. Granted they were having fun, but they were sleepy and groggy and I imagine didn't feel as well as I did this morning. So nothing changed, the alcohol was still there, within my reach and offered to me over and over again. I changed and it was all to easy to say no and still laugh along with the crowd.
So the power to change is within you and it is so easy to bring it out of yourself, you just need resolve and commitment. You need the courage to be yourself and to live life as you want to. I really cannot stress how easy it really is to change, one step at a time, but still you all have the power to change anything you want to.
The other form of change is that you never know what life is going to throw at you, or how you are going to change over the smallest things. Moments may seem insignificant at the time, yet they hold immeasurable power to change the course of your life in its entirety. I embrace change. I look back on all the times that I could have bailed out on a situation but didn’t. What if I had? Who would I be today? My mind contemplated simple thoughts while I started to drift of to sleep last night, content with the days events, and with a pretty good view on the philosophical concept of change.
"If you want to make the world a better place, take a look in the mirror and make a change." -Micheal Jackson
Things do not change; we change. -Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862), Walden (1970)
It is so true, surroundings may change, events may change but would anything really change if we did not change? It's almost like the question "if a tree falls in the forest and there in nobody around to hear it does it make a sound?" Of course it does, but it does not have any human, emotional, rational connection unless someone is around to hear it. So does change really affect us even if we aren't around to see it.
In a way I want to say yes, because I believe in the butterfly effect, but within our own present timeline. If something happens somewhere it sends out ripples of change that eventually reach us no matter how minimal and if the wake of the pebble that was thrown into the pond that we are classifying as change, doesn't reach us, it reached somebody and that's just another pebble thrown in.
Little examples prove that quote to be correct though. Last night I was at a party or two and right in front of compromising my goals of being abstinent from drugs and alcohol. I easily turned down everything that was offered to me. That's not the usual me. I usually take a shot every time one is handed to me, I usually don't pass on the bowl. But, I was let down, it was all to easy to say no and I had just as much fun. I'm thinking this total sobriety is going to last a lot longer than a year. It felt really good as I watched one guy get sick, many others walking around like zombies. Granted they were having fun, but they were sleepy and groggy and I imagine didn't feel as well as I did this morning. So nothing changed, the alcohol was still there, within my reach and offered to me over and over again. I changed and it was all to easy to say no and still laugh along with the crowd.
So the power to change is within you and it is so easy to bring it out of yourself, you just need resolve and commitment. You need the courage to be yourself and to live life as you want to. I really cannot stress how easy it really is to change, one step at a time, but still you all have the power to change anything you want to.
The other form of change is that you never know what life is going to throw at you, or how you are going to change over the smallest things. Moments may seem insignificant at the time, yet they hold immeasurable power to change the course of your life in its entirety. I embrace change. I look back on all the times that I could have bailed out on a situation but didn’t. What if I had? Who would I be today? My mind contemplated simple thoughts while I started to drift of to sleep last night, content with the days events, and with a pretty good view on the philosophical concept of change.
"If you want to make the world a better place, take a look in the mirror and make a change." -Micheal Jackson
Friday, February 19, 2010
New York, I Love You
New York, I love you. **
New York, I do love you. However, I do not love this film. Even with an all star cast it failed to shine for me. Produced as the sequel to Paris Je Tia'me it did not live up to it or even close. I'm not sure whether they tried to make it simaliar or different, because it's format was slightly different, but it lives in Paris Je Tia'me's shadow and blends in with the back round.
At the beginning I thought, "I must buy this!" just because of it's all star cast... Hayden Christensen, Natalie Portman, Orlando Bloom, Shia La Beouf and many more, but I can't keep this feeling I have from welling up when I think I almost spent twenty dollars on it. One from redbox was plenty.
To put it simple, Paris made me connect with the city, it made me emotional and New York hardly connected at all. It had one or two good stories and one or two predictable ones the rest was a mush of nonsense. All in all, 2 stars. See it if you want, just don't hope for another Paris Je Tia'me. I think thats why I was let down.
With love,
Jake
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Clarity
The best and safest thing is to keep a balance in your life, acknowledge the great powers around us and in us. If you can do that, and live that way, you are really a wise man. -Euripides (484 BC - 406 BC)
Clarity. Where does it come from? How do we gain it? And what do we do with it once we have it? I will try my best to answer all three of these questions in a reasonably understandable format.
Although first I must say that for the first time in my life I have clarity. The fog of uncertainty has lifted and is now replaced with hope and a prosperous view. I don't know where it came from. I don't know how I got it. I pray that I hold on to it. But, I can only live moment to moment and adapt to the change in the path that is lain in front of me. The reason I have to hope, is like I said, the fog has lifted and I may not be able to see around the bend, but I can see the beauty of the trees, the ground... I can hear the crunch of gravel and feel a soft wind. I can experience life as the sun shines brightly upon my future. Thus, my reason for hope.
Where does clarity come from? This one is simple to answer, yin yang it. What is the opposite of clarity? To be unclear, cluttered. Clarity is defined as 1. Clearness or lucidity as to perception or understanding; freedom from indistinctness or ambiguity.
2. The state or quality of being clear or transparent to the eye; pellucidity: the clarity of pure water. It's synonyms are intelligibility, exactness and simplicity.
So my thoughts on where clarity comes from is derived from it's synonyms. They are exactly the words I would have used to answer this question if I had not looked up the definition.
First, intelligible make yourself clear and aim for the capability to be understood. Speak clearly, think clearly and unclutter your brain.
Second, exactness. In one of my favorite books "The Peaceful Warrior" Socrates (A pseudonym for a character) says to unclutter your mind use the sword and the sword is meditation. Earlier in the book he says that the difference between himself and his student is that Dan only concentrates on one thing at a time and Socrates is precise and every act is a meditative one, meaning that he is exact in every action. SO I would then recommend exactly what he said. Be exact in every action and realize what you are doing.
Third, simplicity. This one is short, simplify, every situation in life is simple, it's all about how you react. It is your choice. If you have clarity from the three things I have described here, being clear, being exact and by simplifying your world seems all too clear. It sounds easy, but it is not. Whenever things seem too complex, use the sword, forget about everything and meditate with every action, control your emotions and then YOU choose how you react to life and it's extremes. Thus, it becomes simple to achieve clarity.
Last but not least, what do we do with clarity once we have it? Well, my friend... that is up to you. Hold on to it moment to moment and live in a clear-cut world. My world has turned into this. Life really is simple, as humans we over complicate it all. But, really, listen to your instincts, quiet your mind, live simply and humbly but most of all live with love in your heart and I promise your world will be clear and YOU will be the one telling people how to simplify their life, you will notice all the complexities around you and they will not phase you. You will sit there in your own world with love in your heart, a bounce in your step and a presence that other people will notice and be attracted to.
...Amazing how me telling you to simplify has turned into my longest entry yet, right?
As always with love,
Jacob Gabriel
Questions? Comments? Feel free to email me at Hippie2012blogspot@hotmail.com
The
Clarity. Where does it come from? How do we gain it? And what do we do with it once we have it? I will try my best to answer all three of these questions in a reasonably understandable format.
Although first I must say that for the first time in my life I have clarity. The fog of uncertainty has lifted and is now replaced with hope and a prosperous view. I don't know where it came from. I don't know how I got it. I pray that I hold on to it. But, I can only live moment to moment and adapt to the change in the path that is lain in front of me. The reason I have to hope, is like I said, the fog has lifted and I may not be able to see around the bend, but I can see the beauty of the trees, the ground... I can hear the crunch of gravel and feel a soft wind. I can experience life as the sun shines brightly upon my future. Thus, my reason for hope.
Where does clarity come from? This one is simple to answer, yin yang it. What is the opposite of clarity? To be unclear, cluttered. Clarity is defined as 1. Clearness or lucidity as to perception or understanding; freedom from indistinctness or ambiguity.
2. The state or quality of being clear or transparent to the eye; pellucidity: the clarity of pure water. It's synonyms are intelligibility, exactness and simplicity.
So my thoughts on where clarity comes from is derived from it's synonyms. They are exactly the words I would have used to answer this question if I had not looked up the definition.
First, intelligible make yourself clear and aim for the capability to be understood. Speak clearly, think clearly and unclutter your brain.
Second, exactness. In one of my favorite books "The Peaceful Warrior" Socrates (A pseudonym for a character) says to unclutter your mind use the sword and the sword is meditation. Earlier in the book he says that the difference between himself and his student is that Dan only concentrates on one thing at a time and Socrates is precise and every act is a meditative one, meaning that he is exact in every action. SO I would then recommend exactly what he said. Be exact in every action and realize what you are doing.
Third, simplicity. This one is short, simplify, every situation in life is simple, it's all about how you react. It is your choice. If you have clarity from the three things I have described here, being clear, being exact and by simplifying your world seems all too clear. It sounds easy, but it is not. Whenever things seem too complex, use the sword, forget about everything and meditate with every action, control your emotions and then YOU choose how you react to life and it's extremes. Thus, it becomes simple to achieve clarity.
Last but not least, what do we do with clarity once we have it? Well, my friend... that is up to you. Hold on to it moment to moment and live in a clear-cut world. My world has turned into this. Life really is simple, as humans we over complicate it all. But, really, listen to your instincts, quiet your mind, live simply and humbly but most of all live with love in your heart and I promise your world will be clear and YOU will be the one telling people how to simplify their life, you will notice all the complexities around you and they will not phase you. You will sit there in your own world with love in your heart, a bounce in your step and a presence that other people will notice and be attracted to.
...Amazing how me telling you to simplify has turned into my longest entry yet, right?
As always with love,
Jacob Gabriel
Questions? Comments? Feel free to email me at Hippie2012blogspot@hotmail.com
The
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Motivation
Where does motivation come from? Why do people do what they do? What gives them conviction and courage and enthusiasm to get up in the morning and do, well... whatever. To chase your dreams? To sit thru meetings? To finish a book? To finish writing a book? To start a relationship? To break up? To love? To forgive? To move on or let go? To smile?
It is in all aspects of our life and in everything that we do, more than we could ever realize. More than I have realized until recently. This entry is extremly simaliar to my "Goals" entry, but I sat there thinking after I finished my book today, really what motivates us?
To be honest. I don't know. I know what motivates me. My three biggest motivations in my life is to make my parents proud, to help people and the feeling I get when I think about my little boy, of being a father. The last one is the one that motivates me the most.
The best thing about motivation is that it is out little secret. A little blip that goes thru out mind. A tiny word or feeling or thought that can make all the difference in your life and in all you come in contact with. So keep that little secret and keep it strong!
With love,
Jake Gabriel
Questions? Comments? Feel free to email me @ Hippie2012blogspot@hotmail.com
It is in all aspects of our life and in everything that we do, more than we could ever realize. More than I have realized until recently. This entry is extremly simaliar to my "Goals" entry, but I sat there thinking after I finished my book today, really what motivates us?
To be honest. I don't know. I know what motivates me. My three biggest motivations in my life is to make my parents proud, to help people and the feeling I get when I think about my little boy, of being a father. The last one is the one that motivates me the most.
The best thing about motivation is that it is out little secret. A little blip that goes thru out mind. A tiny word or feeling or thought that can make all the difference in your life and in all you come in contact with. So keep that little secret and keep it strong!
With love,
Jake Gabriel
Questions? Comments? Feel free to email me @ Hippie2012blogspot@hotmail.com
Monday, February 15, 2010
The Past
What is there to say about the past? So many people have so many different views on it. Let it go. Acknowledge it. Let it be a part of you. Forget it. Move on.
I've always struggled with this concept and recently got in a, well lets say disagreement about the subject with a good friend, and this conversation led to -off topic- another which officially led us in different directions in life. Thus, she becoming part of my past. She said I dwell and live too much in the past and I argued "at least I acknowledge it! I'm not one to just forget someone or something and move on or hold in my feelings like I am holding my breath until I pass out."
I love my past. I love everyone in it. I love my mistakes and failures and I love my triumphs. I have lost much and have gained much, as I'm sure all of you have as well. It has made me everything that I am, inside and out. It has made me a good hearted and loving person, a caring one and also a confident one that knows where to draw the line. Sure I have let people down, but I have gone out of my way to help them to. Sure, I have hurt people but I have also loved them more than they could ever know.
I know this isn't a flowing blog, it is random and all over the place. But, I am using this to vent and what I wanted to say is I was at this place tonight and memories came flooding back. Everything was so real, it seemed tangible. So much so that I saw the back of someones head and my heart leapt thinking it was him, excited to start a friendship out of what used to be love and make up for all the lost time.
Maybe my point is when you find something good whether it be a girl you love that becomes your best friend, your best friend, or the boy that you fall in love with try your hardest to be open about it and let it be present and future and not let them fade into the past... where all they are, are memories floating in your mind.
Hold on to what you love and if you have lost it... don't give up the fight.
As always with my regards,
Jacob Gabriel.
Questions? Comments? Feel free to email me @ Hippie2012blogspot@hotmail.com
I've always struggled with this concept and recently got in a, well lets say disagreement about the subject with a good friend, and this conversation led to -off topic- another which officially led us in different directions in life. Thus, she becoming part of my past. She said I dwell and live too much in the past and I argued "at least I acknowledge it! I'm not one to just forget someone or something and move on or hold in my feelings like I am holding my breath until I pass out."
I love my past. I love everyone in it. I love my mistakes and failures and I love my triumphs. I have lost much and have gained much, as I'm sure all of you have as well. It has made me everything that I am, inside and out. It has made me a good hearted and loving person, a caring one and also a confident one that knows where to draw the line. Sure I have let people down, but I have gone out of my way to help them to. Sure, I have hurt people but I have also loved them more than they could ever know.
I know this isn't a flowing blog, it is random and all over the place. But, I am using this to vent and what I wanted to say is I was at this place tonight and memories came flooding back. Everything was so real, it seemed tangible. So much so that I saw the back of someones head and my heart leapt thinking it was him, excited to start a friendship out of what used to be love and make up for all the lost time.
Maybe my point is when you find something good whether it be a girl you love that becomes your best friend, your best friend, or the boy that you fall in love with try your hardest to be open about it and let it be present and future and not let them fade into the past... where all they are, are memories floating in your mind.
Hold on to what you love and if you have lost it... don't give up the fight.
As always with my regards,
Jacob Gabriel.
Questions? Comments? Feel free to email me @ Hippie2012blogspot@hotmail.com
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Plea?
" A loud voice cannot compete with a clear voice, even if it's a whisper."
Barry Neil Kaufman
I seem bothered that I have written so much and so few people have experienced my writing. Does that make me selfish? Am I looking for self validation, someone to agree with me that my writing is good or worthy?
I am not that type though, thus my misunderstanding of how I feel right now. I've written literally over hundreds of thousands of words in novels, in poetry and in short stories. Add the few hundred from this blog and the words that have been read are equal to a penny in a billionaires bank account.
With this feeling I keep that quote in my mind. People will find time to read my works as I advance in my talent. I will be discovered in due time and if not at least I put myself out there, at least I take the time to write, at least my emotion isn't bottled inside and is out there for everyone to see, feel, relate to...
I don't know.
Always keep your hopes up and keep your voice clear.
As always with much love,
Jake Gabriel
Questions? Comments? Feel free to email me @ Hippie2012blogspot@hotmail.com
Barry Neil Kaufman
I seem bothered that I have written so much and so few people have experienced my writing. Does that make me selfish? Am I looking for self validation, someone to agree with me that my writing is good or worthy?
I am not that type though, thus my misunderstanding of how I feel right now. I've written literally over hundreds of thousands of words in novels, in poetry and in short stories. Add the few hundred from this blog and the words that have been read are equal to a penny in a billionaires bank account.
With this feeling I keep that quote in my mind. People will find time to read my works as I advance in my talent. I will be discovered in due time and if not at least I put myself out there, at least I take the time to write, at least my emotion isn't bottled inside and is out there for everyone to see, feel, relate to...
I don't know.
Always keep your hopes up and keep your voice clear.
As always with much love,
Jake Gabriel
Questions? Comments? Feel free to email me @ Hippie2012blogspot@hotmail.com
Friday, February 12, 2010
Goals
Today's entry is going to be short and sweet. I haven't completed my list of goals, but I do have a year to do them. Yet today, I worked out for two hours, wrote in my novel at a cafe with a good friend, did a good deed, applied for jobs and all by 3 PM. Which, in whatever case, left me quite bored for a little while. I said I was going to wake up and do 100 sit-ups and as many push-ups as I can do and I did, ten minutes before my alarm went off. My point being is set goals and do them. This quote always inspires me.
"The difference between doing something and doing nothing, is the doing."- Unknown
Always with love,
Jake
Questions? Comments? Feel free to email me @ Hippie2012blogspot@hotmail.com
"The difference between doing something and doing nothing, is the doing."- Unknown
Always with love,
Jake
Questions? Comments? Feel free to email me @ Hippie2012blogspot@hotmail.com
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Power, Ego, Humility and the Virtue that lies in between.
I am going to start off today's post with a movie review of "Young Victoria." A movie I saw with one of my best friends ever. However, on with the review.
Young Victoria directed by Jean-Marc Vallée was nominated for three Oscars, Another 5 wins & 10 nominations. I'd say it did quite well for and independent period piece. However, it is very deserving of the high praise it receives world-wide. Emily Blunt not only played Victoria with prestige and wholeheartedness, she gave Victoria her well deserved iconic role in our history. She also added so much subtle beauty to the film she was breath-taking as an actress. Oh! And Rupert Friend playing Prince Albert played the role quite stunningly, whether or not his eyes really are that deep and heartfelt or he was acting I only could hope I see eyes look at me the way he looked at Victoria/Emily in the film. All in all five stars and a must see!
The reason I chose this movie to review is because it has so much to do with humility, virtue, strength in ones own charachter, conviction and being able to remain humble with all the power in the U.K. in the palm of your hand.
Power and ego usually get the best of us however they are simply vices according to Socrates and we must find balance. On one side Power/Ego on the other side would be being a doormat, the balance... humility... I believe. Humility is a virtue we should all pursue and try to make it a permanent part of us and our integrity.
In Young Victoria -and I'm not spoiling anything for you- once she gains power she does not become a power hungry monster, yet remains humble, asks for help and sees that in her power it is her job to take care of the less fortunate all while taking the time to enjoy all the things in life you should, true love, family, happiness...
This happens in our everyday life. We may not live by a class system as clear cut in the time of peasants and kings. But, there are the less fortunate and I could go on to a whole topic of volunteering or helping, or keeping granola bars in your trunk so when a homeless man asks for money you feed him instead. I barely do that, so I have no right to preach.
All I ask is to take a look around you, make your posture straight and feel the power and light you have inside you, turn that into confidence and then turn that into humility. See the world thru your own eyes and stick with your convictions. Also, realize that there are those who need your help.
As my bumper sticker says. "Rock shit! Remain humble."
Live, Love, Laugh...more
Jake
Questions? Comments? Feel free to email me @ Hippie2012blogspot@hotmail.com
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Complications
The reason I am writing about todays topic is because that's all I have done all day is deal with complications without an progress to show for it. So Today I am writing about complications and how each and every one of you out there say "why the hell is everything so complicated?" Sure you get bullshit answers like life is supposed to hard, life is just complicated and there is nothing you can do about it but smile and move on.
WELL my friends. I am afraid that is not the case. The "comforting" sayings above do apply when you are in an emotional storm that was proceeded by death or something uncontrollable. But, when something is palpable and you really look at why everything is so complicated it is because our educational system sucks, our legislature sucks, our judicial system sucks, our economy sucks... and all that forms a sort of murky fog around us without us even knowing. Thus, putting so many people in bad moods, which are also infections. So person get the subway in a pissed off mood, it spreads through the entire car. So every time we get cut off, or miss an elevator or the light changes yellow just a second to early so your not going to make it or something doesn't go our way our inner child throws a tantrum which in lamens terms just pisses you off.
BUT! There is an exception. If you have the ability to look inside yourself and see the beauty of nature in you and in everything, things become brighter, you care less about what people think about you, about the fact you spilled coffee or your boss yelled at you or about just how unmanageable life seems sometimes. Pull yourself up by the britches (Do people out there still wear those?) And just be happy that you are breathing air and alive, be happy your drinking water is gathered from a stream and murky brown. Be happy our children can play in public parks or that we... well pretty much have equal rights here. For everything that just pisses you off. Find something that doesn't. Yin yang it and balance it out. I promise, you will balance too.
Live, Love, Laugh... more
Jake
Questions? Comments? Feel free to email me @ Hippie2012blogspot@hotmail.com
WELL my friends. I am afraid that is not the case. The "comforting" sayings above do apply when you are in an emotional storm that was proceeded by death or something uncontrollable. But, when something is palpable and you really look at why everything is so complicated it is because our educational system sucks, our legislature sucks, our judicial system sucks, our economy sucks... and all that forms a sort of murky fog around us without us even knowing. Thus, putting so many people in bad moods, which are also infections. So person get the subway in a pissed off mood, it spreads through the entire car. So every time we get cut off, or miss an elevator or the light changes yellow just a second to early so your not going to make it or something doesn't go our way our inner child throws a tantrum which in lamens terms just pisses you off.
BUT! There is an exception. If you have the ability to look inside yourself and see the beauty of nature in you and in everything, things become brighter, you care less about what people think about you, about the fact you spilled coffee or your boss yelled at you or about just how unmanageable life seems sometimes. Pull yourself up by the britches (Do people out there still wear those?) And just be happy that you are breathing air and alive, be happy your drinking water is gathered from a stream and murky brown. Be happy our children can play in public parks or that we... well pretty much have equal rights here. For everything that just pisses you off. Find something that doesn't. Yin yang it and balance it out. I promise, you will balance too.
Live, Love, Laugh... more
Jake
Questions? Comments? Feel free to email me @ Hippie2012blogspot@hotmail.com
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Change
My first blog will be about the concept of change.
The dictionary defines change as: to make the form, nature, content, future course, etc., of (something) different from what it is or from what it would be if left alone.
Seems pretty sound to me. But, in reality how applicable is it to us. It seems so simple, but why can't I wake up tomorrow and go work out? Why can't I change? The answer is you can. Whenever I question that concept I am reminded of a quote either I, made up or heard. "The only difference between doing something and doing nothing is the doing."
If you are walking thru a trail in the woods and find a rock, it is in elementary state. Take that rock and smash it against a boulder. It has changed. It has become many new things. All of those shards are scattered around, some big and some small and are now all as individual of the whole rock that existed only moments ago.
So, philosophical question is when humans change do we shatter pieces off of ourselves? Things like if we were mean and would like to be a better person so we put work in it and we change into a nice person. We have shattered, we have thrown that rock of self-centerdness against a boulder that is metaphorically our will. But, where did that shard of us that was ugly go? It exists and we formed compassion where it used to be. We have no room for it. Just like the rock above is it out there, but it is lost, it used to be part of a whole. It yearns to be a part of that whole again.
As humans our will power is how we change, we throw out what we don't need. We chip away all the bad parts of ourselves and become better. That shard will always be out there wanting to be part of you. You just have to keep your strength up.
Change is hard, but we can all do it.
With love,
Jake Gabriel
Questions? Comments? Feel free to email me @ Hippie2012blogspot@hotmail.com
The dictionary defines change as: to make the form, nature, content, future course, etc., of (something) different from what it is or from what it would be if left alone.
Seems pretty sound to me. But, in reality how applicable is it to us. It seems so simple, but why can't I wake up tomorrow and go work out? Why can't I change? The answer is you can. Whenever I question that concept I am reminded of a quote either I, made up or heard. "The only difference between doing something and doing nothing is the doing."
If you are walking thru a trail in the woods and find a rock, it is in elementary state. Take that rock and smash it against a boulder. It has changed. It has become many new things. All of those shards are scattered around, some big and some small and are now all as individual of the whole rock that existed only moments ago.
So, philosophical question is when humans change do we shatter pieces off of ourselves? Things like if we were mean and would like to be a better person so we put work in it and we change into a nice person. We have shattered, we have thrown that rock of self-centerdness against a boulder that is metaphorically our will. But, where did that shard of us that was ugly go? It exists and we formed compassion where it used to be. We have no room for it. Just like the rock above is it out there, but it is lost, it used to be part of a whole. It yearns to be a part of that whole again.
As humans our will power is how we change, we throw out what we don't need. We chip away all the bad parts of ourselves and become better. That shard will always be out there wanting to be part of you. You just have to keep your strength up.
Change is hard, but we can all do it.
With love,
Jake Gabriel
Questions? Comments? Feel free to email me @ Hippie2012blogspot@hotmail.com
My first message to you...
How does one change thier life in one year. Simple, by pushing youself. Something that takes more resolve and more dicipline than most people realize, and more importantly don't realize that they already have it. In the course of the one year I write this blog as a journal of my personal metamorphosis into the person I've always wanted to be and am meant to be.
Hopefully many my will join my cause to change and be a better person, whether it is to loose weight, become more active in society, go green improve a marriage or mend the broken bridges of the past.
Life is about light and dark. I hope this next year, this next 365 entries will inspire and help people to live in the balance, to live with virtue and value. I am not preaching, because we will be learning together. People from all over the world can change for the better and that will make all the difference.
Life is full of choices and to put it plainly I have made some bad ones, but I have also realized the value of making a good choice and finding the blessing in the dark times, drawing the line and finding the balance of my personal virtues and morals. I've created my own religious beliefs based on Buddhism, and created a world of hopes and dreams around me. It took me a long time to get where I am, being myself and feeling 100% comfortable in my own skin. I love myself, I love humanity and the beauty of nature. I feel something coming, something good like within a year I am going to be everything I've always wanted to be without resolve. I am me and I am happy, but there is always room for more. Needless to say it's time for a change.
This blog is going to be about my goals and how I am accomplishing them which I will list below.
It is going about me finding the perfect man and my complicated relationships along the way.
It is going to be about friendships.
It's going to be about my struggle with being bi-polar
It will be highly philosophical and existential.
It is going to involve positivity, morals and values.
Most days will be a flash back because something super exciting just doesn't happen everyday.
It will have a poetry for days I am lazy.
Also I will preach, because I am lazy.
Goals-
-To be 175-180, To run, exercise and lift weights. 3 times/wk
-To quit smoking
-To quit smoking in my car
-To quit smoking in my house
-To manage being bi-polar effectively
-To go back to school
-To financially support myself
-Fully abstain from drinking and drugs for one year.
-To stop interrupting people (Yes, I'm serious)
-Give up coffee for tea
-Get Finances in order for school
-Get and maintain a 3.5 average
-Get a job
-Clean my house every Saturday
-Take vitamins
-Finish all three novels of "Micheal, Dillon and I"
-Read more
-Learn French
-Last but not least inspire people with this blog.
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Questions? Comments? Feel free to email me @ Hippie2012blogspot@hotmail.com