I for the life of me cannot understand the deal with popularity. Why do people care so much? Is there a fundamental lack of self-worth or self-acceptance that goes hand in hand with the need be known/seen? Take a look around you. Everyone wants to be famous (or infamous) for something. You've got little kids growing up wanting to be the next teen sensation and 45 year old men playing shows in bars still waiting for their "big break" while in reality they've wasted 30 years chasing an illusion that was never meant to be theirs.
YouTube, Myspace, Facebook, and even blog sites like this one have given birth to a new era of narcissism. Welcome to our generation. Everything's about US, ME, MINE!!!!! LOOK AT ME!!! ARE YOU LOOKING YET?! What can I do to hold your attention? In my opinion this is the root of all our problems: We're simply too self-centered. We live our lives for number one. What college do I want to go to? What car do I want? What color ipod do I want? Want want want. Blah blah blah. We exist in a culture of noise & confusion.
Is there really ever a time we're not being bombarded with slogans & ideals screaming at us telling us we could be so much better IF...*insert quick fix for a long-term insecurity*. Since the 20's we've lived in a consumer's nation, and we've been bred for it. I can type out all I want and talk til I'm blue in the face, but the fact is, you probably don't care. I'll be lucky if you even read this. Why? Well, it is YOUR Facebook...YOUR time... YOUR apathy. You know what? I don't know what will fix this. I don't know how to make you see. I don't know why people spend so much time shopping for clothes to look a certain way, or fixing their hair to fit a certain facade, or shaping their features to fit an expectation. All I know is, I'm so done. I don't care what you think of me. If I decide to wear pajama pants to walk to my mailbox, I will. If I want to dye my nails neon pink and listen to Aerosmith, you can call me a poser. If I claim to be a Christian and mess up, you can call me a hypocrite. Because you know what? We're all unoriginal posers and hypocrites.
And hey, I want to be seen too. I want to be known. The thing is, I know who I already am. I'm a child of God. I'm not afraid to sound cliche or over-done here. I'm not a Christian. I'm a follower of Christ. I'm human. I'm flawed. I'm forgiven. All I'm asking is for people to start seeing past the North Face fleeces and Uggs & start seeing souls. I don't care if you don't remember my name, but I hope you "get it" before this life's over. This incredible opportunity called "existence" is SO not about us. So what's the deal?
-Chris.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Right Place, Wrong Time: A Concise Rant (:
In any facet of pop culture, we can find celebrities in their given fields. There's Pavoratti, Van Gogh, Mozart, Edgar Allen Poe.... And they become more appreciated as time goes on. See, Lady Gaga isn't, despite public opinion, "legendary" yet. She's current. Only time will tell if she'll go down in history or drown in a sea of names on has-beens reality tv show. Even Madonna hasn't quite made the cut yet. I say it takes a good long while before you're considered "classic".
Many influencial leaders, artists, athletes, and philosophers were highly misunderstood & underappreciated during their lifetime. They never saw their idealistic dreams or goals fully come to fruition. In fact, most died a bitter, lonely death amongst their art. (Honestly...just look up some authors if you want. The bios are actually often downright depressing.) So, what can we learn from this?
First of all, fame is pointless. In case you haven't noticed, the fundamental inner-workings of the world & humanity haven't changed much in the past 2,000 years. There were old-time "popstars" and celebs then, too. (Anyone remember learning about troubadors?) But do we study them? No. On rare occassions someone will have gained some recognition towards the end of their life, but most disappeared from the pages of history and their work perished along with them. Perhaps Emerson was more correct than he knew when he stated, "To be great is to be misunderstood".
Secondly, you'd better find something important to do in this world with your one life, and you'd better be passionate about it! You don't become great by sitting around doing nothing. Greatness takes sacrifice, perserverance, and complete belief in your cause. You need to be willing to risk everything to see it through.
Lastly, your character will determine your greatness. Anyone can commit a heinous crime and be infamous. It takes great strength of character to be remembered for the right reasons. True, this doesn't apply to all "greats" when you really study their lives, but I think it would've made a huge difference if they HAD possessed strong characters. Your attitude and thought patterns throughout life WILL influence your success.
I basically wrote this to encourage you to greatness. Don't get discouraged if you feel like a complete moron for standing up for what you believe in. I'd rather see someone strongly disagree with the laws of gravity like a fool and be passionate than NOT hear someone defend their own faith while under fire as a result of their own cowardice. Don't be afraid to BE. Keep pushing, pulling, praying, prying...... DO NOT give in.
-Chris
P.S. I just typed this at 2 am. as a result of hearing one-too-many fellow teenagers talking about how they wanna "make it big" & be seen. Like everyone else. There are probably numerous errors & I might've gotten off topic but I needed to rant a little :) Thanks for reading if you indeed did. Feel free to add on, criticize, freethink...whatever. :)
Many influencial leaders, artists, athletes, and philosophers were highly misunderstood & underappreciated during their lifetime. They never saw their idealistic dreams or goals fully come to fruition. In fact, most died a bitter, lonely death amongst their art. (Honestly...just look up some authors if you want. The bios are actually often downright depressing.) So, what can we learn from this?
First of all, fame is pointless. In case you haven't noticed, the fundamental inner-workings of the world & humanity haven't changed much in the past 2,000 years. There were old-time "popstars" and celebs then, too. (Anyone remember learning about troubadors?) But do we study them? No. On rare occassions someone will have gained some recognition towards the end of their life, but most disappeared from the pages of history and their work perished along with them. Perhaps Emerson was more correct than he knew when he stated, "To be great is to be misunderstood".
Secondly, you'd better find something important to do in this world with your one life, and you'd better be passionate about it! You don't become great by sitting around doing nothing. Greatness takes sacrifice, perserverance, and complete belief in your cause. You need to be willing to risk everything to see it through.
Lastly, your character will determine your greatness. Anyone can commit a heinous crime and be infamous. It takes great strength of character to be remembered for the right reasons. True, this doesn't apply to all "greats" when you really study their lives, but I think it would've made a huge difference if they HAD possessed strong characters. Your attitude and thought patterns throughout life WILL influence your success.
I basically wrote this to encourage you to greatness. Don't get discouraged if you feel like a complete moron for standing up for what you believe in. I'd rather see someone strongly disagree with the laws of gravity like a fool and be passionate than NOT hear someone defend their own faith while under fire as a result of their own cowardice. Don't be afraid to BE. Keep pushing, pulling, praying, prying...... DO NOT give in.
-Chris
P.S. I just typed this at 2 am. as a result of hearing one-too-many fellow teenagers talking about how they wanna "make it big" & be seen. Like everyone else. There are probably numerous errors & I might've gotten off topic but I needed to rant a little :) Thanks for reading if you indeed did. Feel free to add on, criticize, freethink...whatever. :)
"What I Wanted To Say"
Cursor flashing on a screen
Colored blue and white.
Can you tell me what I mean,
What I want to write?
Fragments float across my mind;
How do I arrange them?
Twice as many left behind
In the frantic mayhem.
War, religion, politics!
There's so much to say...
But I steer away from this,
Saved for another day.
There are plenty others
To rant and scream and shout.
They hate their very brothers...
The world can do without.
Instead I just keep hoping
To move along and live.
To thrive among the coping,
And learn how to forgive.
I'm not this cruel reflection
They call "humanity".
I cannot reach perfection,
But it's who I strive to be.
There's more than all this fighting,
This pain and death and grief!
I am quite done hiding!
I will not sink beneath.
You will not find me weeping
On my bedroom floor!
There's a promise I'll be keeping...
Kicking down the door.
Christina sawyer (c) 2011
Colored blue and white.
Can you tell me what I mean,
What I want to write?
Fragments float across my mind;
How do I arrange them?
Twice as many left behind
In the frantic mayhem.
War, religion, politics!
There's so much to say...
But I steer away from this,
Saved for another day.
There are plenty others
To rant and scream and shout.
They hate their very brothers...
The world can do without.
Instead I just keep hoping
To move along and live.
To thrive among the coping,
And learn how to forgive.
I'm not this cruel reflection
They call "humanity".
I cannot reach perfection,
But it's who I strive to be.
There's more than all this fighting,
This pain and death and grief!
I am quite done hiding!
I will not sink beneath.
You will not find me weeping
On my bedroom floor!
There's a promise I'll be keeping...
Kicking down the door.
Christina sawyer (c) 2011
"Like Me"
You can spend your whole life waiting
For the chance to be.
For the chance to see.
You could be like me.
You can spend your whole life dreaming
About lofty things...
Of an audience with kings...
Flying o'er the earth on wings.
You can spend your whole life hoping
To get out of here.
Rise beyond the fear.
To learn to disappear.
You can spend your whole life waiting.
For the chance to flee.
Reveal honesty.
You could be like me.
Christina Sawyer (c) 2010
.
For the chance to be.
For the chance to see.
You could be like me.
You can spend your whole life dreaming
About lofty things...
Of an audience with kings...
Flying o'er the earth on wings.
You can spend your whole life hoping
To get out of here.
Rise beyond the fear.
To learn to disappear.
You can spend your whole life waiting.
For the chance to flee.
Reveal honesty.
You could be like me.
Christina Sawyer (c) 2010
.
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