The Most Beautiful Christmas Carol

Oh Holy Night

Oh holy night,
the stars are brightly shining
it is the night
of our dear Saviour's birth.

Long lay the world
in sin and error pining
'til he appeared,
and the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope,
the weary world rejoices;
for yonder breaks
a new and glorious morn!

Fall on your knees
oh hear the angel voices!
Oh night divine!
oh night, when Christ was born.
Oh night divine
oh night, oh night divine.

I like this hymn, mostly I think because of the second and third verses. Kind of reminds me of Anne oGG- a thrill of hope. Such wonderful words. A thrill of hope. Can you imagine?

don't let me rest

It has now been 12 weeks- 3 months since college started. Since August 23rd, I have not spent even 24 hours away from this campus. I have gotten some strange looks and many questions about this decision. Let me try to explain the reasons behind and the effects of this decision.
I have a history of moving. My parents and I counted it up one time, I think we've had just over 20 residences since they've had me- including changing countries various times. The upshot of this history is, I know how to move. I know what it feels like. So when I moved to college, I decided that I would treat it like moving anywhere else: I would dive in. Completely. Once here, there was no going back to the things I knew or the things I was accustomed to. That's one reason that I did not leave.
Of course, like all moves, it has been exhausting at times. There have been weeks where I just had no energy, no... desire left in me to try to engage this new world. But with the help of friends both old and new, I managed to move through, and persevere.
Now, as it turns out, though I have made much progress, I am exhausted. Burnt out is too strong a word, but it's close. If I let myself rest though...
Who knows what will happen when I have to come back? That, friends, is my dilemma. As Thanksgiving and Christmas approach I have to wonder if it will be better for me to go back to places and people I am comfortable with, though parting will be sorrowful.
I don't know...
I just want to make it.
Is this what grown-up life is always like?

So today in class we were talking about sustainability and such. I found myself being angry, and not wanting to participate, and I'm not entirely sure why. The thing about it is, I didn't feel like I had anything to say, really. I mean, sure I've been told my whole life that it's important to turn the light off when you leave a room, not leave the water running while you brush your teeth, etc, but when you get really deep into thinking about it, and how one could make sustainability work... it just ends up making my head hurt. How can one possibly get so many people motivated? How can you get the rich people to give up their riches? There just isn't any viable way that I can see. I'm all for saving paper and recycling, and being sparing and such, but... I don't know, I just think that it will be very difficult to make the change in modern society that seems to be required.

The fact of the matter is that it's all about leading people. SOMEone has to have good leadership skills and be able to move things along- and when I say leadership skills, I don't just mean convincing people that there are things that need to be done. I mean basic motivation. It goes back to the basic motivation for doing things. Here I am, using this writing tool that "punishes" me if I don't continue to write. Why is that? Because I can't motivate myself to write on my own. It's the same with people on a larger scale. Unless there are consequences- visible consequences, that is, because there are always consequences- for the things we do, the products we waste and make, there is no way people are going to want to change. Another problem is that the problem is SO widespread. The people who do the consuming are so far from the people doing the producing. And they have no immediate power to change what is being done. The only thing we are consistently told will help is doing things like turning lights off, using as little water as possible, unplugging appliances- a.k.a., doing our best not to use the resources that are already being exploited. The problem with that is, there's no way it will ever change the system. There is no way that simply using less will
ever stop the system because, no matter how little we are actually using, there will always be enough people using the system to keep it in profits. No matter how small those profits may be, they are more than the system would get by trying to re-write itself. The only way the system will be re-written is if a) the vast majority of people decide to change it or b) it becomes so unprofitable that the only way the people running it can keep their way of life is if they pitch in with changing the system. I don't see how that can happen.

Makes Me Wonder

And now for something, completely different. =) A little bit of random fun, 'cause why be philosophical ALL the time? ;)

1. Put your iPod on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!
4. Tag friends who might enjoy doing the meme as well as the person you got the meme from.

IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?
Bring in the Clowns (lol! of course.)

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Daylight Robbery

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Sometimes love

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
Church (LOL!!!)

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Yo Te Respondere

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Goodnight and go (aw! really guys? i thought better of you...)

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Sorry-grateful

WHAT IS 2+2?
You make it easy to fall in love

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
(I've got a gal in) Kalamazoo (I had no idea you lived there!! You tricked me... )

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
April and Me

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Kiwi

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
It's Good to be in Love

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Bang a Drum

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Sooner Surrender (that's right ladies and gentlemen... watch yourselves!)

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Remember?

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Untitled Hymn (Come to Jesus)

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Must be Dreaming (aye. that it must.)

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Let go. ( 'cause I ain't tellin'! duh. what sort of a question is that?!)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Suspended (the jury is out.)

WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
Secret (nope, not telling. wild horses couldn't drag it from me! and that's not even my biggest secret! - hah, thought you had me, din'cha?)

HOW WILL YOU DIE?
Prone to Wander (haha. i knew that wandering spirit would get me in trouble some day!)

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
Not Everlasting

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
Hungry like the wolf (yeah, i've always thought ravenous people were kinda funny... O.o)

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
Hundred (yes, numbers have always been a tricky subject with me. :P)

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
Por el Suenyo de Dios

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
Monday Mornings (yeah. yuck. there's just no excuse for monday mornings.)

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
It Would have been wonderful (hahaha. aww. i'm just that likeable.)

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
Now/Later/Soon (obviously time is just a bunch of wibbly, wobbly timey-wimey anyway, so who knows what i could change?)

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
All I want is you (ah, so many people to miss...)

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Makes me wonder

Mysteries of the Universe

H, Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, Fr, Be, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, Ra, B, Al, Ga, In, Tl, C, Si, Ge, Sn, Pb, N, P, As, Sb, Bi, O, S, Se, T, Po, F, Cl, Br, I, At, He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe, Rn.
Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pd, Ag, Cd, Pt, Au, Hg.


Meet the mysteries of the universe. They're everywhere, in different proportions and configurations, with electrons zipping around them at death-defying speeds (hah! electrons aren't alive...). They make things explode, light up, move, exist. They are never seen properly, but they're seen all the time as a collective. They're all we see, and a lot of what we don't. It's true what Charles Wallace says in Madeleine L'Engle's book... if you shrank matter down, took out all the empty space, you'd be smaller than your pinky's fingernail.
Imagine.
Really, don't you ever wonder at the universe, at existence?
I can't think about it for too long...

Dichotomy

There are two common views of humanity: one, that we are all fundamentally the same, with the same needs, desires, and basic make-up; the other, that we are all unique individuals who each have something entirely our own to contribute to society. This is a dichotomy. If we are all the same, how can we all be unique?
Today I was watching a movie, with the typical story: evil, trouble, struggle, redemption. I found myself pondering the fact that these elements always show up in some form or another. It seems that struggle is the greatest common denominator in stories.
Why does struggle resound with us so deeply? I think it indicates some common denominator in people. That each person needs certain things. Now I'm sure several experts could spend hours arguing what those things are, but I don't think they'd contest the fact. I would postulate things like acceptance, love, purpose, community. Whenever you get someone to talk to you on an honest, real level, they will often say things that sound very familiar- very like things that you've heard from other people at similar times, or things that you yourself have thought/felt. So my question is this:
If we are all so similar, what is it that differentiates us? Into classes of people, into individuals?
I mean, just as the above is a fact, it is also true that people are different from one another. They do have very different points of view. I don't need to prove it to you, you know it. Just think of someone who's completely different from you, and their friends. And then think of your community, and all the fascinating or boring people in it. You know they're not all the same. That's why one of the most popular sappy plot lines sounds something like "we're all human" or "we're all part of the same big family" or "we're not really all that different" etc.- every time someone realizes it for themselves, it feels like such a discovery that they have to tell everyone else about it (and if you're anything like me, it can get plenty annoying sometimes).
Still, I find I have to acknowledge the truth of it.
With that in mind,

what makes a person unique?
I wonder....

Out of the Hat

I'll just say this:
It doesn't pay to be an Emu.
The End.


p.s.: and yes, I did mean emu. Look it up.