First, a note: I updated my “about” page to include a small paragraph as to why I right… and another paragraph about hippies.

So, on with my pondering. One thought has really been on my mind lately: the concept of sharing one’s own thoughts. In writing blog posts, I am actually extremely reticent. I am reserved in what I say, for I don’t wish to reveal too much of myself. But when something is bothering you, what do you do? To maintain things as they are, secret thoughts, seems rather foolish to me. Things must be said. Troubling thoughts must be unveiled. Yet to who? Should I speak unreserved on this blog, revealing to everybody everything. Perhaps… but only under the condition that it were anonymous. Otherwise, I would never commit such an act. Then to who? It seems that this is where the concept of “best friend” comes up. I never understood that term. What makes a particular friend better than another? Somebody you can talk to about everything, I believe, is a “best friend.” However, how does one reach such a status? Who begins sharing? I think that sharing of something like thus must be mutual. But how do friends become so? Through time? No, I do not think so. For some of my oldest friends hear none of my thoughts, while some of my newest friends I already consider “best” friends. I suppose something like that just… happens. I don’t think everything has to have a logical explanation. Friendship the least. “Best friends” just happen. So then we must reveal our thoughts to these friends. These friends that we trust. Or perhaps what is required is an avuncular figure. That is even more difficult to say… that is even rarer than our closest of friends. But you have to tell somebody. So who then? I do not know. I only know that there are just two such people who I talk to about my thoughts. Well, and of course the world may gain access to my ponderings through this blog.

(more…)

I’ve decided to outline my philosophy on life. So, in a nutshell, here it is. I call it the “Ten Commandments to a Better Life.” Hmmm… crappy title. Lemme rethink that. “Ten Commandments to Happiness.” Oh, how about just the “Ten Commandments.”

1. “Without the bitter, the sweet ain’t as sweet”
2. Everything will work out in the end (no need to excessively plan things)
3. Pleasure over work, every time
4. Life’s too short (an explanation for #3)
5. Never regret anything
6. Never trouble yourself with good and evil, they do not exist
7. Do what you want, not necessarily what you’re told
8. Don’t be constrained by societal rights and wrongs, or even laws for that matter
9. Everyday’s a new start and a new beginning, never dwell on the past
10. Value friendship

“was ihn nicht umbringt, macht ihn starker”
(What does not kill him, makes him stronger)

That which does not kill me, only makes me stronger. That which does not kill me, only makes me stronger. Why is it that I feel so weak? That which does not kill me, only makes me stronger. Every experience I have had, every memory I hold. Everything. Ah… if only I could have this outlook on life. If only I can believe that what doesn’t kill me will make me stronger. But I can’t. I can’t bring myself to believe it. Every harsh experience I have had, every emotionally destructive experience, has not killed me, but has weakened me. My hopes and my spirit become weakened. I manage, yes. But I am not the same. And I am not stronger. I am older. And I am weaker. All I can keep in my mind now:

Because without the bitter, baby, the sweet ain’t as sweet.

That’s all I can keep in my mind. And that’s all I have to get me through those experiences. Without the bitter, the sweet ain’t as sweet. We live through life, and that’s how we live: we live through life. And life throws us those harsh experiences. But what can we do? We just have to hang in there.

What is it that is considered “good,” and what is it that is considered “evil?” Who decides? Who knows? Is there an innate knowledge that we are born knowing what is good and what is evil? No, of course not. If every man knew what was evil, then what would drive them to commit evil crimes? Out of pleasure? Can one truly find pleasure fleeing from authorities, commiting what you know is wrong, and living with a burden of a crime? No, one cannot. Then what explains the actions that we take? More specifically, what explains the “evil” actions that we take? The simple fact is that “good” and “evil” do not exist. Not everything in the world is so black and white. In fact, nothing in the world is black and white. Especially not something as intricate as “good” and “evil” actions. Refer back to the moral dilemma I had presented a while back. Why, it could be an action of “good,” or it could be “evil.” I say, why should we care so much? I say, it is neither.

“What is done out of love always takes place beyond good and evil.”
Friedrich Nietzsche

And that is it.