snow

I like the snow!

It goes with the whole vacation mode environment. Makes me lazy, makes me wanna hibernate.

We should have been there

Did anyone know that we could have gone to Mars in the 80's!

 I know it seems like it could be something that we thought would take about a 100 years. Robert Zubrin explains that our space technology has actually deteriorated since the 80's. It's funny how something like that could actually happen. But if NASA hadn't decided to concentrate their R&D on unmanned satellites, and if the Government hadn't decided to cut their budget on space travel, there would be a colony of people on Mars TODAY!

It frightens me when I think about space travel. Soon enough, traveling out of the Earth's atmosphere is going to become something like traveling to another country. Easy, short, and commercial. 

I adress 'Outer-space' in my entry today because i feel that it is important for us to take this step. We have always been explorers. A civilization rises, reaches its peak, and then goes on to conquer new lands.

Lets take the example of Chinese who in 1421 had seven masted intercontinental sailing ships and had even reached Madagascar with a vast exploration fleet. They were at their peak and instead of discovering and dominating Europe and the rest of the world, not only did they turn back but also destroyed the ships and stagnated. Their empire started to deteriorate because of all the attention that was shifted unnecessarily on itself. Other conquerors (from EU mostly) took up the task and prospered.

Even though this is just one example taken from our history, It teaches us so much about growth and how we need to go about it.

We are becoming a global community. We will come upon the task of taking the next step into unknown worlds, just like our ancestors did a million years ago. whether we will grow and become a species that will boldly question the mysteries of the universe or stagnate and destroy itself is the decision that we will have to make sooner than we think.

gettin it together?

Going home can be stressful. Facing everyone, not wanting to be productive, and lazing around. The DAY conveniently divides itself into 3 times slots. 4 am to 2 pm - sleep, 3 pm to 7 pm - that one activity of the day, and 9 pm to 3 am - going out.

This then turns into a cycle. A cycle that is completely undesirable. But sadly, if you let go of even the tiniest thread holding the structure together, you will be left with such days. Well at least I was. I figured that when I was at home it just brought out a completely different person.

I know that this seems like a random transition but there is a way to get over any sort of bad feeling about ones routine. 

CHANGE IT!

Not tomorrow, Not next week, but today! 

Let go of a habit that you find pulls you down. change that one thing around. It makes a HUGE difference (more often then not).

once you make this change, you will find that you will have more time on your hands for starters. Your routine and your health may take a positive turn, and you might get a glimpse of a completely different type   of satisfaction that you can attain. I mean its not magic or completely noticeable, but i say its worth it. It is worth it because there is nothing to loose here. If you know for certain that what your changing in your day  is a transition from negative to positive you have absolutely nothing to loose, and theres no harm in trying it out. 

Day one has kinda kicked off for me from time to time, but of course there have been those other times when i have gone back to doing what i used to. 

So if you DO want to change something about your daily routine or find something new to do, you could start where I choose to start most of the time.

A small world

I had always thought that my ideas were new, no one had heard of them, no one knew of such things. As i grew up I saw how much already existed. I saw my thoughts pour out in the form of brands, and labels. Still, i never gave thought to how this had happened...

(So let me put down the two ways i interpret this idea

.....

I dont have a title for this because its about something that just took place. My grandfather just passed away. I couldn't tell you how i feel about it if you asked me right now, because i dunno myself.

When the greater cycle of life and death kicks in, its really hard to get back to 'our' personal worlds. It makes me feel like none of what I do really matters at the end of the day. I am born, I exist, I die. Then that 'I' does not exist anymore.

Its funny that we are able to blind ourselves from the rawness and realness of nature and everything around us.
The nature of nature. The way things work, with or without us. We are not to blame for making sure we dont think about death every morning. But sometimes when it hits us pretty close it takes time to figure thaat part of our life out, and then come back to this one.

All this "stuff" is real stuff. As much as I would like it to be bull shit, its not. But that does not mean that we have to be sad about the way things turn out. Of course there is loss, we feel loss, we mourn, but it comes to an end because we have and will always know that such events, such things like birth and death are pretty much inevitable. We come to a point where we realize that we knew this day would come so if we could accept it then, then sure as hell we can accept it now. This makes us strong i guess. It gives me a hand at least. And as long as it puts even a little smirk on my face, fabrication, belief, or wtv is it that we use to help us through our part in this cycle is a good thing.


(you might find that there is no exact point in this entry - its a wild field, you can't blame me for trying to venture into it)

:) :' :O :( :'( :') ;) :I :* :S  ???(!)

What makes us... 2

What makes us ? what contributes to constructing our identity. 

It seems to me that a lot or maybe all of who I am, has to do with everything around me. The people, the environment, the issues, the problems that exist and what matters at that point in time. 

I was in a new place. Spiti; very different from the city I came from, a place secluded and surrounded by mountains, where people were friendly and warm (Im guessing because the place is sooo cold!). The population consists mostly of monks who reside in monasteries built about a 1000 years ago (still in-tact). 

I knew the moment i stepped into this new environment that my behavior and my concerns would have to be re adjusted. This was a subconscious realization at first. You are so busy adapting, that you forget what you were like in the place you let behind. I forgot a lot of things. I forgot that i was going to be in the unites states at a completely new edge of my life. I loved it ! what better than something that makes you feel so in the moment that you forget everything else. Isn't that a good way to say that you actually utilized your time well?

I think it is.

No matter where you go, if you leave your comfort zone (or a familiar environment), the new challenges that you face will stick to you throughout your life, or at least for a good amount of time. 

I see this in me now. My views on life are not different, but they are broader. they are open to new paths and new goals. My perception of who I can be is open to change. This does come with a cost. Uncertainty. Uncertainty in relation to actually knowing who you are and where you have to go. Its an inevitable cost, because somewhere down the line you will find new ideas that you like and new lifestyles that you have to adapt to. 

Even though we are susceptible to loosing our minds when we try to understand who we really are, we should know that change will keep adding layers to our identity, which will eventually dissolve, and be as much of a part of us as anything else.

What makes us who we are? 1

What makes us who we are?

(I ask this and try to answer because I want to know what makes who we are as individuals and as communities)
It sounds like im trying to write a paper here, umm.... Im not. Im sure sometime in your lives you stop and look at whats going on and how things are being processed all around you. I ask this because I am at that phase. Sure, we are never completely sure of anything. But clearing out your eyes and being able to observe everything without a perspective does help in knowing where you stand.

I was going to face 'culture shock' when i went to the US in a couple of weeks was what i thought while on my way up the mountain. I wasn't scared at all though, partly because i didn't quite know what it would be like and partly because I didn't want to give it much thought. I was on my way to a new place so different as i thought about all this.

We came to a stop on our way to Spiti. The village had had no electricity for about 2 months. Mhm, 2 months, and the last time they did have it, it lasted for about 3 hours. I needed to charge my phone, have a hot shower, watch some television maybe use my computer, but I couldn't do any of these things without power. This was one of the first times when i legitimately flew outside my head and observed a little bit of what I am. I knew that i was dependent on electricity and technological outlets that took up my time. I realized that my actions had been more to pass the time rather than to enjoy what i was doing. To me personally, this was a huge step. Try to see yourself from another plane and you will realize how one dimensional you can be (in any definition that you think suits you best).