End of the Road

So, I’d thought long and hard about this for a while but I’ve finally made my decision. This will officially be my final post in this blog. I have to say, it’s been fun sharing so many tips and advice to help inspire y’all along with a few newsy columns. Not only have I run fresh out of ideas on what exactly to write, but the motivation just hasn’t been there for me either. I’ve gone through a major event in my life lately that made me question literally everything. It also made me feel even more different. All-in-all, it hurt like Hell and more than half the time I’d rather not talk or even think about it.

The last few things I want to say are about suicide prevention and spreading on the positive influence. Today, we lost a great actor, comedian, and human. Robin Williams was only 63 when he committed suicide. I had just gotten on Twitter to see the news and, needless to say, I was shocked. When I tried to find out why he did what he did, I found that he had suffered from severe depression. Of course, you might ask why the Hell it takes an actor’s death for us to realize how serious the issue of mental illness is. It doesn’t, but it’s not talked about nearly enough until someone dies.

When I think about it, I look back at the time when the #BellLetsTalk movement took place on Twitter to raise money to help fight against these mental diseases. Obviously, money wasn’t everything. If people really cared enough, they would have tried to spread positivity among their friends and family. They would have tried to help those in need by verbally communicating with them and letting them know that it will be okay, that they are not alone. So please, do your part in doing good for society and help whomever needs help. Talk with them. You  never know what’s hidden behind those eyes and in the depths of their minds. Also, for those who are currently suffering, don’t give up. Continue to hold out any and every bit of hope left in you. Be vocal about it. Don’t be scared because, again, you don’t have to fight it alone.

I honestly hope you guys will continue spreading positive notes to your peers and others. It doesn’t matter if it’s through a blog like mine, an online chat, or just plain verbal communication. My friend, Josh Chen, introduced and spread the Daffodil Principle to me. Here, I’m spreading it to you.

From here on out, I’ll be working on my paranormal blog that I’d briefly mentioned in the column before this. Once hockey season starts back up again, I’ll also be working on writing for Blades of Teal, a San Jose Sharks hockey blog. So, for those of you Sharks fans y’all can feel free to check that out if you haven’t already. For just plain hockey fans, there are loads of NHL team blogs on FanSided. Knock yourselves out.

That’ll do it for me. Thanks for reading, guys! Hope y’all enjoyed the run.

Side Note: I’ll still help out and try to inspire anyone I can in other ways.

Another Blog & Life Update

Hey guys. So, I now have another blog. That one talks about the paranormal and urban legends. If you want to check it out, the link is thexunknownxworld.blogspot.com.

In other news, I now have another girlfriend. This time, though, I feel it’s going to last a long time given that my parents approve. I love her a lot and hope to get to see her soon. I’ve also been busy with other stuff, particularly school life. I’ve needed to raise my GPA in college after slipping behind. It’s only going to get harder, so I have to buckle up and enjoy the bumpy ride.

I’ll still try to think of some stuff to blog and blog when I can, but I have so much on my plate.

Hope y’all are enjoying my columns! If there are some with spelling and grammatical errors, I apologize. I’ve admittedly been too lazy to proofread my articles recently, which I need to get back to doing properly.

Memorial Day: A Day of Appreciation

It was only a few days ago that I watched Lone Survivor, and in all honesty it was more powerful than any other war movie I’d ever seen in my life. It wasn’t just that it was all based on a true story, about Operation Red Wings. It was how realistic the directors and actors made it look, from the terrain of the mountains and Afghanistan to the conflicts that the soldiers had to face daily, especially with how vulnerable soldiers can be up in those mountains which basically serve as training grounds for the Taliban.

None of us have to be in the military to appreciate the fine effort and ultimate sacrifice from the men and women in uniform who serve our country every day, but that movie honestly gave me new-found appreciation for the work they do. Every day, they give their lives to preserve, protect, and defend our country and our rights. To the families of those who lost their lives serving our country, I send my deepest condolences. Thank you all for your services.

Art: A Form of Expression

Air Combat Art via http://www.wallcoo.net/

Art, by definition, is a form of expression. It’s all around us, from the music we listen to to the pictures and paintings we see around us. You already know all this. So, why am I telling you this?

The brain has always interested me. Almost all of us have feelings and emotions about something, whether it’s love or depression or even just having fun.

For example, one form of art that’s quite popular nowadays is music. Music, like every other form of art, tells a story. It’s not just a bunch of pitches and notes put together to make sound. Certain classical pieces can tell the audience of a popular folktale. Each country has a national anthem that represents what that country is all about. There are deep songs about love, and even fun songs about partying. A song impacts someone if they feel emotionally connected to it.

Whatever form of art you come across, just know that there has to have been a reason behind it.

Heroes & Heroism

We all know what a hero is, at the very least the commonly accepted definition and concept of it. We’ve seen it pop culture. The main character, a protagonist, is living his own life when he’s called upon to accomplish an extraordinary task. Along the way he has to battle his adversaries and adversities, including true love, to achieve a happy ending for the good guys.

We know that superheroes like Batman and Superman don’t exist, so in reality what qualifies one as a hero? Is it the soldier serving our country overseas to protect our rights and freedom? Is it the firefighters and law enforcement who also give their lives every day to help ensure the safety of others? Or is it average people like you and me who go out of our way in daily life to help make a positive impact to other peoples’ lives?

One thing we have to consider when talking about heroes is who they are. Some just naturally have a good heart, while some may just be doing it out of pressure. No one’s free of mistakes, so how severe were their mistakes and should they be forgiven for those past mistakes and should those errors be long forgotten?

All the tales of happiness, struggle, and choices are illustrated in the Hero’s Journey, an archetypal pattern of narrative identified by American scholar Joseph Campbell.

The Hero’s Journey Chart Taken from http://www.veronicasicoe.com/

Essentially, the hero is called upon to face and resolve a dilemma. As the situation rapidly changes and gets worse, so do the hero’s surroundings — and most likely — even himself. Should the hero adapt to the situation or should he/she not? Should he/she succumb to his/her weakness or weaknesses or should he/she not? What really constitutes right from wrong? These are questions that the hero must answer to decide the fate of the situation and himself/herself. These are also questions that we ourselves must answer, which is why I believe this is strongly applicable to real life. What defines us as people and who we are?

To me, there are seemingly more questions than answers still, but in my opinion a hero is one who goes out of his/her way to help people for the better, protect their values, and make a difference in society.

What are your thoughts?

Humans: Just How Fragile Are we?

Humans… so fragile. I never realized how fragile until recently.

– Castiel from Supernatural (I’m No Angel)

I was listening to Broken by Lifehouse, and then upon further thinking about the lyrical meaning of the song I suddenly had the same realization I’ve had before: how fragile us humans are.

Every day, along with the happiness and joy in our lives comes the inevitable pain that we all must endure, both physically and emotionally. With this pain comes the severity. Some may argue that it is our choice to make the initial pain greater than it really should be. Others say the initial amount of pain is out of our control. We all deal with things differently, but in the end we all want this pain to go away.

I’ve seen people get depressed. I’ve heard and read stories about people committing suicide at an early age, and while at some point we’ve got to have that moral support around us, it makes me wonder. Just how fragile are we really?

Let’s take love (as in BF/GF love) as an example. Most, if not all of us have gone through this. We’ve crushed on others whom we really liked and depending on our personalities, we might either be shy or have no problem with communicating with that person. If it all eventually works out well, the relationship becomes more intimate. In times when everything starts crumbling around us, however, more times than not one of the two is affected negatively. They can’t stop thinking about that special someone (or ex). They feel emotionally hurt and don’t know what to do, and that state of mental panic sets in.

In a way, it is a choice. We can either choose to be highly affected by this emotional state and make it worse ourselves or we can get over it. However, in my opinion (and one I’ll be talking a lot about in a later column), the feeling of love and break-ups is something that can never go away no matter how hard we try.

Point being, there are situations in life that threaten to break us down to the core. Are we going to let it break us down emotionally or are we going to fight through it and stand stronger than before? That’s our choice to decide.

Here. Have a listen.

A Busy Life & Thoughts I Can’t Put Into Words

So, I know I haven’t been posting a lot lately. Not only have I been trying to catch up with school, it’s also the other stuff I want to do. Mainly, though, it’s because I’ve been contemplating the same things over and over again. So, there’s really nothing new to write about. However, I do have a huge and very deeply insightful column I’m planning on writing about in the near future. Hopefully it won’t be too far into the future because it’s one hard ass topic to put into words. As is the case for everything in life though, I just have to take it one step at a time. Hope y’all enjoying my blog so far! Feel free to comment and like my posts! Please recommend this blog to your friends and spread the word!

Life: A Cycle That Never Ceases To Amaze Me

You may ask, “What’s so amazing about the cycles in life? Of course, everything’s in cycles. On and off. There’s no stopping.” Honestly, if you ask that, you’ve either completely forgotten or ignored this blog’s about. Still, you may think I’m over thinking all of us. Maybe I am, but if I was I wouldn’t find interest in it.

There’s a part of me that says although we work, play, do all those daily routines repeatedly (hence why it’s a routine), there’s still something about it that intrigues me somehow, like there’s more to be discovered. I don’t know how, but it does.

Here’s what I can make sense of, though. If everything we do in life is a routine, isn’t life itself a routine then? The only difference is that the process of life itself can never be broken. We’re all born out of someone. All living organism are born out of something.

If any of this makes sense and you’re just like “Okay…? So what’s your point?”, don’t worry. It’s an incomplete thought that I find interesting. This topic will probably be revisited in the future.

From Perspective To Perspective

“Thoughts for the Day” via http://athenakramos.files.wordpress.com/

“A man is but a product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes.”  ~ Mahatma Ghandhi (1869 – 1948)

It never ceases to amaze me on how people think and feel. You can have an opinion on one thing and someone gets butt hurt about it. Meanwhile, someone else will totally or partially agree on it. Or there will be a civilized discussion about the disagreement.

Some things in life are easier to see than others. Some people see the ideas (system, notions, whatever you want to call it) better than others. Some things are just never meant to be understood, and that goes with people. This is why I’m incredibly open minded. I sometimes see life in ways no one’s ever thought of. Or, maybe few have thought of it but have shot the idea down. I’ll admit, though, that I can’t even understand myself sometimes. I’m sure there are others who feel the same. I see life like one huge puzzle, and actually a rather strange and paradoxical one at that. All the logical notions fit together and form connections, while the illogical ones are tossed out the window. However, sometimes even the illogical ones seem to be logical (see what I mean?).

One thing that I’ve just asked myself today while talking with an online friend is why some brains were meant to think complex while others were meant to think simplicity. It doesn’t even end there. They say that simplicity is always the best, but sometimes simplicity IS complexity. Mind blowing, isn’t it?

It’s amazing if and when you think about it because while we don’t always think the same, when we do the greatest and most astonishing thoughts are realized. The only problem with life being a huge puzzle is that it’s so enigmatic and abstract that some questions were never made to be answered, and thus if the sub-puzzles aren’t solved, there really is no solution to the whole thing.

Reflecting Upon Old Memories: How An Online Clan (In Part) Changed Me

The New SNM Homepage Layout from 2013-Present. Done by a former Leader.

Today’s one of those days when I get quite a bit nostalgic, when I again start to miss life with less bullshit. I’m sure you all can relate. I bring this up not because of some of the feelings I’ve been dealing with recently, but more from an unlikely source.

You see, I was a huge gamer — though I never became a no-life — back a few years ago. I played a whole lot of CoD, but I also played some online flash games, one of them being a little known game called Territory War Online. Prior to TWO, I used to play Stick Arena. I can’t remember whether or not I played the original Territory War game while also waiting for Stick Arena Ballistic to be released on Xgenstudios, but I remember being super psyched about SAB being released along with this new server that Xgen was going to incorporate into the game. However, TWO came out first and so I started playing that. Not long after, I started joining clans. Since I’ve already typed up my clan history on other sites a bunch of times now I’m just going to say I’ve only been in four clans and leave it at that. However, little did I know that the very last clan I’d be in before I quit playing TWO and Territory War Online 3, which was called Show No Mercy (SNM), would factor in to me changing as a person. It may seem like a no-life thing to say. I mean, how the hell do you change just from being online and playing a freakin’ flash game? Well, it happened.

It wasn’t just playing the flash game for me. It wasn’t just that for anyone. It was the vibe throughout the clan. It was how they treated me. In a clan, what essentially happens is players play for titles and ranks and participate in clan wars, basically like in CoD or BF or any other game where you can have clans in. Of course, all clans have competition and strive to be the best in the clan community. Within clans there’s also competition. However, how their members treated you was noticeably different from clan to clan. This was especially true for SNM. Although, I had much more losses than wins and basically fell out of the record requirement to join, I wanted to so badly and one of my long-time online best friends helped me out with that. At the time, their leaders (whom were both adults) were incredible leaders of the clan. Almost everyone looked up to them not only in skill, but in attitude. That’s what drove me to my mission to earn my way to the highest topmost position in the clan and chat, hierarchically. Everyone in the clan made me feel right at home, and the atmosphere was familial. They all treated each other congenially and had a blast. That’s what I strove along with other members to try and keep. Prior to them stepping down (it’s slightly complicated), the wife (and co-leader of the clan) of the main leader had always had faith in me, that I would succeed not only in the game and clan but in life. She was the first to inspire me to never give up.

I used this as my motivation, and other great legends and members had also told me the same. Since I was trying to work my way up the clan rankings (not the leader boards), I basically had to practice, work on my skills, and play TWO every time I had a chance; I’d even snuck on when I had to. I think this drive to be a great role model for others and try to help a community kind of helped me become a better person in life. However, when I finally became the main leader many moons later, I was in a mid-life crisis when I was starting to get really stubborn. I didn’t want this to affect me in my clan and gaming life, so I’d decided to step down and retire from SNM, clans, and TWO and TW3 for good.

Gosh, the nostalgia still gets me every time I visit the clan website, the history page especially. Although I’m still somewhat in a conflict with myself, I still look to my past experiences at SNM as inspiration, although it’s usually more for nostalgia. If you’re interested in seeing all the Legends (essentially owners and main owners) of the clan, this is the link. Oh, how I yearn for the old days — the Golden Eras of SNM — again.

Side Note: If you’re interested in story time and my gaming history on TWO, feel free to follow me on Twitter @SJSharkByte and tweet or DM me and I’ll tell you all about it when I’m not busy and have nothing better to do.