On Writing & Thoughts

To the dearest person reading this,

It's been awhile since the last post. I'll honestly diagnose myself as a perfectionist sort-of writer/person, I've a ton of drafts and half written poems which have not seen daylight. This is something that I've always had to deal with in all areas of my life, especially when it comes to writing.

Perfectionism, a refusal to accept any standard short of perfection.

Why so hell bent on being perfect when there's really no such thing. Perfectionism is only a state of mind and of course an opinion of oneself's work. It represents a never-ending torment of strife to mask the truest nature with a facade of eloquence of words, or should I say the apprehensiveness of showing your weaknesses and to make yourself bigger than who you really are.

Of course, all this being a conversation within our-self.

And everyone says: I've lost you here.

So what is this all about. It's about showing authenticity. It's about revealing the truth of your own persona. The underlying point: Weaknesses

Embrace it. Weakness isn't a curse word.
It's an opportunity to grow. It's an opportunity to connect. It's an opportunity to know that there's a strength that perfectly compliments your weakness. It's an opportunity to know that you are loved for who you are. It's an opportunity to live life to the fullest.

You have hope.
You are accepted.
You are beautiful.
You are loved.

Stop the facade, start life.

I'll give it my all, why?

Because of one that the world will die,

and through another that the world will live,

Because of our sins that on the cross he laid to die,

that through his blood, eternally will I live,

Because of his grace that I will not shy,

and all of my heart to him I will give,

Because of his hope that will never run dry,

that I will never stop to believe,

Because of his love that is as vast as the sky,

and to this it fuels my life's motive,

Because he gave it all up for me,
I will give my all back to him.

Grief

Broken like glass it started to shatter,

Thoughts going about looking for an answer,

Of how and why things could ever transpire,

In such a way that felt like a nightmare.

The lingering thought caused my heart to grow tighter, 

Couldn't breath. Couldn't grieve. The atmosphere turned darker,

The way out was blocked by an unseen boulder,

Succumbing to the darkness of pain, the heart is losing it's glimmer.  

Looking towards the great altar,

Seeking the only Healer,

That can take out this feeling, so bitter. 

Note:
*This was written on my dad's passing*

Word of Life

The Word of God is not meant to bring shame and condemnation upon us, but of conviction which leads to the surrendering of our sinful nature;to bring it to death, and to embrace the nature of God who is joined with us in one spirit.

Where will you go when you die?

Where will you go after you die?

I'd rather live a life with a divine purpose and passion, than to live a fleeting life chasing things called comfort and entertainment.
I'd rather die in peace, than to die in distress.
I'd rather be right about not going to hell, than to be wrong about heaven.
I'd rather choose an eternity in paradise, than an eternity in damnation.

Book review: Every Day by David Levithan

What began with single quote, ended up with one of the most memorable written stories I've ever read.
I found this book purely through accident as I was browsing through Goodreads. This book is also my first book I ever purchased online. I kid you not, I actually thought it was so good that it deserved to be purchased. If I could summarize this book in a few sentences, this book would be a book in which I would simply hang individual pages on the wall -all framed up-. The quotes are simply marvelously I-will-make-your-heart-flutter kind of quotes. If you ever needed a book or a love story to make you feel the butterflies, it would be this book. The only qualm I have about this book is that it should have a sequel. The story seems, to my dismay, to be left hanging. Last two words for this book: Read it!

“I am a drifter, and as lonely as that can be, it is also remarkably freeing. I will never define myself in terms of anyone else. I will never feel the pressure of peers or the burden of parental expectation. I can view everyone as pieces of a whole, and focus on the whole, not the pieces. I have learned to observe, far better than most people observe. I am not blinded by the past or motivated by the future. I focus on the present because that is where I am destined to live.” 
― David Levithan, Every Day

Humanity & Convenience

I was born in the booming age of technology. I have seen how technology, like the internet, has grown throughout the years. I have experienced my fair share of internet related issues. For example, on the unimaginably slow (by today's standards) dial up internet we all once had, where streaming videos were simply unheard of; downloading movies was a thing for the distant future. Also, on how I always needed to scramble to find a pillow big enough to muffle the horrendous and unmistakable wailing tone of the dial up modem whenever I lost connection and needed to reconnect in the middle of the night.

Technology has brought great conveniences to the lives of many, things seemingly impossible a few years ago are achievable within the boundaries of a few swift clicks of the mouse. Interactions with human operators through the phone are now seen as the last dreadful resort in resolving issues which tend to end up with additional distress and more unresolved issues. I'm sure you've read something written like this a couple of million times in your office cubicle, wondering of the questions of life in the midst of our procrastination, but I'm not one who would be qualified to judge, as I'm writing this at work. *grins*

The question remains: are we trading our humanity for the convenience of technology?
Writing letters are unheard of these days and are often reduced to marriage invites (which I'm getting a lot, another topic involving age) with pre-written scripted sentences mass produced for millions of people around the globe. Where has humanity gone wrong in our conquest of technological convenience? Is there a way out of this? How far are we being reduced to a society with an ever reducing threshold for patience and an ever increasing satiety for everything convenient? Even our human interactions have been shaped by this growing trend. Friendships are out of convenience. Marriages are out of convenience. Even meeting our family members for dinner become a matter of convenience.

As mentioned by Philip Larkin in his famous line from "An Arundel Tomb",

What will survive of us is love. Letters fulfill and safeguard this prophecy. Without letters we risk losing sight of our history, or at least our nuance. The decline and abandonment of letters - the price of progress - will be an immeasurable defeat

To end this, I leave with you a final question (hypothetical), to win in this endless race of technology, are we trading in the warmth and humanity of our souls?