Monday, April 27, 2009

TOW: Praise

This thought of the week will probably be shorter than the rest of them, partly because I'm behind in my errands this week to begin with, and partly because well, it's only a short thought needed. Because you know you're pretty good, right? Like, super awesome? In fact, so AMAZING you know how HOT YOU ARE WHEN YOU LOOK IN THE MIRROR, SEXY BLOG READER.

Praisie doesn't need to go on for a long time to really have a positive effect. In fact, most of the praise that is valuable, and that we treasure, is usually a one-liner of 'yeah, not bad' from the surliest person we know. (And this individual is usually that authority figure we can't help but admire and dislike at the same time .) And praise is really valuable...in fact, it's usually one of the few things that gives us hope when we start to doubt our ability to carry on with life.

Of course, too much of a good thing can be a problem, as well. The reason some people have really big heads is because they are praised all the time, and come to expect other people to praise them on a regular basis. (Like me. Har har.) Praise can have both positive and negative effects. However, most of us are not that likely to get so much praise as to get a swelled head.

And that's the sad truth. Because one thing a teacher once said to me, and he's a great teacher, is that "Praising someone is like bringing water to someone in a desert." And I think he was right. Nobody would ever say they receive enough, or too much, praise. There are certain circumstances where it might seem that way, but generally speaking, it's rare for us compliment people we like, since we assume they already know how we feel about them. (And it's even rarer for us to compliment people we don't like.)

So, for this week, maybe think about giving a compliment or praise someone for something you appreciate. Because the more you vocalize good feelings, the more those good feelings spread out into the world. Sort of like a really happy, sappy, influenza virus or something. And you'll make the world a better place just by you being in it.

Because you're just that great.

=)

VOW: Mumps

This was made by the government of Ontario. Surprisingly large view number for something that was made by the government.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Happy Earth Day!

The Earth Day Movement might have started in Wiscousin, but Canada definitely participates in Earth Day. Actually, they just released a new piece on how green each Canadian province is, from best to worst:



1) B.C.

2) Ontario

3) Yukon

4) Nunavut

5) Alberta

6) Saskatchewan

7) Nova Scotia

8) Manitoba

9) Quebec

10) New Bruinswick

11) Newfoundland-Labrador

12) P.E.I.


What I am REALLY surprised is how high Ontario is on this list. Toronto is not exactly green, and on top of that, there's a lot of auto production in this province. Not surprised that Nunavut is high on the list for environmentally safe. That place has about 29,474 living there, and frankly, if it was its own country, it would be one of the 20 largest countries in the world.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

TOW: Fear

One of my biggest fears is the fear of failure. I like being successful, and I normally only take calculated risks...which means I take risks that have a 75% chance of being successful. This week has been interesting for me because as I start to set up my summer and fall, I am facing a lot of decisions of where I want to live, who I want to be, what clothes I want to wear, etc. etc. And all of that can be really, really, scary. (Especially choosing what clothes I want to wear.) Granted, maybe not as scary as standing between Oprah and her Double Cheeseburger, but scary, nonetheless.

The funny thing about fear is that we are often afraid of things we know we have no reason to fear. I'm scared of spiders. I know that fear is irrational; in my country, I have a better chance of being eaten by a bear than killed by a spider bite. And yet, there it is, fear itself, staring me in the face, with its ugly eight legs, and its beady red eyes. I have the heebee-jeebees just thinking about it.

Just like a fear of spiders, often our fear of the future is irrational and strange. Suprisingly, we aren't afraid of potential failure, but possible successes. We all know we have been unsuccessful at times, and we know what that feels like...but being a superstar in lights, with everyone looking at you like you're The Next Big Thing? TNBT??? What's that like? I might be happy and stuff! Eeeek!

It's easy to be unsuccessful, people do it every day. Some people do it while playing Trivial Pursuit. Some people do it with New Year's Resolutions. Honestly, it's pretty easy to be unsuccessful without even trying. For some reason apathy and being unsuccessful go hand in hand. Weird.

It's scary thinking we can actually be successful at the things we want. We worry that we might like it less than the current state we're in. We're afraid to want things we want in life in case they're bad for us, right?

Descartes, the french philosopher, didn't say many things that impressed me, but did say one thing that has stuck with me whenever I am afraid. In his words, "the usual fault herein is not that we desire too much, but too little."

What Descartes is saying is that when we desire, we usually desire simple, animal things. We want a bag of chips, or a glass of water. If we desired what we actually wanted, if we could dream big and desire big, we wouldn't be more greedy, but less. And perhaps what is scary about making real decisions in our lives is that instead of getting less, we get more, and we wonder if we ever deserved it. We think about ourselves and we are afraid of the future not because the future self is a worse self, but because we can actually see our future selves are better than we currently are, and we're terrified of it. We scared of the person in the future who might be better than us and we don't know how to get there, and even worse, if we do know how to get there, we can be scared of the commitment necessary.

Or least I am on a regular basis. And I think the reason I find 'future Brennan' so scary is that he might end up being better than I ever imagined, and sometimes the most fearful things are the ones you can't imagine, good or bad.

That's pretty scary.

VOW: Susan Boyle

Because I can't embed it, you NEED to watch this, especially if you haven't yet. If you haven't heard about this lady yet, I am extremely, extremely surprised. The amount of press this woman has gotten over a week might be more press than the New Kids On The Block and Prince ever got in their entire careers, combined. This video will make you feel better.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

TOW: Easter

Easter is a special time of year for most people. Now, granted, some people think Good Friday is synonymous with three-day weekend. A rather tongue in cheek comment caught my eye in the CBC forums: "They want to officially rename Easter Sunday to .."Cadbury Weekend "....Preceding Nestle Friday.." While I find this cute on certain levels, it's also a little sad. (Not just because the CBC forums are full of people with nothing better to do than sit around making fun of each other. But really, that's what that site is for.) The real meaning of Easter isn't in the candy, or the easter bunnies and chickens, it's in the renewal of the season, both literally and figuratively.

Easter is always around the beginning of spring. There are many reasons for this, many of them church-political, but the reason for the festival of Easter is the same for all Christians. Easter represents the birth of new life, from death. In the literal sense, this means that we start from one season--winter--into a new season--spring. Animals, plants, even humans begin to breathe a little easier. It will soon be time for summer fun.

Figuratively speaking, Easter has a more human meaning than just the change of the seasons. Easter is about human rebirth, and rebirth in the sense of personal renewal. Catholics, like me, (although thankfully they aren't all like me. Eh heh.) work our way through Lent. Lent is meant to be a period where we try and strengthen ourselves and Easter is the time where we celebrate the fruits of our labour before spring breaks the silence of snow and ice.

Easter is special because is marks not only the beginning of a new season, but the true beginning of a new year. Easter means there is hope again after a long struggle. For myself, I always think of Easter as the real start of a new year. This is the time when we take all the experience, all of the things that have happened to us in the last eight months, and we begin to apply and understand. (At least before we all head camping or to the beach, respectively.) Easter is a time to wake up to the events that are happening in your life, and respond positively, with an open heart for change.


Make this a season for change, for the better.

VOW: Evil Easter Bunny

For your viewing pleasure--what the Easter Bunny is really like during the rest of the year. I've seen this several times, not sure if I've shared it with you, but go ahead and watch. I'm sure you'll like it.

Thursday, April 09, 2009

VOW: Lost Generation

Interesting video, I can't decide if it's a subtle message or not.

Monday, April 06, 2009

TOW: Hard Truths

Pontius Pilate is notorious for having uttered the sardonic phrase, "What is truth?" This, of course, was probably funnier to him than the one who was getting crucified. (Although if you're a Christian, you're pretty sure God had the last laugh in that scenario.) While I don't want talk about truth itself, I would like to talk about a certain kind of truth. Namely, the hard truth. The one you don't want to face when you get out of bed in the morning and look yourself in the mirror. Yes, it's the receding hair line that is slowly retreating, or the crow's feet that's mutated into the Reading Railroad all over your face; it's the hard, cold, and often bitter truth.


Sometimes when we experience difficulty in our lives, we are faced with some information we don't like to process. (Guess who just payed off their entire credit card bill. Eh heh. Sigh.) The hard truth is that one thing we don't want to admit about ourselves, that one thing we hide to help us sleep at night.

Nietzsche was famous for saying that humans needs to lie to themselves, at least a little bit, so that they can go on living. And the reason is because if we knew everything about ourselves, we wouldn't want to go on living. We need some mystery in our own personalities, so that we can become more than we are. And a little bit of mystery is good thing. The last thing we need is "Bam! You're ugly! Bam! You're fat! Bam! Bam! Bam!" After a while, we would be paranoid, unable to trust others or believe in our own abilities, and life would just be generally lame. And we'd all be on the Jenny Craig Diet.

However, we can't always avoid the hard truth. The one that you're writing in your diary at three in the morning. The hard truth that other people say when they know you've been avoiding it. The worst part about the hard truth, is that we're afraid that if we start believing the hard and cold truth, we'll be a lesser human being, that we'll have failed somehow.

Surprisingly, once we face a hard truth, we usually feel more at ease. Being able to look at truth, regardless of how hard it is to bear, is always refreshing. And that's because it's exhausting to avoid facts that pop-up and try and present themselves to us every day. After a while, all that lying to ourselves tires us out more than just dealing with our own issues. (Which, of course, is crazy.)

A little bit of blindness keeps us in balance in a fair way. It keeps us from failing. A lot of blindness requires a seeing-eye dog. Or a slap in the face.

And that's the truth.

Sunday, April 05, 2009

Busy

My roommate and I put together a BBQ. It took all night.

So that being said, VOW and TOW will be up tomorrow, I think.

I'm tired, and I am working long, long hours at the gym right now.