Sparks of pain fly through my chest, making me cough and squeeze my eyes. I’m trembling, because I have no idea what is happening. I’m sitting at my desk in the staffroom of a Japanese high school, with frigid air blowing freely inside from a wide open window to my right. My hands are trembling and I look outside at the blue sky and rolling clouds, wishing I was out there. As … [Read more...]
Open Thread: What Will You Do For Yourself Today?
So many of us get into a routine -- go to work, go to school, come home, eat, sleep, watch some TV... What's missing though? Everyone needs some down time -- a chance to read something that has nothing to do work (I prefer fiction myself), a chance to feel better with a workout, a bike ride, or even just a walk outside, a chance to sit around on your porch and drink … [Read more...]
Freedom: The Ability To Act – Or Just Complain
In the United States, we believe in freedom. We believe in voting on our leaders, choosing our grocery stores, reading whatever books we want, and watching late night television that mocks the leaders we voted on. Many other countries don't have the freedom we believe in. They strive to rise out of poverty, to live even a basic life. A life where they can simply have … [Read more...]
The Stuff Project
For the past few years, I've struggled with all my might to live how I want and to be who I want to be. By joining clubs and organizations I gained a variety of experiences and skills. I immersed myself in situations I'd never been in before, and I looked for hobbies and activities that could improve my life. Despite all my attempts I was left feeling dissatisfied. Nothing … [Read more...]
When should you take advice?
I am good at giving advice. This is not to say I'm good at giving good advice. Honestly, I'm just good at giving advice I like. The hard thing about getting advice is, as humans, we have a tendency to ignore and discredit advice we don't like, while heavily weighing advice we do like. The dangers of this approach are that we still don't know what to do and end up just doing … [Read more...]