I love being alive. I can't ever be thankful enough to whatever put me here on earth. Let's just all put on a nice big smile and coast along.
Love, Matt
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Midnight Bike Ride!
Actually it was 11:00 or so but midnight is just a much cooler sounding term.
So last night, I was nonchalantly sitting in my dorm room. I had been doing a lot of sitting around and eating crappy food. I was really tired and thought that i might be getting sick. I finished up some homework and decided that this would be a good time to do something else. First i grabbed a book that I recently started called Comfortable with Uncertainty. It is a swell book about learning to let go of things, and become a better person breaking out of your "cocoon." After reading this for a little while, I decided that a bike ride was in order. And let me tell you...that was definitely the right decision. I rode my bike around for about 45 minutes last night. From around 11 o'clock to around 11:45. In this time i taught myself how to ride without hands, i also rode on ice for the first time, which ended up not being nearly as bad as i thought it would be, i rode down a couple of staircases, and just enjoyed myself. At the end of that 45 minutes my hands were completely numb. This allowed me to walk into a library bathroom and pour cold water on them that actually felt warm for a while. I can't tell how good this bike ride made me feel. I felt like a little boy. It was absolutely fantastic! If you've ever seen Yes Man, there is a part where Zooey Deschanel's character mentions that the world is playground and while we are children we remember this. She then mentions that while growing up we somehow forget this. I can't agree with her more. It seems far to often, we forget that we can have fun where ever we are and that we should. Every time that i have done this, it has always worked wonderfully. I feel accomplished and free. Feeling like a child is probably one of the best feelings in the world. You can forget about the stressful things in your life, even if for just a little while. And hopefully, when you are done you will carry that carefree, laidback, relaxed, childlike persona with you when you have to tackle some pressing matters. Just because it is work or paying bills or cleaning or cooking doesn't mean it can't be enjoyable. If you want to enjoy your life make Everything that you do enjoyable.
--Matt
So last night, I was nonchalantly sitting in my dorm room. I had been doing a lot of sitting around and eating crappy food. I was really tired and thought that i might be getting sick. I finished up some homework and decided that this would be a good time to do something else. First i grabbed a book that I recently started called Comfortable with Uncertainty. It is a swell book about learning to let go of things, and become a better person breaking out of your "cocoon." After reading this for a little while, I decided that a bike ride was in order. And let me tell you...that was definitely the right decision. I rode my bike around for about 45 minutes last night. From around 11 o'clock to around 11:45. In this time i taught myself how to ride without hands, i also rode on ice for the first time, which ended up not being nearly as bad as i thought it would be, i rode down a couple of staircases, and just enjoyed myself. At the end of that 45 minutes my hands were completely numb. This allowed me to walk into a library bathroom and pour cold water on them that actually felt warm for a while. I can't tell how good this bike ride made me feel. I felt like a little boy. It was absolutely fantastic! If you've ever seen Yes Man, there is a part where Zooey Deschanel's character mentions that the world is playground and while we are children we remember this. She then mentions that while growing up we somehow forget this. I can't agree with her more. It seems far to often, we forget that we can have fun where ever we are and that we should. Every time that i have done this, it has always worked wonderfully. I feel accomplished and free. Feeling like a child is probably one of the best feelings in the world. You can forget about the stressful things in your life, even if for just a little while. And hopefully, when you are done you will carry that carefree, laidback, relaxed, childlike persona with you when you have to tackle some pressing matters. Just because it is work or paying bills or cleaning or cooking doesn't mean it can't be enjoyable. If you want to enjoy your life make Everything that you do enjoyable.
--Matt
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Out of sight, out of mind?
So this past year or so I've been thinking more about where things come from and where things go. As Americans, we consume and waste vast amounts of things. And because we don't see where these things come from or where they end up, we often don't think about it. We don't see the Chinese girl working for almost nothing in a sweat shop, we see the sale price on a toy at Wal-Mart. We don't see the pig being beaten and having its throat slit, we see the crispy strips of bacon.
I'm not saying these things to make myself feel smart or to make other people feel guilty. I think it is unfortunate that we have to be suspicious of companies and products at all. I'm saying (or blogging, I guess) these things because I've recently learned that each small item we purchase carries a lot more baggage than we see. I've learned how "profit over people" corporations can blind us. So I want to give you a heads up.
I don't have any stats to give you or in depth stories, but you can check these things out in the websites and movies listed below. For now, I just want to explain why I feel these issues are important enough to pay attention to in the first place.
When it comes to where things are made, I care because I don't want to support a corporation that takes what could be American jobs overseas and forces children to work in terrible conditions for almost nothing. Other than the few at the top who gain a few extra million by enforcing this, I don't think anyone really wants to support such cruelty in the name of self-interest.
So why do we do it anyway? Well, sometimes people simply don't know or question how their goods are made. Some people do know. But the reality of those terrible conditions doesn't really hit us. We can't imagine our own child being forced to work at a factory to make products for some other country. It just seems so distant; we just feel so unattached. Plus, those jeans are a really good deal. So we give in to consumerism.
Some people believe that the way things are now is good. I've heard, and considered, the argument that although our corporations make people work for almost nothing, almost nothing is better than nothing at all. But who says there is some ultimatum between working for almost nothing for an American company, or having absolutely nothing at all? Instead of doing cheap labor for America, who says that people in other countries wouldn't learn to make goods for and support their own communities? Instead of making shirts for Wal-Mart in exchange for a few cents, maybe they could sell clothes in their own country. Instead of growing coffee and simulaneously starving, maybe they could grow food for themselves to eat. And even if for some reason working in one of our factories is the best a person might get, I still don't want to support the companies that use unethical means of production because I would certainly not be helping raise any of the worker's wages--only adding to the obscene salaries of the capitalistic kings. Even here in America these giant corporations can only be detriments to our communities, as locally-owned businesses get kicked out by low paying franchises.
One more reason we sometimes brush off the facts about where our cheap (and sometimes expensive) stuff comes from and buy buy buy is because "it's the only thing I can afford" or "I need it."
Not really.
I realize some people are in poverty and because stores are so monopolized, they may have no other choices of where to buy things. But for many of us, we don't NEED anything. As long as we have the resources for food, shelter, clothing, safety, and blog-reading, we are not going to die if we don't buy more. In fact we will probably live more simply and free and if enough of us do it, we might curb this mass consumerism (and mass waste and mass corporate power.) We are manipulated into thinking that we need lots of things as fast as possible for as cheap as possible. But we can try to think, "When I purchase this, is my life really going to be improved?" Or "Maybe instead of buying lots of items right now for a cheap price, and possibly having to buy more when they break, I could save up a little money, choose the most important item, and purchase it from a place where I know my money will go to support positive things--not just for me, but for everyone."
It's very difficult to refrain completely from corporations. I know I certainly haven't. But every action that we take affects the system. Of course, people will say that one individual's actions will never change anything. But then, what will? A tree comes only from a seed. A flood is composed of tiny rain drops.
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead
cool magazine:
Adbusters
what products to buy or boycott and why:
http://www.knowmore.org/
http://www.stillmadeinusa.com/
movies/web videos:
The Corporation
What Would Jesus Buy?
Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices
http://www.storyofstuff.com/
Compassion over Consumerism!
--big c
I'm not saying these things to make myself feel smart or to make other people feel guilty. I think it is unfortunate that we have to be suspicious of companies and products at all. I'm saying (or blogging, I guess) these things because I've recently learned that each small item we purchase carries a lot more baggage than we see. I've learned how "profit over people" corporations can blind us. So I want to give you a heads up.
I don't have any stats to give you or in depth stories, but you can check these things out in the websites and movies listed below. For now, I just want to explain why I feel these issues are important enough to pay attention to in the first place.
When it comes to where things are made, I care because I don't want to support a corporation that takes what could be American jobs overseas and forces children to work in terrible conditions for almost nothing. Other than the few at the top who gain a few extra million by enforcing this, I don't think anyone really wants to support such cruelty in the name of self-interest.
So why do we do it anyway? Well, sometimes people simply don't know or question how their goods are made. Some people do know. But the reality of those terrible conditions doesn't really hit us. We can't imagine our own child being forced to work at a factory to make products for some other country. It just seems so distant; we just feel so unattached. Plus, those jeans are a really good deal. So we give in to consumerism.
Some people believe that the way things are now is good. I've heard, and considered, the argument that although our corporations make people work for almost nothing, almost nothing is better than nothing at all. But who says there is some ultimatum between working for almost nothing for an American company, or having absolutely nothing at all? Instead of doing cheap labor for America, who says that people in other countries wouldn't learn to make goods for and support their own communities? Instead of making shirts for Wal-Mart in exchange for a few cents, maybe they could sell clothes in their own country. Instead of growing coffee and simulaneously starving, maybe they could grow food for themselves to eat. And even if for some reason working in one of our factories is the best a person might get, I still don't want to support the companies that use unethical means of production because I would certainly not be helping raise any of the worker's wages--only adding to the obscene salaries of the capitalistic kings. Even here in America these giant corporations can only be detriments to our communities, as locally-owned businesses get kicked out by low paying franchises.
One more reason we sometimes brush off the facts about where our cheap (and sometimes expensive) stuff comes from and buy buy buy is because "it's the only thing I can afford" or "I need it."
Not really.
I realize some people are in poverty and because stores are so monopolized, they may have no other choices of where to buy things. But for many of us, we don't NEED anything. As long as we have the resources for food, shelter, clothing, safety, and blog-reading, we are not going to die if we don't buy more. In fact we will probably live more simply and free and if enough of us do it, we might curb this mass consumerism (and mass waste and mass corporate power.) We are manipulated into thinking that we need lots of things as fast as possible for as cheap as possible. But we can try to think, "When I purchase this, is my life really going to be improved?" Or "Maybe instead of buying lots of items right now for a cheap price, and possibly having to buy more when they break, I could save up a little money, choose the most important item, and purchase it from a place where I know my money will go to support positive things--not just for me, but for everyone."
It's very difficult to refrain completely from corporations. I know I certainly haven't. But every action that we take affects the system. Of course, people will say that one individual's actions will never change anything. But then, what will? A tree comes only from a seed. A flood is composed of tiny rain drops.
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead
cool magazine:
Adbusters
what products to buy or boycott and why:
http://www.knowmore.org/
http://www.stillmadeinusa.com/
movies/web videos:
The Corporation
What Would Jesus Buy?
Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices
http://www.storyofstuff.com/
Compassion over Consumerism!
--big c
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