the x-factor
i stayed over at cory's house last night. both of us were going slightly insane the past couple of days, in respect to family and surroundings. him and me both being trapped in our respective homes for long, extended periods of time resulted in text messages of desperation, and plans that were never quite set in stone. all my plans this week were very tentative, and it made for a slightly disappointing week. nevertheless, hanging out at cory's was definitely the highlight of my week, even if a lot of it was spent watching him and cameron go at each other, trying to beat out the other sibling on Wii Sports and Wii Play.
went all around camarillo today so that cory could run errands. i figured accompanying the errand boy was better than going home early and being nonproductive. went to the post office; apparently, you can send a mail cash order of $.01 to a certain amount for $1.05, which seems ridiculous. who would pay $1.05 to mail anything less than $1.05? resulted in hilarious jokes about sending each other "a penny for your thoughts." it was highly entertaining just watching my good buddy go through a long, extended process, just to prove a point to his mom. we scratched the movie so that he could change the oil in his own car, which brought us all around the town getting the supplies, to end up at the jiffy lube in the end anyways. i guess i have to applaud the effort. in the end, i couldn't help but feel like part of the family at the mitchell's, especially since there seemed to be uninhibited family tension pretty much the entire time, when most families would mask their drama when guests are over. it was slightly uncomfortable at times, but i do love all of them in their own ways.
so on one of our adventures on the freeway, whether or not it was in the right direction (haha, it was one of those days), cory and i tried to figure out what makes certain people appeal to you. in talking about the past, there are people that you choose to surround yourself with, but only a handful have that spark, that thing which cory called the "x-factor." when the x-factor is strong, no matter how hard you try to shake it, your thoughts tend to direct themselves towards those individuals. it's not just a physical or sensual attraction towards the opposite sex. it also gives you that draw towards certain people of whom you want to spend your time. the best comparison we could come up with involved a comparison to charisma, but that doesn't even come close. certain people have charisma, but you don't want to waste your time with them; negative charisma, in a sense.
as the conversation continued, the definition of the x-factor became more broad, as we began to list individuals we knew mutually that had x-factor, as well as the negative x-factor. apparently, it's different for everyone. for one example, someone can be a complete asshole to the majority of the people around them, but to a few people, they are loved. certain people that we are attracted to, drive others insane.
so i know who has the strongest x-factors in my mind. these are the people that i have labeled my best friends recently. this is a fairly new label in my life, since i have been so stingy in the past with categorizing my relationships into those categories. however, it's hard to ignore now. i know the people that make me the most happy, and investing my time and my effort into those people will help nurture my sanity. the question always arises whether or not there is a mutual attraction, or relationship there. i've seen what happens to myself and to others when when the connection is severed. it's not a pretty picture; a lot of moping, unwanted reflection, and tearful reminiscing takes place.
philosophical thoughts, from philosophical minds. someone should write a psychological dissertation on the x-factor.
went all around camarillo today so that cory could run errands. i figured accompanying the errand boy was better than going home early and being nonproductive. went to the post office; apparently, you can send a mail cash order of $.01 to a certain amount for $1.05, which seems ridiculous. who would pay $1.05 to mail anything less than $1.05? resulted in hilarious jokes about sending each other "a penny for your thoughts." it was highly entertaining just watching my good buddy go through a long, extended process, just to prove a point to his mom. we scratched the movie so that he could change the oil in his own car, which brought us all around the town getting the supplies, to end up at the jiffy lube in the end anyways. i guess i have to applaud the effort. in the end, i couldn't help but feel like part of the family at the mitchell's, especially since there seemed to be uninhibited family tension pretty much the entire time, when most families would mask their drama when guests are over. it was slightly uncomfortable at times, but i do love all of them in their own ways.
so on one of our adventures on the freeway, whether or not it was in the right direction (haha, it was one of those days), cory and i tried to figure out what makes certain people appeal to you. in talking about the past, there are people that you choose to surround yourself with, but only a handful have that spark, that thing which cory called the "x-factor." when the x-factor is strong, no matter how hard you try to shake it, your thoughts tend to direct themselves towards those individuals. it's not just a physical or sensual attraction towards the opposite sex. it also gives you that draw towards certain people of whom you want to spend your time. the best comparison we could come up with involved a comparison to charisma, but that doesn't even come close. certain people have charisma, but you don't want to waste your time with them; negative charisma, in a sense.
as the conversation continued, the definition of the x-factor became more broad, as we began to list individuals we knew mutually that had x-factor, as well as the negative x-factor. apparently, it's different for everyone. for one example, someone can be a complete asshole to the majority of the people around them, but to a few people, they are loved. certain people that we are attracted to, drive others insane.
so i know who has the strongest x-factors in my mind. these are the people that i have labeled my best friends recently. this is a fairly new label in my life, since i have been so stingy in the past with categorizing my relationships into those categories. however, it's hard to ignore now. i know the people that make me the most happy, and investing my time and my effort into those people will help nurture my sanity. the question always arises whether or not there is a mutual attraction, or relationship there. i've seen what happens to myself and to others when when the connection is severed. it's not a pretty picture; a lot of moping, unwanted reflection, and tearful reminiscing takes place.
philosophical thoughts, from philosophical minds. someone should write a psychological dissertation on the x-factor.