Fair Thee Well
As you probably guessed from the title this is my farewell post. It doesn't have any of my usual pseudo-intelligent banter to go with it but I will explain the reasons for my stopping this journal and that in itself may give you something to think about.
Anyone who reads this journal regularly (in which case the "one" in "anyone" should probably be taken literally) has probably noticed a steady decline in the quality of my posts, I know I have. Uncoincidentally there also in recent months has been a steady lack of drive on my part to write the posts and they generally were written out of just plain boredom. But I do find it fitting that my last post before the farewell post addressed the practicality of all my previous posts. It may not have sounded intellectually grandiose, but it was definitely the truth. The truth, you ask? Isn't truth relative? And all that other crap? Allow me to explain. Philosophy is basically the science of thought. Philosophy and science are both based on ideals. In the past when something would go wrong (and I'm sure I've said stuff like this in previous posts) I would immediately blame the ideal of the situation. Why? Because the ideal gets my hopes up, and that's why when something goes wrong (basically anything outside of utopia) I feel bad! HUH? The fuck kinda bullshit is that? When something goes wrong you feel bad because SOMETHING WENT WRONG. Blaming your mindset for you feeling bad when something goes wrong? That's just passing blame onto an invisible force and avoiding putting the blame on who/what deserves it.
When someone dies do you feel upset because you were expecting them to live forever? NO.
And no matter how hard you try no one questions EVERYTHING. Many people call themselves cynical just so they can always be negative when talking about other things/people and thereby make themselves feel better. Well that's bullshit. I once heard a kid in my english class who was doing a presentation say "I question everything. Like religion - Bah!" And I thought to myself - "Is completely dismissing an entire topic (especially one so complex) without even giving it any thought questioning it?" I'm against organized religion but give me a goddamn break. There's a myriad of possible beliefs when it comes to religion and I think it is important for people to come up with their own beliefs. Not just "Religion is dumb cos I don't like it when mom and dad make me go to church on easter."
If you're nailing something together and you accidentally slam your thumb with the hammer is your first thought "Maybe that didn't just happen. Maybe my senses all simultaneously malfunctioned and just want me to think I just slammed my thumb with the hammer. Maybe I'm not even here at all and my whole life has just been imaginary. Renee DeCartes is the man."?? NO. Your first thought is "FUCK!!! I JUST SLAMMED MY THUMB WITH A HAMMER!!!" And ya know why? COS YA FUCKIN DID. And no philosophy books or "I (supposedly)question everything"-attitude is going to save you the pain.
Now at this point you may be thinking "Aaron you're completely going against yourself. So now philosophy is bullshit?" Not exactly. Serious thought is a very important thing. But it is only as important as it is practical to daily living. And I don't need any forced words I don't use in my normal speech to tell you that. When I started this journal (or rather when I re-started it after basically having random humorous things I found on the internet and then a long period of no activity) I had one goal in mind - self-progression. Do you know what "progression" means? Changing. For the better. And that is something I feel this journal has helped me do.
So one for the road? You got it. But let's keep it practical.
People who "go against the grain": allow me one message. Whether you do something because others are doing it or because others are not doing it, you are still being controlled by what other people do. Do as you please first and foremost. If the whole world listened to Iron Maiden you could bet your ass I wouldn't stop for a minute. And on the other side of the coin, does anybody I know and interact with in real life (in other words not counting my metalhead buddies in Canada, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Britian, Germany, Spain, France, Holland, Australia, and others I'm forgetting) spend a lot of their time writing and recording metal (in other words music no one around here likes)? No. But I do it just the same, cos that's what I love. When I walk down the street, people know just by looking at me I'm a metalhead. They may think "Cool, a metalhead." They may think "Metalhead, fag!" Or the old guy with the hot daughter I'm staring at may think "Little metalheaded hoodlum!" But hey what they think is up to them, and who I am is up to me.
If there's one thing you take away from reading this journal, I hope it's the one thing you could learn simply by reading it's title. Lyrics taken from "Don't Trust" by Kreator.
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU CHOOSE TO BELIEVE
Anyone who reads this journal regularly (in which case the "one" in "anyone" should probably be taken literally) has probably noticed a steady decline in the quality of my posts, I know I have. Uncoincidentally there also in recent months has been a steady lack of drive on my part to write the posts and they generally were written out of just plain boredom. But I do find it fitting that my last post before the farewell post addressed the practicality of all my previous posts. It may not have sounded intellectually grandiose, but it was definitely the truth. The truth, you ask? Isn't truth relative? And all that other crap? Allow me to explain. Philosophy is basically the science of thought. Philosophy and science are both based on ideals. In the past when something would go wrong (and I'm sure I've said stuff like this in previous posts) I would immediately blame the ideal of the situation. Why? Because the ideal gets my hopes up, and that's why when something goes wrong (basically anything outside of utopia) I feel bad! HUH? The fuck kinda bullshit is that? When something goes wrong you feel bad because SOMETHING WENT WRONG. Blaming your mindset for you feeling bad when something goes wrong? That's just passing blame onto an invisible force and avoiding putting the blame on who/what deserves it.
When someone dies do you feel upset because you were expecting them to live forever? NO.
And no matter how hard you try no one questions EVERYTHING. Many people call themselves cynical just so they can always be negative when talking about other things/people and thereby make themselves feel better. Well that's bullshit. I once heard a kid in my english class who was doing a presentation say "I question everything. Like religion - Bah!" And I thought to myself - "Is completely dismissing an entire topic (especially one so complex) without even giving it any thought questioning it?" I'm against organized religion but give me a goddamn break. There's a myriad of possible beliefs when it comes to religion and I think it is important for people to come up with their own beliefs. Not just "Religion is dumb cos I don't like it when mom and dad make me go to church on easter."
If you're nailing something together and you accidentally slam your thumb with the hammer is your first thought "Maybe that didn't just happen. Maybe my senses all simultaneously malfunctioned and just want me to think I just slammed my thumb with the hammer. Maybe I'm not even here at all and my whole life has just been imaginary. Renee DeCartes is the man."?? NO. Your first thought is "FUCK!!! I JUST SLAMMED MY THUMB WITH A HAMMER!!!" And ya know why? COS YA FUCKIN DID. And no philosophy books or "I (supposedly)question everything"-attitude is going to save you the pain.
Now at this point you may be thinking "Aaron you're completely going against yourself. So now philosophy is bullshit?" Not exactly. Serious thought is a very important thing. But it is only as important as it is practical to daily living. And I don't need any forced words I don't use in my normal speech to tell you that. When I started this journal (or rather when I re-started it after basically having random humorous things I found on the internet and then a long period of no activity) I had one goal in mind - self-progression. Do you know what "progression" means? Changing. For the better. And that is something I feel this journal has helped me do.
So one for the road? You got it. But let's keep it practical.
People who "go against the grain": allow me one message. Whether you do something because others are doing it or because others are not doing it, you are still being controlled by what other people do. Do as you please first and foremost. If the whole world listened to Iron Maiden you could bet your ass I wouldn't stop for a minute. And on the other side of the coin, does anybody I know and interact with in real life (in other words not counting my metalhead buddies in Canada, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Britian, Germany, Spain, France, Holland, Australia, and others I'm forgetting) spend a lot of their time writing and recording metal (in other words music no one around here likes)? No. But I do it just the same, cos that's what I love. When I walk down the street, people know just by looking at me I'm a metalhead. They may think "Cool, a metalhead." They may think "Metalhead, fag!" Or the old guy with the hot daughter I'm staring at may think "Little metalheaded hoodlum!" But hey what they think is up to them, and who I am is up to me.
If there's one thing you take away from reading this journal, I hope it's the one thing you could learn simply by reading it's title. Lyrics taken from "Don't Trust" by Kreator.
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU CHOOSE TO BELIEVE