Dreams

There have always been conflicting theories about why we dream, or what these dreams mean. But regardless of your opinion, it is safe to say that dreaming is an incredible phenomenon within the human realm of experiences.

In my experience, it seems that dreams coincide with my daily life to some extent. This makes perfect sense since you spend your day worrying or mulling over certain thoughts, leaving your subconscious to take off from there and go wherever it wants when we sleep.

Yet we all have control over our thoughts, and I realize some more than others (don't forget things like OCD, depression, bipolar disorder, etc.). So in theory we are simply providing our brains with the outline for our dreams. Our subconscious takes over from there and uses its own set of rules to create our dreams.

This is the most fascinating characteristic of dreams - the fact that an uncontrollable part of our brain can have such control over our "thoughts" (thoughts being in quotes because we are not fully conscious). So I wonder if we actually have any control over this aspect of our brains. If we do not, that is crazy. If we do, we might be able to unlock hidden potential - further utilizing our massive cortex.

This post was inspired by an incredibly detailed dream I had last night - but with seemingly no connection to that day's experience. Keeping it brief, I dreamt I was with my family in a small village in the mountains somewhere. In these mountains a strange thing was happening - white bears (not polar bears though) we digging massive holes in the snow on the side of mountains, as if they were looking for something.

Finally I was able to watch the event first hand and saw these white bears dragging massive grizzly bears out of these holes and fighting them. Sometimes the grizzlies would win, other times they would die, but if they survived the grizzlies went on manhunts - killing people all over this mountain.

This clearly frightened the people of the village and we gathered in a small clearing outside of town for safety. The clearing was outdoors but somehow had doors and furniture - a combination of being in and outside. After a while a group of us went to go see if anything was happening in the old village. Shortly after leaving the safety of the clearing we found ourselves being stalked by a pack of wolves but managed to escape.

We returned, shaken. But soon we set out on another expedition we ran into trouble again. One of the members of the group shot another - causing a wild frenzy and attracting the attention of a wild pack of dogs which we somehow concluded was the cause of all the chaos we were experiencing.

Another series of detailed and emotionally provoking events took place but I would fill up pages trying to complete it all. The most staggering thing about this dream was how detailed it was. I usually have simplistic and explainable dreams, but this one is filled with so many strange events. I woke up feeling as though I had actually lived it.

Perhaps this is the key to virtual reality - harnessing the power of this subconscious part of the brain and tricking it into helping us experience fulfilling events. Taken one step further - perhaps this will one day allow humans to exist as vegetables, not experiencing anything in reality but living a completely satisfying life within a dream world.

Germs

Although the summer days are weening, we have been blessed with four straight days of rain this past week. Normally I would welcome such a climactic change however since it has fallen on the same days as my back-to-school meetings I have a different reaction.

Being somewhat ignorant to the extent of the storms, I figured I would be just fine in a rain jacket and khaki pants. But after trudging through the rain for only a few minutes, my khakis soon became soaked - a wonderful recipe for disaster when it meant sitting the next few hours in an air-conditioned room.

Never fear, I thought to myself. I am young, virile, and well equipped to handle a little cold. Plus it will be a nice change to the crazy heat my body has been experiencing for the past months. As if to remind me how vulnerable I am, the next day I awoke with a frog in my throat, and had to hold my nose from running away by the afternoon.

Now lets get one thing straight - I am not sick...just a bit under the weather. So thank you body, mother nature, the germs inside me. You have reminded me how vulnerable I am, plus you are making me stronger for flu season which is going to be here faster than we all would like.

New Beginnings

Today is the first official "day of school". As a private school teacher, the faculty returns to campus a week prior to the students in order to shake of the summer dust and get back into the swing of things.

As a newcomer to this routine, I have heard many different outlooks on this volatile time of year. Widdling these opinions down it is clear that most teachers fall into one of two categories - excitement / rejuvenation or the dolldrums.

Having gone through this routine before, the senior faculty appear unamused by the excitement surrounding a new school year. No doubt they all enjoy their jobs but the novelty of starting anew has lost its luster.

Invigorated by a fresh beginning, most young teachers look forward to this time of year. The prospect of new students, new ideas, and a clean slate are refreshing. This is where I believe I fall.

The more I think about it, the more I love having this experience in my life. As a student I dreaded coming back to school. I was never one to look optimistically at the prospects of a new year but rather dreaded the seemingly inevitable hamster wheel life soon felt like.

But as a teacher I feel much different. Perhaps it has something to do with my maturity - although you can argue that hasn't changed much. Unlike a "normal" job that lasts a full year, coming back to school every fall as a teacher must be a great way to keep things interesting. No doubt the work load ramps up but simply having a start, end, break, and another start to your year is awesome (right now).

As I look forward, I think I want to keep doing what I am doing as well as something more. This teaching thing is something I feel good about and helps me experience fulfillment. My goal now is to keep it going while looking for something else to distract my busy mind with. Like not ending sentences with prepositions.

That "something more" can be any number of things, and I already have a couple of ideas.

Moments

Wow - over a year since my last post. To be fair, I started the blog last summer and had the excited energy to make three quick posts before losing some gusto. Well now I am back with another perspective on "things". I hope to continue posting as these thoughts pop into my wandering cranium.

Try and read what I am about to say outside of the cliches. This might be difficult but to me some of these cliches are true the more you actually mull them over. Something I have been told (or at least heard and read) since a young age is that life is made up of a million tiny moments. These moments can be pasted together to form a memory, a mood, a reaction, an experience, or a decision. All major events in a life can be broken down into these tiny moments in time...right now.

If you consider that a "moment" as being a single second, than we all have 86,400 moments in a day. Suppose we sleep for about 28,800 (8 hours) of these we are left with an incredible 57,600 moments to enjoy every single day.

Let us make another hypothetical assumption about these moments and suppose we have the superhuman power to control how these moments play out. Believe it or not, we all have the ability to interpret each moment however we see fit. We can enjoy, dread, love, or hate each part of our day. Why not spend all these moments happy? It seems silly, supposing we have the ability, to waste these moments.

And waste is a term interpreted differently by everyone. What may be considered a waste for me, may be a very productive and full moment for you.

Thus it is my goal to enjoy every moment as best as I can in hopes of stringing together enough of these positive instances to create an even more powerful memory / experience. But like so many things, theory is often easier than practice. Everything I have said makes sense in my mind, yet when push comes to shove it can be very difficult to execute.

One example has been the challenge of ignoring the adverse things that come in and out of my life that I have no control over. This can take the form of a sad news story or my favorite hockey team losing to their rivals. There are so many things like this that have the power to effect our daily moments and the biggest obstacle is identifying these disappointments and trying to find a way to acknowledge our reaction, feeling the associated emotions, and moving on to the next moment. All this must happen within a single second.

Not that this is the correct way to overcome these challenges, but this seems to be the way I have learned to "ignore" uncontrollable events.

Further, there is something to be said about not ignoring these uncontrollables. After all, who is to say that dwelling on these moments is not a sign of incredible compassion for our fellow man.

All that being said, the point of my mental wanderings is that everything you experience can be broken down into little moments - so take advantage of them. You also have the ability to make the most of every moment - so enjoy right now. Without getting too existential, we all have a finite number of moments in our lives and thus it seems silly not to make the most of these moments. A subjective claim, only you know how to 'make the most' of your moments. There is no need to convince others that these moments are important or explain why. That is the beauty in all of this - everyone is going to interpret a moment differently and thus experience it in a unique way.

So make the most of whatever it is you feel like making the most of.

Aliens

Did aliens visit humans thousands of years ago? There are a number of pieces of evidence that to which people on both sides of the argument cling. Since this is only a blog I will take an overview of some of the evidence I have heard rather than write a term paper with proper sources and whatnot.

Yes - There is evidence from Egypt and Central America that seems too good to be true. Apparently, The Great Pyramid at Giza as well as the Mayan Pyramid at Teotihuacan share very similar characteristics. Both are built precisely on the equator. Both have the same base size to within a few centimeters of each other. It seems unlikely that two cultures - separated by huge oceans - would have such similar design characteristics.

Yes - In both cultures, the fractured history that remains references divine intervention. It is unclear whether these pyramids were built to worship the Gods that literally descended from the skies or whether they were built in order to please the perceived spirits above. However, the technology at the time of the construction was not nearly advanced enough to build such massive structures - one would think. Stones weighing several tons were placed precisely and meticulously in order to create these world wonders. One calculation: If the Giza pyramid was actually built in 22 years - like many of the sources indicate - than one block must have been cut, shaped, transported, carried, pushed, hauled, and placed every 7 seconds for 22 years in order to create the thing. Did the ancient Egyptians really do this or were they literally helped by the Gods above? I do not know but it seems pretty extraordinary.

No - for the same reason many think that aliens did visit us, others think they did not. Both the Egyptians and the Mayans possessed an incredible understanding and mastery of the skies. It is not unlikely that they could have somehow calculated the position of their pyramids to fall directly on the equator. So there goes that argument. It is also possible that the dimensions of both structures are sound and ideal for building pyramid like structures. Maybe it is just a coincidence.

No - written history is not the most accurate way to follow the rise and fall of these cultures but what remains suggests that life-forms came out of the sky and helped create these massive monuments. How should we interpret these records? Since the records say that something came out of the sky do we interpret this literally or do we infer that they were speaking in a more poetic tongue?

Either way, it seems strange that other life forms would have visited the planet, helped make these enormous structures and left. Perhaps they are planning a return someday. I do not think so. In my own opinion, I think that the ancient people were smarter and more resourceful than we give them credit for. Although their accomplishments are astounding, if they were unaware about technology and had no other choice, they probably put their heads down, sucked it up, and built the pyramids. End of story. It is exciting to think about aliens visiting us and maybe someday it might actually happen...but I do not think it has happened yet.

Sea Water

Tuvalu is the fourth smallest country in the world. A group of small islands scattered throughout the Pacific Ocean between Fiji and New Zealand, it is perhaps man-kinds picture of paradise. The population is a little over 12,000 with a land mass area of only 10 square miles. The country sent their first ever Olympic competitors to Beijing in 2008 and have been gaining worldwide attention as climate change climbs the charts of concern to settle next to the economy, real estate, and banking. The country is on the verge of crisis and might become the first country in our lifetime to literally disappear. While national borders have shifted over time, most major nation states can point to some land as their pure "homeland." Tuvalu, with rising sea levels will likely be (if all the scientists and climatologists are correct) the first nation state in the world to be swallowed up by Poseidon.

Displacing some 12,000 climate refugees from the pacific paradise might not be too difficult for the neighboring countries such as New Zealand and Australia, however it could be a sign for what to come further down the road. As sea levels continue to rise after washing over Tuvalu, larger population around the world will be forced to adjust. This could lead to a major migration of climate refugees from around the world. These unfortunate souls would have a limited number of choices about where to settle since many of the world's major cities lie near or on the seashore.

Imagine a world in which geographical advantages go beyond natural resources but are found in those nations with highlands, mountains, and safety from the grabbing sea water. How would the powers shift? Perhaps it is beyond my level of comprehension to try and account for all the factors that might cause or lead to a shift but just imagine for a second. In this future world consumed by water (no not like 'Water World') which countries would be most effected? Imagine that most of the world's powers - such as United States, United Kingdom, China, India, and Russia - are severely crippled. Where would all these people go? Would we suddenly be sent running to the mountain of Colorado or the Black Mountains of Russia?

Perhaps for a brief period of 5 years in which major migration take place, many decide to move away from the shore. In this new world large population erupt in tiny mountain villages throughout the world. I wonder if this would really happen. How far would people be willing to go and how far could they afford to travel? Many will not possess the financial ability to move very far. All in all, increasing sea levels will pose a problem for many of us down the road. Grab that cheap land in the mountains while you can because someday, maybe in 100 years or so, it could be very valuable.

Anonymity

Today it is possible to interact with others over the wonderful, amazing, incredible internet. Unfortunately, the internet provides a veil behind which we can all hide. Alter egos and aliases allow us all to interact with each other without knowing who is on the other side of the computer screen. While some people might enjoy or even get a thrill from this kind of interaction, it also provides a platform for abuse. 

(Multiplayer online game (from facebook))

Gamer 1: Purple you suck!

Me: Thanks

Gamer 1: You're welcome you whore

Me: Dont get upset

Gamer 1: You forgot the apostrophey you whore

Me: I'm just trying to have fun

Gamer 1: Have fun with your legs wide open

So while this might seem like a funny interchange, after several of them I am g3t tired. Likely many of these gamers are youthful tweens just learning new words - experimenting with all the new swears mom and dad never allow under their roof. Many online games these days have side bars for players to chat with each other. This is the perfect opportunity for all of us to jokingly talk "smack" to each other. However, I find that this playful chatter can sometimes get out of control and distract us from the games we are playing. Often, I find myself killing time on these game sites and do not have time to think about potential jabs at my opponents. It is tiring. I do not like trying to think about insults and take no pleasure in doing so. It is a hassle and a pain. So all of the gamers out there, please take it easy and spread the love rather than "smack" others around. Maybe I am being soft but its been on my mind recently and felt the need to say something about it. That is all for now. Keep on gamin'.