10/21

Things I Learned This Week (long post-beware):

With change comes responsibility: It's the lyric to a song that has always done things to the inside of me, since I was a child. But as ignorantly as my 12 year old self sang those words with vague understanding, the meaning is magnified 11 years later. I remember telling my 8th grade english teacher that I understood why the only thing constant in the world is change. I realized that...but it would take me a while to realize the responsibility that comes with it: you have the responsibility of either making past experiences a tool, or letting them become fruitless memories that serve absolutely no purpose in the present. You have to take your hands and make use of your experiences, extracting all there is to take from them. Sheryl Crowe sang that "some change will do you good--" that is, unless you're dwelling in the past, instead of collecting from it.

Quality people still exist: My dad always says, "You will meet the same people for the rest of your life," and that's absolutely true. The first Liar you meet will not be the last. The first Manipulator you meet will not be the only one. You will most certainly meet more than one Two-Faced person. And darling, Fake people live in every zip code and on every continent. The objective is to learn once and apply later. In other words, learn a person's character (the first time) and apply what you've learned when you come across their kind, later in life. Once you learn to do this, discovering people of quality character becomes a less arduous task. And they are out there (despite my occasional moments of disbelief) and that's proven true, this semester. Maya Angelou said, "When people show you who they are, believe them the first time:" good or bad.

Being informed does not equal 6'oclock news: I have a friend named Freddie, who watches the news religiously. CNN, HLN, MSNBC and the dreaded FOX News (I'm not even gonna go there): you name it, Freddie's heard about it. "It's important to stay aware," he argues. I certainly won't contest that, but I will say that one should take stock of what you are constantly being made aware of and who has decided that you should be aware of it. Why does FOX News want to inform you of a policeman being murdered for no apparent reason by someone whom they would like you to presume, a common thug, without also informing you of a deaf man being murdered by policemen whom they would like you to presume, heroes? Why does CNN feel that it's important for you to believe that Middle Eastern countries despise Americans for what we have, but don't feel that it's important for you to know what appalling crimes some American soldiers have committed against Afghani/Iraqi civilians? My sophomore speech professor once asked our class, "You would agree that it's important to stay informed, no?" We agreed. "Where do you get your information?" We rambled off various channels, papers, journals. "Do you trust all of those sources?" Some of us yes'd and some of us no'd. "Do you believe that those sources are giving you accurate information?" Mumbles. "Do you believe that those sources are giving you all the information?" Hmm...no. "Think about that."

No, really...think about that.