Aurorya's Journal: non-techie things to think about

I'm not a hardcore geek. I'm a thinker, and the computer and technology field has a huge area for new thoughts, so I'm drawn to it. Plus the logic works well with my head. So here are some thoughts I've gathered, most of them recent:

1. It is better to be able to love than to be loved. If you love someone or something, it is pleasurable to think about him/her/it. Being loved doesn't necessarily do anything for you. Everyone experiences unwanted attention, and even if it's positive attention, it can slide off without affecting you.
2. There is no point in pride. The self-defensive kind, that is. The French have a separate word for it, orgueil. People should just be happy with their accomplishments for the sake of what they've acheived. The need to show off represents a hurt somewhere else. Shame is worthless, and part of the time unjustified. If you feel the need to defend yourself without being attacked, perhaps you should ask yourself why. If you are indeed being attacked, tell yourself, "This person is hurting and probably needs a hug. I will heal; they can attack at will and I will just show them love and help them get better."
3. Humans are supposed to be outdoors, supposed to be runners. This doesn't do much for us computer-using folk, but that's our problem. Sunlight is good for us! Running gets you motivated, teaches you how to attain goals, increases your attention span (similar to how TV decreases it...unless you listen to music when you run, which is as bad as trying to discuss philosophy over instant messanger or something else awful), regulates your metabolism, improves your overall mood and energy level, helps your body require less sleep, and makes you want to eat healthier food. Plus you get to go places. It's fun! Try to find the book Jog, Run, Race.
4. If people were completely honest, and open when applicable, about their motivations, most interpersonal problems would go away. The majority of communication problems would be eliminated, and amoral motivations would likely soon dissolve due to shame or sudden realizations. If people would only think about what their motivations actually are, sometimes, like in the times when they find themselves doing things they later regret, perhaps they would be happier.
5. [a bit more personal] In order to be completely satisfied with who I am, I need to be a "pure" person, which means clearing up all my motivations and working on my weaknesses and times of discontent. The other major part of this involves loving everyone. For every person, there is at least some small part of me that loves him or her, for either sticking by his personality, or having deeply thought through some issue he presents, or for doing good for no reason. Whenever I deal with that person, I should do it through the part of me that loves him. As long as I follow all these guildlines here, I have nothing to fear, no hurt to try to "protect" myself from.
6. There is no reason not to be honest. Most of this ties into realizing and being truthful about motivations, but it also applies to everything. If I have to lie for something other than a surprise birthday party, I have done something wrong. One should never fear disagreeing with someone else's morals if one belives strongly enough in one's own.
7. I rarely use my alarm clock anymore (when not ill). My first class is no earlier than 9:30, but I'm always up before 7:30. It's satisfying to beat the alarm, and you get your day going on your own schedule. The trick, I've finally discovered, is not in consistantly forcing yourself up early every morning, but in consistantly going to bed early. And letting the morning light enter your room (i.e. keep one window free of curtains or blinds).
8. Convenience and things that quicken your pace of life are probably bad for you. Think pesticides on your fruits, pre-packaged anything, treadmills (as opposed to being outside), or riding instead of walking. As for the other part, IMs, CNN.com (esp. during the whole Sept.11 thing), mass media, and TV. You get used to bite-sized thoughts, which hardly constitute anything you can really get IN to, and you stop having the really deep epiphanies yourself. Remember 2nd grade? Ok, maybe not. It was a time filled with these great thoughts, thought chains, conclusions, discovering multiplication on your own, piecing together all the things you learned in school that week... TV *shudders*... think about it. You sit there. You stare at a screen and see shallow plots (with laugh tracks that let you know what's funny for you) resolve themselves every 22 minutes. On average, there's a resolution every 6 minutes. Realistic? Um...are the *characters* realistic? What does it teach you about people, about societies and your own culture and looks and REAL people?
9. Finally (for now), learn a foreign language, if only for the experience of having a paradigm shift when you "think" in it. Then, when you can read in that language without "translating", you can apply that change-in-thought-modes skill to absolutely everything else. When you talk to someone else, try to think like her. What are her motivations? What might wearing those uncomfortable be doing to her psyche? Is her weekend on her mind or is your conversation? Or how about when you read a book? If you can paradigm shift, you can LIVE the book.

Wow, it was good to get that out. Even better to think I may actually reach someone with these thoughts, maybe even discuss some of them. ...then again I'm only 19...