Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Music Speaks the Truth

There's something about music, wouldn't you say? It somehow cuts through all of the worlds nonsense and confusion and speaks to our souls. My director always says, "Music Speaks the Truth." And it does!
Right now I've been playing the piano quite a lot as well as being in two choirs and Musical Theatre, so I've been very exposed to it lately and learned so much. I've learned it takes work. If the music is conveying a message, but you and your body language or facial expressions are not, then you're basically lying and it comes off false and shallow.
So taking that knowledge, I think that we underestimate the power that music has in our society and the source for good it can be. If we like an artist, or one song really speaks to us, the connection that is made is a connection in our very soul. That is why there is such a hero worship of musicians, because the fans feel like they are understood and accepted by the music their particular musician has portrayed to them.
Music also has tremendous political power. A catchy tune can get stuck in your head and be reapeated all day on the radio and on tv. The words become ingrained, like subliminal messages stuck on replay. The words can weaken our thoughts, ideas, arguments and convictions, or they can strengthen them. But to say that the music we listen to doesn't affect us is either a blatant lie, or a gross misunderstanding.

Just a thought.

Monday, July 25, 2011

Objectivism

I've just had an epiphany.
I finished reading Atlas Shrugged last night and I'm completely enraptured with the philosophy of Objectivism. So since then I've been researching it and listening to lectures and the like. It's absolutely fascinating and I love it.
The ideas are simple and concise and I agree with all of them except one. And that is where my discovery began.
Objectivism states that A is A. There are no contradictions in life. Existence exists and that we as humans cannot escape it. Objectivists reject all form of mystisism and the idea that the supernatural can interject and change reality, because A is A and cannot exist as non-A at the same time. You can't have your cake and eat it too. Reality is not something that anyone or anything can change because they will it or wish it to be another way. Because of this Objectivism requires Atheism.
Well, being a deeply religious person myself I began to ponder this idea. Objectivism makes total sense, it just seems so right. But I know there is a God, and there can be no contradictions in life.
That was when I realized that there isn't a contradiction here! The God I know can fit quite nicely into everything that Objectivism declares.
You see, this is what I believe.
I believe that there was a life before this one: a pre-mortal existence in which we knew God the Father and he knew us. But that existence was not to be the final step in the scheme of the eternities. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ created the Universe and the Heavens as well as a type of Hell or Outer Darkness. Because he knew us so implicitly I believe that he knew exactly which realm our souls would be qualified to reside in for eternity but he couldn't just go around saying, "Congratulations you are going to make it to Heaven." And, "Sorry, you won't make the cut." to us without proving it to us himself because God is a God of Reason.
In order to prove to us during the Final Judgment that he is a Just God, we were sent to earth with no memory of our life before; this that we may see for ourselves at the end of our lives the true condition of our souls.
Here is where the connection to Objectivism is made. According to its axiom that Existence exists, that reality cannot be changed or altered even by a God, I agree. But I submit that there is in fact a God and a reality that co-exist without contradiction!
The Bible tells us that God exist beyond time, that time is a mortal concept, not an eternal one. And when one looks deep into the concept of time itself with all it's complexity and seemingly irrationality, that is not hard for me to accept. It is man that travels in a straight line all his life, while nature constantly cycles. This is another belief of Objectivism. That mans course is a line, not a circle. Therefore his experience and reality on earth is that of a straight line, a continuous stream of time.
I believe that God operates on a different level. Einstein said that it was possibly that the past and the present exist simultaneously, so why not the future as well? I believe that God see's everything as it was, is, and will be. But he does not need to interfere! God knows us implicitly. He knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows us so well that he can know without any doubt every decision that we will ever make in our lives, and to give us our agency and to carry out the fulfillment of Justice, he does not interfere. Knowing the heart of a dictator or murderer, he could simply reach out his hand and stop terrible things from happening, but he does not! This so that we may face the full reality of our choices, the consequences of the path we choose.
Objectivism also states that there are no miracles because the definition of a miracle is something that could not have been possible before that is brought about by a supernatural force or intervention. I say that life's course is already known to God and he does not change it because it has already been set in motion in full detail by himself. Every "miracle" that happens, for there are things on this earth that I would define as miracles, has already been planned for and set in motion.
To pray is not a useless attempt as Objectivists suggest, neither because there is no God nor because he will not help you. To pray is to show recognition to him who you owe everything. To pray for strength or help is right. God will answer your prayers for the simple reason that he knew you would pray. Because he knows you better than you know yourself. Extending the blessings of your righteousness to you is not an intervention by God that changes reality. It is the carrying out of reality itself.

I am only a seventeen year old girl. I have only studied Objectvism for a short time, maybe a week or so, but this is what I know. I know that man's purpose on earth is not suffering and pain, but happiness. I know that there is a reality with consequences to the choices that we make. I know that reason and logic are the standards by which I judge everything in life, and I know that Objectivism embraces all these things. Yet I also know that there is a God. I know this in the ways the Objectivism requires all knowledge: through my five senses. I have heard his voice and felt his presence and seen his hand. I know he is there. I know that there are no contradictions in life. I found one, checked my premises and discovered that it was never there to begin with.
This is my epiphany. One day I hope to explain my new-found knowledge to an Objectivist and see how they take my idea's. I know that I'm right. I know it. Though I'm not yet articulate in the ways of philosophy I ask you to use your own judgment, with the soundness of your mind which is a tool that only you can use to judge the truth, and discover for yourself what you think about this life, whether you think as I do or not. The important thing is that you not only have an opinion, but believe it passionately and understand it thoroughly.

Because of these new ideas that have been introduced into my life, I'm a changed person for good and for the better.
Who knows? Maybe one day I'll be teaching my new Philosophy as a professor and spreading my ideas to the world? For now I have my blog. My Desiderata.

Monday, July 18, 2011

NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo is almost upon us!
It's a little bit scary to think about, if I'm being honest.
For those of you who don't know what it is..... shame on you.
NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. For the entire month of November crazy writers all over the world circle the wagons and commit to writing an entire 50,000 word novel in 30 days. That's a big freaking deal. To accomplish such insanity one much write a consistent 1667 words per day. (Whether you are inspired or not, which is the challenge.)
Last year I participated, but because I was also in a musical at the time I procrastinated much of my writing, sometimes not writing at all for a few days. Which meant by the end I had to write 20,000 words in 4 days. That was an adventure...
My family had a great time too! I lived on the computer and refused to do anything else, forgetting the necessities of food and sleep, while basically obsessing over this insane goal I had set for myself. My poor family didn't see much of me that fateful November. They were pretty sick of NaNoWriMo once it was done. But that is beside the point!
THE POINT of this outrageous and borderline impossible challenge is the challenge itself. In the same way that my favorite comedian Eddie Izzard ran 43 marathons in 51 days, it's going to hurt. The process, though not involving blisters or freezing rain, is a painful one. You'll find yourself having said what you planned to say, with half your book left. So you end up pulling new plot lines and characters out of your bum, and many times being shocked at how perfectly it all falls into place.
It's a marathon of the mind, not intended for the faint of heart. In fact, it's such a daunting task that I'm already looking forward to it... and it's only July!
So yeah. If you've got a love of writing, or you're just a crazy lunatic who likes to challenge yourself (I'm a bit of both) then do it. Go to the NaNoWriMo website and pledge your allegiance! Then, who knows? By the end of the month you may have written a novel, all by yourself. So you can introduce yourself like this, "Hello. My name is blankety blank. And I write a novel in one month. I'm a novelist, that's right."
Eternal Glory awaits you at the finish line. As well as brownie points and bragging rights forever.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Atlas Shrugged

Hey everyone! I know it's been forever, but I've had some crazy stuff going on. Everything is right with the world once more so I thought I'd resume my blogging which I've so sadly neglected.
Right now I'm reading a fabulous book called Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I havn't gotten through it yet and I am absolutly desperate to know "Who is John Galt?" but that will have to wait. For now I've contented myself with observing all the little details of the society that Ayn Rand has created, and it's a little bit scary.
In this new place everyone acts for the good of society as a whole. Business and greed are considered crass and undignified, as it doing something soley to make money. The majority of people there are fools. They fear hard and fast facts and when faced with a yes or no question they hem and haw and beat around the bush to avoid answering. These idiots run the world. They fear the power of politicians and the peoples opinions mean everything to them.
It creates a lot of interesting problems for everybody. People become cunning and malicious, yet wholly stupid. If it doesn't seem to benefit the world as a whole, they don't do it or care about it, even if it something good and necessary. They're running themselves into the ground.
As well as being moronic, they are extremily apathetic. This apathy in part comes from not wanting to take the blame for anything. If they never take action, they can never be blamed for doing something wrong. It's always someone else who can take care of it, and in this way nohting gets done.

It's an odd senario in the fact that it is both far fetched and already a realtiy.
We're apathetic. We're silly people who care far too much about ourselves and our individual causes to see the bigger picture. We often miss the simple things that make the most difference. Common sense is no longer common.

When talking about Politics we wish for equality in all things when we should be wishing for an Equaltiy of Opportunity instead. In Business we wish to eliminate Monopolies, yet encourage competition, which caps the limit of sucess one man can acheive from his hard work. In life we wish for things to be fair, when in reality the only fairness we can ever acheive is that equality of oppurtunity.

It's a frustrating thing to see the world and the direction it is headed in. It often makes me wish that more people would only stop and think and observe.

Leonardo da Vinci once lamented that too many people Look without Seeing, Listen without Hearing, Eat without Tasting, and Touch without Feeling. If we could all just take a moment of silence and listen, we might learn something.

As far as apathy goes, I beileve that the worst kind of man is the man without a purpose. That is one definition of apathy itself. Why should I do it when it's someone else's job? It's not my problem. We need people in this world who are doers. We need the kind of people who take it upon themselves to make a difference. Ghandi once said, "Be the change you want to see in the world."

We are a doing people. We have dreams and aspirations and work hard towards our goals. When we want something in life, we will not be content to sit back and dream. We make our dreams a reality. In this way we are not so very much like Ayn Rand's world. As long as we remain proud of ourselves and our accomplishements, as long as we never give up or settle, as long as we can truely see and hear the world around us, we have nothing to fear.