Know Yourself, or An Odd Effort at Creativity

This is an experiment in perspective, as told through the viewpoint of a monkey.

With that solace which sometimes adorns the face of simian creatures like myself, some would argue that I feel younger than I am. "Watch as he swings along the boughs," screams one young lad. "He's free!"

Then they understand that to obfuscate me in such a fashion is both ill-advised and reckless, for I turn against them with such unabashed rage that other monkeys clear a fifteen-foot radius for me to let loose upon the world.

"No doubt you think I have a problem with my temper, but I am not the angry creature you think I am," I merit, an assertion made more for myself than for others.

The lesson to be learned here comes often with experience. It is simply this: admit who you are, and think no thing higher or lower of yourself, for a man or woman with so clear a self-picture can bring to the world a wisdom which not only governs how and when to use our talents, but inspires others to find themselves and do the same.

"Where your talents and the needs of the world cross," Aristotle once said, "there lies your vocation."

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Savior

This wasteland cold and dark runs free Its fearful creatures speak to me One fateful day one nudged my hand To set my eyes upon a tree He knew I could not understand For I was in his native land His signs became our common speech To lead me through the deadly sand Now stuck I saw him me beseech He could not lift me out to reach The firm foundation of a cave Outside the boundaries of this beach Withal, the beast became more brave To risk his own my life to save To carry me, its life it gave To carry me, its life it gave. This poem was inspired by Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." That poem, like this one, has four four-line stanzas of eight syllables per stanza. Its rhyme scheme is AABA BBCB CCDC DDDD.

Ghosts

Exercising at a gym seems to be pretty important in our culture, but it's kind of weird to see the social dynamics when you're there. Usually, if you're running an errand, you see others doing the same thing, going about their days and focusing on what's in front of them. The same thing happens at the gym, only everyone is relatively stationary. They don't really go anywhere, except from one machine or area to another. One might think this lends itself to lots of interaction between members, especially since they're all there for the same purpose, but it isn't true. Not only do people generally avoid talking to one another, but they also avoid even looking at one another. It is as though there is no one else there, even though there are dozens on any given day. Most people follow this unwritten rule, unless something in the environment-- say, two people wanting to use the same set of weights-- gives them common ground to interact, or unless they've alr...

The Nice Guy Fallacy

I read part of a poem recently by one of my favorite poets. It reads: I envy not in any moods The captive void of noble rage The linnet born within the cage That never knew the summer woods. I envy not the beast that takes His license in the field of time Unfetter'd by the sense of crime To whom a conscience never wakes. Nor what may call itself as bles't The heart that never plighted troth But stagnates in the weeds of sloth Nor any want-begotten rest. I hold it true, whate'er befall I feel it, when I sorrow most 'Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all. At base, Tennyson contrasted a life of risk, and consequent pain, with one of security. He sides conclusively with the life of risk, and says he fails to envy those who have faced no hardship. I agree with him; and, for good or ill, his words are just as relevant today as they were in the nineteenth century. Like then, there are those today who choose to live their lives with as little risk as...

Thoughts

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