Being Yourself: Tattoos

When it comes to your body, I say that it’s yours and you can do whatever you want with it. I only ask that you treat it with respect. One of these things that I wanted to write about is tattoos. This is a touchy subject for some people and I get that some tattoos hold great meaning to their bearer and what they stand for. A countless number of people have some symbol forever engraved on their skin. Many have a picture or phrase that speaks volumes to them or shows a picture of a beloved family member and I totally get that it means more to them than anything else and I respect that on such a high level. My only problem with tattoos is if people get some that aren’t necessarily important and are there just for show because of how cool they look. It bothers me so much when I ask them, “Why did you get that tattoo? Is there a story behind it?” and then they give me this response “Well, I don’t know it looked cool in the shop window so I decided to get it over my shoulder where it can be seen by everyone.” Ummm……….

                Are you an idiot? No offense to cool looking tattoos and what-not but you do realize that will be there for the rest of your life right? It is a very personal thing to have because it is now part of your skin, it will be with you forever and other people can see it for the rest of your existence, so don’t you want to give them something worth looking at? Maybe something that has a good message to it and maybe could motivate and inspire those around you to do something with their lives? That’s what I would go for if I were to get a tattoo (not so sure if I will I’m very on and off about it). I would go for something that is beautiful and still speaks volumes to those around me. I dislike those people that get tattoos for no reason with whatever they want on them. I understand that they can get what they want and that they have that freedom I just disagree with their thought process behind it.  The purpose of any art on the body is to convey a message regardless if you realize it or not, so therefore if it is a poor message I will most likely disagree with your skin art. I will say this however, if you are wanting to get a tattoo and people tell you not to, screw them. Do you know why? Because in the end you are the ultimate decision. It’s not up to anyone else what message you want to convey. Nor is it their right to tell you know. You have a right to speak your mind through art and any other means you see fit. Keep true to yourself and your body and if you want little images of R2D2 on your chest then go for it. Or if you want your favorite bible verse on your shoulder, who’s stopping you? Or a picture of your daughter right over your heart, do it. Be you in a way that you can express, and if that’s the way you feel than I fully support you. As always guys it’s been a pleasure ranting. Love ya’ll!!! Peace!

Personality: The Obsessors

Imagine this, you are in a group project in an L.A. class, the teacher assigns the partners, but you get to choose your topic over the WW2 era and your group chooses the Holocaust for whatever reason (probably because their lives are really depressing and they wanted to see people who had it worse for a change). Now imagine this, you get the topic, and all the sudden one dude in your group starts freaking out and smiling and laughing and cheering and practically shaking with excitement. Then says this: “I LOVE THE HOLOCAUST I READ ALL ABOUT IT IM SO GLAD IT HAPPENED ITS SO INTERESTING”. Not the best thing to say when the whole class can hear you, buts it’s obvious this guy’s social skills were not up to par. Turns out, this guy really did research the Holocaust and every living detail known to man about it, and was actually convinced it was a good thing. Needless to say that was not the best hobby to have but it worked to my advantage considering we passed that group project with flying colors.

This blog will be about people like my group partner who will remain anonymous (but for the sake of having fun let’s just call him Ken, a random white guy name, as he was indeed, white). These people I would like to call Codename: The Obsessors. This is a pretty self-explanatory codename, as these are the people who obsess over their favorite things. Now I have categorized the levels of obsession into three main levels (now I did have various sub-categories but to keep this post nice and short for the most part I’m sticking to my main three) the first level of obsession is called Stage One: The Mega Fan. They are not your ordinary fans, they don’t just read the book, or watch the movie two or three times, no. They read this book 17+ times, mark their favorite spots with post-it notes and write a song in the books honor. They watch the movie 20+ times and look at the same scenes over and over until they know the movie by heart and could quote the entire thing by memory. This person is not on the same level as Ken per-say but pretty damn close.

The next level is a level I like to call Stage Two: The Deep Ender’s. They are the ones who jump of the deep end and immerse themselves in some next level obsession, the likes of which ordinary fans would never see. These people are like Ken, as this is the level he is on. These people are convinced that their obsession is an entity of God or Ala or Rakshasa, whoever they choose to worship. Every small detail is committed to memory for instance, if the obsessed chose to rewrite the book they’ve been obsessing over for well over 5 years now, they could set the book on their pedestal that they always have it on, and write the book word for word, with no problem without having to look for a reference.  

Finally there are the people who have reached Stage Three: The No Returners. These fans have gone so far as to not even be fans anymore. They have convinced themselves in their dark depressed state brought on by reality that they choose not to accept, that they are in fact, part of their fantasy world in their book. They pick a character they love the most and are genuinely convinced to the point of insanity that they are that character. They will act out scenes and talk exactly the way they think that character would talk/dress/act and so on. They cannot return to reality as it would probably break their fragile mind, their family members walk on eggshells around their poorly lost child and make sure they don’t crack. Any indication they receive that they are not actually in their book could send them into a spiraling depression and a giant pool of tears will follow suit.

Thanks for listening to my crazy story about my thoughts on book/movie/history fans. As always I love you guys! Peace.

Personality: The Ruler

 

There are many people in the world who do a great job of figuring out their lives and what to spend their time doing to match their lifestyle. There are those who plan out everything and act according to that plan in order for everything to run smoothly. Then there are those who fly by the seat of their pants and every day is an adventure of what they will get done. I am unfortunately the latter of those three things, but I’m not here to talk about that I’m here to talk about the organized people. The ones who are organized to a fault.

            These types of people don’t necessarily frustrate so much as make me jealous as to how much they have their life together and I don’t. Now the ones that I am not jealous of however are the people who have everything organized but need to organize every small thing. Yes I understand there is a thing called OCD but I’m not talking about those people, I’m talking about the ones who do it by choice. Everything that they partake in they have to plan it according to everything else. They could be ordering food off of a menu and need to calculate the calories they need to burn in order to even it out. They measure out all the components necessary for everything because they are so afraid of making a wrong move. Hence the codename: The Ruler, as they have to literally measure out stuff sometimes in order to figure out what they want to do next. They might as well carry an actual ruler around with them for Christ sake and quite frankly I don’t think I could handle being friends with these kinds of people because honestly that would get on my nerves really quickly… Sorry. If they could tone it down to a more moderate level I would be able to tolerate them better but since most of them have reached a point of no return I can’t help them come back from the dark zone that they have trapped themselves in. I would say that a little bit of straightening up is in order for me and others like me, but I would say on the flip side of things that a little loosening up is needed for those people since they tend to be up tight and just need to relax a little. As always guys, I love you all, Peace!

Being Yourself: Perfect Balance

Being Yourself: Perfect Balance

 

            It takes a lot to be yourself. Don’t get me wrong. You have heard it plenty of times before, and have heard it from a million different sources. They make it sound so easy. So simple. As if you could accomplish it with just a lift of a hand and a snap of a finger. I know just as well as all of you that it’s simply not that simple. There is self-esteem issues, the feeling of fitting in, the struggle with your inner demons, etc. It’s these inner demons that set everyone away from truly being yourself. We are one in the same. It’s the common struggle to be who you really are and be truly happy. The demons never stop trying to take control of your life and make you miserable, they are our doubt, our hesitation, our shy, our insecurities, and our worst enemy. Yet through all this we have our moments where we truly shine and are truly happy. It’s this balance that makes us the perfect us we can be. We need to be able to balance our demons with the correct offset of happy and we find who we are. One of the best ways to do this is to say no. As shown in a recent blog I read “A Simple Guide to Being Yourself Instead of People Pleasing” (http://tinybuddha.com/blog/be-yourself-instead-of-people-pleasing/) saying no is a powerful tool and can help you on your road to becoming who you are and finding the things that truly make you happy.

                Well how do I know when I’m really being myself? Good question beautiful reader. The answer lies in your friends. My friends? Yes your friends. When you are with friends, do you change what you say to appease their opinion? Do you put on a persona that they are used to seeing when they are around you? If so, your brain probably unconsciously doesn’t see them as a true friend, because when you are with that certain someone you find to be your best friend, you hide nothing. You see them as true and trustworthy so you tell them everything. You don’t feel ashamed when you are with them. You feel at peace and like you fit in. You speak your mind, and they listen, not arguing, let you finish, and then argue with you playfully just to piss you off. You two could fight for about a day maximum and then you wouldn’t be able to stand it anymore and come running back to each other again the very next day because you couldn’t stand being away and not talking for that long. This person is the one you watch hours’ worth of shows with, eating several containers of ice cream and not feel ashamed with. If you can find these people, then you are set for life, because they will help provide you with perfect balance. As long as you are being yourself, you could never steer yourself wrong. As always guys, thanks for reading and I love you all!

Being Yourself: The Short End of the Stick

Being Yourself: The Short End of the Stick

 

            We all have days where we feel like we are getting cheated out of something. Be it, a good grade, or a ranking at a competition, sometimes we just feel like we deserve better. Most of us do deserve better, but sometimes it just doesn’t work out that way. I understand completely. There are some times in my life where I definitely got it easy and its pretty smooth sailing for the most part. Other times I just come up short. Main example in my life is at home, I am the middle child of three. When it comes to ganging up on someone, my two siblings (older sister and younger brother) have it down to an art form. They are perfectly in sync with each other. They know what to say, to back each other up in an argument when it’s just me versus them, they know when to get rough and yell, and they make the fight basically feel like a WWE match between Mr. Rodgers and the Hulk tag teaming with Thor. That simply put is not a fair battle at all. The result is always that compared to a Native American Reserve fighting against the Enola Gay dropping Little Boy (that’s a little splash history for ya, if you don’t know what Little Boy is, look it up on Google). It’s really one-sided. So believe me, I’ve been in your shoes even if it’s just an infinitesimally small fraction of what you all have been through I at least have a small understanding of what goes on in life.

            Maybe it’s how you’re treated in your home, maybe it’s at school, or maybe it’s just walking down the street. We’ve all been treated badly, taken down a few notches, and left in the dust. Even when our confidence is at its highest it can take just one person to say a simple phrase that makes us feel horrible and not worth much. My theory is, hearing an insult from someone you don’t really know is way more costly than hearing one from someone who knows you well. Because think about it, we all take things that we hear from people we know not that seriously, but if it’s someone who is just getting a first impression of you, and is disgusted enough to insult you, then that makes us all feel like we are majorly in the wrong. We feel horrible because they immediately found the bad side of us and pointed it out, we feel exposed, guilty, self-conscious, and flat out wrong. But this is only if we let it get to us. This same thought applies to us at home, in our daily lives, in school, or once again, simply walking down the street.

            We could feel cheated out of everything in our lives and let harsh words and people ruin everything that makes us happy in life, or we could stand up for ourselves, brush the dirt off of our shoulders, and walk right by the insulter giving them a good: “have a nice day”. Nothing takes the wind out of antagonists sails like acting the words don’t affect you at all. Even if they do, don’t show it. They want a reaction and that will get you down. Feel like you drew the long straw in life and it will start to go that way. As always guys, thanks for reading, I love you all!

Personality: "I'm Sorry"

Personality: “I’m Sorry”

“Hey man!”

“Oh hey, sorry.”

“Uh… its cool… so what’s up?”

“Oh yeah sorry I’m just playing video games.”

“Bro it’s cool. What game?”

“Assassins Creed, sorry I forgot to tell you which game my bad bro.”

“Dude its cool. You don’t have to apologize.”

“Sorry.”

“…Really?”

            Okay so maybe it was a slight exaggeration but I’ve had conversations particularly close to that and it’s really annoying. I understand you feel like you messed up or something but please, you don’t have to apologize for everything. Asking for forgiveness in every single sentence makes people like me want to accept it less and less every time you say it.

            You all know what I’m talking about, and there is almost no way you guys don’t know this kind of person in your own personal lives that act like this. They. Are. Everywhere. I almost kind of feel bad for them whenever I see them because a lot of times they look lost. I will admit however I have seen confident (males mostly) talk this way and always have a smile on their face. This form of the personality (codename: I’m Sorry) makes it that much more annoying. Because they don’t ever seem to grasp the process that THEY HAVE NOTHING TO BE SORRY FOR! This is not always the case and sometimes these people have a good reason and only start this habit when they genuinely mess up and have feel obligated to take responsibility and honor the fact that it was their fault. In that scenario I totally understand why someone would feel that way and I would sometimes act like this on occasion. Not nearly as much as a certain friend of mine (who will remain anonymous so let’s just give them a fake unrealistic name), my friend Jeff will always apologize, even for the smallest of things and quite frankly I wish he would stop. Even when he should be sorry I wish he wouldn't apologize because he has apologized so much in the past I think it might be his most said word ever besides either mom or dad.

            To those of you who find this an actual problem in your daily lives, we around you understand your thought process, but it is totally okay to mess up. As long as you recognize it and move on. You don’t have to apologize because we know you feel bad already. As always guys, love talking to you. Peace!