The greatest equalizer is the biggest destroyer

How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were? If the concept of time was created by man, perpetuated by man, twisted by man's stories, and distorted by media - just how old are we?

Time is non-controversial - it's ability to cross nations without issue and provide the framework for an entire globe eludes me. Time is, quite possibly, the only unifying factor in the universe. If we fight over politics, religion, and economics.. everyone can agree that time is how the universe is measured.  Minutes, seconds, hours, years - these are how we all quantify the universe.

Disregarding the notion that Father Time is the great equalizer among nations, I am still concerned with the correlation between age and the concept of time. Did cavemen delineate society by time? How does the man-made concept, but wholly accepted idiom of time affect our relationships, growth, and personal reflection?

Using prehistoric man as an example: (albeit a loose example, as I am only speculating that they did not age themselves) - did cavemen suffer from mid-life crisis? Would the convertible car and hair plug industries thrive if we did not have a concept of years on Earth? I don't think that tanning beds would be as popular if women did not wake up one day and realize they were an unmarried thirty year old, with painfully pale skin and a lonely bed. What I am saying is - why allow time to control so much of your confidence? Age seems to run intrinsic thought far more than necessary. I only seek to know why? Why age and not mental capacity? Why does the woman "wake up and realize she is alone at thirty" to provoke a lifestyle change instead of waking up to see the flaws in her self (whether actual or perceived) in order to invoke the change for better? So much of our confidence is derived from our outward appearance - or "looks".. an idea that is maintained by the concept of time. "I will only be young and beautiful for so long" - why is the cut off for beauty the twenties? If Heidi Klum can rise above the ostentatious age paradigm, then so can the rest of us.

If you didn't know how old you were would you worry about being "too old" or "too young" for something? Most people set belief in their abilities aside in respect of the "accepted age" for something. Why not go back to college when you are fifty? Why is seventeen too young to vote, but eighteen not? I know plenty of adults who should not be voting. In fact, after the last election - I have been persuaded to believe that the vast majority of America should not cast ballot. The concept of time, especially when coupled with the fear of not having enough, seems to pose many problems for individuals - without need.

If the phrase is to Think outside the box - then do it - escape the confines of society, culture, and tradition and be born again outside the limits. Think outside the restraints set by the status quo. Start with time - do not let something created by an individual run your self perception - age cannot decide your abilities, your capacities decide your abilities.


So, I say once again, how old would you be if you didn't know how old you were?

From the Archives: Just A Girl - Vol. 1

This is an excerpt from an older journal I had kept about five years ago. The title of the journal was So he said, shut your mouth girl and the theme was "Just A Girl" - entries that personified a typical high school senior.

October 27th, 2005 - 1:15AM

In the margins, I have that I had to pee during this entry and that Superman had come on TV. I warned myself about the dangers of polo.

The Theory of Relativity: as applied to human nature

Humans are born with a sense that they are...something. Something important. Something different. Something worthwhile. As kids, we all feel this. A segment of the population continues to believe this into adulthood. This childish feeling of self-worth is a catalyst for an inevitable fall.

Now I'm not saying that "self worth" is a bad thing. I'm saying it's a bad thing if this "Person X" never realizes they're nothing. People must recognize that they are nothing to have any hope of reaching... something. People have to hit that rock-bottom and accept that they are not a special creature. From there, they have a chance to become that sought after "something".

It's much like constructing a building.

EXAMPLE: One cannot build a house without a foundation. That's what this stark realization is. It's the foundation to build on. And if one truley accepts it, then it's solid as hell.

Confused, yet?

It's alright. It's only a hap-hazard theory. I explained it much better to my mother earlier. Her response, "Wow, that's very accurate. I can't believe you came up with something so perceptive. Write that down somewhere."

So, that's what this is. My attempt at cataloging, yet another, useless theory.

This was really just something I came up with while watching people in the waiting room.

-------------------------------------------------------

My opinions regarding this now: Thank god I am not 17 anymore.

House trained humans: the hunt for mass media..

I have two cats. Actually, that's a lie - I have three cats BUT, I have two different genres of feline. The aforementioned Jimmy is a fully domestic, indoor house cat. He has a constantly purified water fountain bowl, more toys than I have shoes, and a state of the art litter box. He is a city cat.

Heathrow, on the other hand, is the partially domestic - mostly feral - barn cat. This tried and true country kitty battles for his dinner and quenches this thirst with algae wrought pasture water. He doesn't have toys, he plays with fate - as the paradigm of the animal kingdom can be fickle.

One of Jimmy's more favored interactive enrichment is a plastic doughnut shaped track with a ball that spins about the circumference. As I was idly reading on the couch, I noticed Jimmy flatly plastered to the carpet, tail flicking left to right - a top notch hunting stance - if this wasn't 1) a mostly inanimate object or 2) my living room. Since my city kitty doesn't spend a lot (or any) time outdoors, I figured this track ball spinner must be his adversary for pecking order domination. Since he doesn't encounter other animals and is therefore unaware of their existence, Jimmy has to satisfy his internal hunting desire on this toy (and my foot).

This may not seem like a world class revelation since Purina creates toys specifically for this purpose.. but can the same theory be applied to humans?

Since Cavemen didn't have Panera or Starbucks, they had to hunt and gather their fashionable sustenance in the form of savage beasts and scrumptious berries. They didn't trade marinated bison meat for the spring line of loin cloths - because Cavemen only used what they needed.

Many millenniums later, society no longer had to hunt for their food, since everything can be offered with 'fries' a la carte. Therefore, how do we satisfy our carnal need for hunting and gathering? My theory is that we please these cravings through the reliance on mass media. We 'hunt', so to speak, for the latest crazes: fashion, technology, Beanie Babies, diets.. And we 'gather' useless knowledge in the pursuit of alleviating boredom: health care plans, celebrity gossip, avoiding wrinkles, fetishes..

We have raised ourselves to pacify our natural, intrinsic needs with unnatural fallacies. Society has created an illusion of autonomous individuality - rooted in what TV, news anchors, books, etc.. imagines reality to be.

Who would you be if your clothes, car, Facebook page, possessions, house was stripped away? Would you as an individual be enough?

Think about that while I go get some more coffee..