Change

2009-03-08T16:30:40Z

I’m back from my “hiatus” – and decided to start this blog all over. You might be wondering why . . . or you might not be (lol). You might not even know what it used to look like.

I didn’t go on a hiatus because I ran out of things to say. I was definitely writing the entire time that my post count was nonexistent (8 weeks or so? Who’s really counting!) I’m just very much more aware of the type of writing I’m putting out there.

I want everyone to know that not everything in life is black or white! Nothing is ONLY good or ONLY bad, right or wrong, etc. I felt like my previous entries pointed a lot of fingers and put light on only one aspect of that particular subject in our culture. The reality of the situation is there are many valid viewpoints. There are many different aspects of a situation. And really, if I do not fairly and objectively point things out, aren’t I doing the topic at hand an injustice?

The circumstances of the world are so variable that an
irrevocable purpose or opinion is almost synonymous with a foolish one. ~William H. Seward

But on the OTHER side of things, this IS a blog. This is just a reflection of my progression (and of course, my reader’s progression) in thought. This is real people talking about real things – we’re going to be biased! We’re going to have a real strong, passionate opinion on something that other people may not understand at first! But we should also, as people in society in general, make an honest effort to be “open”. This doesn’t at all mean abandon with disregard anything you stand for or believe in. This doesn’t even mean that you are going to agree or even understand the other side.

What does this moment in my blog history mean to me?

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” – Semisonic, Closing Time

This has got to be one of my favorite quotes. You close one chapter, and open up another one as your blank slate, and with new challenges to face. A lot of times people have a hard time starting over, and they carry baggage whether it’s from a past relationship, past experiences, or just assumptions because they don’t have their own intimate attachment to a type of situation.

Now, I usually try not to make this blog about me and my personal experiences (because I think it’s awfully silly to put your business out there in an open to the public blog – but lemme be real for a sec. A change of thought leads to a change of business. I changed how I think (a little haha), which in turn, changes how I go on about my blog (my business, if you will lol). I’m not carrying any baggage, and I hope you’re ready to start this new chapter in life (bloglife or what have you) with me, free of anything that can/will/wants to (lol) hold you back.

-------------------------------- All of this talk about past vs. future and progression / growth has got me thinking about a great topic:

Growth is the only evidence of life. ~John Henry Newman, Apologia pro vita sua, 1864

I think one great aspect of life is that we’re always growing – or at least that’s what is to be expected from us anyways. This leads me to point out then when people do not “grow-up” they’re often looked at as being strange, etc. I don’t even think I need to give you examples, but I will. I watched some TV show (20/20 ; dateline ; one of those types) where this lady was BREAST FEEDING her kids until they were like eight years old or something ballistic like that! Honestly, I don’t think I can think of anyone who even thinks that’s mildly normal or even healthy (mentally, emotionally, physically ANY TYPE of healthy really).

Not to mention the problems we have when members of our society won’t grow up. More examples: Michael Jackson’s strange pre-puberty-like voice and his strange fascination with anything child-like. We absolutely in one way or another frown upon his increasingly strange behavior because he’s a grown ass man! People even call him a pedifile (Oh, I’ll try so hard to stay on topic) because of the insanity that is Michael Jacksonism so much so, that it masks the talent he possesses in changing music. Michael Jackson influenced music in ways that are unimaginable and yet this is overshadowed by his strange fascinations! We all just want him to grow up!

How about someone else we all just wanted to grow up.. hmm.. Paris Hilton & Nichole Ritchie needed to grow up BAD. Thankfully, Ritchie ended up getting lucky and having a child which I sure hope brings some maturity into her life. Paris may not be that lucky but she’s definitely becoming more insignificant as time goes on (haha). Or better yet, Britney Spears! Geez, that woman was in some type of rut. She was acting CRAZY (for what seemed like no reason – we told her not to break up with sexy ass Justin Timberlake, didn’t we? She shouldna cheated! Haha sorry, off topic!) Between shaving her head, loosing custody of her kids, and that lack-o-drawls stage it really just seemed like Britney needed to “man-up” and realize she had way bigger fish to fry.

And I guess the point is that we’re expected to grow up. We’re expected to change. But we’re not alone. There are PLENTY of people watching us go through our day-to-day and progress into being amazing men or women, husbands or wives, best friends, lovers, scholars, athletes, whatever it is that your title is (and we often carry more than one). I’d like to believe there are more people out there cheering us on than hoping to see us fall. I’d even like to believe that you care about you personal growth whether its spiritually, emotionally, mentally.. whatever.

So for everyone out there that has “baggage” that needs to be let go, what better time is it than now to start new? You don’t NEED a New Year’s resolution to change your life up. And you can’t afford to wait. All you have is right now (tomorrow ain’t promised and today’s already started, there’s no going back to tomorrow)!

Maybe you needa forgive someone who treated you badly. Hurt, resentment, and anger are all baggage. Dangerously heavy baggage at that.

Maybe you need to apologize for something like being inconsiderate, or being a bitch. Whatever. Let it go, it’s BAGGAGE.

Maybe you need to forgive YOURSELF. Maybe you’ve been disrespecting yourself and others. Maybe you haven’t been taking your health seriously. Maybe you’ve been placing limitations on yourself because you didn’t think you could do it. Whatever it is, it’s baggage.

This list doesn’t end there. Let’s do something positive. Let’s get rid of all our baggage, sure it’s going to take a lot of time and effort, but is it worth it in the end?

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.

As people, our society expects us to grow and to change. We shouldn’t settle and become complacent in ANYTHING. We should be forward moving in all aspects of life. We should have goals. We should think positively about our future. We should even think positively about our present circumstances, because negativity only breeds more negativity. We should be ready to start over if it’s going to better our situation. We should be ready to try something new, if our previous attempts have all lead to the same conclusion. We should love ourselves enough to never give up on ourselves, because if we don’t – who will stick around?

This is a really vague topic, being as though I don’t know all of our personal experiences, but I feel like I touched a lot of good points (lol).

- Improve

- Progress

- Succeed

Take life by the horns (isn’t that what you always wanted to do? Live life to the fullest? ) and make things happen! I wish you success in all your endeavors, lol.

Without accepting the fact that everything changes,
we cannot find perfect composure. But unfortunately, although it is true,
it is difficult for us to accept it. Because we cannot accept the truth of transience, we suffer. ~Shunryu Suzuki

Stay classy.

With love,

Jazz.

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Quick Links:

- Dealing with the past, biblically

o www.brandonweb.com/gbt/sermonpages/romans8.htm

- Dealing with a bad past, overview

o hubpages.com/hub/Dealing-With-A-Bad-Past

ESKIMO (ears)

Change