Month: September 2019

Everyone wants to “”””look good””””. This could mean being fashionable, or wearing a certain brand and being “hip” looking good is something everyone thinks about and participates in to some degree.

This doesn’t have to be a bad thing, after all I am a huge believer in the “dress for success” method. Have a quiz in some class you’re worried about? Boom, wear a button-up, slacks and a tie. Trying to go out and be productive? Bang, shave, put some moisturizer on those ashy legs. Feelin Yourself, or perceiving yourself as already having the characteristics of someone who has succeeded is an amazing way to give yourself that lil confidence boost.

Now on the other side of the coin we have someone who uses the single indicator of appearance to judge somebodies degree of success or even if they’re worth talking to at all. This is the archetypal mean girl of the school, Cinderellas older sisters, and the likes. Chances are as you’re reading this you have come across these types of people. Chances are also that these people make other bad judgment calls as well and tend to not have really good friends, and when takin out of their place where they do wield the little superficial power they posses, any friends at all. So fashion isn’t necessary but it can be prosperous for all when not used as the basis for resentment in someone else’s story.

What is the 1 thing that is universally attractive (for even psychological reasons), cheaply available, and goes with any outfit?

A Smile 😀

Yes, it’s cheesy, but it’s also true. People love to laugh, and smiling is a product of laughing, this alone means that when you’re smiling people are more likely to engage in conversation with you. It also makes you appear less stressed than you probably are and makes it seem that you’re okay with what life has already thrown at you this morning; even if you aren’t. If you’re one of the people who are self-conscience about the smile you have, I relate. I was born without a muscle on the lower left part of my mouth (yes I’m serious) and was very self-conscience about fulling smiling till only a few years ago. It’s mostly because I decided nobody really notices and lots of ppl have crooked smiles and it’s considered attractive by many too so ha. But I also decided I didn’t care because I know I can’t change it (wouldn’t even if I could at this point) and it’s just the hand I was dealt. You’re beautiful; God does not make trash.

Sorry this post was late, happy Friday! 😀

The war between procrastination and productivity is a bloody one. We are constantly torn between doing what is good for us in the long term (our obligations, responsibilities, work we’ve said we would do), and what is willing to offer us instant gratification, giving us that quick dopamine fix. Picture this: You’ve just had a long, but successful day at work. You have gone to the gym and gotten that gnarly pump and have even done the dishes from last night! Wow look at you! Now there is one decision of the hundards you make a day: shall I do my homework or read my textbook like a good noodle? Or shall I watch the Office for the 14th time because I’m awesome and deserve it.

All too often the second option of this, or a similar scenario wins. There is a very small overlap between things you generally enjoy doing and will return the time investment you made in some form or fashion.
We know what it’s like to have these things, these hobbies, or interests. It’s the feeling of getting out of a rough day of middle school, but looking very much forward to soccer practice in the afternoon. It’s the feeling of actually wanting to get up on Saturday morning in order to get an early start on a book or game you love. These are the things that bring joy into our lives, and they can be different for everyone.
Once upon a time as a child, you have attracted things that interested you such as bugs or coloring, without any care for the judgment of others. In this stage of our lives, it was easy to pique our own interest because frankly, we knew very little about the world around us (and it is quite complicated). Unfortunately, as we grow older we find ourselves seeking to participate in things because of some misplaced group identity. This is a recipe for disaster because we will not be happy with ourselves unless we put our full heart into it, which no one (especially yourself) expects you to do if you don’t really want to do that thing. The things that we can put our full heart in will allow us to express ourselves in new ways and lead us to insight about ourselves and the world around us!

So now that we are older and have become full of distrust in the society we willingly participate in; how do we find things to do which we can call “Good”? Well, it’s as simple (and deceivingly so) as choosing a major. Find something you like to do, this is good, build on it. Within reason of course, if you like it, and it benefits you, your family and by extension your community; you should chase after it. While this seems somewhat abstract, I don’t mean for it to be. A few nights ago I was listening to music, this gave me joy, so I took some time to go down a few Spotify rabbit holes, and now I have a few new artists I like. Mono/Poly is an electronic hiphop producer who has connections with FlyingLotus. This guy makes some pretty unique instrumentals so if you’re a fan of edm, good beats, or something daft punk esq; you should check him out. After this I found Devonwho. This guy puts out some wacky stuff, but there’s always a diamond in the rough! This guy put out the song pretendingtowalkslow feat. Zeroh (no idea who that is) but it’s sort of a cloud rap/ballad song which is produced very well. Funny enough I think the album cover represents Lot’s wife from the Bible and I think the lyrics actually talk about the relationship between God the Devil and Humanity.

So recently my buddy Luke and I bought some skateboards in an attempt to learn to kick flip. So after becoming overly confident on the second day of our learning process; I decided it was time to “drop-in” the pool at the local skate park. With one foot on the tail, and the other hovering over the abyss I give what I thought could be my final instructions ever to Luke.

“If I knock myself out, just call 911. My mom does not need to know.”

I take a deep breath, say a quick prayer, and shift my weight forward. Next thing I know I am staring at the stars, I taste blood, and the back of my head is throbbing. “I’m never doing that again without a helmet” which is the truth. The next day while recovering from oral surgery; I decided to watch some videos on skating in an attempt to learn without actually having to practice. Since I was almost sure my fantastic plummet destroyed a few brain cells, I googled how to fall. I learned that falling properly is extremely important not only in skating but in many sports! The ideal fall is one where you tuck in your arms, and shift the momentum on towards your shoulder or side so you can roll out of it. Even though it will still hurt, this way is the easiest on your body and can prevent many long and short term injuries.

So basically there were two things I did wrong:

1. I could have been more prepared (googled it prior, and worn a helmet)
2. I should have realized that maybe practicing ollies or something would be more constructive than trying more advanced movements without any help.

What these things boil down to is being prepared, and not having tunnel vision. Falling is important though, because you gotta be willing to take a few spills if you want to tackle anything outside your comfort zone. So just like learning to fall physically, we must also learn to navigate emotional falls.

1. Prepare for things you want to do! I’m working with choir kids in my job right now and many of them want to try out for the all-region choir this fall. However, few, let me say again, few of them are using all the tools made available by my coworkers and me in order to be best prepared for the coming auditions. So trying to be better than a high-schooler; if we have a goal we are working towards it is important that we give ourself every advantage possible in order to have our best chance possible.
2. There are few genuinely “once in a lifetime” opportunities. Humans potential is also more or less infinite, meaning that when one door slams shut in your face, that’s ok because it was only one of one million and one doors. Chances are, you just weren’t worthy of that opportunity either, I’m not trying to be cruel, but life always has a way of working out. This also can serve the purpose to light the fire beneath someone who wants it, and I mean really wants it. I met a young lady recently who was telling me about all these things she was doing and I could see the passion; when I asked her what motivated her, she said “to prove people wrong” and that’s a dang good reason in my opinion.

Next time you take a stumble, or hit your head, ask yourself was I prepared? and is there another path I’d rather choose? Hopefully this is a more constructive outlet than beating yourself up, saying that you’re worthless. Because yes maybe you are worthless, but better to be worthless and self conscience about it than oblivious to you’re own failures which are a consequence of your worthlessness.

Thanks for reading, take care, you got this 🙂

Guys, School has started and while I am now motivated to do things (one of them is to succeed in school) the days are no longer, and nights no shorter than they have been for the past 3 months of summer.

So the problem is this: how do I excel social life, academia, and the personal goals I have taken on myself; all while getting sleep and taking care of my body. This gets tougher as I also realize that while academia may look more important to the third from the outside looking in, I owe it to myself to succeed in the promises I made myself first.

How can I expect others to trust and therefore respect me, if I cant trust and therefore respect myself?

When a few things go wrong and the scales seem to be tipping towards the favor of chaos one things must be said: Do not give up! When England looked like it would be the next country to fall during world war II Winston Churchill said a few famous words that have stuck with me for a long time.

“We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.”

Life is not one battle. Failure is not a person its a circumstance.

Well that needed to be said. So whilst fighting to be on top of everything I have had a hard time completing a blog post every week, it’s doable so I’m not going to give up. But the slump is a creative one, I’m having a hard time coming up with things that I find interesting to write about and topics I believe yall will find helpful.

So in an order to become more creative I will do the following, and if you want to do the same you can follow this list and let me know how it goes 🙂 (or give me some of your own tips, an email I check is eharris149@gmail.com).

1.Reading every day of any sort (does not include reading for academic purposes).

I think this will help me to get new views on things I know about, and also learn any views on things I don’t know about. Some books have stuck around for a long time and for some reason probably, I’d like to find out why.

2. Put myself outside of my comfort zone at least once day.

This could mean asking out a girl who is way out of my league (never the case) or asking for a recipe from your favorite restaurant. The point here is to try and ask for things you would think are automatic “no’s” but you just might get surprised; life has a way of doing that to you :).

3.Be consistant

Now this is the toughest one. No matter if I feel like it or not, I will go to the gym, do my homework, not tell the person off who just cut me off on highway, be dilligant in my studies, and write something at least for my blog every week 🙂

have a dope week :~D