Wake up Call.

Is it enough to say you’ll hate me in the morning?
As sun rises you’ll despise the sight of me for all the good I’ve done.
But that was the point.
I was never meant to be a hero, only a fixer.
I was what you needed, though not always what you wanted.
And you’ll hate me for it once your night time ends.
With clear mind and cutting conscience you’ll realise what I’ve become.
The infinite ways I played the game to get my chosen outcome.

That’s ok.
I’ll smile and walk away and you’ll forget I ever was.
Time healing over tenderness, memories fading in the fog.
Love, to hatred, to nothingness.
That’s my only solace, that you’ll not hate me forever.
Just long enough.
A life time in a mornings worth, to purge away the pain and hurt.
I’ve been your rock and solid ground, now I’ll be your focal point.
A force for you to rage against.
Yes, I lied to you when I promised I’d be here forever.
I knew this day would come.

So hate me in the morning.
I promise, it's ok.

-K

Round and Round it Goes

So a man is born. Alright he isn’t born a man, but a child. Of course.
As he gets older he finds that his life always lends itself to certain situations.

No matter what he does, through no active part of his own, he always finds himself in these similar situations and in those situations he finds he must make a difference. So he does. He steps up to the plate and does what he can. Time after time.

Eventually the child is a young man and, accepting that his life will lead him into these situations, he prepares accordingly so when the situations occur, he is more ready to deal with them. He continues on the path that’s been seemingly laid out before him. It’s not a problem. It’s a purpose right? It gives life meaning. He’s been making people happy and lives better all the time, in big and small ways.

He thinks, ‘Hey! This isn’t so bad! People look to me for help and I’m helping! I feel pretty good!’ And he decides he’ll share in the happiness of the people. Why not? Just being in the company of those he’s helped makes him happy too. Great.

Then something odd happens.

They forget. They all forget. He’s not needed and they forget.

Why? Nobody knows and nobody thinks about it too hard either.

Except our young friend.

It’s then he realizes that his path leads him to people that need his assistance and that’s it. He doesn’t get to stick around.

He grudgingly accepts this. It’s still not so bad right? He’s got something that others spend their lives searching for.
So he continues on his way. He helps, he vanishes, people forget he was there and live their lives all the better for it. Perfect.

However the young man soon finds that he’s gotten quite lonely. He wrestles with his thoughts. He wants to find some happiness for himself. But is he meant to? Will his path let him? Why not?

He decides it’s ok for him to find some happiness too and that it’s fine if he wants more than this purpose of his. He never choose that path so it should be ok to find something he actively seeks for himself!

By chance he meets a girl. They are happy for a while and she understands when he speaks about his life. She gets it she says. He believes her. They are very happy for a while but then life once again intervenes and their paths take opposite directions.

She says she’ll love him always. He believes her again. Of course he does. Why not? He loves her too.

She forgets. Like all the rest. He dies a little inside.

It is then our young man decides that there is only the purpose and that everything else will not work. He becomes cynical in his views and his trusting nature is gone.

He becomes more efficient in those moments his life leads him too. He cuts through pleasantries and strikes at the heart of the problem, even using himself as a focus for peoples anger and hate so as to get their lives back on course.

The greater good.

Then suddenly he realizes he’s not got anything but those situations and that perhaps he never will.

That there may be nothing in this world for him at all but what he’s doing. Just this strange life of his.

And he’s not sure he likes it anymore.

-K

The Grand Delusion

Who are you?

A simple question.
How will you answer it?

With a name? Wrong answer. What does that tell anyone of who you are? I don’t care if your name is Robert or Clair or Metastophilies. I don’t. A rose by any other name would still smell as sweet and have the same thorns to bleed me dry.

I;ve never looked at a person and been able to go “Yeah. He’s a Robert alright.”

My question is not asking for your identification. It’s asking who you are, at your core.

What lurks behind those eyes and smiles and social masks?

Who are you in the trenches when the world falls down? Who are you late at night, when the world is sleeping?

Are you the man with the smiling face to cover the sorrow of a life long dream unfulfilled?

Are you the woman who cries silently into the darkness, for fear of what lives there?

Are you a fighter? A writer? A doer? A singer? A dancer? A god king in human skin? A hero who is waiting to begin?

Are you the puppet or the puppet master? The bringer or joy? The ender of lives? The one? The only? The last?

Who.

Are.

You?

Is there more to you, than the simple part you play, in the grand delusion?

Well?

Tell me then.

Who are you?

-K

Quotes of the Week

A collection of quotes to make you laugh and make you think in equal measure this week:

"Today the world changes so quickly that in growing up we take leave not just of youth but of the world we were young in"
- Peter Medawar

"Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not; a sense of humor to console him for what he is"
- Sir Francis Bacon

"If you believe everything you read, you better not read"
- Japanese Proverb

"Creationists make it sound like a 'theory' is something you dreamt up after being drunk all night"
- Isaac Asimov

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity"
- Albert Einstein

"When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes"
- Desiderius Erasmus

"I believe that when I die I shall rot, and nothing of my ego will survive. I am not young, and I love life. But I should scorn to shiver with terror at the thought of annihilation. Happiness is none the less true happiness because it must come to an end, nor do thought and love lose their value because they are not everlasting"
- Bertrand Russell

"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by"
- Douglas Adams

"Books are useless! I only ever read one book, "To Kill A Mockingbird," and it gave me absolutely no insight on how to kill mockingbirds! Sure it taught me not to judge a man by the colour of his skin...but what good does that do me?"
- Homer Simpson

:)

Those Who Can.

There’s an old school of thought that mostly seems to be ignored in this day and age.

Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

It’s a principle that can be applied to so many aspects of life, from hitting someone upside the head, to shattering someone’s illusions. It’s application is far reaching and should, in my humble opinion, be more widely used.

Upon consideration, it’s lead me into some interesting areas of thought. I won’t spend too long on it tonight, but here are my initial reflections on the subject:

Let’s start with a simple and well known fictional example. Jurassic Park. In that film, one fantastically cynical Doctor Ian Malcolm states, in one of many humours one-liners “Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.”
He was correct of course, as proven by the mass death caused by the carnivorous reptilian assailants that stalked he and his comrades across the island.

Lets remove the dinosaurs and insert any untested and potentially dangerous scientific development.
Whilst I am totally in favour of scientific advancement for the betterment of mankind, there are many examples of advancement that are far from bettering the world.
It is in those cases, such as the development of weapons, that the people behind them, those who realise they CAN, need to stop and question if they SHOULD.

What do they gain from it? A bigger stick than the next guy? Another means of destruction? Another stepping stone towards the desolation of mankind?

To take a more socially applicable view of the point, let us take a childhood staple for a lot of people across the world.

Santa Claus.

You know dear Cringle is not of the corporeal. Yet on the 24th of December his coming is anticipated by those younger than us, filling them with excitement and the wonder of the season. For a few scant years of youth, on that night, they believe in magic. A man will deliver toys and reindeer will fly through the sky, no matter what Mister Newton and his laws say.
You could easily ruin it though, couldn’t you? Take the children aside and tell them the truth of the matter. Shatter their ideals of that magic with the cold hard slap of reality.

You could.
Should you?

I’d say no. Let them have their illusion, their magic, their wonder. The future will have enough for them to contend with.
That very concept can be expanded further, beyond the boundaries of childhood.
If someone believes in something that is not damaging to them or those around them, that you know, for a fact, is untrue, should you ‘enlighten’ them?

Despite my stance for truth and justice and all that, I still firmly believe that sometimes all we need is a good lie!
I can hear some of you out there scoffing at that, but think about it. It has been medically documented that the placebo affect can have positive affects on a sick individual. In fact, the mere belief that they are going to be ok, can significantly enhance a patients recovery.
There are a million example of what one can do and what one should do, just as there are a million examples of moments when the ‘good’ and the ‘kind’ thing are two different things.

It’s complicated at best and completely baffling at worst.

Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.
Just because you should doesn’t mean you can.
Just because it’s good doesn’t mean it’s kind.
Just because you know that, doesn’t make it easier to make up your mind.

I need a coffee.

-K

Smelling the Roses

I spent my time in the company of a good friend yesterday, talking as the sun went down and dancing in the cold, harsh light of it’s rise.

It was a wonderful time, full of deep thought, humour and comfortable silences and I realised, as the sun rose and I walked my way back along the river bank towards my transport home… that these where the moments I should treasure.

For some reason or other, people think the only worthwhile moments are the huge ones. The weddings, the funerals, the parties. The extravagant moments. The spectacle.
This has led me here, to this moment, where I feel I must point out something very simple:

Learn to take joy in the smaller things.

It’s not about flashes and bangs and wonder and awe… the best parts of life are being in good company, having interesting conversations, laughing at 8am after an all nighter for no reason other than you didn’t want the night to end.
It’s about smiling to yourself at the clink of a tea spoon as you put the sugar in your tea and then go relax in front of a television for a bit or waking up to the sound of people you love starting their day.


Life is not always easy. It can get very dark, very cold and more than a little tough. There will never be enough spectacular moments to counter that… so I urge you, appreciate what happens everyday. The little intricate things that make up the day. The things we take for granted. The people around you. The way the rivers look from one moment to the next. The fact that the sky is just the right shade of blue. Everything.

Go dance in the sun rise, laugh in the rain and talk the night away with someone you care about.
Say what you’re thinking. Run, because you want to, not because you have to. Walk because you can and you don’t want to just pass everything by. Listen to the world around you and appreciate its sound. Call up a friend and ask them about their day.

Do something other than wait for the next big event.
Make the fact that you’re alive and can experience the world the event.
Make your life the event.

You’ll be better for it.
We all will.

-K

The Logic of Emotion

It has often been stated that logic, by it’s very nature has no place for emotion. Indeed, it has even been stated that logic and emotion are at odds with each other. That they cannot coexist.
To be very ‘Vulcan’ on the subject, emotion is a complete lack of logic. Emotions are not logical.

I was thinking today however, that socially, upon analysis of human nature, logic would be flawed NOT to include the possible emotional state and reaction of an individual.
Is it not logical, in order to understand people, that we factor in their emotional state at any given time?
By doing such we can discern a probable outcome on what they will do, how they will react and come to a logical conclusion on their behaviour and behavioural patterns.

By allowing the inclusion of emotions within logical boundaries we would actually increase the chances of coming to a logical outcome, at least where people and human nature are concerned. To exclude emotional outcomes from logic is to miscalculate, as to omit emotional factors is the very same as omitting a numerical factor in a mathematical equation.

With that, I submit that, if it where possible to accurately predict a persons emotional state at any given time, then it would be possible, through observation, to predict all their actions and reactions or at least to narrow them down significantly through use of probability and even more so with the more data gathered on their core nature.

I bring the fight or flight instinct to the front as an example.

We know that one of our base instincts when confronted with a danger is ‘fight of flight‘.
This is when our brain decides to we try fight off whatever is endangering us or run away.
That instinct is one of our most primal, stemming from back to when we could be confronted with a wild animal at any moment.

Thusly, there are two possible outcomes of such a situation. We fight, or we run.

Logically, knowing that such an instinct and emotional response is ingrained in human nature, we can determine that a human being will most likely follow one of those two paths.

We are creatures of emotion. We lend ourselves to it. Yet people are still surprised by emotional reactions and responses.
Even the most logical of us is emotional in some regard. If not in day to day, then in moments that invoke anger or fear at least.
(The most logical of us could probably be angered by a sheer lack of logic and outward ignorance.)

Perhaps, since emotions are something we will most likely never be rid of (and I do hope that’s true), it would be wisest to actively consider emotional responses, from which we can speculate outcomes and possibilities, thusly limiting, if not eliminating, something that for so long has been considered an unknown variable.

If we are prepared for the possible outcomes, one must be correct, and thusly, it is not unknown at all.

It all seems…so logical.

-K