On Boredom

The video is called “Watching Paint Dry”

Do you ever get so bored that even the things that you normally find exciting are boring? Why is that? It just sees at the time that there is nothing worth doing. Watch your favorite movie? Ah seen it. No point in reading. Can’t be bothered to think about anything. Go for a walk? Ya right… I’d have to get up! Everything’s just boring.

Isn’t it odd that we’d rather not be bored? Why should things need to be exciting? Why is it that when we are bored and nothing really seems worth doing we think that it would be better to not be bored? What I’m saying is why isn’t boring normal? Why shouldn’t we try to avoid exciting things? For example why don’t we stand in line for hours at a time just to get bad seats at a boring movie? Maybe the movie could be about watching paint dry… and it could be spoken in a language that we don’t understand and subtitled in another language that we don’t understand!

Isn’t it odd that in this massive universe these little specks of dust called humans expect things to not be boring?

Arguments

Supposedly there are a couple things you’re not supposed to argue about. One is politics the other is religion (I’ll try not to mention them anymore!). What’s the big deal? Well it seems that when one of these subjects comes up somebody ends up getting mad and before you know there’s an argument. Not a real argument… just an argument!

There seems to be two senses of the word ‘argument.’ The first involves the people we usually see talking about religion and politics. They aren’t really interested in what other people might have to say or what other may may have to offer. They are only interested in pushing their own ideas on everybody else. They’ll call names, yell, swear and maybe even cry! This kind of arguing is more like fighting.

I actually think that arguing can be a very healthy thing. Why can’t a couple people sit down and have a friendly chat… even if it is about politics or religion? Why do you suppose emotions run wild and tempers flair when people talk about tough issues? I’m no psychologist but maybe it has to do with the issues and the people. Think what is more important than politics? We are handing over the right for a few people to run our country. Isn’t that something worth talking about? On the other hand religion is pretty important to. I mean if it turns out that Islam is the true religion wouldn’t you want to know now so that you can figure what to do when you stand before Alla on the day of judgment? Or if Jesus really was instituting the kingdom of God are you a little interested in what he had to say

These issues have both immediate and eternal significance. They are important and worth talking about. But why do they end in fights? I think it’s because people don’t really know how to defend what they believe in. So they strike back with emotion; anger, fear, tears.

Next time you find yourself discussing touchy issues with somebody and you disagree with them try being nice. Let them know that you are interested in what they have to say. But make sure you have a good argument too. Challenge each other to have good reasons for the things you say. Sometimes people stay quiet because they are intimidated by steamrollers (people who just want to plough right through and not listen to you). Some people want to stay quiet because it’s not worth the fight. It is worth talking about… just leave out the fighting!

Check out this video. It’s funny but sadly true.

I Don’t Want To Grow Up

The Ramones are one of the greatest punk bands ever. Believe me that’s not a controversial statement. Most rock bands have been influenced by the Ramones or by a band that has been. As a teenager and a twenty-something I loved bands like the Ramones. Of course now the Ramones are all dropping dead. No I mean it. They are way too young to be dying.

I loved this song the first time I heard it. I first heard it as I was being forced to ‘grow up.’ I was entering the world of the adult. It was the world that I longed for as a child. The adult world offered unlimited freedom. Chocolate cake whenever I wanted it. Money beyond my wildest dreams (and believe me I dreamed!). It all waited for me just beyond reach. But then I became a teenager. I inhabited that strange world somewhere between child and adulthood. The adult world freaked me out. Still does quite frankly. This isn’t one of those ‘I’m a child at heart’ things. Stepping into adulthood was a wake-up call. I think it was then that it first really hit me that I’m going to die someday. The world of the adult offered me money and power but also the risk of poverty and weakness. The world called me to rise up and become a man but with a warning that I could be crushed at any moment.

‘I Don’t Wanna Grow Up’ became my soundtrack. As I lived life the words often crossed my mind, the catchy tune haunted me… ‘nothing ever seems to turn out right.’

‘When I see the price that you pay… I never want to be that way.’

‘I don’t want to be filled with doubt.’

‘Nothing out there but the sad and gloom.’

‘When I see the five o’clock news I don’t want to grow up.’

‘How the hell did I get here so soon… no I don’t want to grow up.’

But should we run from the world? Will we turn our backs on life because it’s hard? Thomas Hobbes, a dead philosopher, said that life is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” That’s a pretty depressing yet accurate description for most people. In fact life is so crappy that I’m hearing about little kids who are barely old enough to think that are committing suicide. No not Asian kids that are sucking in school. Canadians. They didn’t want to grow up.

The human race is in quite the predicament. Could there be a solution? Or is this it? Might there be something other than merely living for the moment? I love studying philosophy so I know that there are a lot of ideas out there about how we can fix our world. Of course it’s not just philosophers thinking about this stuff; poets, writers and musicians are too. Really they are the ones with the voice. So I think I’ll post a few more videos and use them as a way to talk about problems and solutions.

Friendship

I’m not good at expressing myself so when I stumbled across this video I was pretty happy. I think the greatest friend I’ve ever had is my wife. I met her at one of the lowest points of my life. All kinds of crappy stuff was happening and we just happened to become friends… then we got married! Friendship has come to mean a lot to me since then. I’ve always loved my friends but I just look at the whole thing differently now. I think friends used to just be about having somebody fun to hang out with. Now it’s something more. I’ve seen how friends have stood by my wife and I when we’ve had tough things to go through and we’ve stood by others too.

Even one of ancient Israel’s greatest kings knew the value of good friendship. Check out what he wrote like 3000 years ago: “Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.” From Ecclesiastes chapter 4.