Issues

Philosophy is not distant, is not abstract. It's real, it's every day, every act.
Something I've realized as I've grown older: there are issues everywhere you look. Every single act is propelled by a philosophy, whether you realize it or not. Feminism, religion, nationalism, liberalism. Ideas, issues, philosophies. They permeate not only politics and college classrooms, but everything. The reason you're okay/not okay with the weird girl being weird. The reason your mother doesn't work. The reason it's okay/not okay for your brother to wear pink. The reason being gay is a big deal/not a big deal. The reason you can/can't get a haircut. The reason that music video is okay/not okay. The reason you follow/don't follow the rules. Every single opinion of yours.
Reflects your philosophy. 

~Sam

Another "Things I've Thought" Post

• People's lives are very different from what they appear to be.
• Everyone is a freakshow. Everyone. 
• Sometimes, it is just that simple.
• Sometimes it's not.
• Let things be okay. What we feel and how happy we are is a choice we make. 
• "Just do it" isn't always the best idea.
• It isn't always the worst idea, either.
• Thinking solves things. Sometimes, it complicates them.
• Making decisions solves things. 
• We have more control over our lives than we think we do. Some things are more difficult to control-but in the end, they can be controlled.
• Let things go. 

~Sam

The Capacity to Survive

What gives me hope for the human race is that we usually manage to handle what we have to. Somehow or the other, we survive. We finish the project. We calm the crying child. We accept our grief. We survive. 

I never thought I could handle laundry and food and cleaning and generally running a household before I moved out. But I could. I never thought I could survive that History course in college. I did. And let's not restrict this to the little things. There are people my age who are mothers. I don't think I could handle a child. But if I were put in that position-I think I would. When the Arctic circle melts and global warming is unbearable because we as a species suck at long term planning, I think we'll figure out a way to handle it. When flying cockroaches take over the world, we'll figure out a way to handle it.

Because we survive. Scarred, wounded, hurt, traumatized, one way or another, we survive. And we heal. And we move on, to survive new things. 

Because survivng is human.

~Sam

Why is wisdom so unfun?

The wise guy never has any fun in any book, movie or story that I know of, while it's always the dumb ones goin' all YOLO and partyin' the night away. Don't get me wrong, that isn't my idea of fun, but why are wise people always portrayed as these dudes who're over worldly pleasures and don't want to do anything but ponder over the sadness of life? Why is dumb equated with fun and happy, and wisdom with maturity (the boring kind of maturity) and permanent solemnity? Clearly there is more to life than chilling, but chilling is a part-and, I would argue, an important part-of living. And I think wisdom involves recognizing that.

~Sam

I have a dream.

I have a dream of a world where men and women walk free without the threat of mosquitoes.

I have a dream of a world where dates and romantic walks are not ruined by pesky parasites.

I have a dream of a world where my children may sleep fearlessly and where their blood will not be drunk mercilessly each night.

I have a dream of a mosquito extermination army gone defunct for lack of mosquitoes.

I have a dream of a world where no blood is shed.

~Sam and the Christmas Cookie

The Quantification of Need

I'm an avid follower of Humans of New York, which is run by this dude called Brandon Stanton in New York. Recently, something Brandon did made me smile more than his page normally does.

A bit of background here: Humans of New York is essentially a photoblog of random people in New York, whom Brandon stops in the streets and speaks to. The pictures are then uploaded with captions which reveal a little bit of their lives: stories which are witty, funny, touching, moving, sweet, sad, and just plain human. It's a great way of showing us that everyone we pass in the street has a life, a story and of bringing people together. The people who comment on these threads are some of the most accepting and amazing people I've found on the internet. ANYWAY little fan outpouring aside, what happened in this instance was that Brandon came across a mother and her son, Rumi, selling cowboy supplies on the pavement, in order to save up for a horse, because "Rumi's biggest dream is to own a horse."

Now most of us, if you guys are anything like me, would just smile at this piece of absolute adorableness, and the hope, and the maternal love, and the general awesomeness reflected in this picture and story and move on.

Not Brandon.

He decided, since owning a horse in New York is a little difficult/expensive, to send Rumi on a Wild West Adventure, and asked followers of his page to donate some money. The goal was $7000. It was raised in 15 minutes. A total of $32, 167 have been raised, and the rest is going to the New York Therapeutic Riding Centre.

Which is all wonderful (SO MINDBLOWINGLY WONDERFUL OH MY GOD I LOVE PEOPLE), but that is not the point of this post.

The point is that some of the people who have commented in places where this story has been reported seem...upset. Because Rumi is not a starving orphan. Because going on a Wild West adventure is not a basic need. Because he has a house and a loving mother and therefore does not deserve to have strangers spend money on him to fulfill his little first world wish.

Excuse me?

I understand that the world is in a bad way. There are people suffering for the food I'm snacking on while typing this post. There are people dying for the most basic amenities. There is, after all, this picture.

But does that mean we cannot help anybody who isn't that far gone?

Must we hunt down the most despairing soul to give our charity to? Must we feel guilty every time we buy a new phone, because someone is dying for lack of a morsel, or every time we help a Rumi instead of a homeless man because his need is less than that of a man on the street? Should I feel bad that the person I helped wasn't as bad off as the next one?

Must need be quantified?

It would be great if the world was a utopian socialist heaven where everyone had all they needed and could get down to the business of wants. It is not. It is probably not going to be. It is not even heading in that direction.

But when we do decide to help somebody, whether it's by driving a kid down to Six Flags and watching her leap for joy, or donating to Greenpeace or Blue Cross, we shouldn't be told that we didn't help the right person.

What does that argument even mean?

That we can't help someone until every person worse off than them has been helped?

That we can't fight for animal rights until the rights of every human have been granted and guaranteed?

That your need/want is not important as long as there are needier people?

Please. Their needs may exist, but so do these. Yes, there are people who need a lot more. Yes, we should help them. Yes, you will get more moral brownie points for helping those people.

But when someone is in front of you, and they need something, and you can help them, you do that. And when someone else does that, you don't diss them for it. People help those they want to help, support the causes they want to. Because even if somebody else has it much worse, that doesn't really change the fact that you have what you have.

~Sam

To Be Or Not To Be And All That Jazz

Impromptu writing session with a friend.
[Like, written-in-three-minutes-in-the-middle-of-an-unrelated-conversation impromptu.]
We alternated stanzas. I'm the hopeful one.

To be or not to be,
To love or not to love,
To laugh or not to laugh,
To live or not to live,
When it all ends in tears.

It seems so difficult,
So impossible even to imagine,
That it could be easy.
But it can be easy.

I tried my best,
Opened my heart to a world of hope,
But all I got was a world of pain,
Can you blame me when I wonder
Whether to be or not to be?

But some days it gets better.
Some days I can see.
The shining letters dancing,
Screaming, "Be, be, be!"


~Sam

A period-less post.

Okay I am in love with Rascal Flatts I'm pretty sure this is no suprise to anyone who knows me because duh it's like their songs are composed of mush and love and the tears of heartbreak and just pure amazingness which is basically me but yeah I've basically been listening to them all evening and wow

Does a period-less post remain a true period-less post if there are capitals and punctuation and paragraphs and maybe I'm not as good at this as I thought

Buzzfeed just posted a picture of a hedgehog in a sombero and wow it's at times like these that I'm glad the internet exists though I've basically just been ugh about it lately because wow there's a lot of stuff on the internet it just drags you in you know no okay it's just me then

I'm really sorry I just don't think I can write anymore I don't know what's wrong with me oh yes I do laziness and writer's block

I can't believe I'm actually going to publish this it's totally going to come back and bite me but ah well

~Sam