Don't Let the Language Die

It has been said by many that life is too short, but at what point is life just long enough or even too long? Life is too short to not live.....

That line was written several months ago, but it was as far as I could get, I guess I said all I had to say. Not everything has to be drawn out with a lot of fluff, I tried to avoid it in college, and I avoid it now. Life is too short to sugar coat and add a bunch of fluff.

Language is a powerful thing, it is even more powerful in those who treat it as such. Never squander language, command language to say what you want not only by the literal meaning, but by the figurative and emotional. Command of the english language is slipping away in favor of text speak, spell check, and laziness. I challenge all who read this to not let the art and the science to just die in favor of something easier and faster. Work to improve your vocabulary, not to impress your friends at dinner parties or to seem like a pompous ass, but to show that you value yourself as a civilized member of the world.

Anyway, that's my soapbox moment.

Create For Yourself

I started wandering through my computer and find this line written on a document I was writing, according to the document title, it was for a book:

"...Have an intense passion for what you create; an intense ambition to meet the challenges of your creations; an intense enthusiasm to create... and soon the inspiration will overfill your cup."

I haven't written in awhile, blog post, poetry, or just write to write. I enjoyed just putting words on a page and rearranging, erasing, and rewording until the eraser was almost gone and my hand grey from all the lead (yes I'm old school and love a good notebook). Even photography, I haven't really gone of and really done a photo hunt; the kind where it's me, the camera, and my music. My favorite day was walking from Water Tower Place in Chicago all the way home to 35th and Morgan just taking pictures, or walking around Columbia, SC. Writing, taking pictures, just being with myself allows me to think about me for a little while. Even when I live by the idea of taking care of others before myself.  That intense passion, ambition, and enthusiasm was no longer there, but by my own hand I let it go.

If you enjoy a hobby, even if you think you're bad at it, make time for it. Don't let the hustle of life take away the things that help you think through problems, analyze life, and just allow you to exist in your own way. I am guilty of not following this advice, I am guilty of letting the couch and tv suck me in, but this could quite possibly be the turn around.

Find that passion for things you once did and with it ambition, enthusiasm, and maybe even a little extra dedication will follow. 

Deployment

It's been quiet over here for awhile.... No particular reason why, just nothing to really write about.

I find myself writing this just over a month into a deployment to Afghanistan. The thing about a deployment is you are confined. Confined to the gates of your FOB (Forward Operating Base), you can't leave and travel. You are confined physically and mentally. You're get away is the plywood dorm room you have where the walls don't even go to the ceiling. The days bleed together because there are no weekends, no days off. You are in a country that has people who would rather kill an American than listen to them, and it sits in the back of your mind.

A deployment allows for you to really look at yourself, really think about what you want, how you want it, where you want it, and why. From the physical to metaphysical, everything is up for grabs; because where are you going to go? There is no avoiding your brain pulling you in and making you think about your life and where it's headed. But then, check back in to the fact that you're in a combat zone. There is nothing normal about willingly going somewhere that your statistics of death increase. Yet, many of us do it.

I haven't pieced it all together yet, but as this deployment continues I am sure I will