Life is too short to be negative.

(Source: neongrapefruit)

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Amelie closes her eyes, sticks her hand in a barrel of lentils, and lets them trickle through her fingers. This scene of the film, Amelie, changed my life. 

At a ripe 22 years old, I have found that one of my greatest challenges is remaining present in my surroundings. And after having numerous discussions with friends, I know that other young people feel similarly. How can we think about the future in a way that allows us to remain focused on the present? How much research before making a decision is too much research? Can we depend on intuition (and can we even access it)? The present may not even exist to some; after all, time is just an ongoing flow of events. The wonderful James Joyce once said, “I am tomorrow, or some future day, what I establish today. I am today what I established yesterday or some previous day.”

Finding a job, maintaining relationships, even planning what I’m doing over the weekend; all of this pulls me away from the now. But how can I find a way to make all of those things happen, while still being here? I think it might be in the art of listening. Yes, listening in the way of hearing, of course. The sounds of the birds chirping, the water bubbling, etc. But listening to what my body tells me, listening to the wiser and more experienced, listening to the younger and inexperienced, listening to feeling, listening to the tune of the earth, listening to necessity, listening as an attempt to understand and process. So, I propose to shut the hell up for a bit, stop thinking quite so much, stop rambling, cease the jargon, and maybe, maybe, we college kids could hear just what we need. 

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Feeling less and less like I have “funny” and “interesting” stuff to write about. Everyone and everything is becoming normalized and my tasks are becoming routine. With the help of my fellow WWOOFers and friends, I see the many things that could be improved on the farm and definitely question the management. But I am always learning from my new friends who are constantly trying to fuel a positive environment, despite whatever issues come into play.

Today I slept later than everyone else, which is unusual. When I walked into the kitchen, I noticed the empty serving dishes. “I missed pancake day didn’t I,” I said. “NO! We saved you some, they’re in the oven!” And in the oven, waiting for me, were two vegan blueberry pancakes warming. Now, I know they are just pancakes and I would have been perfectly fine, though not content, with a bowl of cereal, but just knowing that these kids were thinking, Danielle might want some pancakes and maybe we shouldn’t consume the entire batch, was a really comforting thought.

Last night was cold and rainy. I squeezed between Toby and Coryna for a screening of Pulp Fiction, which I had unbelievably never seen. Both fell asleep, but I was transfixed by John Travolta’s hair extensions.

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Feeling less and less like I have “funny” and “interesting” stuff to write about. Everyone and everything is becoming normalized and my tasks are becoming routine. With the help of my fellow WWOOFers and friends, I see the many things that could be improved on the farm and definitely question the management. But I am always learning from my new friends who are constantly trying to fuel a positive environment, despite whatever issues come into play. 

Today I slept later than everyone else, which is unusual. When I walked into the kitchen, I noticed the empty serving dishes. “I missed pancake day didn’t I,” I said. “NO! We saved you some, they’re in the oven!” And in the oven, waiting for me, were two vegan blueberry pancakes warming. Now, I know they are just pancakes and I would have been perfectly fine, though not content, with a bowl of cereal, but just knowing that these kids were thinking, Danielle might want some pancakes and maybe we shouldn’t consume the entire batch, was a really comforting thought. 

Last night was cold and rainy. I squeezed between Toby and Coryna for a screening of Pulp Fiction, which I had unbelievably never seen. Both fell asleep, but I was transfixed by John Travolta’s hair extensions.

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Anchorman

Last night, I group of us huddled around an Apple computer on the porch to watch Anchorman. About midway through the movie, a deer joined us. We engaged in a staring contest, the computer the only thing between our group and the animal. Ah technology, ah the wilderness.

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Response 1

I know that I will eventually understand the purpose of this text, but right now, it feels like a very dense description of why computers are useful to our world. I tend to lose my focus when reading something like this as I have a very narrow thought process when it comes to technology: computers are useful. I should learn how to use mine better. I guess I like thinking about the psychological and philosophical ideas computers have spurned. It is strange to think about the internet as this “fictional landscape” and “labyrinthine garden,” kind of like the Milo character lived in from the video we saw in class. I don’t know that I’ll ever get used to the idea of this alternate world. Or maybe it’s since this alternate world keeps getting closer and closer to planet earth with the more we learn, the more difficult this concept is to grasp. Also, the idea of this machine, capable of providing “human” acts and and responses [we are ”participating in a world that responds coherently to our participation” (6)], is still mind boggling. Who is the controller? Is it me? Or is it a computer chip? Is it both? 

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