Welcome to my site. This site contains a large amount of information, which I have written myself. These are my thoughts, and my views. All of which, you may distribute freely, as long as you put forth the message which was originally intended. These are also just thoughts, that other people may have as well. If you share these thoughts with me, please send me an email at Shock.SMH@gmail.com The most important thing to remember, as you read the text contained herein is that I feel I truly know nothing of the world around me, and what you read here, could all be false. The truth is, we know nothing, but this is what is before my eyes.
I was up last night, trying to think of what makes life what it is, and what are the greatest, ever-present aspects of life. This was not the first time I've thought like this. Instead, this was merely a summarization of all that I have learned on my own, and through my solitary existence.
I'm tired of leaving all of these thoughts to myself, and not sharing them with anyone at all. I'm tired of feeling like I'm the only person who see's this level of truth in our existence. Despite the possibility that I am the only person who truly see's this, I intend to share it with whomever I can, because there is no single person in life, who deserves to possess these feelings, by themselves.
We'll start with a bit of common misunderstanding. The phrase, "Money makes the world go 'round". While, being true in one sense of logic, it does not fully grasp the overall truth of our situation. In order to understand what drives humankind straight into the ground, we must understand the deepest root of reasoning and motive. Every want in this world, is driven by selfishness. Selfishness, is what truly "makes the world go 'round".
"self·ish
adj.
Concerned chiefly or only with oneself: “Selfish men were... trying to make capital for themselves out of the sacred cause of human rights” (Maria Weston Chapman)."
One thing I have learned in my life, is that there is a reason, and motive behind everything a person does. Nothing is ever done without reason. If I turned my head right now, and spit on the wall of my room, it may appear to some that this was something done without reason, but in truth, it was done by me to prove a point, and thus had motive and reason behind it. No matter the action, less or great, there is ALWAYS a reason. The key to all of this is the source of this reason. Was the reason created through selfishness? "I need money to buy a new pair of shoes." or, was it created through selflessness "I will buy them this pair of shoes, for the sole reason of making them happy, no matter who they are.".
This brings me to another aspect of life, though it may be the rarest, and most difficult to find aspect of life, selflessness. In fact, I sometimes doubt it's existence.
"selfless
adj : showing unselfish concern for the welfare of others [syn: altruistic] [ant: egoistic]"
I would like to re-define, or refine the definition of this word "selflessness". I believe, a person who shows "unselfish concern for the welfare" of their friends and family, is undoubtedly selfish. I believe, true selflessness must extend to all forms of life(deserving), and not just to those within your life. It is, without a doubt, selfish to better those within YOUR life only, for this in the end betters your own quality of existence, and thus has a hidden selfish motive behind it.
True, unadultered selflessness, has no motive behind it, and extends to all lifeforms, deserving of such kindness. When I say deserving, I mean those of honor, those that are also kind and selfless themselves, to some degree. I feel our current situation has forced those of a selfless nature, to nurture those of a deep selfishness, because others of a selfless nature, simply don't widely exist. This in itself is a deep form of selflessness, which strives to save our existence, and maybe teach others the virtue of selflessness.
How can one be seen as selfless, or selfish? How do you see the truth of a person, and know who they are? It's not something easily achieved in any way, shape, or form. If you think of any selfless action, you can see that there is a reward to gain from it. One can become a hero, in the eyes of others. That in itself is a reward. True selflessness, goes unseen, unrewarded and without question. Wether a person is of a good nature or not, can only be known by the person in question. It is something deep within you, that only you can see.
True love. Everyone thinks they know exactly what it is, and 90% of them honestly don't. Some of us, say or feel like we're born to love somebody. Some of us, just want to be loved. There is no doubt, that if a person takes a liking to you, that feeling is enjoyable and pleasant. But, is this love? Real, love? No, it's not. Nine times out of ten, no matter how much you think otherwise, what you feel as "love", is not love. There are a million different ways people "fake love", and they all fail to realize how a person can truly love another person. What makes love real.. ?
Sacrifice. The one true love, is sacrifice
"sac·ri·fice
n.
Forfeiture of something highly valued for the sake of one considered to have a greater value or claim."
True love, is placing the well-being of another, above your own, and spending every day, every hour, every minute, every second of your life, insuring that well-being and affording that person the happiness you know in your heart they deserve. If you are not prepared to lay down your life, and give everything you have for a person, do not tell them you love them, because you would simply be lying to them and yourself. The key is knowing your heart, and your own abilities to love. Wether or not you are truly prepared to do so. True love is forever, it never dies.
If anyone ever says to you "I've been in love before.", yet they are not still in love, they are outright lying and they don't even realize it. When love is true, there is no "getting over it", there is no "moving on". You may have cared about, or liked the person a great deal, but you were not in love with them. Another common misconception about love, is that it's some kind of universal lottery. Some people have it in their heads, that one day, they will meet a person who is their "true love" just out of the blue, by some great amount of luck.
Sure, there is a little bit of luck involved in meeting someone you can truly be in love with. But, the luck is centered around wether or not they are willing to build love with you. Love is made, it doesn't just exist. In order to be in love with someone, you must first care about them and be with them long enough for love to grow. Then, you vow to love them, and sacrifice for them, in the nature of true love.
There is no doubt, that love is the single greatest power of humankind. Love is selflessness, in it's purest form, and thus the rarest quality in existence. So in that respect, finding someone capable of such love, does involve a great deal of luck. But, love is inherent in all of us, and if we can see this within ourselves, we can chose to love, no matter who we are. We can grow to love, and grow to sacrifice in selfless ways. The problem is that people view the world in a construed way. They see only what's directly in front of them, and nothing beyond that. The keys to all the doors in life, lie within you.
"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
-- John Stewart Mill
That quote is all truth, and no less. War in this world, is one of the most selfless acts a person can partake in. It is almost linear with love itself. To give your life, for the safety of others, or a cause greater than themselves, is the greatest honor any human being can have to take with them beyond this life.
It is not the rewards or tragedies that come from war, that make it what it is. The virtue of war, lies in the simple fact, that those involved are risking and giving their lives, for something they deem greater than themselves. The essence of selflessness, and this alone makes war something of a bitter sweetness, in most cases.
This leads me to another aspect/concept of life.
"My very dear, Sarah. The indications are very strong that we shall move in a few days, perhaps tomarrow. Lest I should not be able to write again, I feel compelled to write a few lines that may fall under your eyes, when I shall be no more. I have no misgivings about, or lack of confidence in the cause in which I am engaged, and my courage does not halt or falter. How great a debt we owe to those who went before us through the blood and suffering of the Revolution, and I am willing, perfectly willing, to lay down all my joys in this life, to pay that debt.
But, something whispers to me, that I shall return to my loved ones unharmed. If I do not, my dear Sarah, never forget how much I love you, and when my last breath escapes me on the battlefield, it will whisper your name." - Maj. Sullivan Ballou (Union Soldier - 1861)
Honor is the combination of all the known virtues in this world, and a measurement of who you truly are as a person, as an entity. It is also your one and only, unstealable possession.
Honor, may seem like a selfish concern. The path to honor may seem obvious, but it's not.
Of all your possessions in this world, which can you take with you into the next? None, but your honor. This in itself may seem selfish. The need to take with you something, anything, of your existence. But, you cannot be honorable, if you are selfish, for your selfish nature will destroy your honor. True honor is reserved for those who are truly selfless, brave, compassionate, honest, and fair.
A person who dies without honor, is a sad person indeed, for they will spend the rest of eternity, feeling the sting of redemption for their actions against others.
Honor is not simply the defense of your own name, or the defense of those you love. Honor is to uphold justice. To defend all who are unable to defend themselves, and to know what is right or wrong, in everything you do. Honor is to be humble before all others, and to respect those who are worthy. Honor is to know that there are forces greater than you. I believe we are all inherently honorable, but some of us chose to ignore that feeling, deep within our souls. The feeling must not be too powerful, for some.
Honor is above all, for as long as you live, if you have your honor, there is no way anyone can destroy you. Your honor is eternal, it exists untouchable in this world and the next.
"The problem with humanity, is that everyone is too concerned with what society thinks of them, and not concerned enough with what they think of society." - Ferrel Hoover
In order to understand society itself, we must understand the inner-workings of it, as well as the motives behind it. I believe, our modern society is augmented greatly by the images and ideas put forth through the media. Many of us take information from television, or other forms of media, and consider it factual. This type of behavior, leads to hatred and disrespect for others. I believe, society can even be held accountable for a certain amount of racism in our world.
Loneliness, is a horrible feeling. How many of us, hate to be alone? Must be around others, and feel welcomed amongst them? It's perfectly natural, and completely understandable. But, we take this need to such an extreme, that we are willing to do almost anything to be a part of a group, and fit in with the crowd, no matter how poor of character that particular crowd may be. We, or at least the greater majority of our population, make society what it is. Fake, destructive, and sometimes deadly.
I consider almost every group, large or small, a form of society. This suggests, that our "society" is not one large group, but many different groups, and small societies, each with their own seperate and unique values, but most adhering to a false, selfish, and destructive attitude, that hates others for any number of insubstantial reasons. Those of you that have been through high school, must remember the many social groups which existed within the population of your particular school. We have seperated ourselves into many types of groups; punks, preps, skaters, thugs, misfits, gothics. The list goes on and on, and sometimes, hatreds arise between these groups. These hatreds, are often without grounds or reason, they hate a certain group, simply because they are that group, without knowing even a single one of it's members.
Societies can lead to senseless hatred, and sometimes needless violence. This has been proven through past incidents, lives lost, and the great pain felt by those affected. But, societies can also lead to greatness, the key is proper manipulation and growth. The problem with our existence, is that there have never been either A) enough people of sound mind, to help lead society, or B) the right ideas, and the right methods in which to overcome our inherent selfish wants. Society, though meaning "a group" is still in many profound ways, deeply selfish. It exists due to the selfish need to feel welcome amongst others, and the lack of care put into whom they are welcome amongst. This brings to light, the quote at the beginning of this section, and should convey to you a greater understanding of it's meaning. We dive headlong, into a group and strive to gain their acceptance, without taking it upon ourselves to decide wether or not they deserve our own acceptance. This type of decision should be made based on the actions of the particular group, and it's members as a whole. Many of us, live our lives blindly, following every greedy want that our selfish minds put forth and caring not about who we step on, or what we destroy to achieve our ends.
Are you racist? This day in age, I'm willing to bet almost everyone you confront with such an inquiry will say "No way!", and 99% of them will be dead wrong about themselves. I have come to firmly believe, that a person who recognizes the race of another, and uses this aspect of them in any context, pretaining to them, is indeed racist to some extent, minor or otherwise.
For example, when you attempt to identify a person within a solitary moment, and relate this identification to another in a way that includes their race. Saying "The white guy." as opposed to "The man in the red hat.".
I don't intend to point fingers at anyone, because I am sure most people can more than likely recall a situation where they acted in this manner. Just because you may have at one time acted this way, does not make you racist. But, it may open your eyes to a very critical peice, of the racism puzzle. Have we ever considered the possibility, that we judge others by their race, subconsciously? I don't mean on a social scale. I mean, personally.
Racism is a very personal issue, and it involves very personal feelings. It's obvious, that who we are before the eyes and ears of others is hardly ever who we truly are, deep down inside. Racism is also indeed, a very social issue that involves many groups of people. But, in order for a large group of people to change, they must each make this change within themselves. Thus racism becomes a personal issue, as all questions of character, be they good or bad, begin within. In other words, you cannot expect an entire group of literally millions of people, to be responsible for how they act as a group. They must simply take responsibility for themselves, as individuals. In accordance to this rule, you also cannot judge a large group of people, for each member of that group, is most likely completely different than any of the others within it. How can one say, that any group of people exhibit specific behaviors, without personally knowing every member of such a group, or AT LEAST the greater portion of it? Yet, every other month or so, there is some study introduced that claims to understand an entire group of individuals. These "scientists" take 10 or so different people, question or observe their actions and use this amount to judge the millions of others within our population. They repeat this process several times, comparing results. This would be effective with a small group of people, but there is no agency on earth, capable of studying a large enough group of people to make any kind of rational or logical judgement about their behaviors. To say, women are poor drivers, the average male thinks of sex every 10 seconds of every day, all dark skinned people love fried chicken and watermelon, or white men can't jump, is ABSURD. Even if some jackass, or group of jackasses tried to accurately prove/disrove these kinds of falsehoods, they would fail miserably due to lack of resources. No human agency on the face of this earth has the resources to research such a statement. Not even the U.S. Census Bureau. Pardon me for that tangent.
There is one more step to this as a personal matter. Do we allow our subconscious feelings and emotions, to effect our social actions and behaviors? Most may do this without even realizing they have done so. If there is anything to gain from reading this section of my website, it is the ability to analyze yourself, and your own actions. The ability, to see who you truly are, what you truly want, and what you can do to improve who you are, in spirit, character, and honor.
In the end, there is only one person in this world that has the right, or the need to judge you. That is yourself.
Copyright © 2004 Shaun Hart