Wednesday, September 29, 2010

All I Need...


I know that sometimes I ask a lot. Sometimes I don't ask at all. But right now... right now... I need you. All I need is a friend. I need someone who can listen to my heart, because sometimes I don't say everything I feel. It is not that I am bad at expressing myself. In fact, most people tell me that I express myself quite well. It is just that I need someone who can look at me, into me, and fill that hole that sits there inside. I honestly have met dozens of fantastic people whom I am happy to be able to call friends, but I still need more. I feel incomplete, broken, unbalanced in some way, and it is sobering. I need that strong support. Someone who can help me see that things aren't really all that bad, in fact, things are going well. Is it too much to ask for a real friend?

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Creativity Project

So I have still been running thoughts through my head for my project for my History of Creativity class and I think I have some real good ones! Still I need feedback, so please comment on these and give me a little picture of what your thoughts and impressions are. In simplest terms, the project is for us to creatively display part of history that we will learn about (from recorded history to about the time of the crusades) in some sort of small modern application.

My first thought was inspired from "Timeline" by Michael Crichton. It got made into a movie which was pretty good but not surprisingly did not live up to the novel. Anyways, my idea is almost like the game on Sesame Street of which object is not like the others, which one does not belong. We have been reading about Egypt and China, how they were highly isolated civilizations but also highly creative. What if I took an aspect of each culture that was unique to that civilization and transplanted it into the other? What would be the affects of that event? How would it change the interactions and technology? Seems like it would be hard to do, to theorize and present the idea but it could still be done.

Second thought was involving the Golden Mean. It is a mathematical ratio that is used in geometry and architecture and even in sculptures and the Mona Lisa. I was thinking of making my own Mona Lisa... painting or sketching of a scene or portrait of someone involving these mathematical ratios but then copying the same painting and using a highlighter or some other fashion to show the ratios in the art... perhaps cutting out the different areas and stacking them three dimensionally out of the plane of the art so they become more obvious.

Third, I go to a nice university in the hills of Utah called Brigham Young University. I like it. It has been working for me so far, but universities were developed and used in Athens, Greece. They were used to brainstorm different ideas and discuss the philosophies of the day. We do the same thing here. I figure if I could make a presentation (possibly movie) of my teachers (representing some of the great minds like Socrates, Plato, Pythagoras, Homer, etc), talking about the doctrines that we teach today and comparing it to the ideas they had back in Ancient Greece. Kind of a display of the transition of creative thought through time.

Lastly, I really enjoyed reading Aesop's Fables when I was a kid. They were short stories that taught moral messages, which were highly memorable. I figure that I could do something similar except I could use things I have learned in my own life, or possibly even stories that we read in the weekly Police Beat here at BYU. Same idea, different stories, new time... I would entitle it: Aesop's Foibles.

Again, I have to start being decisive and choosing one of these to begin working on, so if I could get input back that would be fantastic. Thanks again and wish me luck!

Monday, September 20, 2010

Comfort Zone

Have you ever been to a birthday party where the parents have ordered one of those huge inflatable bounce houses? I once had a friend describe to me as that being her comfort zone. She was okay in certain places and certain situations, but outside of that it was tough for her to describe how she felt and what to do. I have been there too. I think everyone has had at one point in their lives. The difference is what we plan to do once we have to come to this realization.


I believe that comfort zones are really just a folly. I know who I am. I know my potential. And I know that as long as I refuse to doubt and trust in the Lord, then all things are possible. I know this because I have experienced it and I hope to experience it again. If we know who we are, we become comfortable in almost any situation because we know how to act. It is almost like our bounce house has become our very skin. If I know who I am, I can become comfortable with being myself. I can walk anywhere, go anywhere, be anywhere, and be okay being my true self. This means that I can even go into someone else's bounce house and be where they are. All they have to do is let me in without pelting me with all the plastic balls that are in there. You know the ones I am talking about. But why would I risk it? First off those stupid little balls don't hurt that badly to begin with, but if you are able to get someone to come out of their comfort zone and see the world for how it really is... isn't that worth it?

Sunday, September 19, 2010

It's cold. Can we cuddle?

I thought it was a good idea, and I swear that I had everything planned out to a tee. We were going to go out to the canyons and watch a movie with a big group of people and I had asked a bunch of people to go, girls and guys. I even had a date. Then life began to set in. If you invite girls, people, to anything remember the 10% rule. Similar to tithing, you only need to worry about 10%, in this case it is the number of people you invited. The rest will be lame and not come. So in any case, out of all the people I talked to, pretty much only my roommate came. Otherwise, everyone else were from a different group. So my plan of bringing a blanket was a bust minus the fact that now we got to sit on it instead of using it properly.

We get up there and my friend Spencer, which the party was his idea, couldn't figure out how to set up the sheet for the projector. He and I put our heads together and with a little "magic" it was up and ready to go. Now this is Utah, so at nights the desert gets cold so the canyon also has that same wonderful feature. I had lent out my blanket to someone else, and I will be honest it was getting a little cold. The girl in front of me wasn't fairing much better. While the rest of her friends were all cuddling up together she sat alone. I tried thinking of a million ways to put it to her and the best option I could come up with was just two simple statements of honest truth: "It's cold. Can we cuddle?" Body heat is a wonderful thing, but I simply couldn't do that to a complete stranger. Instead I stood up, walked around a bit, let the blood start flowing again, that kind of thing. And I realized something interesting about myself.

I know that I am a huge movie junkie. I have known that for years. Still, I am out in a canyon on a beautiful starry night, there are fires going, a stream behind us. And the only thing I can think that I really want to do is go explore. I want to walk around, look at the stars, listen to the water rush by. It is almost like it is calling to me! I definitely think the apostles have it right. Don't take a girl on a date to a movie, canyon or movie theater, it doesn't matter. It isn't social. It is just plain stupid. The end of the story you wonder? Well, lucky me, my wanderings were able to prepare me for the unexpected. I ended up not being in the middle of the sprinklers when they decided to come on. What a wonderful surprise! It was a fun and interesting night with a lot of laughs but it was so cold... You'd think everyone would want to cuddle.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Behold the Man (Chapter 7)

I really enjoy reading books and sometimes I find things that are real good eye openers. I liked this one a lot and so I am just going to quote it but bear with me...

"Now, for the both of you, as you know, the first marriage of all marriages was performed by God himself, between Father Adam and Mother Eve. Not only is this proof of the sanctity of marriage and its centrality for all mankind, but there is much in the account thereof which provides instruction for us.

"When Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden, he was alone. After a time, the Lord God, blessed be his name, made a profound declaration. Said he: 'It is not good for man to be alone.'"

He leaned forward, as earnest as Simeon could ever remember seeing him. "Consider on that statement for a moment, Simeon and Yehuda. That is a divine declaration. 'It is not good for man to be alone.'"

David let that sink in, his eyes challenging them to ponder the import of those words. Then he went on. "After declaring that it is not good for man to be alone, the Holy One of Israel made a second, most significant declaration. He said, 'I shall make an help meet for him.' That is a most instructive term, 'help meet.' In the original Hebrew of the sacred writ the phrase is ezer knegdo. Some have translated that phrase to mean a helper or a help mate. That is not true to the deeper meaning of the phrase. Helper would imply a superior role for men and a helping or inferior role for women. Many feel that way, of course, and treat their wives as chattel, but that is not what the Creator of us all declared. Knegdo means to 'meet' or to have two things brought together. But it carries a much deeper connotation, where one finds something that is equal to something else. In other words, a help meet is a person who helps us 'meet ourselves,' like looking into a mirror and seeing yourself."

Both Yehuda and Simeon were listening intently. They knew the words of course, but they had not heard it defined in exactly this way.

"What then follows is the creation of Eve. And here, too, there is much for us to learn from the sacred word. You know it well. The Lord God caused a deep sleep to come upon Adam, and he took from his side a rib, and from that rib he created woman."

Simeon's father smiled thoughtfully. "I've wondered if the Lord couched this account in imagery to teach us important truths. It is a widespread supposition, for example, that men have one less rib than women, a fact that Luke, our physician here, assures me is not the case. But be that as it may, what do we learn from the story of the rib?"

Simeon tentatively raised a hand. "I've heard it said that woman was taken from Adam's side because it is closest to his heart, suggesting that she should walk beside him always."

"Yes, I'm sure that is part of it. If Eve had been taken from Adam's head, then she would rule over him. If she was taken from his foot, he would rule over her. If from his hand, she would be only a tool to do his bidding. To be taken from the side is beautiful imagery and teaches us much about how we are to treat our wives. But I think there is something much more profound than that."

The two men waited expectantly, not yet seeing what it was David was suggesting.

"Once Eve was created from the bone taken from Adam, what follows in the account?"

"The commandment for them to become one flesh," Yehuda replied.

"Yes. Think about that. Adam now has a help meet, or in other words, he has finally met his equal. And the Lord now says, 'Therefore'- in other words, because I have created woman and brought her to you- 'Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife."

David ben Joseph stopped and turned his head. In the distance, as though barely a whisper, the first cries of the approaching wedding party could be heard. He turned back quickly. "Think of that interesting choice of verbs for a moment. Normally, 'to cleave' means to cut asunder, to split into two parts. We speak, for example, of the camel having a cloven hoof. But in our language, that word also carries the opposite meaning. It means to put back together two things that have been separated, to join them so tightly one to the other it is as if there was no original separation.

"And here, my two young sons, is the key to understanding how God views this sacred relationship between a man and a woman. Adam had something cut away from him, cloven from his side. He was missing something. He was not whole any longer. So what is the solution? How does a man become whole again?"

"By cleaving to our wives," Simeon said in wonder.

"Yes. By cleaving to the only creation that is truly equal to us. And when we cleave together- or better, cleave back together- we become whole once again. We become not two, but one- one in flesh, one in mind, one in spirit. Then and only then, can man be fully complete."

Simeon was struck with another thought. No wonder his mother and father loved each other as they did. This was the basis for that love: total respect for each other, viewing themselves as different but of equal importance.

-Gerald N. Lund

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Graceful

Grace is nothing more than slowing things down and lengthening a controlled motion. It is perspective. A walk is really a fall. A run is a different form of someone tripping. A song is a cry or a scream. I guess beauty really is in the eye of the beholder. Beauty comes from self-control, repetition, and again a unique sense of perspective.

History of Creativity

I had my first lecture in my History of Creativity class. It was rather interesting to say the least but it definitely is going to make me stretch. I made a goal in class to help myself work on my creativity and it was to think about things from alternative perspectives and question things. It didn't take much time either! By the time I got home I was practicing as much as I could.

Razors... why are they flat? Is it because they are made to be like wedges? Is it because the metal can be made to be stronger and sharper through different manufacturing processes? (This is the engineer coming out in me...) Either way, a better study of inventions brings about new ways for application or redesigning of materials.

Why do toothbrushes have bristles? Baleen whales kind of have bristles... their teeth siphon or pick out the food particles from the water so they can swallow them. We obviously use the bristles on a toothbrush to pick out food so we can spit it out, but if we really wanted to I guess we could swallow them. Have you noticed that buildings are like trees in their construction? Energy is pushed through wires or tubes to supply the structure with its needs: electricity, plumbing, nutrients, sugar, etc. In the meantime, the unique construction also provides insulation, protection, strength, and almost a sense of majestic dignity or size. I guess why they call metropolitan areas urban forests. Maybe a better study of nature can bring about a way to think creatively or inventively by trying to imitate characteristics found in world around us.

Have you ever tried the different flavors of peanut butter? Did you even know that you could taste more than one flavor for peanut butter? Try tasting it on different areas of your tongue. When you use the front of your tongue, licking the peanut butter will taste more like peanuts, much like you are used to. Now try spreading it on the back of your tongue with your finger and it may taste a lot more like butter than peanuts. Crazy, huh? Peanut butter has oil. This is why it sticks to a knife and water runs off of it when you try to clean it. Oil is used to protect metal from water, both as a lubricant and to keep it from rusting. Sounds like a clever application of natural biological, physical, and chemical properties.

And all of this happened since I had dinner! I hope I will be able to come up with a good idea for my project in the class. Very different...