Resourcefulness

     "One and done" seems to be the christening chime of every new consumer item in Western culture. "Disposable" this and "recyclable" that. Even with the economic recession, things are built to be thrown away when their use has been fulfilled. No longer is the extra screw from the remote saved in a can to fix the clock when it breaks - a new clock is simply bought to replace the broken one.
     The GI generation seems to be the last great generation of repairman. The white collar classes seem incapable of getting dirty. Even gardeners use gloves to dig around in the dirt. In the great classics of adventure, most written while Britain ruled the seas and explored the deepest jungles, men knew how to work with their hands. Gun jamped? Clean it out. No matches for the fire? Rub sticks together. Cheer crying woman? Buy the biggest bouquet of flowers and actually know what each flower symbolized.
     Yes, these are Romantic examples and emphasize the tragic portions of life while avoiding the hum-drum. However, there is a net social lose as these skills pass from the working knowledge of a population. Many men no longer know how to check their engine, change their oil, or jack a car because AAA will come to the rescue if the car breaks down.

     My favorite book has long been The Swiss Family Robinson. Why? Stranded from society, the family salvages what materials they can from the wreckage of  the ship then proceeds to create nearly every aspect of the European civilization they left behind. Robinson Crusoe also does an excellent example with resourcefulness from the most obscure items to make a fully functional life.
     But why is resourcefulness important in our modern technical age? Does it achieve anything purposeful? With increasing limitations in resource gathering, re-usability has once again become desirable if still limited to the materials used. Gold, used in computer processing units, is heavily recycled both for value and rarity as is platinum in catalytic converters.
     Resourcefulness teaches thorough mastery of the environment while retaining frugality which was highly valued by Benjamin Franklin and the Romantic authors of the nineteenth century from all nationalities. Resourcefulness allows independence since much can be done with very little. Isolation and limitations are reduced to inconveniences, not crippling disasters. Independence is liberating.
     In this sense, yes, subsitutive capabilities achieve an economic aptitude and unrestrained personal liberties. The more you can do with what you have, the fewer things cease progress.
     Resourcefulness is always valued in war. Whether an invention that does your particular need exists or not,, little aids a dying man or outnumbered troops in their immediate needs. Improvisation is a skill useful for the highly experienced mind since physical resources are easily overcome with creativity and flexibility. The general that adjusts his strategy to increase the advantages of the natural topography stands a larger chance of survival if not outright success, and the man that is ingenious enough to use a razor as a bayonet may yet live to fight again.
     The next time an ordinary item becomes useless for its purchased purpose, ascertain its worth by applying its properties to a new task.

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Agatha Tyche

Cynicism

     Bitterness is a highly concentrated acid that resides in a region around the heart. If this gland's container is punctured, scared, or shaken, that acid may begin to leak. Since the gland will continue to produce acid as before but exposure will spread to the rest of the body, the container is rendered useless but can almost certainly be repaired. If th container is not patched, the concentrated acid will destroy the heart, erode the stomach, damage the liver, and puncture the lungs. If left untreated the acid may also infect the brain and poison its perceptions into a illogical insanity of hate.

     The cynical mind has been poisoned by its own views. Understandably, some event or person has ruptured the regular bodily processes and created a perverse, embittered mind. While the bitterness supplies a sort of adrenaline affect that enables the user to bear considerable burdens beyond normal bounds, the price is mental sanity and a shortened life.
     But if cynicism provides a limited "superpower" of life, isn't it worth the price? Cynicism sucks the joy from life; no circumstance can provide happiness to the cynic. Optimism is worthless because beneficial events only serve to increase the bitterness as the user recognizes the vanity of false joy. Pessimistic to the core, apathy and depression stalk the cynic in all aspects of life. Without doubt benefits can be found, especially within the determination to hate and striving toward destruction of the hated ideal or being.
     Theodore Roosevelt's launched an entire crusading speech against the blasé of life and cynism.

"The poorest way to face life is to face it with a sneer . . . There is no more unhealthy being, no man less worthy of respect, than he who either really holds, or feigns to hold, an attitude of sneering disbelief toward all that is great and lofty, whether in achievement or in that noble effort which, even if it fails, comes to second achievement. A cynical habit of thought and speech, a readiness to criticize work which the critic never tries to perform – these are not marks of superiority but of weakness." 

     While you may defeat the opposition of life, you do it at the cost of yourself. Again, another famous, oft-quoted man of the American past, Ralph Waldo Emerson, cautioned against the burning hatred of dissatisfaction and enmity in life.

“Don't hang a dismal picture on the wall, and do not daub with sables and glooms in your conversation. Don't be a cynic and disconsolate preacher. Don't bewail and bemoan. Omit the negative propositions. Nerve us with incessant affirmatives. Don't waste yourself in rejection, nor bark against the bad, but chant the beauty of the good. When that is spoken which has a right to be spoken, the chatter and the criticism will stop. Set down nothing that will not help somebody.”

     Embrace the life you have. Accept your faults, the faults of others, and the rainy-day circumstances that force the barometer to weight heavily on your life. Cherish the moment and embrace challenges to prove yourself to those that contest your merits.

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Agatha Tyche

Lava Petition

     An analogy I like about life is the lava lamp. The electric heat is the spirit and energy that powers life. The glass case represents life itself. Colored wax symbolizes our energy and focus on physical objects, blessings, hope, and prayers.  When you're first born, everything is stagnant at the bottom. However, gradually life begins to flow through you, giving you energy and excitement. Willingly or not, the heat and light given off by your life impacts others.
     The wax represents our focused energy in life - of which there is a limited amount. From a Christian perspective, the following paragraphs directly apply, but since prayer is instrumental in many other religions, the application can be applied less stringently than intended.

     The energy of life is difficult to control since our power waxes and wanes as circumstances in life change. Nonetheless, the total amount remains fixed. Religiously, as the heated wax floats to the top of the glass, it represents our prayers seeking aid, relief, or hope with our circumstances in life. As the wax-bubble-prayers reach the apex of the glass, they cool and will eventually fall back to the bottom. The descending flow of wax  corresponds to the answers to prayer: blessings, learning experiences, and opportunities. The more of life's energies in God's hands, the less influence has our own will and power. If prayer is going up in giant blobs, fast and furious under the pressures of life's troubles, few blessings appear to rain down. Correlation? People become more religious during difficult times. Conversely, as perfectly exhibited in the book of Judges in the Bible, when God sends lots of blessings down, almost no prayer continues upwards; people reject God in the good times. One puzzle with prayer is when the request's answer is delayed. The analogy contains a response to this as well: wax bubbles can hover in the middle, committing neither to the main blob at the bottom nor the fluctuating collection at the top. The answer to these prayers is "wait," and the answer will eventually succumb to fulfillment.
     Right when things seem the worst and the effort of praying becomes taxing, huge blessings come down. We then forget God altogether aside from small, almost absent-minded prayers. Soon life becomes challenging once more which prompts prayers up to God, and the cycle repeats.
     Other applications can be drawn from the endless cycle of heated wax trapped in a silicon prison. The dyed wax also represents interaction with other people. The more extroverted we live our life, the less we keep to ourselves, but people are more likely to throw that interaction back your way, keeping life charged. The size of the blobs is analogous to the importance and regularly of your relationship.
     Military strategy and alternate applications use resource management. If the reserve force's size diminishes, the application of applied forces increases because of the direct correlation. As the use of one resource goes up, the availability of its source decreases.
     The next time you're idly watching the clock tick, the fire burn, or the fly buzz look for a lesson. Remember that heated wax teaches about prayer, social interaction, and the limitation of resources. No analogy is perfect, yet despite its flaws, a lava lamp, when pondered carefully, can capably inform.

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Agatha Tyche

Hakuna Matata

     A phrase famous since the release of Disney's "The Lion King" (1994) is "Hakuna Matata." This translates, literally, to "There are no worries" from Swahili. We have little enough control on the events and circumstances of our own life, yet we try to influence the outcome to the best of our abilities. Sometimes, it's ok, it's good, to let go and move on.
     All relationships end one way or another. Death, distance, school changes, habits, occupations, and belief  all cost in relationship value. Whether this affects family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, or schoolmates - with change, some relationships will fade or end and others grow more robust and prominent.
     The most difficult relationship to sever is a relationship of the heart, even more so when you are not the one that wished that relationship to end. Your efforts failed in some way even if you strove with every ounce to retain the knot as the strings pulled farther away. The hardest part after losing that fight is moving on.

     After realizing it's the end and that no actions can change what happened, skipping the rest of the recovery steps can be good or bad (ask your local psychiatrist). I like to apply the example of "The Lion King" and put my past behind me. You can't change it, so move on and continue life. The "don't worry, be happy" mentality avoids the anger, hate, fear, and bitterness of a bad break up and allows you to forget about the pain a lot sooner, as exhibited by Simba with his father's death. This mentality should eventually lead to a process of forgiveness. Without this you cannot truly move on. Forgiveness is the ability to understand and use the knowledge painfully earned to improve yourself and aid others in their own pain.
     The most that can be added to that is that learning from past mistakes to avoid repetition is the true mark of matured experience and will eventually lead to wisdom if properly cultivated. "Forgive and forget" heals pain much faster than letter it simmer for years with constant fear of it boiling over into the rest of your life.
So, don't worry, be happy!


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Agatha Tyche

Unrelented Despotism

     Have you ever just wanted to be alone? To vanish from the world and rest quietly, peacefully, and hidden?

     Conversely, have you ever been completely by yourself and had no greater desire than to join the masses of humanity in a joyous celebration of existence?

     Welcome to my world - where loneliness is detested for its absences and company is despised for its contents. Never content, always wishing that you were in the opposite of your current state.

     The more necessitates my state, either solitude or companionship, the more my spirit wishes to rebel from its confinements and constrictions. I have no answers to these questions. How to be satisfied in the moment without seeking pleasure merely to comfort? How to be content with my state and cease worrying, to forget the future, to stop criticizing but inspire the present. How does one avoid nostalgia and reminisce the glories of the faded, vanished, irretrievable past?

     Most people even moderately well acquainted with Biblical teaching will avow the common phrase by Paul, “with whatsoever state I am in, therewith to be content.” The process is simple: follow God’s will, and you’ll be happy with where you are in life. You’ve “put aside childish things” and embraced the calling you were created for (Philippians 4:11).

     How uninspiringly unhelpful that quote is when one has neither faith in that god nor desire to do according with “His” wishes. That book also says that “He” was “scored and rejected by men.” Were not other men hated by their fellows?

     Am I to reach surrender to this teaching or embrace the multiplicity of others – current or ancient – and gamble away a suspected spirit, a supposed soul on eternity of the flesh, eternity as a spirit, reincarnation, or decomposition to nothingness?

     I seek only contentment “in whatsoever state I am.” If this inclines me to the Christian God, I may curse my culture, my parentage, my religious influences, but that is what I choose. If I surrender the controls of my life to a higher power, just as police in the high speed chase of life rely on their helicopter to report the movements of their goal which remains far out of their eyes’ sight, that empowered deity may yet steer me as necessary. I still retain the ability to redirect my course, take an early exit, switch lanes, back track, or simply use my brakes.

     However, I seek only contentment. If I relinquish control, may I find refuge?

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Agatha Tyche

Influence of Books

     Sadly, many Westerners spend excessively copious amounts of time in front of screens. The type or function of the screen is unimportant since a philology of screens includes television, computers, phones, and projectors. The flashes of interactive, glowing rapidity daze our eyes and dull our senses. These are very recent adoptions of entertainment. Steadfast throughout history are stories shared vocally with a gathered audience captivated by worry for the protagonist of the tale. Writing allowed those tales to be more widely shared, and the coupling of the printing press and a widely educated public furthered the ability of the written word to spread.

     Books possess power. Power to alter the reader’s outlook on life, society, theology, or any of the myriad of concepts our minds are capable of processing. Reading itself strengthens the processing and reasoning ability of the mind. Reading a book indefinitely impacts the reader whether consciously pondered or not. The literate absorb written words as easily, if not more influentially, than oration.

     How has reading impacted you? It is a monologue conversation with the writer, a written orator. Inspiration, sorrow, courage, sympathy all come from sympathies with the author. The allure of series is this accumulated sympathy as the reader befriends the characters. Picture movies are a simplified, shortened forms of this interaction; extremes are used extensively to quicken viewer relation. A book easily reveals the uncovered length of tale by the amount of pages left unread.

     The Jungle, an early twentieth century novel, inspired innovation of American meat processing. The Wealth of Nations, founded on many of John Locke’s Enlightenment assumptions, encouraged the foundations of the free market capitalist system, overthrowing the outdated mercantilist philosophy. Religious texts are especially noted for their exceptional influence on all readers, more so to the regular and devoted followers. Amongst these works are those as well known as the Quran, Bible, and Sanskrit. No one alive will disagree the influence these book have had on humanity.

     Life lessons, the consequences of and warning against common mistakes, energy to encourage and inspire, and deep, eternal love are all accessible with only your hands and time. Why let life pass, regretting poor decisions, when those that have lived before can aid you through daily struggles, shattering tragedies, and uplifting hopes? With such a large selection presently available, what have you to lose? Take a chance.

     Read a book.

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Agatha Tyche

Conviction

     To achieve greatness, best the odds, outdistance opponents, and stretch the bounds of impossible, motivation comes from within. The belief that something is right fortifies resolve and cements that value into one's being. Classically, medieval saints (or heretics, depending on the angle), hold amazing grips with motivational conviction. Burned at the stake yet remaining staunch professors of their faith. Only conviction can bring forth a willingness to suffer under expectant death.
     However, suffering is not the only circumstance that reveals conviction. Muslim expansion from 600-1000 A.D. could not have been accomplished without the fervored zeal exhibited and embraced by millions as Islam quickly spread through the Near East. No empire can grow without the convictions of its leader or the armies that follow him.
     In a larger sense though, conviction is expressed when one operates under distress but remains steadfast with the ideology that brought on the troubles. The inner belief provides a purpose of resistance since courage, not cowardice, is the valued character trait. Courage and conviction are valued outside of the world's religions though. The military prizes soldiers that have demonstrated loyalty and courage in the heat of battle to prove their conviction against the enemy. A convicted soldier will not easily turn aside from his nation’s mandate in the face of adversity and death.

     A prime example of this is the desertion rates of WWI with the death-trap trenches. Men charged machine guns and faced death but rarely turned aside and revealed cowardice. French desertion in 1917 was kept hidden from Germans, and once Germans began to desert, the Allied forces had already breached the heavily fortified first lines of defense. This may be the easiest type of conviction to picture since it is so readily upheld in Western society to date. Photographs, early videos, and extensive literature transport the reader into the conviction that their nation's ancestors experienced.
     General MacArthur summed up the conviction each soldier must hold individually to uphold the the army's defense of the nation as a whole.

"I could see those staggering columns of the First World War, bending under soggy packs, on many a weary march from dripping dusk to drizzling dawn, slogging ankle-deep through the mire of shell-shocked roads, to form grimly for the attack, blue-lipped, covered with sludge and mud, chilled by the wind and rain, driving home to their objective, and for many, to the judgement seat of God.
I do not know the dignity of their birth, but I do know the glory of their death. They died unquestioning, uncomplaining, with faith in their hearts, and on their lips the hope that we would go on to victory. Always, for them: Duty, Honor, Country; always their blood and sweat and tears, as we sought the way, the light, and the truth."

     These harrowing words perfectly emphasize the sacrifice of conviction, demanding the respect of those who hold true despite all efforts of resistance. An admirable trait for men to possess and a formidable one in ones foes.

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Agatha Tyche