This hippie is high on life

So let me just preface this post by saying that I do not do drugs. I've never smoked weed or dropped acid or dabbled in any sort of mind-altering substance. 

I'm also not religious. I was raised by an ex-Catholic Earth Mother Pagan type, and while I have attended various Christian-based services in the past, I quickly discovered they are not my "thing".  

(Although I think I could get on board with the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Seems like a pretty cool dude. But I digress.)

My personal spirituality is sort of an amalgamation of Eastern and Norse philosophies, tied together with a tree-hugging, wool sock-wearing, organic granola-munching, love-the-people, humanist side. I dig Pope Francis and think he's a pretty awesome dude, but I also think it'd be cool to have tea and chat with Richard Dawkins. 

I'm open-minded, but not in the "expand your mind by eating 'shrooms" kind of way. I've never been the one in the corner contemplating the meaning of string and watching the walls pulsate; I've likewise never striven to speak with God, or gods, or any sort of deity really. I rely more on science, less on blind faith. 

Okay. So we've pretty much nailed that one down, yes? Mind is not altered, nor is it influenced by a monotheistic worldview.

Okay, we can move on now.

So earlier today I was listening to the 107.7 The End app on my phone (because there aren't really good radio stations in this neck of the woods, at least in terms of my musical preferences) and Lana Del Rey's song "West Coast" came on. The vibe of the song always leads me to picture a sepia-toned 8mm video of the California coast in the 1960s (ironically, the video is actually in black and white, though I didn't know that before writing this post).

Anyway, I suddenly found myself immersed in this strange, unfiltered train of thought:

The 8mm film of the '60s is like the cell phone videos of today, or the stone carvings of ancient times. The modern tools we use to capture a moment in time. A moment that is fleeting. A moment that will soon pass and never been felt or experienced again. The people that experience these individual moments will find themselves surrounded by new technologies that the next generation will use to capture their also-fleeting moments. These moments are important and pivotal to our existence at the time, yet in the grand scheme of things they also don't really matter, because the human experience is fluid and in constant forward motion. The individuals throughout time who have sought to capture their moments have all passed on, as we all will someday as well....

...Pass on. What happens when we pass on? We exist in this consciousness, this awareness of our awareness. But what happens when we die? What happens to that consciousness? Is it like falling asleep? Are we somewhat aware that it's happening? Or is it like a light being switched off? Instantaneous. We just suddenly cease to be aware, cease to have the capacity of awareness. Our light is just snuffed like a candle wick. Is it just over?...

...Our consciousness is an energy. Our consciousness is what makes us human. Otherwise, we'd be like an earthworm or an amoeba or a piece of kelp. Our consciousness is what the human experience is all about, what has transformed society into that which it is today. So what happens when we die and that consciousness stops? If energy can be neither created nor destroyed, what happens? Are we aware that our bodies have died? Do we pass on to another plane within the universe? Does our consciousness continue in a new life, but only in flashes of deja vu, or are we cognizant of having lived before? Do our conscious minds continue after our bodies have perished, like some sort of cosmic audience to the passage of time? Do we watch our children, and our children's children, and each subsequent generation of humans? Do we continue to exist along the space-time continuum, expanding with the universe and experiencing an awareness that our simple human brains cannot fathom? Is this what people see when they have near-death experiences? Is this what the tunnel of light is; our consciousness passing through to another realm? Is this what people perceive as Heaven, or Valhalla, or Brahmaloka, or Nirvana?...

See? I'm telling ya folks, I don't need mind-altering substances to trip myself out. I just need a few moments of silence and some musical inspiration!

Lazy Monday should be a thing

So I'm officially one week into fall quarter. My last fall quarter ever.

And I couldn't have less motivation if I tried.

Oy vey, this isn't a great sign!

I think most of it has to do with being preoccupied with the house and moving soon and everything that goes with that. Like oppressive amounts of stress.

I'm not sleeping super well, and I've just sort of been perpetually tired lately, and thus we have the lack of motivation to do school work.

Le sigh.

This first week was interesting though. I think I'm going to like my classes- the subject matter is interesting, and not overly complicated for my obviously struggling brain right now.

I also have already gotten into somewhat of a tiff with a fellow classmate, so it should be an interesting 10 weeks dealing with him.

See, we were discussing how racial and gender issues influence modern American families, and a gal and I were specifically discussing the integration of post-slavery African Americans into American society and the impacts that had on their family structures.

A guy in my class who hadn't been involved in the conversation to begin with decided to jump in then, and basically ripped me a new one. He was apparently trying to point out what he felt was a flaw in my comment, but decided to reference something incredibly violent and disturbing in order to do so. Not only did it not make any sense at all, but it was highly inappropriate for a class discussion.

Several other students jumped in and defended me, pointing out his non sequitur and the inappropriateness of his comments.

He then went on to attack me in other post threads that also did not involve him and did not apply to anything I said.

Basically, he's an icky troll who appears to hate women who have opinions. He was completely cordial to the men in the class, and kind of a wank to the women. Why someone with such an angry and bitter outlook would take a Sociology of the Family class is beyond me, but cheers to what looks to be an unexpectedly exciting quarter!

Beyond that, I have had AWOLNATION's Sail stuck in my head for a few days now. I was working on a Yahoo! article discussing movie releases, and after watching the trailer for The Counselor several times, that song is sufficiently lodged in my brain.

Which has made me miss 107.7 The End...

I think I'm going to go drink some tea... and maybe crack open a textbook... maybe...