Today as I walked through the woods I realized something. The layers upon layers of green, living things that I take for granted would astonish some people. And I feel like that's true for a lot of things.

Why People Like Twilight

Confession time: this summer I read all four Twilight books. I do not really know if I liked them or not. Mostly I was pretty annoyed at everything happening, but they were pretty fun to read I guess. Anyway.

I've been thinking a lot trying to find value in the story even with all the issues I have with it. The romances were pretty messed up, morals and values didn't really play that big a part, and I prefer my vampires to be bloodsucking demons rather than sparkly nice people. I think I figured out one reason why people like this book series, though.

It's because Bella Swan is completely ordinary. There is nothing particularly special about her. She is pretty boring. She lies to her father. She is completely obsessed with this random dude she just met in high school who spent quite a long while telling her how he wants to eat her, which displays quite a lack of sense. She's basically a good person, but doesn't stand out for any particular good quality.

But Edward and Jacob love her anyway, in their own ways.

So many people don't feel loved. They don't feel special. They feel pretty much like the Bella Swan of their own lives, just hoping that maybe there is something that makes them desirable and worth loving.

You can be the hero of your own life. You don't have to rely on anybody else to be important and to be desirable. Really. Certainly not a slightly abusive  100-something year old vampire. Love yourself.

Adapting to Changes

Watch the above video before reading any further.





Doesn't that amaze you? Really.
The biggest take away I had from this video is that there is no way that learning facts and current technologies is going to help me actually know how to do anything.That's it. I will be a fairly useless human being if I graduate high school and college thinking that I am all set for the future. Because the reality of life is changing all the time.
So, why do I get an education? Why don't I just go live in the woods and live alone, separated from all this change?
Because I want to be an extraordinary human. And for me, that means living in the world and doing all sorts of things and changing the world. For that, I need to get out there and embrace what comes.
So I am getting an education to learn how to think. No matter where you are in life, always be practicing how to think. If you're in high school, keep this perspective. If you're in college, keep this perspective. If you're not in any formal school and are getting your education from living, keep this perspective.
Do not let yourself get dragged into thinking that you will be okay with simply learning the facts of now. You need more if you are going to do anything meaningful. So do it. Keep on learning. Keep on questioning. Keep on innovating.

American Imprisonment

A man is condemned to the same fate for a crime no matter his background. A man entirely without money or friends, raised in debauchery and ignorance receives the same punishment as a man born into every blessing of life, surrounded by people who love him, who is highly educated and has moral instruction. These two committed the same crime, yes. But are they both equally accountable?

I cannot believe so. However, there isn't anything to do about it. Who could understand individual situations well enough to decide what mercy should be shown? And besides, these crimes would continue being perpetrated. Because we don't do anything to try to fix it.

The purpose of imprisonment should not be punishment of those who have done wrong. Hammer that into your head right now. That is an immature and ineffective paradigm. The purpose of imprisonment should be to protect those who are innocent. Completely destroying the lives of criminals by locking them up for most of their lives could effectively do that, I suppose. But there are many things to consider before choosing that.

The sentences given are ineffective. What are years in prison going to do for somebody? The answer is simple. The convict is going to come out having lost some of the most important time in his life, and relapse. Perhaps he will be slightly more bitter and hardened. Without more meaningful correction, there isn't likely to be meaningful change. For those who are already fairly well-equipped for a normal productive life and just screwed up once, this might be serious enough to keep them well, but those who only know this type of life are not going to be able to come out as a contributing, happy citizen.

I am not even going to talk about the financial issues this system brings the whole nation, the corruption within facilities, or abuse within prisons because that is not the point of this post. But consider those as well. The problem of criminal justice is complex. It's going to take a whole new way of thinking and take a while to implement change. This is worth it, though. Don't just leave the lowest of the nation behind.