Focus! August 10, 2008
Posted by Erik Tomblin in Choices, Emotion, Life, Psychology, Uncategorized.Tags: Choices, Haruki Murakami, Joseph Campbell, Life, Natasha Bedingfield, Positive Thinking
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“For the sake of argument, let’s say all your choices and all your effort are destined to be a waste. You’re still very much yourself and nobody else. And you’re forging ahead, as yourself. So relax.”
- from Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
I’m about halfway through this book (really enjoying it so far) and this statement by one of the characters reminded me of another favorite quote by Joseph Campbell.
“We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.”
I’m a believer May 12, 2008
Posted by Erik Tomblin in Music.Tags: 80's Music, Natasha Bedingfield, Obscure bands, Vendetta
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I used to be a skeptic. People would say “You can find anything on the Internet!” and I’d give an half-hearted “yep” but I didn’t believe it 100%. Until today. On a whim, I Googled the following:
Vendetta “deadly like a rose”
Sometime around 1981 I won a radio contest. The prize was ten free albums. Not bad, huh? That’s what I thought. But then I got to the station and saw the inventory I could pick from. Basically, it was all the promo records that the station didn’t play. I learned an important lesson that day. Really, I only half learned it; if I had actually learned it well I’d never have bought the Cacophony album by Marty Friedman (the chump who wouldn’t sign the Megadeth album he didn’t specifically play on) a few years later. The lesson: don’t judge an album by its cover.
But that’s not the point of this post. The point is that one of the records I picked was by a band called Vendetta. Never heard of them before that day, never heard of them after. Until, of course, I Googled them today and found this.
To their credit, the chorus still pops into my head on occasion, out of nowhere.
Something to think about March 31, 2008
Posted by Erik Tomblin in Uncategorized.add a comment
“If you refuse to accept the ugly truths in life and, instead, fabricate your own, you will be doomed to misery. But if you stop rejecting the truths that don’t fit your needs or that hurt too much to believe, if you embrace them, learn from them, and put those lessons to work in your life, you will be happy.”
- Anonymous
Note to Self March 27, 2008
Posted by Erik Tomblin in Emotion, Life, Psychology, Relationships.Tags: Anxiety, Apathy, Emotion, Fear, Life, Mustang, personal, Psychology, Relationships, Trust
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Would you argue with your friend if he painted his 1969 Mustang Boss using the extra cans of “Cotton Candy Pink” spray paint he found in the garage because he’s tired of the Bondo gray and just wants it painted already? Of course not. You might tell him he’s crazy, tell him he’s making a mistake, or even make predictions of the taunts and teasing he is sure to endure. But you wouldn’t get angry with him: it’s his car and he’ll deal with the end result, not you. You might have to ride in it, but that’s your choice, so ultimately it shouldn’t matter one bit what he does with that car. And you never know what positive results might ensue; unlikely, yes, but possible.
Focus on what matters. Not what could be, not what you think should be, but what is. It only turns to apathy when you stop caring about the truths in life.
Brought to you by the letters L, O, V, and E March 26, 2008
Posted by Erik Tomblin in Emotion, Life, Love, Relationships.Tags: dreams, friends, future, human, Life, Love, Magic, personal, Relationships, Romance, smart, soulmate, thoughts, women
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You can look to others for the things you want in yourself and, when you find them, call it Love. You can find someone who mirrors what you think you are and do the same. You might build up these illusions of perfection and seek them out, settling for whomever creates the best mirage. You can find someone just as lost and ignorant as you so you’ll have company as you stumble into disappointment. You can lie to yourself and thus lie to others, let them do the same to you, until you’ve created a monster that looks nothing like the Love you were after. Or you can know yourself before even trying to know someone else and love yourself before giving it, and you’ll have a much easier time of it. (more…)
