I have a hard time staying consistent with any blog. You should see my Blogger Dashboard -- I've got like 8 or 10 different blogs with different names and themes, and most of them are empty, or have a small collection of unfinished, unpublished posts.
I think blogging is hard for me because it takes me awhile to figure out what I want to say, and because once I get started I have too MUCH to say. At the outset, my life doesn't seem interesting enough to spend time writing about it. But then I sort of get on a roll and can't stop until I've quite literally exhausted myself. All in all, its a difficult and time-consuming process!
So, why THIS blog? What do I mean, "An Empty Mask"? That's a good question: It sounded cool? Seriously though, I go through these phases of what you might call "melancholy". Depression runs in my family, but I'm blessed in that even when I'm in a "down-state" of sorts I know I'll eventually come back out of it. Responsibilities like having to work to stay alive help with that. But anyway, when I'm in this melancholy state, I don't necessarily notice it sometimes -- sometimes I just don't really feel much of anything. It's like the way I really feel is locked way down deep inside. Maybe I'm even keeping it there on purpose, for some reason.
The "empty mask" is this state I get in (very occasionally) where on the outside, I look like myself, I act like myself, and as far as even I'm aware, I'm totally myself. But on the inside, I can hardly feel anything; I feel empty.
On the other hand, something I'm grateful for is my ability to care about other people. I tend to be pretty good at judging how others are feeling, and I feel genuinely concerned for and interested in others, even (and perhaps especially) when I'm wearing that Empty Mask. I mean, I doubt many people see me as the most intuitively selfless person they know, because I'm not so good at figuring out how to help. Quite often I feel utterly helpless when I want to help the most.
So there's the low-down on the blog title. A point of note is that so far, I've never felt this while I'm actually writing the blog. With a little luck, the blog will be a seemingly paradoxical collection of some of my better moments.
I am going to make a new goal, right here, right now -- Ye are my witnesses! -- I am going to post in this blog at least once a month (on average). I know that doesn't sound very frequent or promising, but believe me, it'll be a drastic improvement!
Monday, March 24, 2008
Monday, February 12, 2007
Red Stripes
This is interesting. I found one of those stupid surveys online and, motivated by boredom (despite the mountain of other, drastically more important tasks I've yet to undertake) I took the plunge.
| You Are 83% American |
 You're as American as red meat and shooting ranges. Tough and independent, you think big. You love everything about the US, wrong or right. And anyone who criticizes your home better not do it in front of you! |
I think it's a pretty accurate evaluation of my patriotism. I don't claim the U.S. to be perfect or infallible (reflected in the 83% score), but I do believe it is, bar none, the greatest country on earth.
I'm taking an American Heritage class right now ("The American Founding"), and I've been reminded of my love for these great United States.
However I'm also aware that, at any given time, there are countless thousands, or even millions, of United States citizens who would tear this country to the ground. They don't realize, or don't appreciate, what they have.
Most of them -- perhaps the majority of Americans -- are stuck in a dangerous position called Apathy. Because we are so concerned about ourselves, about our own, immediate welfare (which is one of the righs our soldiers die to protect), we don't care about the slow but steady slipping of our society away from American Values.
The values this country was founded on are not hidden or secret. Their widely known and publicized. Yet people take them for granted, and in so doing, they give a little more power to our enemies.
If more of us were banded together under a United cause, joined in united purpose, and displayed the same fanatic zeal toward an ideology which values above all the freedoms of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness (property) -- if we could uphold this banner unanimously and ensure that the Grand Focus of those we hire to lead us was the protection of those fundamental principles -- then maybe the terrorist groups would come to realize that they are not fighting a group of people, but an ideal -- an ideal that will never die, no matter how many horrendous acts they may commit to afflict and torment our people.
Why do we all bicker over which are the Core Issues of our society? Why do we allow ourselves to become Divided on questions as fundamental as the very definition of our society? It seems to me the only issue at hand, in defending the position of this nation, is to clearly and distinctly identify what this nation was defined to be by those who originally defined it. How can anyone protect an ideal that is constantly changing? We don't need to keep re-writing and re-stating and re-wording our position -- it was written down 200 years ago by inspired, wise and intelligent, and yes, imperfect, but well-intentioned men -- men with a vision of what this nation could become, men with the foresight and creativity and awareness to build a NEW ideal -- unique in all the history of the world -- an Ideal which would become the de facto standard for an Enlightened and Liberated Society for the next two centuries and beyond.
Let us each -- collectively, and especially individually -- go back to the basics. Let us review that great document -- the Constitution of the United States of America -- and gain a deep and personal and meaningful understanding of its guiding principles. Let us invite those principles to become a part of each one of us -- and then let us stand up together -- each man for himself, but with his brother -- and make sure everyone else knows that WE know what this nation stands for, and we WILL do whatever is Appropriate to re-establish the IDEAL of the United States of America as the Right, the True, the Only U.S.A. this world need acknowledge.
I'm taking an American Heritage class right now ("The American Founding"), and I've been reminded of my love for these great United States.
However I'm also aware that, at any given time, there are countless thousands, or even millions, of United States citizens who would tear this country to the ground. They don't realize, or don't appreciate, what they have.
Most of them -- perhaps the majority of Americans -- are stuck in a dangerous position called Apathy. Because we are so concerned about ourselves, about our own, immediate welfare (which is one of the righs our soldiers die to protect), we don't care about the slow but steady slipping of our society away from American Values.
The values this country was founded on are not hidden or secret. Their widely known and publicized. Yet people take them for granted, and in so doing, they give a little more power to our enemies.
If more of us were banded together under a United cause, joined in united purpose, and displayed the same fanatic zeal toward an ideology which values above all the freedoms of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness (property) -- if we could uphold this banner unanimously and ensure that the Grand Focus of those we hire to lead us was the protection of those fundamental principles -- then maybe the terrorist groups would come to realize that they are not fighting a group of people, but an ideal -- an ideal that will never die, no matter how many horrendous acts they may commit to afflict and torment our people.
Why do we all bicker over which are the Core Issues of our society? Why do we allow ourselves to become Divided on questions as fundamental as the very definition of our society? It seems to me the only issue at hand, in defending the position of this nation, is to clearly and distinctly identify what this nation was defined to be by those who originally defined it. How can anyone protect an ideal that is constantly changing? We don't need to keep re-writing and re-stating and re-wording our position -- it was written down 200 years ago by inspired, wise and intelligent, and yes, imperfect, but well-intentioned men -- men with a vision of what this nation could become, men with the foresight and creativity and awareness to build a NEW ideal -- unique in all the history of the world -- an Ideal which would become the de facto standard for an Enlightened and Liberated Society for the next two centuries and beyond.
Let us each -- collectively, and especially individually -- go back to the basics. Let us review that great document -- the Constitution of the United States of America -- and gain a deep and personal and meaningful understanding of its guiding principles. Let us invite those principles to become a part of each one of us -- and then let us stand up together -- each man for himself, but with his brother -- and make sure everyone else knows that WE know what this nation stands for, and we WILL do whatever is Appropriate to re-establish the IDEAL of the United States of America as the Right, the True, the Only U.S.A. this world need acknowledge.
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