There are two major ways to get through life, you can survive or you can live. Now, admittedly, I've never been beyond college. but, I'm still a bit skeptical. I have no way of placing the value of going to work every day to support a family. That may be the most rewarding experience possible, but somehow I doubt it. Interestingly enough, any motivation that has driven me at all during the past few months has been derived from my will to get a job in order to move out on my own. And, though this is something I still totally desire, I'm left wondering, am I better off just living at home still with my parents, living on campus while school is in session? I mean seriously, what I have now is pretty good. No responsibilities, someone else cooks my meals. But still, there is the overwhelming desire to be independent. It's just such an illogical situation that I have hard time understanding-
-why is it that humans act the way they do?
Now, I've been an "engineer" my entire life. Everything, to me, can be broken down into simple numbers and facts. Or at least, everything should be that way. I live on the principle that everything should make sense, but life never follows that course. I'd like to think that there are rules that define the way everything works, but we all know this is not the way of things. Humans are random, unpredictable. This is what makes us people. But... is there some rule that can predict the behavior of humans? Do we all act out a pattern, seemingly random, that all goes toward some greater goal? I suppose it is possible that there is something that could be defined as "destiny." Most people don't like to believe that they are not in control of their lives-
-can the future be predicted or is it un-written?
This was the theme of a great movie, Back to the Future. The movie was definitely a comedy, but it was extremely well-written and raised some good points. After traveling through time, the final realization is made that the future is un-written and that we, as people may choose our own fates. I'd like to believe this is how it works. Although I am a great fan of science fiction and time travel stories, I don't agree with any principle that would allow the traveling through time into the future. It may be possible to travel backward, that I have no opinion on yet, but to me, it seems as if the future is undefined to us. The past is something that is laid out solid. It is "established" as the way it happened. For the future, if it were also "established," then we would each have our own destiny and I don't like that idea. Perhaps it's not that I don't believe in the future but that instead, I don't want to believe in it.
Is it bright now where you are? I used to have a star, too and I can't stop pushing you away from me And trying to hold on And I keep on trying to put the blame on you But this shame is all my fault It's all my fault And now you've given my everything away And my soul keeps slipping And my heart keeps falling There's nothing left to do now But trying and trying and slipping and falling And yes there's a bright spot It comes every day But after every day comes night And it always pushes away the light
Well, that's all for now. Soon I'll be publishing a new website. This will include a lot of stuff and you can look forward to seeing that sometime this fall.
Francis Richardson ( frichard@fit.edu )