sleep is a currency
whose price
fluctuates in
tender
sometimes
it is worth
the exchange rate
other times
its worth
devalues
everything else
sleep is a currency
whose pace
fluctuates in
tides
sometimes
it is deeper
than you are tall
other times
it is shallow
the enemy of
progress
sleep is a currency
whose presence
fluctuates in
time
sometimes
it is gentle
in daydreams
other times
it is indefatigable
never satisfied
with substitutes
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Two Jobs: A quick update on life, May 24, 2011
"Hell isn't merely paved with good intentions; it's walled and roofed with them. Yes, and furnished too." -Aldous Huxley
Obviously I haven't been as faithful to this blog as I have been over the past few months... I had every intention of posting something at least three times a week.
Here's the deal. I have picked up a second job... a night job. I'll be able to wax verbose on the subject later. Right now, I'm just tired.
In the time since I've blogged I've written an article for the upcoming Elevation Church article, which is cool. Once it's published, I'll throw a copy of the article up so you can see the extent to which I may or may not pander to specific audiences.
I say all that to say this: I may not blog for a while. I have many ideas, but no time to really cogitate. Perhaps that will change... hopefully I'll have a day off soon. Preferably one without obligation or travel. We'll see.
But right now... bed.
Good night.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
A Quick Prayer Request -- Elevation Church Interview/Article
Just a quick update and prayer request.
As of a few months ago, I've been extremely blessed to be able to write for the Elevation Church Magazine. My first article, published in the 2010 "Year in Review" edition, was a moving testimony of one of Elevation's eKidz directors and her journey of faith through a wrecked marriage and single parenthood. The next edition is coming up pretty fast, and things are starting to reach due dates... which, of course, means that stress is building.
For this upcoming edition, my article will be featuring an upcoming guest speaker at Elevation: Dr. Emerson Eggerichs. He will be capping off our "Mr. and Mrs. Betterhalf" series with a message centered around his book, Love and Respect.
On Thursday, I will be interviewing Dr. Eggerichs for the article. I ask that you would be in prayer for the interview and subsequent article-writing, that I will be able to identify and convey clearly the message that God would have to show through this specific article to Elevation Church, and that the people that read it might be helped, challenged or otherwise enlightened by any information in it.
The magazine will be read by somewhere in the neighborhood of 8-10 thousand people. I say that not to try and throw numbers around, but to show the potential impact of what I pray will be an effective article. I say that also because it kinda freaks me out that so many people will read it... one misplaced comma slipping through means ten thousand misplaced commas throughout the city. I'll stick to grammar because I don't want to think about the impact of a fumbled message...
Needless to say, your prayers would be greatly coveted.
Thank you.
-Matt
As of a few months ago, I've been extremely blessed to be able to write for the Elevation Church Magazine. My first article, published in the 2010 "Year in Review" edition, was a moving testimony of one of Elevation's eKidz directors and her journey of faith through a wrecked marriage and single parenthood. The next edition is coming up pretty fast, and things are starting to reach due dates... which, of course, means that stress is building.
For this upcoming edition, my article will be featuring an upcoming guest speaker at Elevation: Dr. Emerson Eggerichs. He will be capping off our "Mr. and Mrs. Betterhalf" series with a message centered around his book, Love and Respect.
On Thursday, I will be interviewing Dr. Eggerichs for the article. I ask that you would be in prayer for the interview and subsequent article-writing, that I will be able to identify and convey clearly the message that God would have to show through this specific article to Elevation Church, and that the people that read it might be helped, challenged or otherwise enlightened by any information in it.
The magazine will be read by somewhere in the neighborhood of 8-10 thousand people. I say that not to try and throw numbers around, but to show the potential impact of what I pray will be an effective article. I say that also because it kinda freaks me out that so many people will read it... one misplaced comma slipping through means ten thousand misplaced commas throughout the city. I'll stick to grammar because I don't want to think about the impact of a fumbled message...
Needless to say, your prayers would be greatly coveted.
Thank you.
-Matt
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Viral 5: A Bit of Philosophy
I've run across quite a few little philosophy-related videos as of late, so I thought I might share a few of my favorites.
1. If you have no idea who Stephen Fry is... well, that is a problem that needs immediate solution. Search for "QI: Quite Interesting" on YouTube and watch all of them. Seriously, right now. If you insist on reading this second-hand blog post instead... thank you. But QI is better.
This silly little series is worth checking out... pretty much just a cheeky brit summarizing enormous philosophies in three minutes or so. But it's fun.
*Caution: Rough Language...*
This was my introduction to a now-favorite philosopher: Cornel West. I completely fell head-over-heels in love with this dude... I have a hunch that you might, too.
Another cogent Cornel West clip:
Slavoj Zizek... this guy is a trip. He was also featured in the film "The Examined Life," where I also found Cornel West. Slavoj tends to make a lot of sense... be careful following his line of thought, however... it can be quite slippery.
Subtitles... worth reading, don't worry.
And now for an after-dinner mint... a palate cleanser, if you will:
1. If you have no idea who Stephen Fry is... well, that is a problem that needs immediate solution. Search for "QI: Quite Interesting" on YouTube and watch all of them. Seriously, right now. If you insist on reading this second-hand blog post instead... thank you. But QI is better.
This silly little series is worth checking out... pretty much just a cheeky brit summarizing enormous philosophies in three minutes or so. But it's fun.
*Caution: Rough Language...*
This was my introduction to a now-favorite philosopher: Cornel West. I completely fell head-over-heels in love with this dude... I have a hunch that you might, too.
Another cogent Cornel West clip:
Slavoj Zizek... this guy is a trip. He was also featured in the film "The Examined Life," where I also found Cornel West. Slavoj tends to make a lot of sense... be careful following his line of thought, however... it can be quite slippery.
Subtitles... worth reading, don't worry.
And now for an after-dinner mint... a palate cleanser, if you will:
Thursday, May 5, 2011
A Case for Improvisation. Prelude: "Truth Transcends"
I will be working against all of my insecurities in this post; I feel it's important to do this, if just for brevity's sake. Therefore, I will try not to qualify much of what I'm going to say with my typical cheeky little quips or excuses/justifications. I am well aware that I'm not qualified whatsoever to make these sorts of claims... I'm positive that anyone with two licks worth of higher education can disprove this in a matter of seconds, but I'm not going to let that stop me from giving it a solid go. I probably should delay this posting to update myself in epistemological philosophy, but instead I'm going to be working off the top of my head on this one... I know, ballsy. Not really... I don't get much traffic from philosophers. And most of them punch like girls.
The purpose for this inquiry is to try and build a case for the acceptance of improvisational comedy as a legitimate art form, an all-encompassing, all-inclusive creative outlet and a unique platform for intellectual inquiry. I believe it to be one of the most exciting things that we (as a society) have stumbled into, and one of the worst utilized. In the status quo, we are taking a supercomputer and using it to make cartoons. This has got to change.
It's pretty important to establish this groundwork before I continue on to some bigger, more important posts that I have in the works. And even though I'm stupidly attempting to capture something that exists somewhere outside of language, or possibly even above knowledge altogether, I hope that it makes some sort of sense, in an elemental sort of way.
I'm going to begin this line of thinking with an assumption: there is an ultimate Truth.
At a very, very basic level, this Truth underlies the nature of everything, not in a Platonic disembodied way, exactly, but in a simple, everyday kind of way... it's just there from the beginning. It's how we can conceptualize anything. In a world that's in a perpetual quantum shift, it's how we can differentiate any one thing from another, from objects, to actions, to emotions, to ideas. Without this Truth everything would be nothing at all... vague enough? Identifying Truth is, at its basic level, a recognition of differences.
I can't resist at least one attempt to clarify... I know I'm breaking my own rules, but I'm worried that I'm coming across a bit too heady so soon in. Maybe it'll help to think of Truth as something like the idea of color. Let's assume, just for the sake of the illustration, that our only sensory input is visual. If everything were the exact same color, we would be completely useless. Blind as bats, we would have no way to tell objects apart. There would be no way to measure distance or length or breadth or anything, or even conceptualize those ideas. Everything would be nothing at all; we would be utterly helpless. Because we have different colors, and shades of the same color, we can tell the difference between one thing and the next. We are freed to live. Now, I'm not saying that there are differences in Truth in the same way that there are differences in color. I'm saying that Truth is the difference between the colors.
So Truth, then, separates dots from the background.
It is this Truth that is the medium for all metaphor. A simple, usable definition of “metaphor” is “understanding one thing in terms of another.” While identifying Truth is at first a recognition of differences, it is also a comparison of the resultant similarities. It's easy enough to see that when you have specific, observable differences, you can begin to group things together. Metaphors (literally meaning “to carry between”) find objects that are inherently dissimilar and find where they are the same.
Truth connects the dots.
Here's another way that metaphor is valuable. It is difficult to identify a new point of information (let's call it a “dot”) without being told where it is. You have to experience it, and that takes a lot of time and, often, random happenstance that is outside your control. Then you have to name it and find its place in your library of references, etc., etc... It's just a lot. [The more I chew on this idea, the more I'm convinced that everything that we learn must, by necessity, be digested in terms of metaphor; meaning, we conceive every new bit of information in the light of what we have previously learned. Perhaps learning, at its heart, is a metaphorical process... which has huge implications on the use of creativity in education.] Metaphor draws lines between known dots. Both are illuminated by the light of the other; we see both in new ways. But even further, lines (by definition) are a solid sequence of dots themselves. In one fell swoop they identify an untold number of new points of information and perspectives (which, perhaps taking the geographical imagery a bit too far, you could think of as “angles of connection between two or more dots”), each which can then connect to others, and so on. A web of connection and reference, each illuminating one another.
So... we have at least two dimensions of revealed Truth established.
First, in our inherent ability to recognize the difference between two objects, actions, values, etc.
Second, in our ability to identify similarities between two seemingly different objects, actions, values, etc,... In recognizing the two things as both different and similar at the same time (but maintaining their autonomy) we find a new aspect or dimension of Truth. A little bit deeper and more profound.
I'll end on this: a third dimension in which Truth works is in our ability to observe ourselves interacting with the first two levels of Truth. We can conceptualize ourselves both inside and outside the process. Take this essay for example. It's attempting to form a connection to the actual process itself, creating all kinds of havoc. It becomes a sort of meta-critical event, somehow floating over the process and reporting on it. Really this seems like something that shouldn't be possible, but it's yet another way for us to make a connection to the over-arching Truth that defines the differentiations to begin with.
All of these facets of Truth are inherent in our nature and are able to be exercised to greater effectiveness through practice and repetition. Being inherent, they were discovered facets and not created ones.
Why do I spend so much time attempting to describe some ambiguous process of evaluation that is an inherent, taken-for-granted part of life? Because ultimately it's important. We are able to become our own metaphors and can compliment, support and illuminate each other. We can consciously take the next step.
And it's just plain awesome to see the amount of complexity in which we live on a moment-to-moment basis. Beautiful, really.
And finally... the reason all of this is here. I was working towards paving a clear-ish road to this concept, which I plan on using to support further conjecture:
If something holds a value of being true, the same structures that make it true are valuable metaphorical assets and are cross-applicable to other disciplines as either support mechanisms or foundations for new exploration.
Specific truth can be cross-applied to specific aspects of specific disciplines.
Universal truth can be cross-applied universally.
Truth transcends.
The purpose for this inquiry is to try and build a case for the acceptance of improvisational comedy as a legitimate art form, an all-encompassing, all-inclusive creative outlet and a unique platform for intellectual inquiry. I believe it to be one of the most exciting things that we (as a society) have stumbled into, and one of the worst utilized. In the status quo, we are taking a supercomputer and using it to make cartoons. This has got to change.
It's pretty important to establish this groundwork before I continue on to some bigger, more important posts that I have in the works. And even though I'm stupidly attempting to capture something that exists somewhere outside of language, or possibly even above knowledge altogether, I hope that it makes some sort of sense, in an elemental sort of way.
I'm going to begin this line of thinking with an assumption: there is an ultimate Truth.
At a very, very basic level, this Truth underlies the nature of everything, not in a Platonic disembodied way, exactly, but in a simple, everyday kind of way... it's just there from the beginning. It's how we can conceptualize anything. In a world that's in a perpetual quantum shift, it's how we can differentiate any one thing from another, from objects, to actions, to emotions, to ideas. Without this Truth everything would be nothing at all... vague enough? Identifying Truth is, at its basic level, a recognition of differences.
I can't resist at least one attempt to clarify... I know I'm breaking my own rules, but I'm worried that I'm coming across a bit too heady so soon in. Maybe it'll help to think of Truth as something like the idea of color. Let's assume, just for the sake of the illustration, that our only sensory input is visual. If everything were the exact same color, we would be completely useless. Blind as bats, we would have no way to tell objects apart. There would be no way to measure distance or length or breadth or anything, or even conceptualize those ideas. Everything would be nothing at all; we would be utterly helpless. Because we have different colors, and shades of the same color, we can tell the difference between one thing and the next. We are freed to live. Now, I'm not saying that there are differences in Truth in the same way that there are differences in color. I'm saying that Truth is the difference between the colors.
So Truth, then, separates dots from the background.
It is this Truth that is the medium for all metaphor. A simple, usable definition of “metaphor” is “understanding one thing in terms of another.” While identifying Truth is at first a recognition of differences, it is also a comparison of the resultant similarities. It's easy enough to see that when you have specific, observable differences, you can begin to group things together. Metaphors (literally meaning “to carry between”) find objects that are inherently dissimilar and find where they are the same.
Truth connects the dots.
Here's another way that metaphor is valuable. It is difficult to identify a new point of information (let's call it a “dot”) without being told where it is. You have to experience it, and that takes a lot of time and, often, random happenstance that is outside your control. Then you have to name it and find its place in your library of references, etc., etc... It's just a lot. [The more I chew on this idea, the more I'm convinced that everything that we learn must, by necessity, be digested in terms of metaphor; meaning, we conceive every new bit of information in the light of what we have previously learned. Perhaps learning, at its heart, is a metaphorical process... which has huge implications on the use of creativity in education.] Metaphor draws lines between known dots. Both are illuminated by the light of the other; we see both in new ways. But even further, lines (by definition) are a solid sequence of dots themselves. In one fell swoop they identify an untold number of new points of information and perspectives (which, perhaps taking the geographical imagery a bit too far, you could think of as “angles of connection between two or more dots”), each which can then connect to others, and so on. A web of connection and reference, each illuminating one another.
So... we have at least two dimensions of revealed Truth established.
First, in our inherent ability to recognize the difference between two objects, actions, values, etc.
Second, in our ability to identify similarities between two seemingly different objects, actions, values, etc,... In recognizing the two things as both different and similar at the same time (but maintaining their autonomy) we find a new aspect or dimension of Truth. A little bit deeper and more profound.
I'll end on this: a third dimension in which Truth works is in our ability to observe ourselves interacting with the first two levels of Truth. We can conceptualize ourselves both inside and outside the process. Take this essay for example. It's attempting to form a connection to the actual process itself, creating all kinds of havoc. It becomes a sort of meta-critical event, somehow floating over the process and reporting on it. Really this seems like something that shouldn't be possible, but it's yet another way for us to make a connection to the over-arching Truth that defines the differentiations to begin with.
All of these facets of Truth are inherent in our nature and are able to be exercised to greater effectiveness through practice and repetition. Being inherent, they were discovered facets and not created ones.
Why do I spend so much time attempting to describe some ambiguous process of evaluation that is an inherent, taken-for-granted part of life? Because ultimately it's important. We are able to become our own metaphors and can compliment, support and illuminate each other. We can consciously take the next step.
And it's just plain awesome to see the amount of complexity in which we live on a moment-to-moment basis. Beautiful, really.
And finally... the reason all of this is here. I was working towards paving a clear-ish road to this concept, which I plan on using to support further conjecture:
If something holds a value of being true, the same structures that make it true are valuable metaphorical assets and are cross-applicable to other disciplines as either support mechanisms or foundations for new exploration.
Specific truth can be cross-applied to specific aspects of specific disciplines.
Universal truth can be cross-applied universally.
Truth transcends.
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