Unique

Encouraging people with the idea that "everyone is unique," while partially true, is but a futile attempt to claim a special niche within a world filled with billions of other humans. Though physically we are all different through DNA, and in personality through experiences of the past, we all fall into the category of human. And therefore not all of us, but rather none of us, are special at all. None of us can claim a special place amongst anyone else because we are all subject to the same human cycle: birth, life, and death.

There are names that have gone down in history moreso than others, of course. People of historical, creative, and religious importance. Presidents, writers, popes, etc. These are the names that large groups of people remember. And why? Because they did something significant; something that's lasted. Not because of who they were, but usually because of something they did. It is not their uniqueness of character that causes them to be remembered (though this is sometimes noted after they have achieved something great). It is their "uniqueness" of action. 

Peace With Mortality

Mortality is something I talk about (or at least think about) often. There are a lot of different facets of it to ponder. And I believe it is healthy for any person to think about (at least) their own mortality. Because it isn't something that can be easily ignored, and every person needs to come to grips with it. It's an inevitability of the way we are, and a limitation to what we can do. 

The saddest part, to me, is not that we will die (which we will). But, instead, is the fact that we are limited. We have only a certain amount of time to achieve the goals we set out to achieve. So many waste it, and they don't realize until it's too late that they're time is not infinite. They will not exist forever. And therefore they do not have forever to achieve their dreams.

I still struggle to come to terms with this fact. I want to do a lot of things before I pass. And I realize that I will never know when I will die until it happens. I also realize that until then, there is no need to worry about death itself. It will come, and I will follow. End of story. 

But with the amount of goals that I set for myself, it concerns me that perhaps I am not working as hard towards them as I should. Perhaps I am not giving myself enough credit or time (or both) to accomplish (or start accomplishing) the things I'm aiming for. If I bide my time for too long, I could end up just another body on the pile. Another wasted soul receptacle who accomplished nothing but surviving for x amount of time. Hurray.

Live Now, but Don't Forget to Look Ahead

I am a dysfunctional person. In case you were wondering. I have a terrible habit of not doing anything that I'm supposed to. I lack any motivation to do well in life. I oftentimes have trouble keeping friends. I have some of the worst timed luck (or unluck, more like) ever. 

Simultaneously, however, I want to write novels for a living, of all things. That takes ambition, motivation, the ability to talk with (the right) people, and a whole lotta good luck. And yet my disfunctional ass keeps on trucking towards that singular goal, ignoring the inevitability of real life and my lack of dedication. 

I have always had a simple view of things. There is today. Tomorrow, the rest of the week, the months and years to come, etc. are all just abstract ideas that may or may not come to fruition. The past is an always-present demon that can only be ignored or swatted away temporarily, always haunting you, shaping who you are, and influencing your decisions. You live in the present, because there is nothing else to consider. 

Really, this is true. You don't have much of a choice but to live in the present. But mentally, you do have a choice. You can choose to focus on what is now, or you can choose to focus on what is passed, or what is to come. You can choose how much you think about where you come from or where you're going. Which is good, because I've recently come to the realization that you can't always just focus on the present. Especially not if you're someone like me. 

It Only Took 20,000 Words

NaNoWriMo started on the first. If you don't know what NaNoWriMo is, you should check it out. So, of course, in my stubborn determination, I shot for 20,000 words on day one. (And yay for me, I hit my goal!)

It was a good practice run.

See, a lot of people say to "test drive your characters" by throwing them into scenarios and learning how they act and react. That way when you get to your actual story, you'll have a full grasp of your characters within the plotline that you've created.

You see, I didn't have a real story yet when I started my 20k word run. And I hadn't test driven my characters yet. So I guess there's nothing like a 20,000 word test drive in a story you think is the one they should be in to learn what story your characters want to be in. That's right. This is the story of how my dramatic, dark, epic fantasy novel became a sassy, ridiculously over-the-top, urban fantasy novel.

Just Call Me "Cookie Master"

On a good day, I'm able to get a good post up here. I can discuss life's many problems, or review something that I've been reading or playing (or whatever). But today? Nope. Not today. Why not?

Because I've wasted my entire weekend clicking cookies.

That's right. There's a game in which all you do (many of you probably already know of it, and I apologize in advance for this) is click cookies. Clicking cookies gives you more cookies, which allows you to buy things that will auto-click cookies for you, which allows you to buy upgrades to generate cookies faster, which only gets put back into buying more things to click cookies for you.