I'm a Wreck and I'm Flawed and I Don't Care Who Knows It!

“It’s been a long day” is a phrase heard and said at some point probably by almost everyone that has ever existed ever. Yet, like many things, it’s never really understood unless you’re the one saying it. You can feel bad and pat the complainer on the back all you want, but in reality, the closest you can get to truly understanding them is by bringing back your own memories of “long days.” And let’s face it… our memories are kind of crappy. Or in other—more eloquent—words, “our memories depend on faulty cameras in our minds,” (taken from Death Cab For Cutie’s “What Sarah Said,” which you should totally check out if you’re ever in the mood to just stare at the rain and feel some feels. Oh, and bonus points to the band for putting such a killer name in their title).

Well, gee, that kind of sucks.

The world would be much more cool if we all just had stellar memories and could empathize way past our mortal limits—to perfection. Yeah, perfection would be nice.

But wait….

If the world was perfect, we wouldn’t need empathy… because there wouldn’t be any problems, which means there wouldn’t be any “long days” which means there wouldn’t really be anything that would benefit from that non-existent empathy, anyways. Phew, that train of thought was a mouthful.

So basically, what I’m saying is, we should embrace our awkward, human, apologetic non-perfection. Not just because it’s all we have, but also because it’s worth taking advantage of. That’s right ladies and gents, your flaws actually double as advantages.

Interesting. But how?

The fact that we have flaws means that we have opportunities to learn. I’m not sure why, but this world seems to function through opposition. In order to know happiness, you must know sadness; In order to know epiphany, you must know ignorance; In order to know enthusiasm you must know boredom; And in order to know improvement, you must know failure. Our flaws are the whole reason it’s even possible for us to improve. I’d say that’s a pretty sweet advantage.

But now we’re back to the perfection dilemma… if we were perfect we wouldn’t need to improve! So once again our flaws are nothing but annoying and inconvenient.

No. Don’t think like that. Abandon that thought. Throw it away. Because perfection in this life DOESN’T EXSIST. And I can’t think of anything more unhealthy than obsessing over something you will never attain on your own (spoiler alert: through God, all things are possible—even perfection… eventually).

The beauty of life is change. I’ve heard people define the word “perfection” to mean “unchanging.” So maybe the fact that we are changing means that we’re on our way to perfection (if it’s in the right direction). And with that mindset—BOOM—our lives can become way more hopeful and positive and we can be like, “Hey! I’m slightly less flawed than I was yesterday.” And then we get to feel that awesomely satisfying, look-mom-no-hands type of feeling that undeserved perfection could never give us.

Moral of the schpeel: Chill out, un-wad your panties, and forgive—yourself included. Because all we have is who we are... and I'd say we're pretty dang good.   

Hey Look! It's The Awkward Get-To-Know-You Post

Alright viewers, before I get to the… meat… of this little schpeel, there’s something you’re gonna need to know about me: I. am. a. complete. and utter. helpless. lover of knowledge—aka: NERD. And I’m not talking your typical thick-framed-glasses-wearing-zelda-loving-star-wars-quoting (actually cool) kind of nerd. I mean your traditional obsessed-with-science-and-english (actually cool in some other type of social hierarchy that is not America) type of nerd.

Welcome to my blog.

Today the schpeel is Absolute Truth. How do we get it? What the heck is it? And can it co-exist with other, contrary truths that are also absolute? (that question itself blows my mind).

And I would LOVE to answer all of these questions, but truth of the matter is: I don’t have a clue.  

This blog isn’t some type of soapbox or truth-proclaiming pulpit. It’s basically just me jotting down the weird thoughts that tend to consume my mind on that walk to campus, or that run I should’ve gone for this morning. 

I would also love to know what you think about these thinks that I think, so don’t be afraid to comment and let us know your side of the story. Really though, don’t be shy; the very fact that you exist validates you beyond your wildest dreams.

So let’s get to it: Absolute Truth

Today in my Physical Science 100 class, we talked about some crazy stuff that thoroughly blew my mind: TIME AND SPACE ARE NOT ABSOLUTE TRUTHS. I had heard about this before (if this is ringing a bell, it’s probably because you’ve seen that surprisingly well-made Physics video in your 10^th grade science class about Einstein’s Theory of Relativity—and yes I do believe the lady that played Einstein’s wife was the same actor that played Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter series) but I was still just as blown away by it the second time around.

Don’t worry, I won’t get into the gory details of simultaneity, motion symmetry, time dilation, and length contraction (even though they’re freaking AWESOME and if you’re as nerdy as me you’ll totally pay attention next time in Physics and be all blown away and excited and stuff) I’m just gonna show how what I learned in science class helped change the way I think about—and it’s totally fine if you find this a tad bit creepy—you.

Basically, what I learned today in science class was this: things change depending on the point of view (*duh* you’re probably thinking). And yeah, I’ve realized this before too, but today it hit me a little harder, enough to get me to apply it to other things.

I realized that these things really do change. They don’t just seem like they change; they really do, actually and physically change. Aka: multiple realities.

Now what things am I talking about? I can’t only be talking about nerdy stuff like time and space. I’m talking about people. I’m talking about situations, beliefs, cultures, habits, and perspectives. I’m talking about the fact that we all have a different way of making sense of this world. And that mindset is really the place in which we live and the thing that defines us, rather than a physical location or any other outside characteristic we have. 

Hmm. Now there's a thought to chew on.

But once I realized that, I was again reminded that even my closest friends, or my next-door neighbors, are most definitely NOT living in the same world that I am.

Everyone is different. Everyone has different beliefs. There’s always going to be people who are straight, gay, black, white, believers, atheists, and allllllll the other overused opposites that we’ve become familiar with. Like I said, I’m pretty sure there will ALWAYS be these differences. And I think that’s beautiful.

These differences are just something we need to accept. I think it’s about time we press our little faces up against those individual bubbles we live in and take a look at what’s outside—or better yet, pop them.

Science class reminded me that where something is true for me, it just isn’t for other people. And where something is true for them, it just isn’t for me. That’s just the way some things are—not everything—but some.  

Why is this important to remember? Because when we disregard these differences, or try to pretend like they’re not there, it’s almost like saying we think everyone is just like us—or worse—we wish they were just like us.

And when we want everyone to be just like us, we are in danger. Danger of losing our compassion and our empathy, all the way until we no longer feel the desire to relate, learn, understand, and forgive.

Now that’s what I call detrimental.

We shouldn’t enter any relationship (no matter how brief, no matter how deep) with any underlying assumptions, no matter how reasonable we think those assumptions are. We should enter each relationship with love, acceptance, respect, and this awesomely curious desire to learn about and become part of someone else’s weird little world.

Moral of the schpeel: Let there be differences! Let there be love. And accept that there is not just one world and one truth—but 7 billion.