My Simple Truths

Hello Wild Knights!  I’m sorry for being away for a few weeks, I’ve needed time to work on things and a break was much appreciated. I have a lot of blog posts planned out for the next couple weeks, but I wanted to do something a bit different today. A lot of craziness has happened in the world recently. People are angry, hurting, and the healing process is being stalled because it seems like everyone is playing the blame game.

Guns, Obama, police officers, ect. What good does it do to blame someone? By calling someone guilty, does it absolve you of the responsibility to fix it? This is not meant to call anyone out, I just want to pose the question to ponder. The rest of the world is not against you. So many people have the potential to be great. From sharing food with someone who needs it, to protecting those who can’t protect themselves.

I want so badly to be able to talk about these things, and how to fix them. To reach out across both sides of a fence and embrace everyone.  I cry sometimes to keep myself from exploding, because I hear about or see people that I wish I could save.  I promise here and now, I will make this world a better place. I’ll use everything I have and everything I am, and someday with my fellow Wild Knights, the world will be changed forever.

I’m going to list a few things that cause more than a few debates. I want to list my thoughts on them, and hopefully explain why I believe what I do. We don’t all agree and that is just fine, but I hope you will give my thoughts a chance.

1. Since it is what’s foremost on my mind at the moment;   Black Lives Matter. White Lives Matter. Blue Lives Matter. Animal Lives Matter.  The list goes on. There is no species on this planet that doesn’t matter, except perhaps mosquitoes.   Some trigger happy cops does not make every law enforcement officer a gun happy lunatic who shoots black people. Bad apples in the bunch, like all groups, but I guarantee that most police officers would protect you if you needed it. Police brutality must be nipped in the bud of course, but attacking police officers at protests only paints you as the villain of this story. You are not alone. Ask for help and we will answer. Resorting to violence is not the answer to a violent problem.

 

2.  Don’t see enemies where there are none.   If a protester hits a cop with a brick, it doesn’t mean suddenly all protester are rioters and treated like they are dangerous.  If a teen breaks into your house,  it doesn’t mean they are all hooligans that steal and tramp over your manicured lawn.   Republican, Democrat, Tomato, Tomahto. If you are basing your views on what your party is “supposed” to believe, then you are doing it wrong.  Don’t be sheep. Always think for yourself and do what you know to be right.  

 

3.   Don’t waste your life on negative emotions. Pay attention to your own thoughts and actions during the day. Do you think mainly positive or negative? Gee works sucks today. This food is terrible. He is annoying. ect.  These thoughts do not serve you well. They paint the walls of your mind black with negative thoughts and make your day negative as well. Are you healthy? Do you have people who love you? Did you have to fight for your food today? Every moment and every breath is a precious thing. Treasure them.

 

4. Inaction. Apathy. Numb.  If there is a serious problem in this world, it MUST be addressed. You may think you don’t have to power to change it, but you are wrong. Take that first step. Call it out. Write to those in charge. March. Protest. Change the world, don’t accept it for what it is, dream of what it could be.   For example;  Too many people are in jail or prison for obscene sentences. 15+ years for a drug possession crime?!?!?!  Stupid teens who hang with the wrong crowd, getting years of their adulthood taken and wasted in a cell???   Waste. These people rotting in jail could be helped and put towards bettering our society. Give educations so they can do things that they never imagined. These ridiculously overblown sentences have become commonplace. People make mistakes. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar. A mistake should not cost you your future.

 

That’s it for my emotional rant of the evening. I hope I was able to convey how I feel in a relatable way.  I love each and every one of you. I will be here for you through thick and thin, and whatever storm blows our way. We will be the warriors, artists, scientists, and teachers, standing on the edge of oblivion and holding our ground. We are Wild Knights and we are going to save the world.

~Emrys

 

 

 

Working Through Fear To Reach Your Dreams

Hiya Wild Knights! Anyone a Tim Ferris fan?

I recently ordered a copy of The 4-Hour Work Week, and have been picking it up when possible to see the treasures inside. One such treasure in the chapter “Dodging Bullets” is Tim’s “Q&A” section (Questions and Actions). The questions aim to get to the nitty gritty of all your worries stemming from doing that one thing many of us wish to do: Get out of the unsatisfying career or situation and make the leap into what we love.

Fear is a basis for inaction in many of our lives, I’ll agree based on personal experience. I’ve been putting off making moves from my current situation out of fear that I may scrape by in another place with even fewer resources and ultimately have to come back to square one (that was my answer to the first question, which was to describe the absolute worst case scenario if I quit my job tomorrow). However, if I view backpedaling as not being an option, what possibilities are left?

Brené Brown has made a revolutionary career from studying shame, vulnerability, human connection, and all the topics corresponding (Her famous TEDx, The Power of Vulnerability, is a must watch: Link). I think her insights are a highly relevant addition to the question of why I haven’t left a bad job and trusted myself enough to grow into the King of my own domain. For that matter, her insights are valuable for all of us when we feel stuck, so I’ll use this opportunity to be vulnerable.

Have you ever placed a stake into a possibility, charged full speed ahead, and totally crashed before the finish line? If you’re like me, licking those wounds isn’t fun, and you have done it more times than you care to mention. What makes it worse is when you have that one person who says “Not everyone is born with the talent,” or “You didn’t think THAT through, did you?” or maybe even, “I knew you’d be back! It’s a big, scary world out there, isn’t it?” (By the way, that was a real quote from a real person who I immediately had to correct in the most forward way for self preservation’s sake. Total sh*t fest.) That thing you feel after that experience could be labeled as shame, vulnerability, or a lack of proper human connection. It may be covered in a layer of anger or sadness, but it’s really something else. Look deeper, and, if you have experienced this recently, don’t forget to breathe and remember what’s in your heart.

Brené mentions the true meaning of courage in her talk, and the definition ties back to its roots in the heart. Heart is the real reason for those dreams you and I have, and nothing and nobody is worth forgetting what’s in our hearts. It’s important to practice compassion and love for yourself so it can spill over into every corner of your life, and one of those corners is that thing you’ve been putting off that scares you shitless, I’m privileged to say. Even if you had a bad run in the past, break down the reasons for failure and admit you learned something from the experience that makes you smarter and much more likely to succeed in the future.

Question 6 asked the reader what the costs of postponing pursuit of passions are, and it’s my favorite question for cutting the bullshit. I had to get serious about cutting the crap and evaluating what happens to my wellbeing when I wait to move to a new place, write an album, travel out of the country for an indefinite time for enjoyment, or whatever new mania is setting up shop in my imagination. Let’s face the hard fact here: the effects of waiting are ultimately far worse than failure.

Frankly, this is good news for everyone that squirms with discomfort, so let me make you flail a bit. If you value life, time, your health, progress, or, most importantly, what’s in your heart, you will try something new. You will get used to that discomfort right alongside me, and we’ll occasionally fall down, get dirty, and make memories and have the time of our lives if we value any of those things. And you know what? It might just turn out to be easier than you thought, who knows till you try?

Blaze

PS. I haven’t finished all of The 4-Hour Work Week yet, but I highly recommend it based on the first couple chapters I’ve worked through.  Give it a shot!

 

How to Learn Computer Science!

Hello again fellow Knights! A mere 2 minutes after my last post I decided to share my resources for anyone else who may be interested in learning to create programs in java, websites, or time traveling cyborgs!

Below is a list of my favorite go-to sources of information, and they have all helped me get a good grasp of computer science and what it takes to get started and improve!

1.  https://cs50.harvard.edu/  is my source for video lectures. This is fantastic FREE Harvard course in Introduction into Computer Science. The teacher, David Malan is very animated and fun to listen to!

2. https://www.codecademy.com/   This is an interactive website where you choose what type of programming or such that you would like to learn and jump right in! There are paid additions as well, but the free features were more than enough for me 😀 😀

3. http://introcs.cs.princeton.edu/java/home/   This is an excellent resource if you learn better from reading text than listening to lectures. (I’m better with lectures)

4. https://scratch.mit.edu/   This fun little oddball allows you to create games online, using scripts assigned to little creatures called sprites. While not made with any programming language like Java or Python, it lets you experiment with scripts and play with the flow of a fun self made program.   My first game I made was a laughably simple one where you play a lion and have to to move around to prevent a groaning reaper from catching you. Sound effects created by yours truly ;D

 

To anyone who wants to learn about programming or wants a foot in the door of Computer Science, I hope these resources help you out as much as it did me. Let me know if you have any questions or problems with any of the links!

 

~Emrys