No Justice

The long ongoing trial of George Zimmerman was finally brought to an end yesterday with the ruling of "Not Guilty." It is with a heavy heart that I write this. Not only burdened by the fact that a killer is allowed to walk free, but also by the fact that America is a country where race is still a deciding factor in the decisions of justice. 

When it comes down to it, this issue should not be about race. Focus should be placed on the fact that Trayvon Martin, a 17 year old minor, was shot and killed pointblank by Zimmerman, a 29 year old self proclaimed "neighborhood watch." Yet, Zimmerman is acquitted on the basis of "self defense." A grown man having to resort to lethal force to protect himself from a young boy. Reports say that Zimmerman was out to run errands when he spotted Martin and believed him to be "up to no good." This lead to him stalking Martin which eventually lead to the fatal encounter, leaving young Martin dead. 

Now if we view this case from the point of race, we see a white male profiling a black American teenager. Also, a jury consisting mostly of white women clearing Zimmerman of all charges. This brings up the question, if Zimmerman were black and Martin white, would the case result in the same verdict? 

Back in May, Marissa Alexander, a 31 year old black female was sentenced 20 years in Florida for firing a warning shot at a wall, in attempt to scare off her abusive husband. No one was injured in the encounter. Perhaps Alexander should have shot her husband through the heart,  then she too could have been let off scott free. 

The "Sunshine State" seems to be shrouded in clouds of injustice. I hope this country awakens to the countless acts of injustice that occur through out this country. However, as a nation we seem to be blinded to real issues and instead are fed superficial stories of no real substance. If one were to look for hard hitting stories, they must first dig through piles of crap. Just this morning I found the headlines on most news pages to be pertaining to the death of Cory Monteith, an actor with a severe drug addiction. While the death of anyone is a cause for mourning, it also drags the attention away from issues of importance. I believe it's time for America to wake up. 

"Et Tu, America?"

Jaharvis Fulton, brother to Trayvon Martin. 

A Sea of Thoughts

It's been quite a long time since I last posted anything publicly on my blog. It seemed I had hit a complete and total impasse with my train of thought. I would begin to write but for some reason, I could never complete anything. Nothing seemed to be satisfactory. I had become so busy and distracted, I had given up trying to write completely. However, my brain continued to travel forward incessantly. In the back of my mind, ever present, my need to express my self through written word continued to nudge at me, so much so that it now demands to be satiated.  

I've always considered myself a being of thought. One who often finds themselves lost in the recesses of their mind, wandering around aimlessly pondering many of life's peculiarities, often distracting themselves with stories and narratives concocted from their own imagination. There have been times that I would catch myself in the middle of mentally writing a eulogy for someone who still lived, or laying out completely implausible, yet fantastic, scenarios that would occur which would bolster me to fame by giving me absurd opportunities to compose some famous literary work.  Here of late my mind seems to sometimes check out from reality, often leaving it difficult to deal with real world. I have found during these times it is challenging to communicate with others, as their words snap me back to a realistic harshness, so contrasting to the peaceful bliss that is my thoughts. It is during this mental reclusiveness that I seek solace in solidarity where I let my mind roam free, or by burying my nose deep in a book, immersing myself in a world of grand wonder. Yes, I do believe that having an active mind is an amazing thing. It constantly keeps one entertained and in a constant state of wonder. However, it can also be a poison. To continually dwell on thoughts of life can turn negative when one forgets to also partake in life. 

For these reasons listed above, I realized that I needed to return to writing once again. 

"We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves."

-Bhuda

The 'F' Words

        I've decided I want to do a blog post series called "The 'F' Words." They're going to consist of four different topics that are extremely important to me. If when you saw the title of this post and thought of some other word, then shame on you.

        Family. This has to be the most underrated thing in today's society. The value of family seems to have decreased significantly over the years. To me, my family is the thing I am most thankful for. Seriously, my family is the greatest there is. I have two amazing parents. They are both perfect examples of love, kindness, and self sacrifice. Literally, they would give someone the shirts off of their backs. My brother looks out for me just like a parent. I know he'll always be there. I have a sister who constantly keeps the family laughing. And of course, I have my awesome nephew. He is full of life, laughter, and innocence. Thanks to these amazing people, they have helped mold me into the person I am today.

        I know we are not a perfect family. In fact, we are far from it, but I wouldn't have it any other way. It's these tiny imperfections that define us as a family. We laugh, we cry, we fight, but most importantly, we love. We love through the good times and through the hard times. We love unconditionally and completely. I love my family and would not trade them for anything.

"The family is a haven in a heartless world." 

                                     -Attributed to Christoper Lasch

Until next time

        

Dreams Pt. 2

        OK, so last time I blogged, I wrote about some crazy dreams I had been having the past several nights. This time, I want to write about a different kind of dreams, the ones a person has for themselves: dreams of power and prestige, dreams of family and settling down. Every one has some sort of vision for their future, whether it be large or small. To me, the future is an incredibly frightening thing filled with all sorts of uncertainties.

        As a child, I had the strangest dreams for my future. I actually wanted to be a farmer/artist/ police officer. My plan was to farm during the day, paint masterpieces whilst I farmed, and keep the city streets safe at night. I'm not really sure how I ever planned to pull all three off. Fortunately, I came to my senses. Over the years these dreams began to change. It went from dentist, to supreme court justice, to writer, and to doctor. Now, I'm not really sure what I'm going to do. I used to consider myself one of those people who always had everything figured out. I seemed to have my entire life planned out to every last detail. I knew what I wanted to do, where I wanted to be in life, and how I wanted to get there. But it seems after you actually go out into the real world, what you thought you wanted isn't really what it seemed.

        Well, now I am currently a Journalism major and taking life one step at a time. I've decided not to try and plan out every single aspect of my future. It seems that the people who spend all of their time constantly planning life are the ones who miss out on it the most. I know there's a plan for my life, I have just yet to find it. I'm not sure where I see myself in five years. Maybe a big time writer for TIME magazine, or reporting for CNN news, or some high class attorney. Whatever I may be, I just hope to be happy and to leave my mark.  I want to be the best that I can possibly be. Mediocrity holds absolutely no appeal to me. So I'm just going to keep on living life knowing that His plan will unfold in time.

"Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans."
       -John Lennon

Until next time...

Dreams

        What with it being Christmas break and all, I've been able to get ample amounts of sleep. Like seriously, we're talking 12 hours a night. It's great. But here lately I've been dreaming more than usual. Normally, I have a dream at least once a week, but this break I've been having one every night. These aren't normal dreams either. They're extremely odd, contain people I hardly know, and they seem to be very long and I can recall them in great detail.

        The other night I had a strange dream about my high school. It started out pretty normal. There were class rooms, teachers, homework, and brain dead students. Pretty normal stuff. It wasn't long before things started getting weird, like really weird. I was just walking through the hallways and somehow I wound up in this garage/room thing. Next to the garage door sat these two girls. They were hunched over something so I walked up beside them to see what they were doing. Strangely, I found them eating flowers and stuff. I was all, "Don't do that! It's bad for you!" So of course, they started climbing the walls somehow. But I didn't have much time to pay attention to that, because at that moment the garage door opened and I ran out. Outside, there was a huge chain link fence. As I was staring at it, I noticed two lions were charging at it. They ran head first into it and were able to break through. Once they were free, all sorts of animals began to escape. Lions, tigers, bears.....ya, you know. So to save you the boredom of the rest of the dream, I'll just sum it up quickly. I found a white ostrich, had to return it, ended up riding it around the school, and then going for a swim in the school's brand new pool. Strange...Ya, I know.

        So why have I been having such strange dreams? I'm not really sure. Some ancient civilizations believed that while one was dreaming, their soul actually left their body and went to the place they were dreaming of. If that's the case, and a part of me really did go back to high school, then that's much more of a nightmare than a dream. While others believed that dreams were signs from beyond, a sign from the supernatural. Well, that doesn't make much sense either. The only thing I could get from the dream is don't eat flowers, because you'll start climbing walls, or maybe that I need to get myself an ostrich. Regardless of what people of the past believed, my mind has been on imagination overload. The only reason I can discern for this...the ill side effects of mass binge eating of holiday sweets.

Until next time

Reflection

        So, it's finally December. I know this has been said a million times by a million different people, but this year has truly flown by. It's odd how one's sense of time changes as they age. As a child, it would feel like an eternity before December finally decided to make it's chilly arrival. Time had no meaning. Time never seemed to be in short supply. In fact, I felt as though I had too much of it. Now, it just seems to slip through my hands. I don't even want to imagine how quickly it will fly later on in life. I could have sworn I was just graduating high school, then I blinked my eyes and I was moving off to college, and now here I am at the end of my first semester.

        Life back in Big Spring seems almost like a distant memory now. I know that sounds totally ridiculous, but it's true. Almost like it was a dream, and I've just been where I am now forever. Why my mind thinks like that, I don't know. What I have come to know is that nothing ever seems to stay constant in life. Old friends seem to fade away, and new ones come to fill their place. Memories are forgotten to be quickly replaced. Beliefs and convictions can be lost, gained, or strengthened. Hearts are broken, mended, and broken yet again. It can all be quite depressing until one realizes there is even more lying ahead in the future than the past holds. Life is in constant motion, a raging river, and one does their best to keep their head above water.

        Since August, I've been able to find out more who I am and accept what I find. Once on your own, you're able to explore new things, entertain different ideology, and see the world through a new perspective. It's all quite exhilarating. You no longer have to keep up this fake, high school facade to impress people. Unless you're in a frat or sorority, and let's face it, they hardly count as "people." Ya, I'm not even going to go off chasing down that rabbit trail. Different rant for a different post. Cliques are now almost nonexistent. No more do you have to fit a certain stereotype to be a part of certain group, you just have to be yourself.

        Anyways, this year has been the most amazing yet. The changes in my life have been amazing and I've warmly welcomed them. Do I miss things back home? Yes. Do I miss my family? Constantly. Do I miss old friends? Of course. Would I go back? Definitely not. I can not wait to see what path my life chooses to lead. Hopefully, it's something awesome. Like, a super hero, food critic, or professional napper. I could excel at any of those. To finish this off, I'd like to end with a quote from one of my favorite writers, Dr. Seuss. I believe this perfectly sums up this post. In my opinion he was definitely a master writer and genius who cleverly disguised himself as a children's story book writer. Clearly, he has offered more wisdom in 30 page story books than some novelists do in thousands of pages.

        "How did it get so late so soon?
         It's night before it's afternoon.
         December is here before it's June.
         My goodness how the time has flewn.
         How did it get so late so soon?"
            Dr. Seuss

Use what little time you have wisely. Cherish it. Most of all, never forget to live.

Until next time

The Rise of A New Blog

        Yes, after much thought, I have finally decided to start blogging. I know the world is full of  useless, boring blogs, but I thought to myself, "Hey, what's the harm in one more?" So if you enjoy sarcasm and the endless rants of a college freshman, I hope you'll find this blog to your liking.

        It's amazing how far one's mind can wander when it is supposed to be focusing on something else. To quote Virginia Woolf, "Yet it is in our idleness, in our dreams, that the submerged truth comes to the top." At this moment, I am supposed to be studying for a Chemistry exam that I have in less than four hours. Of course, my mind will simply not allow this. Instead it says things like, "The wood grain in this desk is sooo interesting!" or "Now is the perfect time to take a nap!" or "Hey! Let's start a blog!" So here I am, currently procrastinating and rambling on and trying to pioneer my way through my very first blog. I apologize for this blog. It is my first trial run and I'm just trying things out. Also, my mind is currently preoccupied with things like orbitals, electronegativity, and other chemistry mumbo-jumbo.

        Have I mentioned how much I hate Chemistry? Because I do. Not with just a normal hate, but more like a soul enveloping, rock you to the core hate. Ya....that much. This particular class has kept me up many nights, worrying about if I'll pass or fail. At this point in time, it's leaning more to the latter. But hey, it can't be all bad, without it I probably would not have started this blog. Anyways, I should probably get back to studying for my inevitable failure. I'm not quite sure how you finish these things....

Until next time,
Cole