Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Presentation Notes...extra notes...or whatever

Mother-doesn't want the patient to have a good relationship with his mother. Wants them to be at each others throats. The patient should ignore his mothers needs.

Friends-he wants him to have friends that will drag him down. christian friendsare bad. needs gossip and materialism. keep him in cliques and not have any close christian friends.

Lovers- think about sex. idolize the other. must keep him around shallow or bad personalitied women

verse-you shouldnt have relationships with people who will pull you down and be with people who will build you up in christ.

what we learnedchoosing the right friends will help us grow and we shpuld not keep friends who drag us down

The Inner Ring

Ring...one ring to rule them all, One ring to find them, One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them...Yay for Tolkien. Though that saying does somewhat apply to what I read. The One Ring kind of represents the Inner ring. It hold the power over the other rings, but the only ones who are allowed to join that group lead by the Dark lord are the orcs, ring wraiths, and other evil creatures. In real life there are rings too. These can be easily seen in schools....even colleges. There are groups that separate each other. For example there are the popular kids... Who determines why they are popular or cool or whatever is part of the unspoken code. Rings could be called cliques, relationships, friends, or family. Each one has some sort of hierarchy and rules. In a family The parents usually run the show, but the children can also make rules for this familial ring. Friendship rings you can make yourself or be added too. For shy people they wait for others to accept them into their ring. During my time in grade school...middle and high school mostly...I had a few friends and we made up our own little ring. The postilions we held were kind of like I was the mom of our group and I would kind of treat them as my kids or else I would also assume the role of the little sister...even though I was oldest. Wanting to be accepted by the populars was never really high on my list since they took great joy in tormenting me. So they as one of their unspoken codes...in my mind...was "don't let the short girl with the funny eye in our group. But that was then and this is now. Though I've seen some rings and secret codes here at Calvin too. One of the things that I've noticed is that everyone flips their cups over after their done with their drinks. It's not a rule...or at least I don't think it is, but everyone does it. So there are rings everywhere.Whether you want in or not is your choice.

(Just as a side not this was really hard to type in white)

Man or Rabbit

This was a short reading and this will probably be a short post. I'm running a fever and I'm feeling rather terribly, but I must finish all of my work! Ok so man or rabbit. Can we live good lives without being Christian? I think people can live good lives, but they won't be able to live fulfilled lives. He also mentions Materialists, but doesn't regognize any other groups of peoples. I had made an observation that the question should be more in the lines of Can someone live a good life without religion. Because if a person has their own religious views that tell how to live a good life if they follow them wouldn't it be good. It may not seem to be from a Christian perspective, but maybe they believe it to be that way. Now that sort of leads us back to the fulfilled life thing. If they believe in some other god then maybe by doing everything in that religions teaching they might believe that they hve lived a fulfilling life as well. The definition of good is kind of subjective in itself. But God difines it in a different way maybe or else maybe not every one agrees completely with that even. Though we should agree with Him.

Abolition of Man

trousered apes and urban blockheads...meaning we will all turn into idiots if we don't educate ourselves properly. We will only know how to work and not know anything important. In todays society technology rules. The internet allows us to get any kind of information in less than a minute. his can be both a good thing and a bad thing. Good because we have the worlds knowledge at our fingertips, but bad because if we don't study it properly we will absorb nothing or else absorb things we don't need. If this continues men will lose power over their lives and technology will take over. Then there will be ROBOT WORLD DOMINATION...ok I lied. Keeping good values alive is another thing we must do to keep men from their doom. Without civility and moral values then the world would go into chaos. If these things aren't taught then it shall surly happen. >cough, hack, sneeze<....(sorry for the short posts my brain functions are shutting down...stupid winter and cold viruses!)

Plantinga 5...

Vocation in the Kingdom of God...Okay for this one I was having a bit of trouble while rereading chapter five because at this current moment as I've said in a couple other of my blogs I'm running a fever and my brain really wants to turn off. So I had a friend of mine help me go over it which helped a lot...love you lots Rizu-chan! We first went over what the relationships between vocation, occupation and Kingdom citizenship. First for Kingdom citizenship was to be a citizen you must accept Jesus' commission and to be a prime citizen is to accept with enthusiasm. Vocation is playing a lively part in institutions and endeavors that seek the interest of the kingdom. Then lastly is occupation which is a typical job that is only a part of a Christian's vocation.
He also talked about colleges. Secular colleges will do their best to smother the faith you have out of you, but this might be a bit to generalized. Even though it is a place that will test your faith constantly, but it sounds like his percentage of Christians who make it through is too low, and it is still possible that you can relate your lessons to your faith without the help of your prof's.
I went to a secular college for a year, but I didn't have any troubles with people trying to crush my faith. I actually met a person who read his Bible during break and talk with me about it. So depending if there are other Christins around or not it might not effect everyone.

Problem of Pain

Pain...there are two major types: physical and emotional. In chapter 6 of The Problem of Pain it focuses on human emotional pain. People suffer from this kind of pain all the time. Pain of losing someone precious to you, falling out of love, a great tragedy all of these things can cause pain to a person. During these times on pain people can either come closer to God or push Him farther away. If some major tragedy happens people should look to God for guidance. Even if the situation is hopeless you must trust that God has a reason or a plan. Sometimes these things can be a wakeup call. For me I was nearly dismissed from college and this really shook me up. It opened my eyes and it was like "April you need to get serious! Remember why you're here!" Thankfully I can stay, but this time around I need to do my best. I don't think I've ever prayed harder in my life. If I had been a different person I probably would have blamed God for making it happen. When a person dies or is dying they or the family of said person may question why God let that happen or why He lets all of this evil into the world. Some people think that it's because we can't grow if we aren't given trials, or even pain exists because we deserve i for past sins...kinda like karma...Either way God has his reasons. We just have to rust him.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Eros...

Okay I have something that I must admit...I am a romantic. I love romance stories and I have silly dreams about finding my knight in shining armer. I rather enjoyed reading the chapter on Eros. From what it sounded like Eros is the kind of love where if you are appart from that one person for any period of time it hurts. The bond is so strong it's like you can't exist without that person. If two people feel this way than their marriage will hopefully be a good one, but the must stay strong for whatever life throws at them. The Venus he mentions in his chapter refers the the illusion of Eros. This being the sexual love or affection that one mistakes for Eros. If that is all you have and not true Eros hen a marriage will probably fail. In finding true love you must be willing to not only see a person for their appearance, but to see their heart. If a person has good intentions and no ulterior motives then they might be a good person to pursue, but if they just want you or even if you want them for their money or their looks then it can't be called rue love. Though a person does not always agree with you in everything that is a good thing. If you have to much in common it might get boring. If you both only liked a certain food and then had that same food all the time it would get boring, but if you had some different tastes then it would bring more variety into your life. Though for the major things like religion or other beliefs it is good that you agree. It is said in the Bible unbelievers and believers should not be married...or be in a relationship for this may lead the believer to lose track of God. Love is a very strong thing and I can't wait to experience it...even though it might not end up like those in the books. I can hope that I will find my other half and we will have true Eros and not some illusion of it.

Plantinga 4...

Redemption...God gave us Christ o die for our sins so we could come back to his side. I liked how they referred to Jesus as the second Adam. He retook the test that was given to Adam at the beginning of time and was able to overcome temptation and fulfill his task. He was able to go without sin therein enabling the human race o reconnect with God. Though He did this and gave us the second chance we still must believe in his sacrifice and live a faithful life according to God's word. We must not take advantage of it either. Though we might get saved and call ourselves Christians we must live our lives in the manner He wants us to and not just go on living the way we did before. Concerning baptism, we must remember that it symbolizes this new commitment to God we have entered into. Baptism in itself does not save you. You must accept the Lord into your heart to be saved. It though is an important step in a Christians life to be baptized. For it shows your rebirth and you coming into a union with God. I was baptized when I was about fifteen and during that time I felt that I was growing and was ready to show that I was ready to live my life for Christ. To keep growing though one needs to challenge themselves. You must keep praying. Prayer is talking with God. Besides asking for forgiveness for the things you did or praying for those around you you must also remember to talk with God as though you are talking with a friend. Sometimes I like to go over my day and give Him my thoughts before i go to sleep at night. This kind of gives me a more personal feeling when I pray. Reading God's word is also another thing Christians should do to keep growing. This I have been very neglectful of. I guess I'm far away from being a 'good' Christian, but I know what I believe in.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Learning in War-Time...

Learning things in hard times is well hard. Many things might be happening to you or the people around you. A family member dies, you've broken your arm, or in the reading's case a war might be going on. In these situations you must try your best to succeed and notjust give up. Even while these hardships are going on you have a responsibility to yourself to keep learning as well as keeping relations with God. During hard timeslike war or whatever you can become disheartened and lose sight of the important things. You musn't give up. Things can't be done half-heartedly. You must overcomethe hardships and do your best. There are no perfect conditionsfor learning and if there were then we woujldn't have to learn in the first place. So you must do everything you can in the situations you are given.

My own personal example for this is my transfer to CC. This fall I transferred from a small community college in Indiana. There everything was a lot more relaxed. When I came here the work load and difficulty of the classes increased. During my first semester I was a bit overwhelmed. I started getting into my old habits from the year before and I ended up doing very poorly in my classes. In these new conditions I did not try my hardest and in doing that I failed. During this time as well I had gone astray in my walk with God. I think now that if I had been diligent in those aspects then i would have done better. Now that I have seen these faults as well I believe I can correct myself and do better for my future time here at college. If I don't work hard from now on then I will lose much more then my education. I will lose friends, a home, and possibly even my dream. We must all do our best during hard times or else we may lose the things we hold dear.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

POISON...of subjectivism...

This reading was incredibly difficult for me to read for some reason. It took me at least 2 times before I understood some things while others I had to reread many more times.
On the first page a paragraph that stuck with me was..."Until modern times no thinker of the first rank ever doubted that our judgments of value were rational judgments or what they discovered was objective. It was taken for granted that in temptation passion was opposed, not to some sentiment, but to reason. Thus Plato thought...The modern view is very different. It does not believe that value judgments are really judgments at all. They are sentiments, or complexes, or attitudes, produced in a community by the pressure of its environment and its traditions, and differing from one community to another. To say that a thing is good is merely to express our feelings about it; and our feeling it is the feeling we have been socially conditioned to have."
So basically it is rational thought versus personal preference. If that makes sense. You think rationally thinking in and out of the box instead of just staying inside the box. People have become self centered in their thinking. Then from the self centered thoughts comes ideology. People think of things as important or right then end up forcing others to believe or think in the same way. This kind of collective thought reminds me of the borg from star trek...yes I like star trek...anyway they share one mind, have no feelings, and if you are not part of the collective you must either become one of them or be destroyed. Talk about pushing your own values onto someone else. Something else in the reading that was very borg-like was the second paragraph on page 3. "
All idea of "new" or "scientific" or "modern" moralities must therefore be dismissed as mere confusion of thought. We have only two alternatives. Either the maxims of traditional morality must be accepted as axioms of practical reason which neither admit nor require argument to support them and not to "see" which is to have lost human status; or else there are no values at all, what we mistook for values being "projections" of irrational emotions. It is perfectly futile, after having dismissed traditional morality with the question, 'Why should we obey it?' then to attempt the reintroduction of value at some later stage in our philosophy. Any value we reintroduce can be countered in just the same way. Every argument used to support it will be an attempt to derive from premises in the indicative mood a conclusion in the imperative. And this is impossible." So resistance really is futile. No matter what there is some sort of conformity going on. There are many sociological implications that can be added to this. Things about norms and morals and laws, but all of this is useless if it doesn't have some ground or reasoning behind it. Still very confusing stuff...maybe I'll understand more when I'm older. ^_^;

Monday, January 19, 2009

Plantinga 3...

The Fall...When Adam and Eve were cast from the garden for eating of the fruit of good and evil. Last semester I took a theology course and the fall and the problem of evil were talked about. Since Plantinga was one of the writers of my text some of his thoughts about what are in chapter 3 were included. Though I don't remember everything from then...winter break does that to a person...I still remember some points made about the coming of evil into the world and how the fall has effected everything since. We truly have fallen a long ways. Idolatry has poisoned our lives. We worship pop culture and other secular things. Now a days we do things that will make us as an individual happy instead of thinking of others. We have become incredibly selfish and rebellious. We are very sinful creatures, but in the reading Plantinga makes a statement that "all sin is evil, but not all evil is sin." This is a very good statement because things such as natural evil can't be considered sin because nature can't sin. A volcano can destroy a village, but that is just tragedy not sin, but it is still evil. Evil things may happen, but unless it is a person who commits it, it is not a sin.
Going back to the garden it makes one wonder what would have happened if they hadn't taken the fruit. Everything of course would have been perfect, but what is it to say that anyone from generations to come would then have been tempted and then eaten. The serpent would probably not give up till it happened. This makes one think that every time we sin we are eating that fruit and keeping the evil in the world. Without sin can evil still exist? Everyone is born a sinner, but does that mean that we too are also evil. What a paradox it is and it is something we shall never truly understand.

Mere Christianity...

OK...So basically in a nutshell what chapters 1-4 discussed was Natural Law...aka Laws of Human Nature. This or these are laws that everyone knows yet they don't know. I guess you could call it intuition or instinct to know what is right or wrong, good or bad, or whatever. Though humans always tend to want to be right. I enjoyed the arguments that Lewis gave at the beginning of the chapter, these represented the I'm right and you're wrong argument. People really do argue for the stupidest reasons. Everyone also has different moral values and social norms. Everywhere you can see people who break these laws or codes. Even I have broken some of these laws, though they haven't been large crimes I promise. I learned in my sociology class last spring that these peoples are called deviants, basically people who deviate from the laws set for them. There are things people set for themselves, like moral standards, that they themselves break. Does this then make them hypocrites. It's like wearing a mask in public then becoming your true self when you get home. No one is perfect though. (intermission to make rice...and back) Knowing what is right and wrong normally people should have an instinct to know which is which. These things are also taught in society, but depending where you grew up the moral values vary. Back to the instinct for a minute or longer depending if my brain wants to keep working. Children usually have an instinct to please their parents or the people around them, but still they must be taught right from wrong. They have basic knowledge but they must hone i so they can become more intelligible as they grow. Now good ind bad is kind of another story. People deem things good or bad. Things can have their good points and bad points, but it all depends on ones opinion or the natural laws set by God. Like killing is bad and food is good, but with food some might taste good but be really bad for you...like cheese cake...yummmm...but again this can be an opinion. Human Nature...Natural Law...blah blah blah...it's just a mesh of things that people rebel against, and that's one of our flaws. Though depending how we live and what morals we hold we can overcome our rebellious nature and be law abiding peoples...though if we didn't would we still be humans...nya...=^-^=

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Note to readers...

Sorry everyone, I had started a few of my blogs the other day but the things i had typed were lost due to my computer restarting. So I must retype all of those posts. On a better note though I am for the most part recovered from the nasty cold I had last week and can finally think straight. Anyway I should have all my posts up by this evening. Sorry about the inconvenience. Cheers.


Thursday, January 15, 2009

Dear Wormwood...

I found after reading the Screwtape letters very interesting. No one really tries seeing thing from the point of view of the devil. Though we can't truly get into the mind of Satan or demons or even God for that matter it gives us a taste of what they might be thinking. I guess these kind of outside the box kind of ideas intrigue me. What kind of diabolical things can they be concocting to fumble up the human race? It gives very good examples of things that can draw us away from God or from people we love.
For the particular letter Screwtape writes to Wormwood that was given in the readings concerned keeping the Patient lukewarm in his Christian life. He said that he was almost glad to hear the Patient was still a chuchgoer. This is that they want the new Christian to feel comfortable and think that going to church is good enough, while in reality it isn't. If one just goes to church and is not active in it they will not grow and learn. Keeping up the appearance is what they want the Patient to do, but no truly become what they are acting as. Besides this Screwtape advises Wormwood to lead him slowly towards the darkness for the mans heart is still uneasy. If he uses distractions that will lead him away from the church or his Christian walk. Things Screwtape suggested were reading books, keeping him up late, talking with people who won't help him in his life. These kind of things are distractions. Everyone allows these kind of things in there lives. They distract themselves from the things they should be doing or keeping up with relationships with loved ones. For a student such as myself I have had these kind of distractions...Facbooking, reading stories online, or even going to the mall instead of doing homework or studying. If someone doesn't keep themselves and rely on God to keep going in life then they will gradually slip into darkness. So you must learn to keep focused and not allow distractions into your life or live in a way where you cannot make strong commitments.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

The Weight of Glory

At the beginning of the weight of glory it speaks of gaining things and different motives for getting those things. Like the man who marries for money and not love is a mercenary. If people to things for the wrong reasons in the end they will be inevitably unhappy. Also people settle for things that are easily attained when there are things out there that even though you must woke harder for them will bring them greater joy or more fulfillment. An example would be buying store-bought cookies instead of baking them yourself. You must strive harder to obtain the greater things in life and not just settle for the simple things.
Longing is also mentioned in the reading. People long after things that sometime they cant attain. The one thing in life that all people, even if they don't realize it, long for is God and the life after. The longing of a better life and finally achieving true happiness is the ultimate reward.
Glory for me is something I don't much understand. I hear the word used but what exactly is it? Fame, exaltation, praise these could help describe it, but it is really a word that can only be used properly when speaking of God. Because we can not bring glory to ourselves for that would be a kind of self worship. So how else can it be used? Others can describe each other with it, but is it used in its true context. This I am not sure. I guess I am just new to these terms and concepts, but at least I'm growing. ~(^-^)~

Plantinga 2...

Poof! Yay now everything exists...sure...Anyway Creation...As mentioned in the reading God did not need to create, but he did. People debate why He created. Was he in need of love, companionship, or something better to do. Well concerning the love thing God is love and could have merely created to have more to love. Now concerning the companionship factor He didn't particularly need to make us since He had his angels and even so could God be lonely? No one can really, but it goes with the more to love idea. We can never fathom why God made everything because we are not Him.
Another why question that pops up is why did God make things like they are. Humans are made to reflect Gods image but is this physically or spiritually or a mixture of both. Either way He allowed us thought and domain over the other creatures of this Earth but we were to keep it good. Over time since the fall we have done a good job at killing and destroying many things in nature and have not been keeping up with what God told us to do.
A thought I had and maybe others have thought this to but why just this world. Could God have made other world like ours or completely different? It makes one wonder. Maybe along the way God made other worlds with their own stories or maybe even alternate realities of our world in which they experience the same things we did. Though there is not much room for these kinds of fantastical thoughts the human mind is always full of what ifs. Maybe there are other creations and when we get to heaven there will be others from other worlds whom all never knew of our existence. Maybe I sound like a loony, but it sounds pretty neat in my mind. Anyway our Creation allows us to weave these kind of thoughts. God has made us with free will and the ability to dream and create things out of objects or ideas He has given.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Plantinga 1...

Hoping and longing....the endless search for true happiness or finding love, attaining a goal, buying new shoes[a joke] but we always want more. We dream about doing things or becoming something or living some fantastical life, but some things will never come true. Also to add to that if we never try to realize those dreams then they will never come true. If you don't keep hoping and longing then dreams will die out.
After getting things that you have longed for you must keep going on with that thing or else it will someday be lost. Like if you are in a relationship with the person you always imagined you'd be with you must make sure to cherish them or else you may lose them or the magic will fade and you will long after someone else. Maintaining happiness and joy in the things you do is hard. You can't lose sight of the things you hold dear.
Besides human relationships the relationship that you have with God must also be upheld. Usually when you first become a Christian you are very happy and excited about this new chapter you have started, but if you don't stay focused on your walk with God then that brightness you first had will become dim and the excitement will fade. So somehow you must find ways to keep this happiness in Him alive for as many have said He is the only true happiness. Though this happiness can't be fully realized till after death when you go to heaven and are finally by his side.
Okay even though I know this post is late i still want to share my bit about the reading...I should have put that at the beginning of the post but oh well...Now!... a little bit of personal stuff I feel like sharing nya...Since the reading was about hopes and longing I want to share what I want to be when I grow up...[hahaha]...Since maybe 8th grade I knew I wanted to do something with Japanese whether it was with the language or even comic books I knew I wanted to do something in Japan. So around my final year of high school I finally decided that I wanted to become a English teacher in Japan or a translator of some sort there. This is one of my hopes and dreams, and i long for the day it will come true...okay the end...good night...cough...sneeze...zzz

English Syllabus...

Ok looking of my notes that I took from the reading my main point is education vs. vocation...or something like that. From the readings it sounded like education meant going off to college for just knowledge's sake and learning because you want to no because you are required to. Now vocation was discussed as learning or going to college to later get a job and work. It is also mentioned that social class, at that time, also interfered with who could get an education. Lewis made a point that the upper class, rich people, have the privilege to go to University and go there to learn without having to later get a job because they had money. While on the other hand the people who were not bestowed with riches had o go to work to earn a living so they have no choice but to choose a vocation. Now a days though everyone has to go to college if they want to work somewhere else then just in fast food. It also seems that people go to college because society tells them to. A college degree make one look good and if you don't then you look like a failure in life. Though this point isn't mentioned much in the Syllabus it is very prominent in todays society. Lots of people go into college with a negative attitude and keep their minds closed to new thoughts or ideas that are offered. If you don't have an open mind to things then you won't be able to succeed...I should listen to myself more often...nya...Trying new things can be good and as long as you keep a positive outlook on things and work and seek the knowledge you desire then everything should turn out fine. Everything can not always be mapped out for you so you have to decide things for yourself. If you can't handle having to choose for yourself and having to figure out what to do you will be lost.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

No Right to Happiness...

Yes everyone wants to be happy. Some get happiness out of the simplest things while others strive for it and can never achieve it. How one attains it is another story for they may do things in a proper lawful way or maybe even kill for it...but lets hope not. There are also many types of happiness. Ones come from love, friendship, complements, achievements, or random things like having a cup of ea on a cold winter's day. Happiness comes in many forms. They range from long lasting to the fleeting. Also how much happiness it gives someone also plays a big part. An example would be getting a toy that you had been wanting for a long time and getting it for your birthday will make you happy for that time but eventually the toy will lose its intrigue and that happiness shall fade away. Finding true love is one thing that should bring a person happiness for the rest of their lives, but if that person falls out of love then it must not be true love. When this happens the happy is gone and hearts are left broken. In Lewis' article I must disagree with Clare as well that not all happiness can be attained and also it's not just about sexual longing. I have many things that make me happy. Though they might not last forever and I will grow tired of some there are those that will always put a smile on my face. I shall give you a few...

Things that make me happy:
God
my friends and family(though they can ge on my nerves at times)
chocolate
kitties
sushi (no it's not always raw)
music
drawing
the sound of rain
the smell of fresh baked bread
the stars and moon
hugs
....and much much more. So happiness can be found in the simple things in life not just sex.

Bulverism...

Truth...lies...reality...fiction...it's well know that there are solid facts to explain things while others are base on lies or unrelated things. Everything is distorted by how we as a person sees or how society sees things. As seen in "Bulverism" reasons and facts or whatever can have a point or none at all. Everything in this chapter brought up a certain word in my mind and that word being fallacy. During my senior year of high school we learned about these untruths that people use to deceive or mislead people to thinking what they say is truth. The one that I can actually remember is the fallacy of begging the question. In which someone states something without backing up their statement with facts and just leaves it up in the are. This fallacy applies somewhat to what little Ezekiel Bulver's mother said..."oh you say that because you're a man." Her stament is unfounded and she doesn't give anymore reason to why she said it. She is also stereotyping, but thats another story. Okay lost track of what I was talking about...hmmmm...Anyway Lewis is showing that there is no absolute truth unless you believe there is one...ie...God. One must believe that there is a truth. Though a Bulverist...I guess that that's he word...would just go around with just lies and believe there is no solid truth...i think the concept was a little confusing to me...Well truth...rational thought...fiction...plastic...who knows...

Meditation...

The main ideas that I got from reading Meditation in a Toolshed were those of experience vs. observation and science vs. belief. When the person looking in the ray of light saw all of those things he was experiencing so much and could have been feeling many different things. While if someone who was just observing the man in the light might think the guy is staring at the sun like a crazy person. He could not truly understand the other man unless he too looked into the light. Some people can be very narrow minded or judgmental about others until they share the same experience. They must look at the situation from all angle to truly understand or else there will misunderstandings. Beliefs also come into play. If someone believes that if they scream at a lamp for 3 hours their hair will grow they are entitled to that belief because that may be how they were raised or what society has taught them to believe. Though others know hat that method will never work respecting and knowing the other party's opinion is still important.
I could get into a bunch of psychological and sociological implements that apply to these kind of things, but I won't because I'll end up confusing myself...which happens regularly...Anyway first hand experience is the best way to understand. I love reading cheesy girly romancy stuff, but reading about finding your one true love is just not the same as actually finding that perfect someone. Or else observing someone eating something that looks completely repulsive and thinking is gross without trying it yourself is biased. If you don't experience things for yourself you will never grow. If I had stayed in Indiana my whole life I would never be able to follow my dream and would probably turn into the lonely old cat lady...I love cats and all but I don't want that to happen. Stepping out of my comfort zone and getting out of that depressing state has allowed me to experience more of life and take a closer step to what lies ahead.