“Is he/she and introvert or extrovert?” Probably one of your first judgments that you either unconsciously, or consciously make when you first meet someone. 

My fiance is a self-described introvert, and I myself would be classified more of an extrovert. But is it really a thing? Hans Eysenck describes it as the degree of which someone is out-going and interactive with another person. Just an observation, but where did this concept of having to be talking all the time start being the measuring tape for interactivity? My fiance is super interactive with people, maybe not vocally, but she carefully considers what someone else is saying, and what her response should be. That is much more interactive than just spouting off the first thing that comes to mind in response to something. 

Where did this come from then? And why is being ‘introverted’ frowned upon so much nowadays? 

Post-War Period

After WWII, the American Dream was proliferated, and the idea of endless wealth at your finger tips was running rampant. However, you had to grab it for yourself, and the only way to do that was to “sell yourself in order to sell your product”. The 1950s has turned us all into brands. We have to sell our brands, and friends are just those who have bought into your brand. Our words don’t really matter really, just if you say enough of them, someone may like what you say. 

Talk is cheap, eh? 

I beg to differ

Words are much more powerful than we think. That old phrase “sticks and stones”? Yeah, dead wrong, as we are seeing with the current situations in regards to bullying. If we all were a little more “introverted” maybe we’d actually understand each other more, and friendships wouldn’t be so short or shallow? 

Here’s a challenge. For the next week or so, become “introverted”. Listen to what someone else is actually saying, and take time to make a considered response to every conversation point. You will be more genuine, and more likely you will get to know someone more than you had. 

I don’t believe there is such a thing as introverted or extroverted. 

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’”

- Mr. Rogers

As you read and see more about the Boston bombings, look for the helpers and see the good in humanity as the days go by. Focus on the helpers, not on the evil people who created this tragedy, don’t pay them any attention.

If you want to read something happy, don’t read this, but if you want to read something raw and real, watch the video, and then read. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pzkszgjkj6Q

Yes, the song is about heart break, and that he is really just pretending to be happy, but there is more truth to the song. How many of us are truly as happy as we let on? I listen to the song, and it hits me, we all fake it. We all live in a land of make believe, where everything is fine.

Why do we do this? Because people are afraid that someone is just going to say that you’re being dramatic, and people don’t want to be around someone who is sad. This cycle of pretending to be happy just increases the amount of unhappiness we feel. We get judged for being unhappy because the expectation is that we are to be happy no matter what the situation. That is not healthy, it will just build up and build up. 

Why are we as a society so focused on looking happy, but against showing sorrow? Why must one come at the expense of the other? Why can’t we show sorrow, and be happy? Why is one better than the other? These are the questions I’ve struggled with as I’ve gone through depression. I have been so conflicted in expressing the emotions inside of me that make me feel angry, upset, isolated, and alone. But I feel forced to make up stories or reasons why I am happy. It is almost cruel. How often a day do you get asked how you are doing, and you just respond ‘pretty good’, ‘not bad’, or ‘good’ but not really mean it? Nobody wants to be a ‘downer’, because it just makes other people feel bad. I just want to be able to say to someone what I am really feeling, without feeling judged, or pitied. I want to be able to say, “You know, I’ve been feeling really sad and alone lately, and I can’t really get happy”, without someone saying that I am not looking at the big picture, or that there are people who talk to me (but aren’t really people who want to listen to, or be around me). 

I find myself wearing a mask every day. I don’t have anything to say that is really uplifting today, just this raw rant about feeling depressed. All I want are friends that want be around, and actually try and talk with me. I have my fiance, and she is amazing. She brightens my day every time I see her face, and holds my hand. She gets me through every day. But you need community, and that is what I long for.

‎10 Lessons to take from Hipsters:

1. It’s okay to be nostalgic about the past, but don’t let it dominate your present.

2. Be thrifty. You don’t always have to have the newest style from the boutique. You’ll save some money buying lightly used clothing, and save the environment a little bit too.

3. Drink Chai, cause it is friggen delicious.

4. Ride a bike. You’ll save on gas, and get some exercise.

5. Take pictures to remember moments, just forget about Instagram.

6. Write in a journal. It doesn’t have to be a Moleskine, but the cathartic nature of it will help you relax and sort life out. Plus you can look back and see where you have grown.

7. By local, organic food. It may cost a little extra, but it is better for you, and it keeps you buying fresh food. More vitamins, and more energy. It is also better for the environment.

8. Create your own style. Wear clothes that you feel comfortable in, and not something to make other people accept what you look like.

9. Be tolerant of other people. Just because they don’t look or act like you doesn’t mean they’re wrong.

AND last but not least,

10. Accept who you are. You were created beautiful, and should be proud of who you are, that includes whatever you are interested in, and want to do. Don’t be ashamed of what you have done. We all have regrets and sin in our lives, but we can’t change the past. All we can do is learn from our mistakes and move on.

“Remember remember the 5th of November

The gunpowder, treason, and plot

I find no better reason, why the gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot.”

The old poem brought to public mind famously by the movie V for Vendetta. But why is it so captivating? Let’s start by analyzing who Guy Fawkes was.

Guy Fawkes

He was a member of the English Catholics who failed to blow up the English parliament buildings in 1605 (the Gunpowder Plot). They began to carry out this plot in 1604 when they purchased a house and began to tunnel under the House of Lords. This tunnel was to house the gunpowder that was going to be used to blow up the government buildings. They were going to blow it up on the opening of parliament, but because of the ever-present threat of the Plague, the opening was postponed to November 5th.

Betrayal

Concerned that other English Catholics would be presenting that day, Lord Monteagle received a letter from an anonymous source warning him to stay away. His suspicions were aroused and the letter was shown to King James himself. This is the sad part. Fawkes had taken up his shift as guard in the tunnels at the precise time that the King had ordered the cellars of parliament be searched in the early morning hours of November the 5th. He was found and arrested shortly after midnight in the cellar.

Trial

He was found guilty of treason, and sentenced to death, and not just any death. He was dragged, had his genitals, heart, and bowels removed, and was then beheaded. Pretty brutal.

Historical Legacy 

Guy Fawkes was just a co-conspirator, but he is the most identifiable figure. In response to the king’s “victory” he made November the 5th as a day of deliverance, and it was celebrated as a variable Thanksgiving. Bonfires, and the burning of effigies (usually Catholic figures). Fawkes today has been toasted as “the last man to enter parliament with honest intentions”

SO why is he so popular in today’s society? 

Alan Moore created an immensely popular graphic novel series between 1982-1989. The series setting is a dystopian England, where fascism has over run the country. The people’s freedoms are oppressed and a figure arises to start a revolution.

This figure wears a Guy Fawkes mask, and refers to himself as only the letter “V”. He uses Fawkes and associates plans of destruction as a point. The blowing up of parliament is a symbol, but his ideals are what sparks the revolution. 

He is a subversive character, and his popularity is due to his stance towards inequality and oppression. He stands by his ideals, and doesn’t compromise to achieve the best option through. His vision is the only vision worth dying for. 

Another reason he is so popular is because his identity is so ambiguous. Anyone can place themselves in his shoes and be as idealistic as him.

V may or may not be correct in his viewpoints in tactics but the fact that he is so uncompromising is why people admire the character. This is viewed as uncommon in our society today, as people are more inclined to look out for number one and change whatever their values to better suit the crowd they are in. Also the promotion of oneself is inherent in our society. We must all obtain credit where “credit is due”. V almost single-handedly starts a revolution and frees a nation, but remains anonymous even to his most loyal follower, and successor, Evey Hammond. The cause is what is important, not the identity. V makes himself an idea rather than a subject.

Pop Culture

A movie was released in March 2006 that has found an extremely loyal cult-following. Again this is just a product of the popularity of the character V. However, this is the moment where the series and ideals became more widely known. 

That is it for our history lesson, and of course:

“Remember remember the 5th of November

The gunpowder, treason, and plot

I find no better reason, why the gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot.”

It is the final day of campaigning folks! Americans have a vital choice to make, Obama or Romney. Do they continue the path they’re on for social and systematic change? Or do they revert to their trickle-down policies that have been proven not to work? A little bit of a factoid for y’all:

Since Reagan, the largest redistribution of wealth ever in the course of history has occurred, from the middle-class to the wealthy. The middle-class is weaker than it has been since before the Great Depression. What drives the economy and the nation is the health of this class, not the fabulously wealthy. 

Do you choose the leader who promises to fight and defend the middle-class? Or the guy who doesn’t even stand by his own values and changes on a whim. One who’s stated spending policies leave nothing but tax increases on the middle-class?

Romney will continue to milk the cow until it runs dry. This has been observed since his days at Bain capital. He has made a living of ripping people off, and gutting companies and he has the chance to do the grandest larceny, the robbing of the American people. Is that the character of the president? I do not think so. 

Obama gained support by offering change and spirit of cooperation. Republicans have done nothing but blindly go against anything the president has done because they lost the last election. This party doesn’t deserve a democratic government because for the past 4 years they have done everything but democracy, which is the act of compromise.

I’m Canadian, so I cannot vote, but if you are American please do so. I may support Barack Obama, but you all have the right to choose whoever you want. But please vote!

Expand your mind today. Go to an art gallery, check out a lecture, do something you haven’t done today. Break your habits and ruts. Experience all of life.