Monday, March 24, 2014

The Worst

Jhene Aiko's "The Worst" is one of the strongest songs I've heard in a long time. Definitely one of the best "the pain of a woman" songs I've heard in ages. I keep listening to the live version, bobbing my head every time her band inserts the Kanye "Workout Plan" sample/section/whatever. My God

Saturday, March 8, 2014

My Kanye Stream of Consciousness

Travelers are generally one of the most optimistic, supportive, and happy groups of people that I've come across. They're always so positive and supportive when it comes to encouraging others to get out and see the world.

However, there's a subset of this group that I absolutely despise. They talk about how they do encourage others to travel, but when someone speaks about how they want to travel to ____, they speak on how they "would go there, but EVERYONE wants to go there." They talk about how they'd rather go to places that people wouldn't think to normally go.

For example, I told a co-worker how some buddies and I are going to Brazil for the world cup. She immediately started talking about how "omg everyone's trying to go there," in a tone that made it seem less cool to go to Brazil because it'll be a popular tourist destination this summer. Somehow the positive, encouraging demeanor she gave off a week ago had disappeared, replaced by a pessimist who seemed hell bent on speaking on why she wouldn't want to go Brazil at that time.

She even had the nerve to ask, "do you even like soccer?" If only she knew, lol. Even if I didn't like soccer, that doesn't mean she should discourage my travels. Her words betrayed the attitude she gave off when she spoke of traveling. She had been quick to speak on how everyone can benefit from traveling, but that attitude was no where to be seen at this point, as she was now so quick to describe how uncool it is to want to go to Brazil for the world cup.

I generally love people who enjoy traveling. But I've found a subset of the group who are more intent on getting good profile pictures, Instagram photos, and stories to tell others, instead of focusing on what I find to be the more rewarding benefits of traveling.

The ability to soak in another culture, allowing you to compare and contrast that culture with yours. This forces you to think about how different your life would be if you had to grow up in this foreign culture. It forces you to think about how the culture you did grow up in shaped you. Seeing foreign architecture is a personal favorite of mine. In America, our oldest buildings are 500, 600 years old at the most. Being in a foreign country where you can set foot in a 1500 year-old church is such a wild experience for me. Being semi-lost in an absolutely foreign culture gives me an almost perverted feeling of excitement. (Editor's note: I realize this paragraph is poorly structured. I'm probably going to have to revisit this topic at a later time.)

If you want to travel so that you can share with your friends and family how will traveled and cultures you are, that's perfectly fine. But I think you're missing out on the more rewarding benefits of traveling.

Part of me feels like I'm exactly what I described earlier, in that I'm discouraging travel for the sake of getting pictures and stories to tell your friends and family. I should be absolutely for traveling, regardless of the circumstances.

And I am! I don't think you'll ever hear words come out of my mouth that discourage anyone from traveling. I encourage everyone to get out and see the world. But I do highly suggest that you do it for yourself, not for the sake of getting cool pictures for Instagram likes or to be able to tell cool campfire stories. Do it truly and absolutely for yourself, to learn more about yourself and how you interact with the world.

This post is an awesome example of sitting yourself down and thinking out loud and jotting it down as you go. Little to no editing, just make sure you get your thoughts out. My creative writing professor would be so proud of me right now, lol

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