Another Trip Through Time

December 26, 2006

Even though I’d say my life has been a bit busier during the past year, I still found time to write here on a fairly consistent basis.  I’ve moved, physically… which was a fairly time consuming endeavor.  Back in July I moved Reader Meet Author from WordPress.com to its own domain to celebrate the blog’s two year anniversary.  I’ve changed jobs once, even though it felt like twice (I started a job in November of last year, so time-wise it’s just been a little over a year).  All in all, it’s been pretty busy.

In that time, I’ve managed to stay pretty busy blog-wise, too.  As I said above, I’ve moved, started and ended series, and switched themes about 30 times.  I’ve also managed to write more than a few posts.  I’ve been busier writing this year than last year. In fact, since January 24, when I celebrated post #100, I’ve written 100 more.

Oh yes… today marks the 200th post to Reader Meet Author.

I know what you’re thinking. Big deal, huh? Well, it’s kind of a big deal when you consider that I only write once or twice a week, on average. It’s also a big deal because it’s yet another illustration of the fact that I’ve continued to write despite my usual lack of staying power. Haha.

In the spirit of celebration, I’m going to look at a few of my favorite posts from the past year to find out if I’ve learned anything. Sound familiar? It should. For my 100th post I wrote a similar review of past posts called Tripping Through Time. For the sake of freshness, I’ll only be looking at things written since then.

I hope you enjoy the trip down memory lane. And who knows… maybe I’ve learned something.

The Emotional Roller Coaster
posted March 7, 2006

And so begins what I’m calling The Emotional Roller Coaster: Taking the Track Apart. In other words… I’m starting a post series dedicated to emotions, feelings, and all things that come up along the way. My goal is to explore individual human emotions in some depth, and hopefully, figure a few things out along the way.

Since March I’ve added five more posts to the series (for a total of six), exploring the nature of emotion in general, happiness, love and hate, anger, and shame. This series is probably the one I’m most proud of because I’ve actually learned a great deal from writing it. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about my own perspectives on emotion and I’ve done some research to see what other people have said.

The post on love and hate has recently become the most visited page, replacing my marriage rant for top spot. The main difference is that I haven’t received as much feedback from the love/hate post as I did from the marriage post. I got a ton of email from the marriage spill, but not from this one. Google just sends a ton of people to the love/hate one.

All in all I’d say this series has been a big success, both personally and blogally. It is by no means finished, either. In fact, the last post was just added this month. Stay tuned for more emotions and, should you be curious, drop me a line about an emotion you’d like to see examined and I’ll do my best.

Sometimes the Truth Sucks
posted March 15, 2006

When you want something, you want it… regardless of what reason and rationale tell you. If you tell yourself something long enough, you can convince yourself of almost anything. The opposite is also true. If you ignore that voice in the back of your head long enough, it eventually goes mute. Over time, the reality of a situation is anything but real. Instead, it becomes something constructed… the product of irrational, illogical thinking.

This was one of my favorite posts… for personal reasons. I wrote it to myself and I’ve read it to myself on more than one occassion. There isn’t a whole lot to say other than that. While the message contained in the post might speak to others, it is primarily for me. I have to remind myself:

I just have to find the balls to ignore what I want to see… and see what I need to. And then I have to deal with that. Sometimes… the truth really sucks.

Prozac Nation… or Lazy Nation?
posted April 9, 2006

If we’re too lazy to do something as simple as to take a pill the way we’re supposed to, is it really too far a stretch to say that we’re too lazy to take the next step… and see someone about our depression? People say they’re too busy for therapy… or they don’t have time for it… or it’s too expensive… or it won’t do any good. But its funny that they make the time for soccer practice… or going out… or watching reality TV… or any of the other millions of things that take up time. Why “waste” time going to therapy when they make these nifty little pills that I can take and get better? … Except that a lot of the time, the little yellow pills stop working.

I got to see a lot of this first hand while working at the hospital. I’m not sure if all patients are like that or if it’s just psychiatric patients. But more often than not, our patients were nothing short of medication-seeking drug addicts. None of them wanted to go to therapy groups. Few would speak voluntarily after being forced to attend therapy. I often had to drag conversation out of them on numerous occasions but they would literally wake themselves up from deep sleep to get a medication on time.

I honestly think the main reason I decided to leave the mental health field (for now) was because I never felt like I was actually doing anything. Sure, I’d talk to people… I’d conduct groups… I even had patients tell me I’d made a difference. But I didn’t see it for myself. I saw the same patients come through the doors over and over again and nothing ever changed. It was extremely discouraging and I don’t like wasting my time. And that’s exactly what I felt like I was doing at the hospital.

Sometimes It Is The Destination
posted June 3, 2006

Even after we know where we want to go, and how we’re going to get there, we still have to make the journey. Obstacles to dodge… detours to decipher…and even fellow travelers can all impede our trip. It’s possible to get thrown so off track that the original destination is all but forgotten in the blur of distractions and course corrections. Many times we have to pull the map out, retrace our steps, and figure out where we lost our way before we can put a finger on just what the end result was supposed to be before we veered into another trip altogether.

The post pretty much says it. “They” say it’s not the destination but the journey that’s important. A lot of times, that’s true. But in some cases the destination is what’s important. I mean… what good is a journey if you never end up anywhere?

Selfish For Self
posted June 22, 2006

Other people aren’t always going to agree with the choices we make. Other people aren’t always going to understand the things we do. Other people aren’t always going to approve of the lifestyles we lead. And ultimately, that’s really okay. We have to do what we want and be who we want to be all on our own. Maybe it sounds a little existential, but in the end, you are the only person who you can always depend on… always count on… and have to answer to at the end of the day. Your own happiness is far more important than the effect your decisions will have on others.

I wrote this post for a friend who had recently made a tough choice that family members didn’t approve of. Since then, I’ve referenced it numerous times for other posts that I’ve written. I think it’s sage advice for anyone. I’ve all but quoted it for people during face-to-face discussions. Bottom line: another of my favorite posts.

It’s also another post that I have to re-read for myself from time to time. I sometimes forget that I have to make decisions for myself to might affect other people. And while I would never do something that would adversely affect someone else intentionally, it’s hard to remember that sometimes that’s just the way life goes. Sometimes I have to put myself first. And you know what… I still think that’s okay!

The De-Evolution of Man
posted October 2, 2006

Complex brains and more developed senses combined could have helped propel humans to where we are today. But as we grow and evolve away from nature and into our own little worlds, we no longer need the abilities that nature endowed us with. And she’s nothing if not frugal, that nature gal. If you don’t use it, you lose it. Evolution will see to that. As we make more and more aspects of our lives dependent on outside sources of information we will surely de-evolve further and become even more oblivious to the rest of the world.

Just recently I saw an article about a machine being developed that can send smells over phone lines. Oh yes, you heard me: it can send smells over phone lines. The machine takes a chemical snapshot of a smell, sends the snapshot over the phone, and recreates the chemical snapshot on the other side. Granted, it’s a big machine full of chemicals that mix together. But it’s a radical step in the direction I was talking about in this post.

If we don’t even have to stop and smell the roses any more, what’s the point of planting roses? And if we don’t plant the roses, why plant anything else? I wonder what the chemical snapshot for concrete looks like?

My feelings on this one haven’t changed. After I wrote this I started talking about it with patients at the hospital. Not the post, per say… but the message behind it. I even did a whole demonstration with the table top and the metal chair legs. If the windows were open we would all experience the breeze as a group. They probably thought I was crazy. Maybe I am. But I also think I’m right about it. When was the last time you experienced a breeze?

I’ll Take the Slow Painful Death, Please
posted November 28, 2006

Why do people who smoke and drink continue to do so? Why do people who do drugs keep shooting up and puffing and snorting? Why do people who engage in unsafe sex keep screwing around? The answer is the same for all of them. Pleasure, pure and simple. They enjoy those things, regardless of the consequence. And it would appear that the joy of today outweighs the consequence of tomorrow. So even though we avoid the obvious quick-death things in life, we throw ourselves on the mercy of tomorrow just hoping and praying that whatever unhealthy thing we’re doing today won’t come back to kill us slowly tomorrow.

Honestly… I haven’t changed much since writing this. Granted, it was only about a month ago that I wrote it. I’ve been thinking about my health lately, but I haven’t changed much. I got a notice about a blood drive next month and I’ve already made plans to head over to donate. I’m doing it as much for the satisfaction of donating as for the free cholesterol test that goes along with it. Haha. I like this post… I’ve thought a lot about it since writing it… but I haven’t done much to change it yet. Maybe I’ll check back in for #300 and see where things stand then.

Conclusions

I know this post is a little on the long side. It was really hard to pick just a few posts. I’ve written and deleted more than a few posts before they ever saw the light of day. The ones that make it to the blog are the ones that I’m proud of. That makes it really hard to pick favorites.

So the original purpose of the post was to see if anything had changed. I think it has. If nothing else, I had a year of real-life experience with psychiatric patients. Why would that be a plus, you ask? Even though I left the field and felt like I was wasting my time, it was a great experience in human nature. It wasn’t always the most positive and reassuring experience. But I saw a side of the human being that few people get to see. I’ve always considered myself a realist as opposed to an optimist or a pessimist. My experiences at the hospital added to that realistic perspective of what being human is all about.

And to quote the “About” page of this blog:

I started Reader Meet Author as a place to explore myself and the nature of my own personal beast. But it quickly evolved into something more: a place to explore human nature itself.

That’s what it’s all about.

As I said in Tripping Through Time: Here’s to another 100 learning experiences!

Posted in Blog Related, Personal

Related Posts

• Vacation Complete
• Back in the Saddle
• Sometimes It Is The Destination
• A New Level of Spam Disgust
• Turning Leaves

Never miss another post! Subscribe to my RSS feed!