Our celebrity culture is one of ebbs and flows, with people trying to always increase their placement in the immediate attention of the American citizen.  People are fighting to be relevant.

To accomplish this end, we find a tendency toward spectacle in the lives of our celebrities seeking ever-wider accomplishments of fame and fortune.  Scandals, publicity stunts, advertisements, viral media, endorsements, guest appearances, and tabloids are places to live out the idea that “all publicity is good publicity.

Honestly, I think it would be terribly difficult to live out your life in front of everyone else.  There are so many beliefs, experiences, and relationships that are quintessentially yours. I don’t mind sharing about my life … but I do appreciate some degree of privacy when warranted.  Perhaps a public figure can learn to overcome the public/private dichotomy … but whether that is a positive thing remains yet to be seen.

While celebrity’s lives are strange, glitzy, and difficult, the spectacle would not exist without the public’s participation in propagating that illusion.  It’s easy to forget, but no matter how much you know about a celebrity, you don’t actually know that person.  Knowledge of a person is more than simple acquisition of facts, but an understanding of how that person fits together in a particular and infinitely unique way.

Part of the appeal of knowing so much about other people, the kind of accepted voyeurism that pervades our society, is that the “average” person fundamentally feels one of two emotions about a famous person: jealousy or derision.  In fact, the one often leads to the other.  We want what they have until they do something upsetting, scandalous, or stupid.  Then, however far down in our psyche, we can think contentedly to ourselves, “at least I’m not them.”

It’s not that we care about celebrities.  It’s that we use them to feel better about our selves.  We envy their rise and glory in their fall.

The spectacle is perpetuated by the simple fact that we are willing to give them our attention, not that we are so affectionate toward them.  But with all the people desperately seeking the coveted status of celebrity, it’s important not to forget the people around us who deserve our attention but our respect, friendship, and affection.  These are people you can actually know … and that is one of the most inspiring and incredible things on this planet.

Matt’s Musings

100 Ideas – Keri Smith
American Psychosis – Adbusters Magazine
Cigarettes are the Cure – Josh Rice
Hipster: The Dead End of Western Society – Adbusters Magazine
How to be a Guerilla Artist – Keri Smith
Sand and Foam – Khalil Gibran
Sheeple.jpg – XKCD
The War Prayer – Mark Twain
The_Familiar.jpg – XKCD
The Weight of Glory – C.S. Lewis
Mad Farmer Liberation Front – Wendell Berry

It’s all right here.

So, I cheated a little bit.  In picking the things that inspired and influenced me over the past year, I chose things that could be found on my computer and thus uploaded to the internet.  They reflect several themes:

Art.  Wendell Berry and Khalil Gibran offer beautiful insights into the this world and the life that we are living.  Every line of Sand and Foam is like a proverb.  Pithy, insightful, and beautiful.  Keri Smith makes me want to make my own art.  Chalk, paper airplanes, and spraypaint are now among my favorite mediums.

Perspective.  XKCD, Mark Twain, and Josh Rice all give me a slap on the face.  So much of life is trying to find the appropriate perspective about things and then living that perspective and consistently and holistically as possible.  I find that these short works often just give me enough of a jolt to remember to intentionally examine everything.

Challenge.  C.S. Lewis and Adbusters provide some of the most challenging and insightful commentary into this modern life.  Their discernment is challenging in that it tears at conventions and points emphatically at truth.

Marcie’s Meanderings

Just Do Something, Kevin DeYoung
The Grand Weaver, Ravi Zacharias
Fall EP – Jon Foreman
Go – Jonsi

As I think back over the past year, one word seems to crystallize most of my experiences: Change. While probably most can identify with this word during many seasons of life, it seems to epitomize my year more so than any other. I quit one job, almost took another, and did some interesting temporary work. I’ve traveled out of the country – twice. I finished school, taught classes, and started work on a public speaking curriculum. I started a blog with two of my best friends. On top of all of that, I’ve done a lot of thinking, and have had my perspectives on people, relationships, church, and life vision challenged quite a bit. As I’ve looked back over the year, I can identify a couple of books and music albums that help describe these changes and periods of growth.

The first book I read that really challenged my thinking in the area of vision and life planning was The Grand Weaver, by Ravi Zacharias. In the book he goes through different challenges and struggles of life and paints a picture of God’s purpose in it all. As I’ve wrestled with ideas and plans and desires in the past year, it was comforting to be reminded that there is a Weaver at work and a design in mind regarding the tapestry of my life. My favorite quote from the book was:

“Only if you are willing to pray sincerely for God’s will to be done and are wiling to live the life apportioned to you will you see the breathtaking view of God that He wants you to have, through the windows He has placed in your life. You cannot always live on the mountaintop, but when you walk through the valley, the memory of the view from the mountain will sustain you and give you the strength to carry you through.”

The second book was Just Do Something, by Kevin DeYoung. As the title implies, he exhorts twenty-somethings and others of that generation to, well, do something with their lives. He gave a refreshingly different perspective in the area of life planning, God’s will for your life, jobs, careers, and next steps. The bottom line? Just do something. As long as you are in the position to glorify God, you are in His will. He will direct you to the best things as you are moving forward.

Finally, two albums have been especially significant to me this year. They both are by artists with different styles, but have been catalysts of thought for me. Both have helped to guide and influence my thinking. The first is Jon Foreman’s Fall EP. I always love Foreman’s music, but this particular EP really struck a chord with me in ways that his other music has not always been able to do.  He sings about life in a sometimes painfully honest way that forces me to acknowledge areas of truth in my own life and decide what I’ll do with them. The other album is Jonsi’s album, Go. When I found myself stuck in the melancholy of my own thoughts, the creativity and life contained in this album helped pull me up and give me fresh perspective outside of my own thoughts. It reminded me to be alive to what’s going on around me and to engage with new ideas and thoughts.

The change that has taken place in my life over the past year hasn’t always been easy, or fun. But it’s been good, and I’m grateful for the thoughts and songs of others that help lend perspective to the changes life brings.

Justin’s Juxtapositions

Never Eat Alone –Keith Ferazi
Wild Goose Chase –Mark Batterson
The BQE -Sufjan Stevens
Hello Hurricane –Switchfoot
Matt Pitchford’s Troika Posts

There are two sources of ideas that are influencing me the most right now. The first  I will soon be re-studying and applying, though I’m currently undergoing a paradigm shift instigated by reading it. The catalyst for this is a book by Keith Ferazi titled, “Never Eat Alone.” It has me pretty excited, though I’m not sure exactly where it’s going to take me. The subject is relationships and networking and making the most of them for your benefit, the benefit of your friends, and for the benefit of whatever vision you may be seeking to enact.  I was skeptical at first, but Ferazi is inspirational, and so very practical that I was left without an excuse. I now know that I have to be investing in my network and relationships in much more intentional ways. I’d encourage the read, you’ll be able to take it and make it your own.

The second source is quite honestly every single post that Matt Pitchford has contributed to the Troika Press. I can’t say enough for their brilliance, intellectual stimulation and personal perception.  If you aren’t in the habit of reading them, then change your habit.  Ok, I’ll throw another book out there and thatis “Wild Goose Chase” by Mark Batterson. This isn’t a recommendation based on any attempt at literary greatness, because that’s not what this book is (it contains its fair share of clichés and the like).  However, the ideas he presents and challenges his readers with are very valuable.  Read it, and find yourself looking at everyday life, wondering how you can experience the adventure of chasing the wild goose.

I listed two music artists and their albums that I wanted to share with you.  I’m always curious about new music, but it’s more than just the music that I’m interested in. I want to know the significance of the music, what it does for me, the artist, and how it can help me continue to grow and to think.  The first I’ll mention is and album by Sufjan Stevens entitled “The BQE.”  It’s an instrumental album that somehow combines symphonic and edgy as it takes you from triumphant trumpet to just plain weird. The inspiration for the album is also interesting. He’s composing about the Brooklyn/Queens Expressway.   Secondly is “Hello Hurricane” by Switchfoot.  I find it significant that the artist Jon Foreman shows up in both mine and Marcie’s posts. He’s a deep thinker and I think is having a huge impact as an artist. The latest release from Switchfoot is easily their best. In it they achieve a new level of musical and lyrical poignancy that speaks to many hearts. Please listen!

As unfortunate as it may seem, appearances are just as important as reality … if not more so

I was working with Russell Sklander at a gig in Chattanooga, TN.  (It makes me seem so well traveled to say that … the reality is that I simply happened to be helping out.)  He had a great piece of advice that has struck home.  One of the bands was having technical difficulties, and I didn’t know what to do.  He came up to me and said, “Just go out there and start to follow a cord.  You may very well find what was causing the problem.  But even if you don’t, it makes it look like something is happening while the guy who actually can help has time to show up.”

The audience will never know the difference.

Our perceptions can color our experience.  For that concert, the fact that someone in a staff t-shirt and headset was walking around on stage fulfills the expectation that roadies know what they are doing.  But the concept of presuppositions extends far beyond musical events.  Cultural and personal expectations about college, careers, relationships, attitudes, and activities all can impact, positively or negatively, our experiences in each of those realms.

So being conscious of and in tune with appearances is vital.  The things in our life that are important should be apparently so.  But it’s also important not to mistake appearance for reality.  There is such interplay here.  It’s difficult to be aware of appearances in your own life while also allowing the truth of things to extend beyond appearances in other people’s lives.

I guess another way to put this is simply:  You should give other people the benefit of the doubt, but strive to leave no doubt in regards to your own life.

Just because you are returning to the same place, with the same people, for the same events, does not in any way mean that they will be similar experiences.

What works one year may not work another year.  What was a problem one year may be a breeze the next.  What was once great community, the go-to late-night adventure, or the difficult person in the group may change suddenly and without warning.

You may have “been there, done that” and even have a t-shirt to prove it … but experiences, no matter how outwardly similar, are by definition incredibly distinct and completely separate.

You can always learn something new … no matter how many times you may have done it before.  You may mess something up, no matter how practiced you may be.

It’s important not to confuse our past achievements or failures with the utterly unique present circumstances.

You can certainly learn from the patterns of the past … but you can’t forget to factor in the “new” parts of every day.

To do otherwise is to erect monuments to systems and processes that inevitably fail.

(Posted as I help lead the NSOCO freshman orientation for community service.)

The first thing I learned is that it is very unlikely that I will own a farm when I grow up.  I’ll probably have a garden.  I’ll probably have tomatoes in it … but not as many.

This is due to the simple fact that I’m not passionate about farming the way the Price’s were.  When there is one more task piled atop one more difficult atop one more late night, it can really task one’s motivational reserves.  I was only there for four months.  I can’t imagine doing it for twenty years.  Clearly, the drive for such a farm does not extend from profit or from gratitude … farmers often receive little of either.  Rather, the motivation to farm … sometimes literally at the edge of subsistence yourself, comes from a deep-seated faith in the earth, the necessity of what one does, and the passion to grow something good.

I learned about food and farms.  Small business farms often receive the short end of a lot of sticks.  I learned the difference between tomato varieties.  Heck, I learned that there were tomato varieties.  I learned about gardening, veggies, fruits, chickens, and cows.  Food is hard. But you can definitely taste the difference.  It’s better for you too.  Surprise surprise.

Community has always played a part in how I process experiences.  The community at Jones Creek Farms was much smaller to which I was accustomed, but it was close and tight-knit.  So as different it may have been in terms of breadth, I really appreciated the depth.  Thursday was domino night, when one of our neighbors always came by for dinner and the titular game.  People would show up just to help out.  People came to volunteer for a wedding held on the grounds, plant tomatoes, build signs, and harvest garlic.  We went over to some neighbors to help “harvest” chickens.

It was an active sort of community that extended beyond simply knowing people into the realm of participating with people.  There is something meaningful in working with someone, eating with them, playing dominoes, and then being able to see them again in a week or two.

Of all the things I learned, the one that excited me most was seeing real community and being able to participate in it.

I want to participate in whatever community I may find myself for my entire life.

If home is where the heart is, I guess the trouble really starts when I don’t know where my heart is.

I definitely love college.  It is a place that is full of learning, loving, pain, passion, humanity, and humor.  I am becoming more and more excited about going back there.  But as I look back at my time in Silverdale and Sedro-Woolley, I am again reminded of college’s strange idiosyncrasies.

College community is one of the most important and meaningful parts of the entire experience.  It is so great to go down a hall full of people willing to have conversations about everything from metaphysics to music to pasta.  It seems so singular and particular, that I can’t help but hope that there is a way to continue such deep community outside the corridors of college.

But, as much as I look forward to community, I am also leery of “collegiate wisdom” that is too sectional to be applied to the whole of life.  College students seem to vacillate between one of two extremes:  The belief that they know everything or that they know nothing at all.

A staunch adherence to either of these extremes pushes you away from other people, true passion, and anything beautiful and nuanced.  That’s one concept that I want to pursue more fully in my next semester:  Nuance.

The pursuit of truth and beauty is absolutely vital … but I’ve become more and more inclined to think that a blunt, traumatic, or undiscerning search can be more destructive than useful in that quest.

There are so many causes and movements at my school that I sometimes wonder how they all fit together.  There are idealists … but my idealism comes in the particular quest of unified and holistic knowledge and truth.  College is an important place.  All the ideas and people there are also important.

It is equally important to know how it all fits.  How it all connects to life in general.  There is nothing more useless than facts unconnected to greater ideas and ideals.

So I’m still figuring out what it means to go from one home to another.  But there is one thing about which I am very certain:

This whole existence on planet earth is my home.

It’s easier to sit in a place of relative comfort than to risk the pursuit of something new.

But fear of the unknown or even of failure should not be the primary decision-making mechanism in our life.  Obviously, this statement is constrained by common sense.  But if you don’t risk at all … you can’t do anything.

Put another way, I broke my foot going from one step to the landing.  In my own defense, I was going pretty fast, but if stairs can be a danger to one’s physical well-being … what isn’t?  When examining our life, it is not any safer … and certainly not more fulfilling to simply sit.

It’s harder … but always more worthwhile to jump.

C.S. Lewis put it very well.  He said, “To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless–it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.”

Or, like was posted in my old Boy Scout Hall: “A ship is safe in the harbor, but that’s not what ships are for.”

That’s not to say what you do is or is not important.  If you’re passionate about what you do, so much the better.  The problem is one of definition.  The definition of who we are ought to extend beyond what we do.  Perhaps even more accurately, it’s a point of hierarchy.  What we do ought to be an extension of who we are … rather than who we are as an extension of what we do.

To be sure, there’s a part of us that will always be contextualized in our life.  I firmly believe that being mindful of one’s context is decidedly important.  But it’s also important to keep in mind the parts of you that stay no matter where you are or what you do.  I was an intern, a farmhand, a cashier, and student.  These experiences have impacted and influenced me … but never should define me.  Sometimes that’s hard (once an intern, always an intern) but the things that determine what I think, feel, dream, and do extend far more fundamentally than a means of income or career.

How we define ourselves with others and even more internally – how we define our self to our self – has always extended beyond our current activity.  Put another way, all that you have in common with another person should not be what you do when you are together.  A relationship built on the building of model airplanes (for example) is not much in the way of a solid foundation.  Much in the same way, your tastes, desires, passions, pursuits, and personality should not be molded and modeled after a preconceived idea.

Without such definition, externally and internally, it’s much harder to remember what really is important.  It is the mistaking of style for substance.

If you want to be a writer, write.  It’s not a matter of dress, posture, taste, or habit.  If you want to be a college student, do so.  It’s not a matter of dress, posture, taste, or habit.  If you want to be anything, there is a way that is consistent with that pursuit and your self … and a way that is more like an imperfect photocopy.  It is reminiscent of the actual thing, but too grainy to do anything more than hearken to its truer form.

You are not defined by what you do.  The fullest expression of who you are is not found in the outward trappings of an archetype, but in the careful and considered investigation of what you care about.  Do what you like, but be something beyond what you do.  After you’ve mastered that, be sure to tell me how.  This is more a lifelong process than a to-do item … much like all the important bits of life.

The truth of something is not contingent upon its freshness or newness.

Rather, the truth of something should be reflected by its consistency.  It’s so easy to get excited about a new idea or direction, but the true test of something is its lasting power.  I get excited about a lot of ideas.  I follow through on only a few.  I would call myself committed to even fewer than that.

We should be committed to the most important things.

In fact, the commitment to an idea or ideal over the long haul is often the most difficult part of our life.  Setting a trajectory of what one thinks is only a part of the struggle.  Taking the time and effort to set the habits and attitudes that reflect that trajectory, belief, and motivation is much more difficult.

In the face of such consistency, my difficulty is often one of complacency.  There are so many questions in life, sometimes rather than constantly seeking answers or developing the aforementioned habits, the questions become familiar.  It’s easier to just sit where you are than to put the effort into continued searching and striving.

The law of inertia applies to our mental and spiritual life.

As another college semester looms, I’ve been thinking about what it means to be halfway done with the experience.  There are so many changes, ideas, and possibilities that are new and fresh.  I want to be prepared to be constant in the long-term pursuit of such novelty.  There are so many aspects, beliefs, and ideas that are a part of my experiences already.  I want to keep them as vibrant and true as before.

Maintaining perspective on things in the context of time, contentment, complacency, and commitment is hard.  But I want to engage in that perspective as summer begins to wind to a close and the next chapter of my life begins.

I was never much of a mathematician.  I passed economic statistics with the consistent and helpful tutelage of my friends and several long sessions with the professor.  What I did learn, albeit slowly, was how to take a question, understand what the question was asking, and simply plug in the relevant numbers into the correct formula.  Really, I think part of my problem was boredom.  It’s difficult to find such repetitive tasks exciting … especially when I usually still got the answer wrong.  My difficulty was in comprehension and computation.

Life is not meant to be formulaic.

Too often we try to live our lives by a kind of majority-driven precedence.  We take the models of relationships, jobs, hobbies, habits, pursuits, and passions that we have encountered in all the bits of culture and try to overlay it on top of our lives.  Books, movies, music, in fact – all the good and bad parts of society that we have ever seen – all create this composite picture that can be quite good.  It’s failure ultimately does not lie in that formula’s worth as an idea … but as an application.

Every model for living life that is based upon what other people do (or often enough in movies and such, pretend to do) is that those people are not you. This is obviously distinct from a creed or code – which makes claims about the morality of actions.  What I am talking about is the tendency to take an action simply because it is an action that others have taken.  A formula or fantasy will ultimately break down in the face of experience and reality.

We shouldn’t try so hard to make our lives legitimate by fulfilling a formula that we miss out on the actual way we should live our life.  Love may not be a myth but love as it’s presented in movies is.  A meaningful life-pursuit may not be a myth, but a montage of training to achieve a goal is.  It’s so easy to be phony about what we do, that I think sometimes we’ve lost sight of what it means to be real.

The solution, of course, is not as simple as the recognition of formulas in our own lives.  This entire post is much more than a bleating cry for individualism.  It’s a reocnigtion that finding what you want – what you really want – is just as hard as finding the strength to pursue it consistently.