Tuesday, March 13, 2007

In Charge of my Own Happiness

This is something that I've been thinking about for a while, and it's really gotten into the core of who I am.. though I don't always apply it. It's the truth that outside influences aren't always the ones involved in our happiness, that infact much of it is eternal. We often fall into outside influences and obstacles that trip up our emotions, but ultimately what decides if we acknowledge said emotion is what is going on up in your head. Meaning that irrations like "stress" or "boredom" can be countered (not easily I might add) by your own mental will.

I have had alot of experiences where I just give up, and hope someone else will clean up my mess. I'm human, I do that. But let's look at this from a mental perspective. I had a choice to choose to finish what I started, or to push it on someone else and walk out. I could have choosen the "pure path", meaning doing what I knew was right.. but instead I choose the path most tread, the "path of irresponsibility". But I could have been perfectly happy doing the work if I had set myself up mentally to do it, and look at it from a different perspective.

See, what usually helps is my relating it to a good video game. You often have to trudge through alot of leveling up and making sacrifices in order to reach your goal of beating it. Ultimately, that is what life is like. Even though you may not enjoy certain elements, that doesn't mean that the reward won't be well worth it in the end. Especially when with an adjusted mind-set, even some of the most every-day chores can be more rewarding then anything else you experience that day. I remember a day when I cleaned up all of the bathrooms for my mother, even though I personally hated the work. But in the end, I felt really great about it. She thanked me, and I had made her life slightly easier just by using two hours of my free-time to help her. Not only did I feel great, but it was one of the most rewarding things I had done that entire week. Remembering that state of mind, the next few times I cleaned the bathroom seemed much easier and enjoyable then they usually were. Why? Because I was in control of the emotinal output, by supplying myself with the feeling. Not neccesairly an outside influence, but something that happened within myself.

It's really a shame how little you see this kind of behavior in people. How often does it actually happen within ourselves? Not very often, I know. But.. haven't we been given this gift of life for a reason. Aren't we gifted with this thing so we can be the best person we can be? Yes.. but we often forget about the passion that drives us, getting caught up in the daily grind. But wait! Don't think of it as a grind! Think of it as an oppurtinity. You see, I believe that no matter who you are, you can find some means of being happy. It may be harder for some then others, but if they manage to find the inner strenght within themselves.. they can find happiness. They may just be looking in the wrong place.

Sunday, March 11, 2007

The Process of Writing a Fan Fiction

I think everyone is well aware with my recent fascination with Japanese animation (also known as anime). I don't know exactly what it is, but the mix of unique animation and serialised situations is incredibly gripping. A few months ago I was watching the Fullmetal Alchemist movie, and I thought it was quite entertaining. But there was so much lost potential. The ending really leaves you longing for a spin-off, but the creators have it quite clear that the movie is the offical ending to the series. This led me of course to one of my "If I Was the Director" thought sessions. I ended up with this very rough version of what I thought would be an interesting sequel to the series. This ended up being my fan fiction.

Then I started to realise just how difficult it is to fine tune an orginal plot within an already well established world with a very particular set of rules. So... I tweaked some stuff around. To say the very least. But it's ultimately stuff they would have added and tweaked around if they were going to make a sequel anyways. So ha! I win!

Anyways, I've only finished the first three chapters. Chapter 4 is still in the works, and is probably going to be the least dramatic chapter yet.. meaning that it's gonna be very difficult to write. Writing for greatly dramatic scenes usually comes very easily to me, but writing for the softer/quieter aspects of the story is usually more difficult. Part of the reason why I've been putting off writing my novel (that I started about a year ago and never finished). The responses have actually been really positive, so I'm actually going to try and finish this one. The later chapters are going to be a real trip, I've got some crazy ideas on how implement the show's main characters back into the story (there aren't any at the begginning of the story). So yeah, it's gonna be exciting! And now, I should really do something constructive instead of blogging about my geek life. Peace!

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Bleach: The Rock Musical

Okay, just the other night I discovered something magical. Something profound.. something that I think will truly change my life forever. I am of course speaking of "The Bleach Rock Musical". A Japan only musical based off of one of my favorite all-time anime cartoons. Let me just say that the moment I found out about it, I was having massive "geek attacks". They're kind of like heart attacks, just with subtitles and lightsabers (all the nerds know what I'm talking about). So anyways, the entire premise is really quite cool. Take one of the best anime cartoons out there, and translate the first sixty or so episodes into a musical ala "Rent" or "We Will Rock You". Sounds like a train wreck right? Well, it kind of is. And that's what makes it so compelling!

If you're a fan of the show, you have to see this. Even if you hate musicals, you have to see this! Even if the thought of Ichigo singing sappy rock ballads makes you throw up a little, you still have to see this! Just watch the clip below, you'll understand.



Somewhere in geek heaven, someone came up with this. To that man.. I thank you!