Swearing

Swearing.

We all do it.

Some more than others.

I swear a hell of a lot, especially in speech-mimicking text (for example, Twitter) and in real life.

People who think swearing is a sign of a lack of intelligence are completely misguided. To me, that is like saying Americans cannot drive because they use the right hand side of the road instead of the left. It's not wrong; it's just a different way of going about it.

The same can be applied to language. People who swear can make the same fucking point, if not a stronger one, as one who does not use profanities.

See. Using a profanity as an adjective draws attention to it and makes you acknowledge it in a blog that has been deliberately designed to be dull.

I feel swearing demands attention and this may intimidate people; however, overuse has left us somewhat accustomed to this. Excessive use can detract from the original point but occasional usage shouldn't be taboo, should it?

I think, in modern language especially, it is important. When writing, a character can be defined by the words they use. Time is moving on and we need to accept this. Culture is evolving and swearing is just part of this evolution. Obviously, it shouldn't get out of hand (like swearing in a school environment) but it shouldn't be frowned upon and scrutinised as much as it is now.

I could go into the origin of profanities but I don't think it is relevant to my point. I just want people to accept that swearing is not a solid base to judge someone's intelligence.

In summary, you can be smart and say shit.

A New Direction?

Once again, I am in the position where I cannot turn to anyone, so I turn to my dear old friend cyberspace.

I've been thinking about taking a new direction in my life. The road I am currently walking on isn’t working for me, despite my best efforts to try and keep a steady pace. Nothing seems to be working for me and, it’s not that I don’t care anymore, it’s more. I am passed caring. It seems everything is objective to me now. I can’t relate to people, things, events and I’m sure this is a symptom of stress but I can’t help feeling that I am in some way broken. 

Even though I’m not. 

I don’t think.

The only problem is, as I’m sure you are aware of being in similar positions yourself, that a new direction is one that is completely different to where you are heading now. And that is scary and intimidating and a little bit sexy.

Because the unknown is always alluring.

I find myself on my current path, not through choice as it should be, but rather forced by circumstance. We are raised from a young age that there should be a strict progression to successful life:

School – High school – Post 16 – Higher Education – Job.

Given my experience in the field, I am more than qualified to stick a huge middle finger up to that entire idea. This path is only in place because it has been taught by those with experience of it; they have lived their lives through this route. Yes, there may be some deviation on the way, but roughly everyone follows the same path.

What they don’t understand is that this isn’t the only path. And this path doesn’t work for everyone.

The point of this post is to convince myself, and you, that no matter where you are or how lost you feel, there is always a path to destination that would suit you but you need to brave enough to make the decision to deviate from the main road.

Time and Chaos

I wanted to talk to someone but there is no one. So, I decided to talk to everyone. Hello, Internet. My name is James and I am a real boy with real thoughts.

As a teenager, you exist in a state of what seems to be eternal disorder and confusion.

Nothing seems to make sense yet everything is organised. Life, to me, seems to be a jumble of structured chaos. Part of me loves this galaxy of disorganisation but an equal, and opposite, part of me detests it and longs for order and a logical system of progression.

Often, life is in flux between these two states and is never explicitly one or the other. Instead, I see it as a pendulum swaying in the void. Some points are more structured. Some points are less structured.

I find myself longing for the less structured moments. In my opinion, these are the more exciting. Evens in my life are mapped out before I have even thought of taking them as an option: University starting dates, University finishing dates, coursework topics and lecturers.

We are trapping ourselves in the one thing we have no control over. 

Time.

We can’t control time. We never will be able to. We are just forever plodding on into this unknown called ‘the future’ without the faintest possibility of going back. Of course we can guess because of the more structured moments but there is that glimmer of wonderful spontaneity that gives us all that little kick and makes us feel alive.

Time is finite.

One day it will run out and no one can escape this.

I also believe time is a concept that we attribute meaning to. I found this by walking through a graveyard today and seeing the dates on the tombstones. Fourteen year olds are resting next to seventy years olds.

Even if nobody ever reads this, I will feel closure on these thoughts. Just to express them to a wider audience than my own brain gives me a reassuring sense of self-longing and contentedness.

(I didn’t know contentedness was a word. Now I do.)

In short, we worry too much about the future and not enough about the present.

This entire thought process stemmed from me being a little bit jealous. I thought to myself “Why am I jealous now? I will have my entire life to be jealous and my jealousy won’t change it the first place. I need to accept this and move on with my life.”

Accepting is part of life.

If you can’t change something then don’t work yourself up about it. Don’t get upset, or jealous or dragged down.

Just accept it.

Although people have said this to me before, my own mind brought me to this idea. I now feel as if I understand what these people were saying to me and I’d like to tell you that, if you are feeling the same as I am, you will have an epiphany similar to mine soon.