"The Blank Document"

It's Effie.

This is a satirical poem I wrote a few weeks ago. To understand it, copy and paste it into a blank Word document.

The Blank Document 

I wrote this poem to apologize.

To apologize for the empty calories you are feeding your brain

As you read this poem

That means absolutely nothing.

The cosmos cry out

For their meaning is taken away

By a single breath

Of this nonsense poem

That means, in total, nothing.

I truly do apologize for this

Because your life will be forever and irrevocably changed

After you read this poem

That, in truth, means nothing.

It’s fitting, is it not?

To write a meaningless poem

On a document supposedly blank

Yet filled with the futile words of this poem

This poem that is the very definition of nothing.

I don’t know why I wrote it –

Was it to satisfy some unvoiced need in the pit of my soul?

Was it to express the meaning of meaninglessness?

Either way,

I will stop immediately

For two pages of a poem so hopelessly hollow

Are two pages too many. 

I'm sorry. What am I doing with my life.

Have a wonderful, meaningful day. :)


~ Effie

You're not reading correctly.

At least that's what Beth Green tells me...

In an article for Huffington Post, Beth Green wrote about how wrong we are in interpreting the Bible and other sacred texts (Read the article HERE).

First, let me give you some background on the lady: "Beth is working tirelessly to help wake us up to reality through her teachings". This is from her website. The description goes on, "Beth believes that we need spirituality more than ever, but spirituality is not a set of dogmas and beliefs, scriptures and prejudices."

Let that speak for itself... Now, bear with me.

To a certain extent, I give it to her: We are experts in misinterpreting sacred texts. That's why we have so many branches of religions today.

But I find her reasons for reanalyzing our look at sacred texts (what she called "comments about religious texts") a bit unsettling.

1. "Even if you believe that God is the author of the 'holy' books, that doesn't mean that the channels through which God spoke had perfect powers of reception." True statement. I actually have no problem with this. The ten commandments were written by God's own hands, but as far as I know, everything else in the Bible was written through God's servants - those who were inspired by Him.
As a Christian myself, I do believe that the Bible was written with God's words. But that's not the point here... So I'll leave it up to you to dwell on her statement.
But do keep reading!

2. "If there is a God, he/she is not necessarily unchanging and immutable." BIG WHOA. If God is not unchanging, then do we really know who He is? This is the entire basis of Christianity (and I believe any other belief system): that God was, is, and always will be that same guidance that we seek in religion.
Christianity teaches that God loves you. Now, if God was "mutable," how sure are you of His love? How sure are you that He still cares about this Earth? If God was changeable, I don't think He would put up with our race for thousands of years... Seriously, we go to war over which part of the square we can call ours. We're like toddlers.
Beth, your audience here is the population that still believes in sacred texts. You are calling them to re-evaluate their interpretations. If they believe in sacred texts, they believe in God. Your second comment here goes right over the top of their heads. God is not changeable. If He was, He would be one of us. And if He was one of us, He wouldn't be God.

3. "Even if God doesn't change fundamentally, can't God change his/her mind?" No. That would also make Him like us. And it would also make any sacred scriptures invalid because - well, God changed His mind about that law! I guess you can forget "love thy neighbor"! Just love the neighbor that you like most. That'll do. God's become a minimalist too, because that's the new trend. (Sorry, I can't help my sarcasm...)

"On top of books and documents, we can use tradition, public opinion, majority rule, 'everybody knows' and collective perpetuated prejudice to legitimize beliefs and behaviors, no matter how negative the consequences of these beliefs and behaviors. Yet we know, all these change in time as well."

Yes, trends, morals, and society change. Just take a look at history! That's exactly why we should not allow popular belief to shape our principles. That's what a belief system is: a set of principles that should apply to any point in time for the good of the people.
At the same time, I understand she's expressing the idea that traditions shape our beliefs and that sometimes we just believe what we believe because we've been brought up that way, or because society has taught us to look at it this way. I think this is dangerous as well.
On this point, we are on the same page. If you don't understand why you've acquired those beliefs, then you should search for an answer.

So, Beth, I agree with you. We should read our sacred texts and analyze them according to time period and how it should apply to our lives. Not everything is literal. There are chapters and chapters in the Bible that are symbolic! There is no way we can understand God and His laws/principles/advices if we don't analyze it for ourselves.

But no, Beth, God doesn't change and neither does He change His mind - and you're lucky about that. For that reason you still have a chance to see heaven.

Thanks for bearing with me. Let me know what you think of mine and Green's ideas! I'd love to get different views on this.

B.

Who am I?

Hello again! It's Effie.

I think this question is overlooked way too often. In my opinion, it's important to know who you are. It's been bugging me very much these past few months, so much so that it's almost always in the back of my mind.

The reason I'm so dissatisfied is that it's such a complicated question. Am I just a pile of skin, bones, muscle, and fat? It has to be deeper than that. I can think, I can rationalize, I can be. That has to mean something.

The problem is that there really isn't a fixed answer for this - at least for me, there isn't. I strongly believe that everyone is capable of learning and changing, and that they do this all the time. I am constantly changing, not just because I am rather fickle, but because I am always learning and discovering new things. These things change me, and I'm sure they change you, too.

So who am I, really?

I don't know. I guess all I can do is wait and see what life has in store for me. I've heard of all the wonderful things time can do for you. I'm sure "it will get better", and hopefully I'll get out of this rut.

If you have an idea of how to answer this question, please tell me before my sister gets tired of critiquing all of my dramatic "Who am I?"-themed poems.

~ Effie <3

Would you go barefoot for a day?

Monterey Bay, California, USA

Not just at the beach like I did in my picture...But would you go barefoot for a day in Los Angeles? In Manhattan? In Chicago? Even in your own town?

Most of us are blessed enough to have shoes to walk in everyday.
But some kids are born into situations they can't help... they have no choice but to walk without shoes.

 

But... Toms to the rescue!
From May 5-21, Toms is giving you an opportunity to help these kids. 

Take a picture of your bare feet and post it on Instagram with #WithoutShoes. For every picture, they will give out a pair of shoes to someone in need!

Post a picture and make a difference. Simple, easy, but still an awesome awareness idea.

Remember to be grateful for your shoes today.

B ✌

 

#WithoutShoes by Toms.

I love community colleges!

It was National Decision Day for high school seniors on Friday. It inspired me to write about how much I love community colleges.
I will tell you why.
My journey to and through a community college was unusual and involves more than just academics... Here is the story.

I graduated from high school after junior year and went straight to a community college. I was at the top of my class, with a high GPA, honors, awards, and all the works. Going to a community college was not what anyone had in mind looking at my high school years.

But I went to a community college.

The reason why I left early was a mixture of personal circumstances which I won't get into here. And I actually regretted going that route until a couple of months ago.

I was not mature enough to go away to college. I was going to apply to a bunch of schools away from home - far away from home. Living on my own would mean that I would have to balance a very heavy school load, extra-curricular activities (let me spill it to ya: I do not know how to say no), a social life, and taking care of myself in every other aspect that living entails. I was most definitely not ready for it. And one year of high school wouldn't have added much to it considering the previous three years.

I learned so much at a community college.

I learned to take things seriously and I learned that things aren't handed to me - I have to work for it. This is something I heard all the time in high school, but I put none of it to practice until college.

I refined my interests. Only now I can say that I know what I want to do with my life. High school is such a self-centered time of life that you just get a sense of what you want to do. Whether those interests change or not, their reasons will change in college. This is simply because you're exposed to so much more.

I learned my own style of learning. It can be by reading, listening, speaking, singing, drawing, writing, or however else. But you have to know how information is easily stored in your brain.

I learned that things take time. We're often rushed to just finish school, whether we know what we want to study or not. That is not the best way to go. If you don't know what you want to do, why would you waste 40 grand a year to figure it out? Community college classes offer a lot of variety for exploration. And if you started something and didn't like it, don't go on. You have to love what you do. Even if it takes you more than four years.

By no means do I mean "switch majors every time you don't like that specific class you have to take to graduate." That would be like me giving up on medicine because I hated the chemistry classes (I didn't, I actually really like chemistry). I'm not actually going to use chemistry in so much depth in medicine, so why would I give up if it's just a step towards my goal? That calculus class may be hard, but if you love building things and making them come to life, keep going in your engineering pathway! The chemistry class may be ridiculous, but if you love nature and you want to major in Environmental studies, keep at it. I guess I mean to say that I learned perseverance.

With this long post, I don't mean to say that I think high school isn't a great experience. High school is so important in finding who you are. But I do want to emphasize that high school is not enough experience for someone to say "I'm an adult now, I'm moving across the country to go to the university of my dreams."

I had a professor who just worked and "screwed off" (in his own language) for three years after high school before he went on with his education. When he went to college, he began with an AA, then he graduated from a university with two majors and two minors - IN FOUR YEARS. Overall, six years to get all of that. That's a short period of time considering a lot of college students get their single degree in the same amount of time. He took it seriously. What's the difference? He was mature. He had time to experience life farther than just high school. The result was someone who took opportunities as they should be taken.

Students don't take it seriously because they don't see the value in it. It may not be their faults... But they're paying the price for it anyway. College degrees don't guarantee you'll land your dream job. It takes you being serious about your goals. And most high school seniors going off to college in a few months are not ready to take all of it seriously.

The good thing is that college itself - whether at a community college or a university - is a life-lesson. We'll learn whether we want to or not. The difference is the attitude transfer students and freshman have towards education. Freshmen sometimes go to college because they want to live a college life - not necessarily get an education. Transfers have decided that this higher education is what they need, and they've made efforts to get into a university to reach their goals.

One caution tip: I think we should have a cap in the years we stay at a community college. Staying there too long gives you a sense of settlement. Kind of like, "I'm good with an AA, I don't need to go any higher. I mean, I have a job and everything!" I think education is too valuable to be thought of this way. If you can get a Bachelors, get one! And the more you delay it, the more likely it is to acquire this mindset!

Even with this, there are so many benefits to community colleges... I don't think everyone should go to a community college first. There are many high school seniors who can quickly adapt to the college environment beyond the social aspect. But there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with going to a community college first.

So instead of looking down on those who go to a community college, encourage them. Going there is only a step to a larger goal. For some, starting there is a huge step. Congratulate them on their choice the same way you congratulate your friends who chose to go to the big four-years. And continue to cheer them on just as much as - if not more than - those who go straight to a university.

Signed,

B, a grateful community college student.

A Late Hello From the Little Sister!

To those who were anticipating my introduction, I am so very sorry. I tend to put off these things until the last minute.

Also, my sister accidentally deleted my previous post. THANKS, B. YOU'RE THE BEST. Just kidding, I forgive you.

Anyway, I sincerely hope you enjoy reading our posts. I plan on addressing various topics in mine, including (but not in any way limited to):
Music
Reading/Writing/Books
Interesting experiences
Cats
Procrastination
My interesting/strange quirks

A few things about me:

• I love reading, and I'm a fast reader. I haven't picked up an actual book lately, but I'll get around to it. I can't stay away for too long. And besides, I read things every day... just not necessarily books.
• I speak two languages, but I'm currently learning another one... and I hope to learn at least two more in my lifetime.
• Hello! Oh... was that late? Well, I warned you in the title.
• I love animals. They are just so fascinating! They took up a huge chunk of my time when I was younger. I researched so much about them and pestered B with all my newly acquired knowledge. You can ask her. She remembers.
• I am an introvert. I'd rather hang out in the park alone than to have a movie night with friends.
• I play the clarinet, bass clarinet, flute, and I am learning the piano. I hated playing the clarinet.
• I love writing. I usually try to write/type something every day.

Thank you for reading this. I really do appreciate it :)

~ Effie

California...

There are so many reasons to love California...
And when I say that, I don't mean economically or politically. That's a whole different ball game.
But California, in my travel-ignorance, is one of the most beautiful places in the world!
 

If you like the beach, California's got it.
If you like mountains, California's got it.
If you like rocks, California's got it.
If you like desert, California's got it.
If you like trees galore, California's got the largest tree in the world.
 

My point is: there's something for everyone in this beautiful state!
Though I haven't been to half the places I want to go in California, the views I've had the privilege of witnessing are stunning:

Yosemite National Park,
the Redwoods,
the Seqouias,
the Sierra Nevada,
Monterey Bay,
San Francisco,
the towns that place you back in time, like Columbia and old Sacramento,
and that beautiful coast that makes you want to stare for ages!!!
 

And let's be honest, there aren't many things more relaxing than sitting on the sand and listening to those waves. Best part of California beaches is that it's not cold in off seasons, but not full of people like in the summer... it's blissful!
 

If you haven't added California to your travel list yet, do so!! You won't regret it.

Why do you love Cali?
 

B
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