Trepidations

Oh boy.
Now that the GRE has been taken, I have the daunting task of applying for various fellowships, grants, and graduate schools. It's not so much the task of filling out forms or writing personal statements that I find arduous; it's more the fact that, little by little, I find my childhood slipping away as I head down the road to adulthood and responsibility.
With the combination of the end of some of my childhood favorites (Harry Potter, Smallville, etc.) and the inauspicious addition of impending graduate school, it seems that my future is hitting me at full force without allowing me to gently ease into it. I suppose though that anything inevitable always comes at full force; the only difference between how it hits us is our perception of it, I suppose.
Who am I to complain though? I am simply going through the same process that every human being has ever gone through and will go through until either the end of time or our species evolves into incorporeal forms of matter. Like many of my brethren, I feel like I'm not ready.
I feel like my childhood was not a childhood, but rather a shove into adulthood. My undergraduate college years feel as if every day has passed and little has been achieved. I'm not ready. I'm afraid.
I suppose that's why I related so well to Harry Potter. He never had the typical childhood, and neither did I. Unlike me, however, he shouldered the burden put on him to defeat Lord Voldemort.
I guess that makes the struggles before me my own personal Dark Lord. And just like in Harry, my struggles are too a part of my soul. Perhaps it's time to batten down the hatches and charge full-force at this malevolent apparition before me. I can overcome it. I am stronger than the struggles of my own creation.

Here's to hoping it doesn't take the destruction of Hogwarts for me to move forward.

Best,
DF

"God is Love"

Sorry I have not posted anything in a while; I've been working on a political campaign.

I recently came across the idiom "God is Love," which I believe refers to a requited loving relationship between the biblical God and his (or it's, because why would God have a gender?) worshipers, i.e. if you promise to love God, he/she/it/them will love you in return. Instead, I began thinking about this phrase in what could be it's most literal meaning: God, or a belief in God, is in fact love.

I suppose I'll have to have a different definition of love than is typically adhered to; love, in this sense, would represent a feeling or acknowledgement of belonging and acceptance regardless of personal or physical faults, traits that are often mocked or scorned in society. The fact (as claimed by proselytizers) that God would accept a person regardless of their downfalls is a comfortable feeling, almost like being wrapped up in the arms of a lover. That someone, whether they are a supernatural deity or not, is willing to accept the totality of a person means that those who consider themselves faulty will have some chance at redemption, since God is all-forgiving and understanding (at least in some beliefs).

Thus, the feeling of embracing the notion of a God is one of love- acceptance, comfort, a jovial quid pro quo of love and forgiveness.

One would wonder whether this would set a bad precedent, i.e. if one's relationships always fail, there is always the love of the intangible God to fall back upon. Does that mean that instead of attempting to improve one's acknowledged faults, one would simply turn towards the comfort of a supernatural being? Does this negate human love in any way? Would a love (a true love instead of a superficial one that many hold) of God require a diligent and constant devotion towards maintaining the preternatural relationship? There are too many open-ended questions for my taste.

Being the ardently Socialist-Communist-Jedi-Lennonist (not misspelled) Atheist that I am, the consideration of a relationship with an omnipotent being doesn't concern me. I go about my life as anyone else- seeking comfort, warmth, love, friendship, happiness, prosperity, etc. If I do, mazel tov; if not, tough luck.

Anyway, there's my two cents on that. In other news, I need to study for the GREs. They're in a month. Hooray.

That's all for now,
Das Flüg

Dumb de dumb dumb

Well, my life seems to have hit a jetstream and accelerated at warp speed. Worrying about internships, GRE, senior thesis, grad school, jobs, and my future in general is beginning to smack me in the face like a giant GRE practice book. I've been falling behind in my reading, the news, and my life in general. I guess that's inevitable anyway.

If you want my thoughts on Libya, just click here.

If you want to see good stuff, click here.

I'm applying for an internship at CBS news, either in DC or in NY. Here's hoping that I can get it.

That's all for now,
Das Flüg