Tomorrow marks the beginning of a new chapter in my life as I progress from one realm to another, financially speaking anyway. I start my new job at a prompt (read: early) 7 am doing something I am wholly unaware of though totally keen on learning. I don't like waking up so early and this is going to just be something I learn to deal with over time and eventually, hopefully, I will be able to start my days a bit later.
There is, as always, a flip side to the whole ordeal however. Early to work means earlier to get home than usual. I'm suspect that most days I will be finished around perhaps 2 or 3 in the afternoon giving me mucho free-time during my evenings. My sleep will suffer more than anything, I am quite used to and happy with getting 8 to 9 hours a night and depending on how early I can actually force myself asleep I may only be getting 6 to 7 now. All in all, not too bad, I know people who get less sleep than that on a nightly basis but it's not in my nature.
Anyway, more meditation. I'm deeply excited to be starting a new career, something I think I may actively be able to refer as a career. I've had jobs in the past but nothing quite this significant. What makes a job into a career anyway? The pay? The hours? The people/connections? I believe it's a combination of all three plus the secret ingredient of enjoying the work. I'm thinking this new job could end up being something I really enjoy for both the work and the ulterior benefits as well. You know, the money, the free time, the travelling etc etc
Reality Grounded is my true baby though. I'm going to do what I need to grow into the new job and get a life established for myself and my wife. But on the side I'm going to be nurturing my creative side, feeding my ideas and working on them closely, micro-managing small details until they begin to blossom and grow and expand beyond my dreams. After such close care they grow so large they become a safety net just waiting for the time when I need them. After some time I make a bold leap forward and my net is there, stronger than ever and ready to whisk me away to happiness-land...
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
From Sparrow to Crow pt.1
One rather cold winter's day a new life was welcomed into the world. A little sparrow by the name of Atlas emerged from his sun bleached egg, squeaking and chirping, ready to take on the world. Unlike many other birds he was lucky enough to have both his mother and father stick around long enough to try and help him into his majestic flying adulthood.
Atlas was a rather average sparrow in terms of distinction; he had hatched with his father's brown fluffy feather and his mother's pearly white beak. Behind his cold black eyes however laid the intelligence of a bird far beyond that of his fellow hatchlings. His mother and father both lauded his intelligence as they were certain that he would bring great happiness to his nest. He quickly learned to fly and scavenge for insects while also developing an extraordinary habit of tidiness.
The nest he called home was always considerably cleaner than that of the other birds in the tree and much of what his own doing. He took great enjoyment in being a bit of a star amongst the other birds and tried his best not to let them down. One day however, he met his downfall after observing some of the older birds a few branches above him.
He wasn't always the most liked by the other sparrows his age, they saw him as an outcast with his impeccably white beak and his fluffy brown feathers. The others had darker beaks and their feathers so much more rough than his and they flaunted it in front of him. He began to retreat inside himself and stuck more closely to the family of birds in his nest while observing the other birds. He thought maybe if he did what the older birds did, that the sparrows his age would be more kind.
He watched as the older birds began to feed more freely on the food that people would drop for them instead of scavenging on insects like the others did. He watched how they would act in increasingly stupid ways to garner the attention of the humans and then how the humans took such enjoyment from it and fed them without any hesitation. One day he decided he too would feast upon the peoples gifts and hope to impress the other sparrows with his courageous and frivolous tricks.
He eventually worked up the courage to perform his first trick and immediately became hooked on the delicious morsels of bread and cake that the humans would leave for him. He kept it to himself at first, realizing that it was frowned upon, but eventually became too caught up in the game that his act was found out. His family was not happy with him and tried to reform him by forcing him to wait silently and wait for the bugs rather than feed upon the instant gratification of the people's food.
[to be continued]
Atlas was a rather average sparrow in terms of distinction; he had hatched with his father's brown fluffy feather and his mother's pearly white beak. Behind his cold black eyes however laid the intelligence of a bird far beyond that of his fellow hatchlings. His mother and father both lauded his intelligence as they were certain that he would bring great happiness to his nest. He quickly learned to fly and scavenge for insects while also developing an extraordinary habit of tidiness.
The nest he called home was always considerably cleaner than that of the other birds in the tree and much of what his own doing. He took great enjoyment in being a bit of a star amongst the other birds and tried his best not to let them down. One day however, he met his downfall after observing some of the older birds a few branches above him.
He wasn't always the most liked by the other sparrows his age, they saw him as an outcast with his impeccably white beak and his fluffy brown feathers. The others had darker beaks and their feathers so much more rough than his and they flaunted it in front of him. He began to retreat inside himself and stuck more closely to the family of birds in his nest while observing the other birds. He thought maybe if he did what the older birds did, that the sparrows his age would be more kind.
He watched as the older birds began to feed more freely on the food that people would drop for them instead of scavenging on insects like the others did. He watched how they would act in increasingly stupid ways to garner the attention of the humans and then how the humans took such enjoyment from it and fed them without any hesitation. One day he decided he too would feast upon the peoples gifts and hope to impress the other sparrows with his courageous and frivolous tricks.
He eventually worked up the courage to perform his first trick and immediately became hooked on the delicious morsels of bread and cake that the humans would leave for him. He kept it to himself at first, realizing that it was frowned upon, but eventually became too caught up in the game that his act was found out. His family was not happy with him and tried to reform him by forcing him to wait silently and wait for the bugs rather than feed upon the instant gratification of the people's food.
[to be continued]
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
My Thoughts on Online Identity
I don't know exactly what it was that got me thinking on the subject, doesn't take a lot to get me started though, but I've been going over different ideas for online identity in my mind all day.
It today's times where a person's life can tentatively be lived out on the internet, there is a need to build not only an online presence but a persistent online identity as well. The two concepts straddle a very fine line but I do feel there are distinguishable features between them.
An online identity is a core, an absolute finite representation of one's self in the ever evolving world of the internet. It represents who you are, whom you associate with and what you do.
Whereas an online presence, while also encompassing aforementioned online identity, goes beyond who you are. An online presence is you and what you create, a sphere of new-media and social cliques that at one point would have been unattainable by most.
Essentially your identity is the guy backstage rehearsing his lines and your presence is both you and the character you are playing. (Bad metaphor?)
So far, I haven't found one really great resource for actually creating such an identity online, there are great ways to create a presence. You can blog, you can create YouTube videos, take photos, Tweets and Wall Posts on Facebook; but where does your identity actually reside online?
I've been working on my presence for years, I have thousands of blog posts buried in the depths of the internet, multiple thousands of Tweets from the past 2 years, photos and artwork scattered about the likes of Flickr, TwitPic and DeviantArt but where am I? I suppose with so many little pieces of me spewed about that if one were to gather it all up you could maybe define some sense of who I am but it just won't be quite the same.
I don't know if there will ever be a definite answer to such an issue as this, as little as an issue it may seem to be, right now. I do predict that online identity and the self will become a greater topic of discussion in the coming future. One day people may truly live online. For now, well, we'll just have to keep embarrassing ourselves, putting potential employment opportunities at risk, degrading our sense of self worth, living in pseudo-anonymity while exposing our secrets to the world, playing white-knight, trolling...etc...etc...etc
It today's times where a person's life can tentatively be lived out on the internet, there is a need to build not only an online presence but a persistent online identity as well. The two concepts straddle a very fine line but I do feel there are distinguishable features between them.
An online identity is a core, an absolute finite representation of one's self in the ever evolving world of the internet. It represents who you are, whom you associate with and what you do.
Whereas an online presence, while also encompassing aforementioned online identity, goes beyond who you are. An online presence is you and what you create, a sphere of new-media and social cliques that at one point would have been unattainable by most.
Essentially your identity is the guy backstage rehearsing his lines and your presence is both you and the character you are playing. (Bad metaphor?)
So far, I haven't found one really great resource for actually creating such an identity online, there are great ways to create a presence. You can blog, you can create YouTube videos, take photos, Tweets and Wall Posts on Facebook; but where does your identity actually reside online?
I've been working on my presence for years, I have thousands of blog posts buried in the depths of the internet, multiple thousands of Tweets from the past 2 years, photos and artwork scattered about the likes of Flickr, TwitPic and DeviantArt but where am I? I suppose with so many little pieces of me spewed about that if one were to gather it all up you could maybe define some sense of who I am but it just won't be quite the same.
I don't know if there will ever be a definite answer to such an issue as this, as little as an issue it may seem to be, right now. I do predict that online identity and the self will become a greater topic of discussion in the coming future. One day people may truly live online. For now, well, we'll just have to keep embarrassing ourselves, putting potential employment opportunities at risk, degrading our sense of self worth, living in pseudo-anonymity while exposing our secrets to the world, playing white-knight, trolling...etc...etc...etc
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Wondrous Beauty of Life pt.2
Picking up where I left off in regards to what the new job will hold in store for me.
Thirdly, travel, the new job will involve lots and lots of travel around the greater Phoenix area which will work nicely with my sister blog AZ Rogue Travels.
Fourth, solitude, aside from all other things listed previously I will most likely enjoy this one above all. I will not only be making more money and travelling more often but I will be working on my own most of the time. I will be dealing with customers on a daily basis but as far as coworkers go, there will be little to no interaction. I work best on my own and this will prove to be the perfect job for me.
Moving on from the wonders of the new job I'd like to post a tidbit on some plans I have for Reality Grounded here. When things really start to settle down and I start to have more free time I am planning on starting a bi-monthly podcast. I don't really have many plans on what I will be doing with said 'cast but I'm thinking just a free-form whatever the hell I want sort of deal. It will be co-hosted by myself and my lovely wife-to-be.
I've been looking into necessary equipment to produce something of decent quality and have ultimately decided upon the purchase of a new Mac-mini to delegate strictly to my pursuit in creating an online media network.
Ultimately the plan is to work not only the blogs and podcast but also create more videos for the YouTube side of things, start a webcomic and more. It may seem a little all over the place but I really would love to take things further and maybe even create some sort of job/money for myself in the process.
That's all for now. I may post up something a little different later on tonight.
Thirdly, travel, the new job will involve lots and lots of travel around the greater Phoenix area which will work nicely with my sister blog AZ Rogue Travels.
Fourth, solitude, aside from all other things listed previously I will most likely enjoy this one above all. I will not only be making more money and travelling more often but I will be working on my own most of the time. I will be dealing with customers on a daily basis but as far as coworkers go, there will be little to no interaction. I work best on my own and this will prove to be the perfect job for me.
Moving on from the wonders of the new job I'd like to post a tidbit on some plans I have for Reality Grounded here. When things really start to settle down and I start to have more free time I am planning on starting a bi-monthly podcast. I don't really have many plans on what I will be doing with said 'cast but I'm thinking just a free-form whatever the hell I want sort of deal. It will be co-hosted by myself and my lovely wife-to-be.
I've been looking into necessary equipment to produce something of decent quality and have ultimately decided upon the purchase of a new Mac-mini to delegate strictly to my pursuit in creating an online media network.
Ultimately the plan is to work not only the blogs and podcast but also create more videos for the YouTube side of things, start a webcomic and more. It may seem a little all over the place but I really would love to take things further and maybe even create some sort of job/money for myself in the process.
That's all for now. I may post up something a little different later on tonight.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
The Wondrous Beauty of Life
As I seem to write more often than not, I've been too busy with so much else going on write now that I haven't had much time to devote to actually writing. It really makes me sad, I need to practice as often as I can find which is very rare these days. With that out of the way though, there is some big news going on, I have recently signed on for a new job which equals a few major things for me.
Firstly, job security. I will no longer have much to worry about in regards to keeping my job. Assuming I am able to do it well (I guarantee I will) then there is not much to worry about there.
Secondly, financial security. This one should probably make top of the list but whatever, here goes, I will be making close to 3 times the amount I have been at my current place of employment which is fantastic! No longer will I need to worry about making rent/bills but I will even have a little extra cash on the side to invest in some new equipment to further this whole blog thing.
More to come later.
Firstly, job security. I will no longer have much to worry about in regards to keeping my job. Assuming I am able to do it well (I guarantee I will) then there is not much to worry about there.
Secondly, financial security. This one should probably make top of the list but whatever, here goes, I will be making close to 3 times the amount I have been at my current place of employment which is fantastic! No longer will I need to worry about making rent/bills but I will even have a little extra cash on the side to invest in some new equipment to further this whole blog thing.
More to come later.
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