A year and a thought

Another year has said goodbye. In reflection I'm not sure how to rate it. Mostly good I think. It scares me to think of how fast it passed by. It seems like just yesterday Leslie and Ellie were out to celebrate Christmas and New Years. The super bowl is also right around the corner and it's hard to believe Brian/Helen were out to visit then. 1 year in time. As for me I'm still trying to co-exist with myself in some fashion between harmony/sorrow/anger/happiness. You know, life. Nobody gets out alive. Balancing emotions tied to memories in a world that mostly seems to be going so fast. I heard a quote yesterday from a movie and it says, 'Every day is a new problem to solve'. Time, loss and problem resolution. This leads me to something else that I recently discovered on the Biography channel.....A biography of Silo(pen name) who spoke of Existentialism and Humanism. To make a short story even shorter is that it struck me so powerfully that I began to see myself and the people I know in slightly different ways. In ways that don't define right/wrong. Each of us has to make sense of this place while we are here. I suppose I've always seen people mostly this way but now I had a real definition. When I look at my friends and myself we all do it differently. Having this belief allows people the wiggle room they need to find meaning without judging them so harshly. It seems that society as I know it wants to define what our life's meaning should be and I say, Bullshit!. Society doesn't like it if you're not wearing the right jeans, playing the popular music and worshiping the same god but my friends don't seem to mind. A lot of people think you're going straight to hell if you don't believe exactly as they do. How does this make for a compassionate person if you think the other 3/4 of the world is going to burn regardless of which extreme belief you choose. How can you worship a god who would do this? Ohhh nooo, something is wrong with you if you happen to show weakness as well. I'll be the 1st to confess that each loss I suffer at this point carries some of the weight of the ones before it. I didn't realize how powerful this was until December 2nd which is the day I had to put Reily down. I can't imagine what a young solider has to deal with trying to resolve what he/she has seen with a world that mostly cannot know. If you've made it this far chances are you've lost some loved ones, lost jobs, lost confidence and you will be weak at times. Maybe with the economy changing we will come together and help each other a little more. Silo seems to think that people will come together regardless of the institutions that fail and I hope he's right. Cheers to my friends for being the individuals that you are.

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Existentialism - A Definition
Existentialism in the broader sense is a 20th century philosophy that is centered upon the analysis of existence and of the way humans find themselves existing in the world. The notion is that humans exist first and then each individual spends a lifetime changing their essence or nature.

In simpler terms, existentialism is a philosophy concerned with finding self and the meaning of life through free will, choice, and personal responsibility. The belief is that people are searching to find out who and what they are throughout life as they make choices based on their experiences, beliefs, and outlook. And personal choices become unique without the necessity of an objective form of truth. An existentialist believes that a person should be forced to choose and be responsible without the help of laws, ethnic rules, or traditions.

Another definition: A philosophy that emphasizes the uniqueness and isolation of the individual experience in a hostile or indifferent universe, regards human existence as unexplainable, and stresses freedom of choice and responsibility for the consequences of one's acts.