Musings

I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo. "So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” -The Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien It is a very strange feeling, living through a moment in time that promises such a large set of ramifications. Without going into too much detail, the butterfly effect of the events of July 13th, 2024 seem almost assured  to echo far into the future, let alone casting a large shadow over the upcoming election this November. Despite ever increasing levels of gun violence in America, a serious assassination attempt on the life of a Presidential candidate hasn't been seen since the Reagan era. Perhaps it's a wonder something like this didn't happen sooner. While without a doubt it has been a whirlwind couple of years, amplified by the interconnectedness of all media these days and the in...

  For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? - 1 Corinthians 2:11 It is one of the most regrettable conditions of existence that man is an island unto himself. We live among one another, sympathizing and empathizing, yet the minds of others are altogether unknowable. A movie or book might be lauded as "relatable" because it provides what so many of us desperately desire, a window into the mind of another that reassures us that we're not so different after all. It is human nature to crave the satisfaction of knowing we are not alone in our foibles, and it is also human nature to fear deep down that we are the only one who thinks the way that we do. It is the latter delusion that I find myself laboring under far too often, and it is for that reason that I have decided to write about my particular neuroses here, in hopes that someone out there will read it and be validated in the way I have described. The only cure for loneliness of the...