The Reason For The Season

Happy holidays! What? I didn't say, "Merry Christmas!" I must be a part of the supposed war on Christmas. You can't tell but my eyes are rolling deep into the back of my head. The Christmas season brings about wonderful things. It's a time of giving, a time for family, and a time for so many to get extremely butt-hurt if the Starbucks barista didn't wish them a merry Christmas. To some, there is a war declared on Christmas but Christ is the reason for the season so everyone needs to back the F off and leave our Christian holiday alone! I have no problem with celebrating Christmas. What I do have a problem with is when these Christians assert things that are actually false and then act like a dick to someone who was just trying to wish them a happy holiday season no matter what they believe.

First of all, Christmas is not the only holiday observed in the month of December. When companies ask their employees to wish people "Happy holidays," they are not declaring war on Christians or Christmas. These companies realize that there are consumers who celebrate Christmas, Hanuka, Kwanzaa, etc. and they don't want to exclude anyone so hence asking employees to say the "happy holidays," line instead of just "Merry Christmas," which some may not celebrate.

But Jesus Christ is the REASON for the SEASON! Well, sort of, but honestly the reason for the season was technically the sun not the Son. The first mention of December 25th being called Christmas occurred in A.D. 324. Before that December 25th was a Roman holiday called, "Dies Natali Invitus" or "The Birth of the Unconquered." It was the birthday of the Roman sun god. Well it's Jesus' birthday too! Actually, not at all. We don't actually know the day the Jesus was born but we know what month and it wasn't December but rather September. So how did a day honoring the birthday of the Roman sun god become the day we celebrate the birthday of Jesus who wasn't even born in December? Well, in A.D. 323 Emperor Constantine made Christianity the state religion of Rome. On a side note, that's an extremely interesting fact considering the Romans persecuted and killed Christians the previous 200-some years. Another side note, Christianity becoming the state religion was not a good thing for either the state and especially not the religion. Back to Christmas though... After Christianity became the state religion all the pagan holidays were renamed and re-branded and December 25th went from the birthday of the sun to the birthday of the Son.

So Christmas' roots are just as pagan as Halloween, a holiday so many Christians boycott because it's pagan roots. Irony. So what is my point? Everyone needs to get over themselves. People who get offended by someone wishing them a merry Christmas, get over yourself! People who get offended by someone wishing them happy holidays, get over yourself! People who yell that Jesus is the reason for the season, get over yourself! Everyone need to move on and just get over it! If you want to chose to throw Jesus a birthday party on December 25th, who cares? Go for it! If you want to celebrate the winter solstice, who cares? Go for it! You are not better than the one who thinks opposite of you. So get over it, move on, have a merry Christmas, and happy holidays!

No Angels Here

Donald J. Trump is now the President Elect of the United States of America. Half the country is elated and half the country apparently forgot how the electoral college works. Yes you can win the popular vote and LOSE the election. It has been that way since 1804. It has now occurred five times in this country where a candidate has won the popular vote but lost the election. Happened in 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000, and now in 2016.

Getting on social media right now is like eating a piece of gum after it fell on the ground on Bourbon St in New Orleans during Mardi Gras. You'll probably be okay but you risk ending up with sores in your mouth. Gross analogy but I stand by it. For a guy who voted third party like myself EVERYONE is annoying. The people spouting the "doom" of America are incredibly annoying. We are NOT doomed. America is not done for. Oh my goodness the melodrama! STOP! Perhaps more annoying are the people who say they were in tears thanking God that he sent Donald Trump to save America. Roll. My. Eyes. Trump is not a messiah, or an angel, or a prophet that descended from heavens on a cloud of love and hope. He's a politician that, like ALL that have come before him, spouted many promises that he may never be able to deliver on. That's how this whole thing really works. Just like how you no doubt lied or exaggerated (lied) on your resume during your job interview, politicians do the exact same. Stay woke lol.

But the absolute MOST annoying of all people on social media are the people acting like we missed out on one of the greatest nominees of all time. They act as though Hillary Clinton was THE ultimate choice of choices. Like she was going to be the greatest president ever! But that is simply not the case here.

We did NOT miss out on some incredible presidential nominee with Hillary losing. I personally think most politicians are corrupt (DTA) but the wikileak's emails PROVED that Hillary was/is corrupt! She bowed to banks and corporate backers, made back door deals, and took bribes. She colluded with countries that support ISIS. That's what we missed out on. In some way I am SO GLAD she is not in the white house. Trump is definitely not some great choice either. Yes, he has said some of the MOST OFFENSIVE things in this election. The truth is this election absolutely BLEW as far as our choices go. There were no angels here, just two turds. But make not mistake, it is still a GOOD thing that Hillary is not our president and people need to open their eyes and see the truth of that.

For me the bottom line is Donald J. Trump is the turd that beat out the other flaming turd. Now lets hope that he actually has a backbone and won't bow to corporations like the last few presidents have. Let's hope he actually is for the American worker. And let's move on from Hillary and stop acting like she was going to be great for America. She wouldn't have been! See you in four years.

What's Happiness Have To Do With It?

If we were happy 100% of the time, would we even know we were happy? Would we be happy if we had all that we wanted? Would that bring happiness in our lives? What even is happiness? And what does being happy all the time have anything to do with life?

"Life is pain, highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something." These words are truth to me and you know what? That's alright; it's alright that life is painful. It's alright that life is not this hyper-happy thing 100% of the time. How would I even know to appreciate the happy times if I didn't go through so much pain in the first place? I would most likely take all those precious moments for granted. I don't think I would truly realize and understand how wonderful small happy moments are throughout our day, week, year, or life without the pain life brings. So, pain is alright because it helps me fully enjoy those moments of happiness when they come.

In comparison to the universe and the infinite, our life is nothing. A small blip on the map. A single breath. A blink of the eyes. It lasts a second, no, a millisecond. A lot spend that millisecond trying to make it happy the whole time and when they ultimately fail, they feel like something's wrong with them. They feel like something missing in their life because they're not happy all the time. But nothing is missing from your life. You're not happy right now? You're in a painful time right now? Well... That is life. None of us are promised some grand, happy, satisfactory life. Even when we think things like, "If I had more money..." we have to realize that won't make you happy all the time either. Why do you think there are so many unhappy rich people?

Acknowledging that life is full of pain is just a first step of realizing you're alright. But if you stay in a defeated mindset, because life is pain, that is wrong too. Instead of staying and living in the defeat of life because you're not happy, live your millisecond by taking each day in stride. When you're living out the pain of life press on. Keep going. Don't stop. Don't let it defeat you. It hurts. It sucks. But don't let it beat you to the ground. And when those moments of happiness come fully enjoy them. Immerse yourself those moments while they last. Don't let the pain creep in during those moments. The pain will come back. The heartache will come back. So don't let worry ruin those moments. My wife and I had a leaky roof for a long time. Every time it rained it was a reminder of our financial situation and how we couldn't afford to fix our roof. I remember one particular storm where my kids wanted to go play and dance in the rain. I had a choice: live in the pain and reality of a leaky roof or dance in happiness in the rain with my kids. When those small chances of happiness during our millisecond life come, truly let it envelope your mind, body, and soul. Let it consume you for that brief moment. Life may be pain and not happy all the time but that doesn't mean there's something wrong with you or something missing in your life . It just means you have life. A completely normal life. A life that is a millisecond, yes, but a millisecond that so worth living.

Many Fight To Be The King...

Many fight to be the king but...





Just a little song I mixed up when I was bored a couple years ago.

I Am Not A Writer

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."
Pablo Picasso

I really like to write. Whether I'm sitting down with my guitar and writing out some thought or feeling and putting it to music or just writing down random stories that come to my head, I really like to write. But I am not a writer. I mean, I just started a sentence with "but" so I think you can tell that I am not a writer. I used to write lots of stories when I was younger. I'd write stories of mysteries and murder. I'd write stories of angels and demons. I'd write write stories of dragons and knights. Somewhere down the road all that went away for awhile. I was like almost every kid in this world. You see, every kid is an artist, a writer, a dancer until they are told they're not good enough. Sometimes the kid puts the pressure of perfection on themselves due to something they saw on television or something they read perhaps. Other times that pressure of perfection is put on the child by their parents. But kids need space to be imperfect because true art will never be perfect.

Perfection is not a goal we should strive for. After all, perfection is in the eye of the beholder so in some way everything will be imperfect. I'm sure some could look at the paintings of Picasso and say it's not good or perfect but does that make it true? No, of course not. There will always be someone out there to point out why something is bad or wrong or point out mistakes. Sometimes the mistakes are turn out to be what we like the most. Some of the greatest lines in movies were actually bloopers of the actor messing up what was written. While we should never shy away from CONSTRUCTIVE criticism, we absolutely should cut out people who are constantly negative. When did it become cool or good to tell someone that thing that they enjoy doing so much is garbage? When did it become the right thing to tell someone that they aren't good enough? When did we get the right to say something isn't perfect in the first place? Why not find enjoyment in what others enjoy? If someone likes to write but it's not perfect when it comes to the grammar, who cares? Find the beauty in it! If someone likes to sing but they're off key here or there, who cares? Find the beauty in that person and enjoy! If someone likes to paint... I think you get my point.

I really like to write and many could  read what I write and rightly say to me, "you are not a writer." When it comes down to it, I enjoy what I do and that's more important than someone else's definition of perfection. It's more important than your definition of perfection. And while I don't shy away from constructive criticism, I also don't freely open myself to everyone's opinions. When you put something online for the world to see, almost EVERYONE will be a critic. But their criticism and opinions, no matter how "right" they may sound to themselves, have no value or weight to me. There are people in my life that I trust will give great constructive criticism when I need it. But if you're not in that closed circle, you can save your comments of how to make something better. You can choose to enjoy with me or simply move along. There's that old saying, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." I think I prefer, "If you don't have anything nice to say, say something nice anyway."

This world is tough enough without us going around stomping on each others dreams and pleasures. So I'm going to say this: if you like to write, you're a writer. If you like to paint, you're an artist. If you like to sing, you're a singer. If you like to dance, you're a dancer. Whatever you like to do, you are that! Enjoy life because it's so short. Enjoy others lives because theirs are short too. Dream, believe, be.

PEACE.