My Castles Stand upon Pillars of Salt and Pillars of Sand

Today, I learned about the giant garbage patch that is in the Pacific Ocean. Basically, all of the plastic that people throw into the environment gets swept up in streams, rivers, and the ocean. Because of ocean currents, all of this trash gets trapped in specific areas--this particular one is between Hawaii and California. The amount of trash that has accumulated here is mind-blowing! Currently, it covers an area that is twice the size of Texas; in some places it is over 90 feet deep!

People need to start being more responsible. End of story. We need to stop being so wasteful, and we need to pick up after ourselves. Animals are dying because of our laziness. According to one study, whales have started contracting breast cancer (Yes. Breast cancer. In whales.), because they are taking in so much plastic when they feed. That's so sad!!

It's so frustrating to me that so many people do not recycle. Really. Why wouldn't you?!

Oh, and I found a song that completely and totally reminds me of Jean-Baptiste Clamance in The Fall (at least the Clamance in the middle of the book): "Viva la Vida" by Coldplay. Oh, how I love that song...

I didn't really want to be so down in this post...maybe it's the weather? I had a great day today with my lovely and wonderful mom (and the rest of my family). Now, I'm in the process of packing to move to our beautiful, new apartment!! Yay! Life really is good!

There are Very Few Things that I Will Never Forgive

I think I've finally figured out why The Fall bothered me so much. Don't get me wrong--it was an excellent book, and the portrayal of the human condition was fairly accurate (if not totally cynical).

The narrator of the story, Jean-Baptiste Clamence draws you in completely--describing his past life as though since then he has had a dramatic change in his attitude and actions. All along, I was thinking, "okay, he was a drunkard, a womanizer, and a complete asshole, but he's going to change; yay for him."

Wrong.

He manipulated me.

I can't handle it when I'm being manipulated. It's the one thing that I cannot get over. Luckily, only one person has truly succeeded in doing it--but he will probably never be forgiven for it.

Ugh.

Enveloped in the Fog of Apathy

For my Religion Senior Seminar, I just finished reading The Fall, by Albert Camus. It is a beautiful, poignant story that is at the same time bitter and depressing.

Lately, I am so disappointed in humanity. We go about our lives with blinders on. We live petty, material lives that [with some exceptions] amount to very little. We chase false hopes and dreams with the idea that they will fulfill us, and it is all in vain. Our lives are mechanical and meaningless. And, although we would like to say that if we were given another chance to save the woman who jumped from the bridge, we would be hypocrites.* We would end up turning and walking away, just like before.

In class tonight we talked about what we could do to help people care more about finding Truth, about helping people be less apathetic towards life and the beauty that the world holds. None of us had any solutions. We think the growing apathy is a generational thing.

Now, all of that depressing stuff being said, I am writing a paper about how to live a more meaningful, spiritual life. It is going well, and I really need to take some time to figure out how to bring meaning and spirituality in my life. I'm kind of excited about it; I'm not gonna lie. :-)


*reference to The Fall