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Staying Optimistic While Being Realistic

Learning to be positive without being false.  O ne of the most challenging tasks in life is to look at ourselves and the world truthfully while remaining optimistic.  We don’t have to look very far to find trouble in the world and within ourselves.  Some people try to shield themselves from all negative news, thoughts, and people. Others tend to dwell on the negative aspects of life. Neither of these extremes teaches us how to cope with life in a balanced way.  If we are in a helping profession or are a counselor-type of person, we will find ourselves dealing with troubled people and realities often. Just dealing with the realities of day-to-day life with family, friends, and community asks us to look at the problems of life.  So how do we look truthfully at the problems of life while staying optimistic?  We can see what happens to people when they aren’t able to figure this question out, they often become: addicted to substances and bad habits negative and mean people everyone avoids

The Information Machine vs. the Creative Thinker

The AI-curated online world has created a new breed, yet some hold on to their creative uniqueness despite the pervasive trend. The stormtrooper gazes at the flower wondering with awe at the natural creativity found within it. The internet is conditioning human thought and behavior and creating information machines among us. These are humans who have given over to the influences of the hive mind.  The hive mind is the personification of the internet and the big data brain behind its user-friendly interfaces. The hive mind is the holistic sum of the digital age and the internet of things (IoT). On the other side of the human spectrum is the Luddite creative thinker who is detached from the influences of the hive mind, even though part of it in some measure.  The most important aspect of the creative thinker is they are not led by the influences of the hive mind, at least not overtly and consciously.  The information machine-human is keen to know the secrets of the hive mind; they obsess

The Privilege of Writing on Medium

Maybe this is a perspective only older people can relate to.  When I was in high school in the mid-90s, I used a typewriter to accomplish my essay assignments that needed to be typed. This really wasn’t that long ago, yet how things have changed. Part of this change is people’s perspectives when it comes to being entitled to write online. Not only do they now expect to be published on sites like Medium, but also make money. And if the money isn’t enough for them to make a living they are critical of the entire platform, like it owes them something. I realize writers need to make money to live, so write a book or submit articles to magazines and other paying publications. Sign a book deal with a publishing house or self-publish, etc. There are so many different ways to make money writing now; the difficult part is everyone else is doing it too, which makes it hard to stand out and find an audience. Even on Medium, the competition is thick with so many different types of people trying to

The Boxing Years in Eugene, OR

Learning how to fight helped me be more confident in life.  I learned from Rocky Marciano to get out of the game before you lose. With a 3–0 amateur record, I hung up the gloves and headgear and called it good.  Actually, I didn’t even know who Rocky Marciano was when I started boxing at 21 years old. I come from a time when the internet and smartphones weren’t a thing and we never had cable, so I wasn’t a depository of information like the youth today.  The Boxing Idea It was around the year 2001 when I had the idea to box and started scoping out boxing gyms in the Eugene, Oregon area. I found two gyms to choose from.  I chose the smaller gym with fewer boxers; it was located close to the downtown area yet hidden behind some commercial businesses in an old metal shed. The West Eugene Boxing Club.  Going to community college in the area right after getting out of the Air Force, I felt the need to learn how to fight better.  I was a security forces member in the AF (military police) so

What is the Oregon Outback?

For visitors to the Oregon Outback scenic byway, it may seem like they are in the middle of nowhere, yet occasionally, they’ll come across a small town that proves people actually do live here. Being a resident of the Oregon Outback, I’ve noticed the scenic byway signs along OR-31 and felt proud to live in such a destination. The official route starts just south of LaPine, OR, where OR-31 intersects with US-97 and goes all the way to the southern border of California past the city of Lakeview. The total route is 171 miles and runs mostly through Lake County. Taking a turn on OR-31 from US-97 you’ll immediately notice a difference in traffic. The hustle and bustle of city life suddenly fade away as the highway dissects the beautiful forest surroundings. This will be the last of the forest you’ll see, as the remainder of the route after 30 miles of forest is a wide open high desert landscape. Before the forest ends, there is a side road going to the Hole in the Ground attraction you

Is Digital Nomadism the Pinnacle of Work?

What if it wasn’t all that great in reality? Most people working in any capacity online have heard of the term digital nomad, as this is the informal pinnacle of work in our modern world it seems. Essentially, a digital nomad is someone who can do anything they want, anywhere, anytime, and without any restrictions. It doesn’t matter what they do to make money online, as long as it gives them this freedom. Get a Real Job Kid I get it, wouldn’t it be nice to have your cake and eat it too? Wouldn’t it be nice to act like a teenager in the summertime when school is out, except having all the money and freedom you want too? Wouldn’t it be nice to not have to work a real job and just have fun all the time? The younger generations are especially enthralled with this idea of not having to work, yet having all the money they need to spend on themselves. Traveling, shopping, buying toys, doing drugs, drinking alcohol, partaking in dating games, etc. Sounds like the makings of a large spoiled chi

How is Virtual Reality Conditioning Humanity?

The subtle and overt influences are changing our thinking and behavior. Ever since the Roswell incident technology has been exponentially accelerating to the present, yet what does this mean for humanity? Where are we collectively going as human beings, as mankind? Besides those who claim they are from the future, no one really knows the answer to these difficult questions. Yet by logically examining the trends of technology and how it has affected people within a relatively short period of time, we can extrapolate some reasonable conclusions.  In short, the outcomes look like transhumanism; the melding and coalescing of man and machine. By now, this term is fairly commonplace among younger generations, as technology trends exponentially grow and expand with the term progress attached.  For instance, I wrote an article in 2013 claiming Eminem was a clone, which brought with it plenty of mocking insults; now, at the end of 2022, this doesn’t seem to be that far-fetched. Why would it be

The Following Leaders on Medium

I remember one distinct moment during a career development course at a community college I attended 21 years ago when the professor asked us to stand up and do an exercise.  She asked the class to separate themselves into two groups; those who thought of themselves as leaders on one side of the classroom and those who thought of themselves as followers on the other.  This question came without warning at the beginning of the class, so we didn’t have time to think it through. The result was probably more sincere because of this suddenness.  For some context, the class consisted of about 30 students, mostly young adults under 21 YOA; I was about 21 years old. An interesting thing happened.  An Important Life Lesson in Social Perception The vast majority of the class went to the leader side of the class and only two of us went to the follower side. I was one of the followers along with another young man. How awkward; then the professor focused on us followers and asked us why we though

What I Learned From My Most Popular Article on Medium

It was an experiment I didn’t mean to happen. When I first published the article back in 2018, the Medium Partner Program was open to everyone despite their following status. All you had to do was sign up for it with Stripe, which I did, earning my pennies every month while not paying too much attention to it.  Only recently have I rediscovered Medium and noticed one of my articles actually did pretty well just sitting here without much love from me. Here it is: A Guide to Winter Fishing on the Oregon Coast And why wouldn’t it when it has such a fetching picture — that is a huge fish! And the pipe is a nice touch, very authentic.  Actually, this is a piece I wrote for a client that was rejected. In hindsight, I’m grateful to have this article/guide as my own. If you read it you’ll see I put a lot of work into it, especially considering I didn’t know a lot about fishing in the winter on the Oregon Coast (I can barely catch a fish in a stocked pond).  At this point you may be asking, how

The Bicycle Years in Portland Part 1

Losing my driver’s license was a blessing in disguise. The big city life awaited me in Portland Oregon after I lost my driver’s license and decided living in a larger city may help my prospects. The year was around 2005 in the early spring and I was in my late 20s. Getting to the City At first, I wanted to bring my gas-powered scooter on the Greyhound bus, but they didn’t allow it in the luggage compartment. Visions of flying around Portland with a gas scooter that was louder than a lawnmower were probably a bit naive anyway, especially since I would be homeless. Having only around $250 to my name, rock-bottom credit, no driver’s license, no bank account, and not knowing anyone in Portland, I set my sights on the strange “big city” to get out of Eugene and make a new start. Maybe it was the Cannabis clouding my judgment, as it was likely the culprit for me being in the tight spot I found myself in anyways, but it was my lot, my mind, and my life to navigate regardless. After getting a