Monday, December 19, 2011

30 Days To The Abyss Day 18

Welcome back! Today I'd like to talk about the mind. You all know the saying, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste." I can say from first hand experience that this is true! I've spent a lot of time wasting mine. When I was in college and especially in the military I was a voracious reader. I didn't have a television, personal computers were crazy expensive, and most importantly I was broke. The only thing I could do was read. Lucky for me I really enjoyed it. I used to take a bus to Gurnee Mills Mall and go to the bargain book store. My method for choosing a book to read was pretty scientific . . . find something with a cool cover and buy it. I have to say I've read some fantastic books. I actually used to say that it saddened me that there were too many books to read and not enough time in life to read them all. I could actually read a book a day because I just didn't want to put them down without finishing them. Then, I got my first laptop. A friend gave me his black and white laptop and piggy backed me onto someone else's Prodigy account. And that pretty much did away with the reading. I've had a computer ever since then and I hate to admit but I've wasted a good deal of time on the internet not always doing the most productive things. I'm a bit of a gadget freak. I have cameras, video cameras, an iPhone, an iPad, etc. But, I just got a new toy . . . . a Nook Simple Touch. I have to say it's pretty cool. I'm using it to hopefully break me of my computer/internet compulsion. I downloaded several books that I thought would keep me interested and my goal is to read every day.

Why am I blabbing on about reading and computers and internet? I think all of this crap on the internet has made me dumber! Now, I certainly don't mean that if you go onto the internet you're stupid. I just mean that a lot of what I end up doing is hitting refresh on social media sites waiting for pointless and stupid updates and that really doesn't do all that much for furthering me as a pursuer of knowledge. I actually do use the internet to find a lot of useful information. I belong to several photography and now videography sites and I've found a wealth of information on them. I even got an online certificate in technical writing years ago. But I think that reading books is just better for you. There, I said it. I may not spend all of my time reading but I'm definitely going to spend less time on the internet. My immediate goal is to read at least one book a week. I don't think that's too far out of the realm of possibility.

I'm going to use this 30 Days To The Abyss as a segue to some serious self improvement! I'd like to perhaps pursue some further education. I'm already looking into a degree in cinematography. I've really been enjoying shooting videos and learning about editing. After the 30 days is finished I'm going to start trying to put together some neat videos with the gigabytes of footage I've already shot. I also seem to be obsessed with becoming a Coffee Master at Starbucks. I really want that black apron! :-D

As a last point, I also hope that reading will help me calm down. I'm too fidgety and can never seem to flip my switch and just sit there and relax. It's one of the reasons why I can't do tai chi or yoga or even just stretching. Probably why I'm so achy and stiff, huh?!

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