Day By Day…
"When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life in such a manner that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice." - Cherokee Proverb
This quote ranks as one of the highest of my favorites, I feel that it truly epitomizes how life should be led. In just over 1 year, I've been unfortunate in having lost two friends who have really had an impact on my life. One of them being my fraternity brother, friend, inspiration, and all around source of everyone's joy - Jourdan Van Zeebroeck. And recently my very good friend, the free-spirited, all-smiles, marching to the beat of her own drum - Kristin Marie Norris. To me both of them truly lived by this quote, and have left an indelible effect on not only my life, but the lives of all the people they've met. In the recent days, I've had a number of sleepless nights reminiscing on the instances and the moments that at the time didn't seem too incredibly special - but after all has been said and done, really meant the most. Through these unfortunate circumstances, we grow and learn. I've learned that we should really cherish all that we have been given - both physical and metaphysical. Each and every moment should be lived to its utmost capacity, whilst being forever grateful for every bit of those moments. Be the tiny drop in the pond that makes ever-growing waves effecting all that surrounds it.
In Loving Memory of Jourdan Van Zeebroeck & Kristin Marie NorrisQuotable vol.1 ep.1
"Quotable" is a new sub-category of my blog which features quotes that I've found or have been given. I will give a meager attempt at analyzing it from my perspective, given my experience and background. It is my hope that this will allow me to better self-evaluate and spark more creativity for future projects... ENJOY!
"Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company." - President George Washington
The motto of, "keeping your friends close but your enemies closer" is not denounced by this Washington quote. Just because someone is your enemy and you do not agree with him/her, does not mean that individual is not of good quality in terms of judgment and wisdom, but that you merely cannot see eye-to-eye with when it comes to their opinion. This quote reminds me of the more simplified version of, "You are your 10 best friends."
"When I see a bird that walks like a duck and swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, I call that bird a duck." - James Whitcomb Riley
This is not to say that you lose a personal identity - our individualistic quirks and subtleties are what make us 'human.' If you can assimilate, then you've wholly understood and absorbed a grouping of people, where-in they usually see you as one of their own. It is my hope that in my own life, I have done this. My friends and family are people who have shaped me, their reputation relies on me, as mine relies on them. Prejudices are exactly that, prejudgments - if a group of people that I associate with are both positively and negatively affected by my actions, I mean that in the literal sense. If I were to mouth-off to a stranger on the street, what would that say about my character and judgment... more importantly what would have led me down that path? The influences of the people around me, which showed me that, that was the correct thing to do. My point is, though a book can't be completely be judged by its cover, it does give you a damn good indication that it's a book - and you're not going to find a video playing inside its covers. Surround yourself with greatness, and you'll learn to be great.
When You Do Things Right…
The other night, as per my late night schedule, I was up watching re-runs of Futurama on Comedy Central - I happened to catch a very interesting episode. Episode no. 52 entitled, "Godfellas" (in short) is much more in-depth intellectually than you might consider at first perception. Basically, Bender is hurled through space, destined to spend it alone - but whilst passing through an asteroid field a small asteroid fragment crashes into him leaving a "shrimp-sized" society on his belly. The people of the society look to Bender as a 'god' of sorts. Bender has some mishaps governing the society and non-believers prove their immanent self-destruction is assured. Bender then hears something signaling in binary code and comes to find that the mysterious object is what he deduces is God. The voice of "God" advises Bender that,
"When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all."
By no means do I suggest that this is a divine revelation, and as stated on the Wikipedia page, theology writer Mark Pinsky reminds us that this is just a cartoon - but I think that as a quote in-of-itself can be very valuable to any individual. I know that in my life there are many things that I do that follow along with that quote. As a video editor this rings especially true in the work you do, if there is a cut - you don't want people to see it. It needs to feel organic and natural, as if the audience were there experiencing it live, and not a pieced together set of clips. Ultimately, this is a small lesson from a simply entertaining show. To me it proves the pessimism of our society, in that everyone is always searching for what is wrong with others, and what is wrong with themselves (furthering my point - the preceding comment is inherently pessimistic). But the things you do in life shouldn't be for the attention of others, and should be done so well that one would assume that, that is just how it is. Most of society, myself included, seems to live by the wayside in "not...know(ing) what you have till its gone," when really we should be grateful and do everything in our power to be that "un-easy" feeling when we aren't around. We should be the security of others who don't feel as strong and positive as you might be, so that one day when you need strong arms around you they will be there.
"When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice." - Indian Proverb
More information about this Futurama episode can be found on wikipedia.
