Why the Magic Fades

“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.” ~ Robert Frost

If my recent adventures in risk experimentation have taught me anything this past month, it’s that nothing is quite as daunting as the mind makes it. While this is an extremely helpful piece of knowledge when approaching intimidating tasks, it is not without it drawbacks. In fact, when things become approachable they lose a lot of the mystery and splendor that surround them. Something vital to existence, but detrimental to maintaining the feeling of importance in one’s every day tasks. The older I get the harder it is to find the magic in everyday life. As usual, I have a few theories as to why this happens.

Possibility is more exciting than reality. Now that is not to say residing in the real world is a boring waste of time, and that we should embark on a never-ending quest into the unknown. Last I checked, “adventurer” was a title confined to the more fantastic elements of fantasy and science-fiction (which, consequently, is why I still want to be Indiana Jones when I grow up). However, no matter how exciting an event in my life has been, it has paled in comparison with the many possible scenarios my mind has created in anticipation of it. Obviously, this has a lot to do with the brain’s tendency to focus more on the positive elements of an experience and less on the negative ones. Which, as anyone who has done anything can tell you, life is a mixed bag of the good and the bad. Furthermore, the older we get, the more our grandiose plans for the future slowly give way to the realities of the present, thus taking a small bit of the wonder with it.

Information robs us of our innocence. The greatest thing about being a kid, is the entire world is unexplored and left for us to discover. As we get older we slowly learn more and more about the universe (Like, for example, *Spoiler Alert* Santa Claus is not real, though I’m not quite certain science has been able to indisputably prove this fact). Slowly, we begin to accept that most things in life are far less epic than the stories we are told growing up. We’ll probably never come face to face with a wizard, fight a dragon, or embark in a lightsaber duel for the fate of the galaxy (though I will have a lightsaber one day, even if I have to invent myself). Now don’t get me wrong, clinging to untruths (like the non-existence of climate change) and writing off the pursuit of higher knowledge as something for snobs is not good advice for any society. However, taking on the responsibility of becoming informed, well-adjusted adults inevitably causes us to lose a little more of the magic. Alternatively, you could always run off to wizardry school and throw of the cruel shackles of reality once and for all with this guy.

Responsibility overwhelms all other considerations. Life is full of highly anticipated moments. Be it little things, like an epic poker night with friends to large things like getting married or the much-anticipated premier of The Avenger’s Movie (and yes they are equally important). The more responsibility we take on, the less we are able to truly focus on the excellence of these moments. We find ourselves unable to immerse ourselves in the extraordinary nature of what we are experiencing, because deep down we know the shadowy figures of duty may be looming just around the corner. Once again this is merely a necessary part of the transition into adulthood and it is probably best not to throw it to the wayside in favor of forming an underground terrorist unit with your imaginary friend.

So now that I have thoroughly depressed anyone unfortunate enough to read this, what to do? Surrender to the cold, hard reality, that as we get older all the magic will fade out of existence? Or should we revert to a state of mind where we reject all responsibility and knowledge in favor of the ancient teachings of the great Wizard Oberon Zell-Ravenheart? Neither of these are probably realistic approaches to solving this dilemma (though if I ever have to traverse an underground mine, I will definitely be giving that guy a call). I wish I could say I had the panacea to this particular problem, but sadly the best I can offer is this piece of advice from the wise, albeit mythical, Albus Dumbledore: It is important to fight and fight again, and keep fighting…

The Grand Risk Experiment Week 3: Accidental Acts of Kindness

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” ~Aesop

A busy week of redistricting inspired uncertainty almost sidetracked the third week of this mission into the outer realms of personal comfort. To be completely honest, this week’s successes were more happy coincidence than concentrated effort. However, with any successful endeavor one can only get so far without a little bit of chance. Fortunately, the powers that be smiled on this week’s mission and once again victory was captured from the jaws of defeat. And, as always, unexpected lessons arose from relatively mundane requests.

Lesson 1. Sometimes the best you can do is point some one in the right direction. As I was wandering through an expansive outdoor shopping mecca in an illustrious Minnesota suburb, I was interrupted by a man looking for a store with a name unfamiliar to me. The problem was, I had little knowledge of the area in question. However, rather than abandon this fellow “Raider of the Lost Store,” I instead used my knowledge of the area to make an educated guess and point him in the general direction I thought he should go. Low and behold, as I satisfied my consumer Wanderlust I found both the man’s vehicle and the store in question on the path I had suggested. While occasionally choosing poorly has its consequences, most often utilizing the little knowledge one has in life to give advice is worth the potential awkwardness that comes with its uncertainty.

Lesson 2. Sometimes emotional sympathy is more important than making the logical choice. The next ball of fate thrown into my path during weekend’s journey towards kindness involved a likely panhandler making her way up and down the cold walkways of Nicollet Avenue. Most of the time, when solicited for money by the random person on the street my first reaction is to flee the scene lest more like-minded individuals descend upon me like some sort of zombie horde. However, in this case, the woman in question was visibly crying and had a compelling story regarding the loss of her purse and the need for bus fare to get home. While, this was most likely another fabricated back story created to convince me to part with the meager cash in my possession, it occurred to me rather than reject her pleas due to the potential for dishonesty, the human thing to do was to give her the benefit of the doubt and help out a fellow human in need. Do I think this means, we should give everyone who asks us for money a hand out? Not in the least bit. However, I do think it behooves us to take a moment and remember selfless generosity and human sympathy is far more important than the cost of losing a few bucks to a dishonest individual.

Lesson 3. Sometimes it is the thought that counts. While perhaps a trite saying, it’s an important thing to remember nonetheless. For example, today I was approached by two men as I was sitting in my car. My first reaction was to make like a tree and get out of there, before I found myself the victim of a carjacking. After suppressing my emergency flight response system, I decided to hear them out, and it turned out they were trying to change tire and needed a tool to loosen the bolts. After letting them use my tire iron, and we realized it was not the droid they were looking for, I felt like I let them down. However, sometimes the best you can do is offer help, even if sometimes it’s not quite enough. While nine times out of ten having the right intention gets the job done, there will always be that one time where it won’t. The key is accepting this truth and proceeding forward anyway.

Despite the passive nature of these acts, a great deal was learned and the grand risk experiment continued unabated. Having the willingness to offer help, sympathizing with the human condition, and realizing sometimes there is only so much we can do are important thing to consider as one progresses through life. Furthermore, it would seem doing nice things for people we do not know is a pretty simple task as long as we keep an eye out for the opportunity. Especially in comparison to something like, say, asking for someone’s phone number for example…

The Grand Risk Experiment Week 2: Dancing Through Socially Awkward Scenarios

“We’re fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance.” ~Japanese Proverb

Another week brought another opportunity to defy perceived limitations. This week’s challenge: self-imposed embarrassment. Success was almost alluded yet again, by a procrastination fueled by the natural tendency to retreat to realms more comfortable. However, thanks to the right amount of chance, caffeine-induced disregard for the opinions of others, and the coalition of the willing, another step was taken down the road of reckless abandon as I found myself subjecting the world to my less than impressive dancing prowess. To the untrained eye, such a feat once again seems like a trivial act, hardly worthy of the fanfare surrounding “The Grand Risk Experiment.” However, to embark upon this act a great many barriers had to be overcome.

Acknowledging one’s lack of rhythm and continuing forward anyway. Picture the most stereotypical portrayal of poor dancing. Now think of the most socially awkward individual you know. Combine the two and you have a pretty good idea of what I look like on the dance floor. Whether it’s the lifelong lack of interest in dancing, or an innate genetic flaw that prevents any body movement remotely akin to rhythm, the simple fact remains, an expert dancer I am not. The only type of serving I want to be a part of involves delicious food. In light of this fact, it took a great feat of courage to continue forward with this challenge knowing full well that a train wreck was about to occur.

Engaging in a social activity with zero personal space. As an introvert, large crowds of people do not equal comfort. Dancing at a club takes this experience to an entirely different level. Every time I’m on a dance floor I can’t help but think of the scene from Matrix Reloaded where everyone is getting far too close for comfort as they try to forget their impending doom. While it probably does not appear that way to the “average” onlooker, in my head all I can think about is the chilling hand of public shame. Though, I suppose not having to worry about an impending attack by squid machines, is a fair consolation.

A very real possibility for awkward encounters. Take the inability to dance,  the very up close and personal nature of the dance floor, and the never-ending flow of slightly intoxicated individuals looking for a hook-up and things can get out of hand pretty fast. Exhibit A. A slightly intoxicated man does not take the hint a group of women are not buying what he’s throwing down. Eventually, someone will have to tell this individual to hit the showers. Best case scenario, after a brief moment of awkwardness, he takes the hint and moves on to greener pastures. Worst case scenario, an alcohol fueled brawl breaks out causing mass chaos and leading to the Downfall of the Republic. Thus, once again, the potential for personal chaos adds to the level of anxiety.

While this was not quite the public display, that say, reciting Shakespearean Sonnets to every woman in the bar would have been, it was still a risky proposition. Pushing through the terrible dancing, distaste for large crowd social situations, and almost inevitable awkwardness made the “Great Dancing Incident of 2012” a worthy entry in the ongoing quest to expand my horizons. Despite the discomfort, the night turned out to be almost as epic and enjoyable as my sweet Cowbell Parkour skills. Almost…but not quite.

The Grand Risk Experiment Week 1: The Introvert’s Plight

People say conversation is a lost art; how often I have wished it were. -Edward R. Murrow

The first official week of my adventures in stepping outside the “comfort zone” has come and gone. As with most things in life, things did not go entirely as planned. In a perfect world, I would have had multiple epic conversations with unique individuals to report, but alas I do not. However, a small victory was achieved. A brief, albeit slightly awkward conversation was started with a receptionist (or rather pseudo receptionist) in my office building. Now starting a conversation with “what’s your name” was probably not my best idea, but a step forward is a step forward. In addition, the conversation did teach me there a few challenges to engaging in conversation I had not considered.

Simply initiating conversation only gets you so far. You can have the best opening line in the world, but if you don’t have a proper follow up things can get real weird, real fast. Fortunately, in the aforementioned situation, I had a very specific goal in mind, so this was less of a problem. However, if you are planning on talking to someone you know nothing about, just because you take the first step of reaching out to them does not mean the conversation will go well. In fact, many times your excellent opening may be followed by a lot of awkward stumbling around before you find that magic topic. In some cases, you may not even get that far. Does this mean we should never engage? No, but it does mean one must always be prepared for the inevitable “Scott Pilgrim Party Fail”.

Conversation can be draining. This not to say conversation is the scourge of the universe and should be avoided at all costs. For some people however, especially the more introverted one’s, talking to someone uses up energy. This is intensified when it is someone unfamiliar, upping the amount of effort required to participate in what would appear to be a simple task. Something made only more difficult when engaging with extroverted counterparts, who, rather than be worn down by socializing are invigorated by it. It is important to keep this is mind when embarking on one’s personal mission of social expansion, lest one hit’s the wall of social engagement burnout.

Cold approaches are incredibly awkward. While I have always known randomly approaching someone was not something I enjoyed, it has become more apparent why that is. Going up to someone out of the blue and trying to have a substantive dialogue is not a natural state for me. Maybe its my introverted nature. Or my tendency to freeze up when put in an uncomfortable situation. Whatever the case may be I find myself out of place when trying to sustain active focus on a person I do not know well. Always looking for someone to show me a door that will lead me out of the Matrix I find myself entangled in. Fortunately, most of the time this feeling passes after a couple of encounters. The trick is getting that far.

In summary,while I did not become a social butterfly overnight, I was able to take a couple of small steps in the right direction. While plenty of new challenges arose, lessons were learned that will (with a little bit of luck and time) enable me to continue stepping further away from the safety net currently holding me back. Or at the very least, enable me to establish what risks are truly worth taking. Tune in next week for another exciting adventure of “Jered’s Grand Risk Experiment.”

The Grand Experiment Take Two

“It’s best to have failure happen early in life. It wakes up the Phoenix bird in you so you rise from the ashes.” -Ann Baxter

The problem with risk taking is it requires two important elements—opportunity and focus. Unfortunately for my current grand experiment, both seemed to be lacking over the last week. Be it my somewhat full calendar, or my inability to make a concerted effort to settle on a seemingly simple risk, my endeavors fell short this week.  However, rather than abandon my personal journey into the depths of Mordor, I will instead use this as an opportunity to explicitly lay out the perils that await. Without further ado here they are for your viewing pleasure.

Risk 1. Start and maintain a conversation with a complete stranger.

I know what you’re thinking. This doesn’t sound like a risk at all. While that may be true for the more outgoing individuals in the universe, there are few things more frightening to the shy, introverted typed than attempting to start a random conversation with someone they do not know. It’s why we hate small talk and why you see far more extroverts running for office. Coupled with my short attention span this is ripe for potential disaster. Add in the habits formed by avoiding this situation for so many years, the ease of relying on social networks as a first line of defense against possible awkward conversation, and you have the explanation for why this makes the list.

Risk 2. Purposely embarrass myself in public.

While it’s unlikely I will be interrupting any award shows, I will be forcing myself one step further out of my comfort zone by embarking on an action that makes me feel foolish. While not exactly as dangerous as attempting an aerial assault on the Death Star (Star Wars reference check), it is wrought with personal anxiety. Most of us do not like to be the center of attention when there is potential for ridicule. Does this mean I never do things others may perceive as embarrassing. Hardly. In fact, I’m sure I’ve done it more than once in the last week (cowbell anyone?). What makes this different is must be something I find embarrassing. Therein lies the second challenge.

Risk 3. Perform three random acts of kindness.

While not super challenging, this is equally important. It is so easy to see someone in need and simply ignore it. Or in some cases an individual does not appear to need help, but with one simple act of kindness their entire day turns for the better. Something I’m aware of, but maybe not as proactive about. This can be directly tied to an aversion to taking that first step in reaching out to someone unfamiliar. However, by taking to heart what the Spidermans of the world already know, perhaps this quest will be beneficial to more than just me. And if I end up becoming a member of the Justice League as a result, all the better.

Risk 4. Ask an attractive woman for her phone number.

And just so were clear, this has to be someone I do not know. There is a reason this is last on the list. Nothing in the social realm probably terrifies me more than approaching a woman and asking for a phone number. I would rather give a speech at a full Madison Square Garden in my underwear (okay so maybe I’m exaggerating a bit, but you get the point). This relatively simple act takes all the pitfalls of the social realm and unleashes them in a destructive wave of dissonance. Awkward conversation, check. Initiating first contact, check. Odds of success 3720 to 1, check. Just thinking about this final endeavor sets off my Admiral Ackbar advanced warning system. Even if I overcome, all of these factors, this relies a great deal on opportunity, making it the most challenging risk.

There you have it. A month’s worth of comfort invading goodness. Will I accomplish all of these goals? Maybe. Will the world care? Probably not, but at least it will give me something to blog about.

Time is Running Out…but it is Going to be Alright

“It’s a dangerous business, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no telling where you might be swept off to.” -Bilbo Baggins

I recently read an article in the New York Times regarding our concept of time in modern times.  It focused on the philosophy of time in our society. The gist of the article was focused on the temporary nature of time and the struggle to find meaning in a world where grasping it is almost impossible. However, the article did give compelling solutions to this dilemma drawing on a couple of different philosophical theories. Basically, it boiled down to attempting to slow down time through otherworldly experiences or by disrupting the narrative of life through spontaneous occurrences and experiences.

Interesting concepts to be sure, though the simple fact remains. Time is continuing to count down to an eventual ending point. Be it the end of the day or the end of one’s time on earth, it is unavoidable. I am often disturbed by this thought. Watching everything pass into the past seemed like a futile struggle with no hope of victory. Fortunately, for those who share this sense of hopelessness there are way to navigate the raging river of time without drowning. It just takes the right mindset and realization of a couple of important details. For instance…

Every ending is a new beginning. While potentially the single most trite statement ever to grace the face of the blogosphere, it is easy to forget. Furthermore, when lost in the temporary nature of our existence we tend to focus solely on the idea the end is coming soon rather than the beginning that will inevitably follow. I don’t know how many times I’ve come to the end of a movie series (Harry Potter anyone?) and felt a profound loss at the thought there will never be another installment to anxiously anticipate. However, once the initial disappointment is over I am reminded how another movies series will inevitably rise to fill the void (thank you Hunger Games) that will have the advantage of newer technology and other advances not found in my previous obsession. This concept can be applied to most things in life. Everything from the end of a relationship to the demise of society, opens up the door for something equally great. The key is to remember this when the pillars of disappointment fall upon you.

Every today is tomorrow’s yesterday. While on first glance this may sound more depressing, if one takes a closer look it actually provides another glimmer of hope. Knowing that every event in our life will inevitably fall to history enables us a clarity in life not commonly found. If today is turning out to be the worst on record, one can take solace in the fact tomorrow we will have the benefit of learning from the circumstances and actions that lead to this outcome, enabling us to avoid a similarly tragic outcome in the future. What then, if today is a day of excellence? How can one be satisfied with the idea it will soon just be a memory? Being able to draw on the positive emotions from that day and the possibility more could be in store allows us to move forward and accept time is fleeting. After all, it needs to be this way if we are going to capture another fantastic beginning.

We control how our time is spent. While a great deal of religious and philosophical energies have been spent attempting to determine whether we are the captains of our destiny, the simple truth is we ultimately control what we do with the time we have. We decide if we spend it working 60 hours a week, writing the next great American Novel or attempting to understand the greater mysteries of the universe. Brilliant in its simplicity, its amazing how quickly we forget this. We lament the loss of time as we waste countless hours and days trying to figure out how to preserve it, when instead we should be striving to get the most out of every second.

Ultimately time will continue its steady march forward. No matter how much we would like it to slow down. However, by focusing on the beginnings, learning from the past, and seizing the moment our perception of this uncontrollable era might look a bit brighter. Living each day with this realization in mind will enable us to utilize our past experiences to make the decisions today that will make tomorrow worthwhile. After all, as the great Abraham Lincoln once said, “The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time.”

Lessons from the Fall of Jered

“End? No, the journey doesn’t end here…” -Gandalf

Once again I find myself recounting another seasonal journey into the abyss. The Fall of Jered is now complete. All things considered, it  was not nearly as dramatic as other famous falls. The falls of Gandalf, Anakin, and Harvey Dent were far more epic.  Does this mean the fall was a farce? Nothing more than a clever play-of-words to describe the period immediately succeeding the highs of the summer? Not quite. While life did not come to an untimely end, lessons were learned and realizations were made. Speaking of which…

Dating is difficult. While this probably does not come as a surprise to anyone, its a subject I’ve reflected over a great deal during the Fall. Take dating for instance. Two people engage in a pseudo romantic rendezvous in order to determine if there is interest in one another. One would think it were simple as expressing interest. Unfortunately, it rarely is. There is the risk of coming off as too eager. An element of the dating game I don’t think I will ever understand. Not to mention the natural fear of rejection. Something far easier to overcome in principal than in practice. And lets not forget the simple matter of dating etiquette. Who should pay on the first date? When is it okay to go in for the kiss? How many dates should one engage in before its time for the talk? So many layers of difficulty, so little time. I think I would rather just battle 7 evil exes and be done with it.

Its better to be busy than bored.  A part of me would be completely content sleeping in until noon, playing video games for eight hours, and then returning to bed with no other responsibilities. However, even if I could somehow negotiate a career allowing for the amount of free time required for such a life, I would not welcome it. You would think if our minds were at constant rest they would be filled with productive thoughts. Sadly, this is not the case. Instead, we usually dwell on the things in our lives we are unhappy with. Keeping busy enables us to focus on what we can control, thus making for a more satisfying existence. With that said, it is also important to take a moment to stop and smell the roses lest we lose sight of what truly matters.

The ability to emotionally distance one’s self from uncomfortable situations can be a blessing and a curse. My grandma’s health has been on a steady decline over the last year.  So when I got the call on the phone she had passed away I was less surprised than perhaps I might have been otherwise. Between the every day concerns of life, and the realization my grandma probably didn’t have many years left I slowly became distanced emotionally from her.  While this enabled me to deal with the shocking news, this disconnectedness from hard situations is not without its drawbacks.  For one, it makes it far more difficult to comfort others who may be more affected by the same bad news. Also, when it comes to engaging in those necessary emotionally charged events, there is a tendency to put up barriers that make dealing with things far more difficult. Thus, its important to avoid completely insulating one’s self from emotion. Unless of course your trying to become a Jedi, in which case its a necessity.

We control our destiny for better or worse. While I still believe in a certain level of providence, its become clear sitting back and allowing things to happen accomplishes little. Even if we are players in a game that has already been decided, we still make our own decisions. We control our action (or inaction). If there is something we want, we have go out and get it. Its possible we might fail. Though if we don’t at least try, we most definitely will. In the immortal words of John F. Kennedy, “There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long range risks of comfortable inaction.”

 

Finding Your 50 Doors

“All of us might wish at times that we lived in a more tranquil world, but we don’t. And if our times are difficult and perplexing, so are they challenging and filled with opportunity.”- Robert Kennedy

Life can be tough. There are so many factors at play. Whether it be those you can control or those you can’t. At the end of the day, some level of disappointment is unavoidable. In some cases, it is minor. Star Wars Episode I-III for example. While in others, it can be something far more drastic, like the loss of a job. Unfortunately, there is no magic bullet for avoiding the negative elements of life. No matter how much we would like things to work out all of the time, the simple fact remain that they don’t. Which is why it is important to pursue the mythical 50 door strategy.

What is the 50 door strategy? In the simplest terms it is simply keeping one’s life occupied with a variety pursuits meant to make life more fulfilling. It means not getting so bogged down in one’s personal or professional life, that every time something does not go according plan, the world falls to pieces. In a word, it is diversifying one’s life portfolio, because as economics attempts to teach us, spreading the risk among multiple avenues softens any potential blows dramatically. It is recognizing the perplexity of life and breaking it down. Looking past the overwhelming nature of the world to one’s potential for greatness and continuing forward with no intention of stopping.

How does one pursue their 50 doors?  The first course of action is to break down your areas of focus. Some examples might include: volunteering, civic engagement, socializing, jiujitsu etc. Once you determine what areas in your life require fulfillment, its just a matter of actively pursuing interests and activities that satisfy them. Do you  care about the plight of those in poverty? Then working with an organization that helps those in financial duress would probably be the route to pursue when looking to open the volunteer door. Really passionate about the parks in your city? Then become civically engaged by joining your local Parks and Recreation commission. Once you know what’s important to your life, its just a matter of pursuing the interests that satisfy your needs.

Why bother at all? Besides keeping your eggs in multiple baskets, there is another reason to pursue the 50 door strategy. Balance. With all of the vices and other distractions in life, it is easy to get bogged down by individual, insignificant details. Even more so, when you choose to focus on one activity above all else. In order to achieve proper perspective, its important to have variety in life. Giving back to your community through your volunteer or civic engagement activities enables you to step outside of your personal concerns for awhile. Maintaining a healthy social life enables you to build a support network to fall back on when everything hits the fan.  Focusing on achieving a desirable career will make the seemingly endless hours each day you spend trying to make a living seem far less mind numbing. After all, at the end of the day we are nothing more than the sum of all our parts.

 

 

Leveling Up Through Life

 “Maturity is often more absurd than youth and very frequently is most unjust to youth.”
Thomas Edison

The stages of life are a complicated conundrum. We start out life completely dependent on our parents and have little to no relationships or responsibilities to worry about. As we get older we embark upon the beginning of our education, whilst simultaneously learning the rudimentary social skills we need to function in society. We make friends, we develop crushes, and in some cases we learn that not everyone is going to be nice to us. Overall our early years are a laid back time filled with readily available friends and harmless crushes. Sometime around our mid-to-late teens we experience our first pseudo relationship only to find out later that it was nothing more than silly hormones. Then we hit our twenties and we are suddenly suppose to have a complete grasp on what it means to be a fully functional adult in a healthy relationship. As usual this is easier said than done for a number of reasons.

There is no instructional manual for life. Throughout most of our earlier life we are given pretty good guidelines for how we should behave. Go to school. Play nice with others. Rinse and Repeat. Then we reach the mythical adulthood and we are supposed to get a job, find someone whom we care deeply about, and start a family with no definitive instructions as to how to do this. Alone, any of these tasks would be daunting. Together they are akin to staging an attack on a fully operational Death Star hoping to shoot a photon torpedo into a two-meter exhaust port at breakneck speed. We are left to figure out what job will inspire us, how to navigate the minefield that is dating, and become a real boy through the wonders of trial and error. Where is ghost Kenobi when you need him?

Dating is messy. Dating was difficult enough in high school when the biggest thing to consider was whether or not the girl/guy you liked felt the same. As an “adult”, it becomes more than simply finding someone who enjoys your company as much as you enjoy theirs. It suddenly becomes about long term compatibility. Is this someone I can see myself with for the rest of my life? Can I see myself raising younglings with this person? Would I be willing to fight her seven evil exes in order to be with him/her? All questions raised while attempting to navigate the perilous waters of the dating world. Whatever happened to simplicity of circling yes and maybe, if your lucky, holding hands at recess?

Everybody is different. We all approach life differently. We have a unique set of values and experiences. We prioritize things based on this diversity. While this is what makes us individuals it also means there is no right way to take the next step. While some people can be content getting married and having kids early in life, others choose to focus on their careers and friendships. However, at some point we are expected to be well-adjusted adults. For some this means finally taking the plunge into family life.  For others it is rising to the top of one’s career. Then there are those who rail against the box that is responsibility and live life on the edge, you know, like pirates. Simply put, our diversity makes our life journey one-of-a-kind. So while we may not be the chosen one, we can always take heart that no matter how much it seems like it sometimes, we are not doing it wrong.

 

Mortgaging the Future

“When you get in debt you become a slave” -Andrew Jackson

Recently student loan debt has reached $1 trillion. This is an unfathomable amount of money to saddle the future of this country with. This is more than all of the credit card debt in the country. Except with credit card debt, if things get too bad, you can just file for bankruptcy and it will go away. Meanwhile, with student loan debt even bankruptcy will not free you from shackles of student loans. This is simply inexcusable. We consistently emphasize the importance of higher education in rebuilding our economy, but then create policies that continue to drive its price  to a level well beyond anything that can be afforded without taking on massive debt. This is detrimental to our future and cannot be allowed to continue for a number of reasons.

The threat of debt makes higher education inaccessible for many. A recent Georgetown study, indicated that 70 percent of jobs will require some sort of post-secondary education. Sadly, many of those needed workers are being discouraged from pursuing a higher education in favor of remaining debt-free. Furthermore, every step up the educational ladder raises the risk and debt these students will face. When achieving one’s full potential to contribute to the economy is measured not by ability but how behind one is willing to get financially, it does not bode well for the development of society.

Debt saddled college graduates are limited in their ability to contribute to the economy. If I had managed to graduate college debt-free, there are a lot of things I would have done with the money currently going to paying back student loans. Most of which, would probably involve buying more goods. It’s no wonder we are facing a housing crisis in this country. When a large percentage of the next generation of workers are dumping money into paying off their education, there is a little left for purchases like a home or even a car in many cases. Ideally, we would live in an economy where the purchasing power of the populace was not so vital to prosperity.  However, until that day arrives, having a bunch of recent college graduates with money to directly inject into the economy is an excellent thing.

Debt discourages experimentation and innovation. Peter Thiel, cofounder of Paypal recently offered twenty individuals under the age of twenty,  $100,000 to forgo college in favor of starting a business. Most people are not faced with such a drastic choice as this. However, when one leaves college plagued by debt, taking the risks needed to stimulate the economy is not the most appealing proposition. Instead of pursuing further education, or taking out a business loan to start the next fortune 500 company, many college graduates are struggling just to find a job. Leading many to either settle for a low-skilled job that helps pay the bills, or in many cases, being forced to move in with parents or other family members while continuing a seemingly fruitless job search. This lack of success, damages the confidence of many, further reducing the willingness to take the chances needed to stimulate the economy.

The increase in student debt shows little signs of slowing. In fact, as governments attempt to balance the budget on the backs of students, both through decreased funding for public higher education, and reductions in state and federal grant programs, it only seems to be getting worse. However, this does not need to continue. Rededicating ourselves to preparing the future workforce of this country through investment in our higher education institutions and the grant programs that allow students to afford the educations they provide can reverse this trend. This will require courageous leadership and sacrifice from the elite minority that controls the money and power in this country. Or maybe we should just let the market solve the problem. That always seems to work…