On Art’s Twisted Way

Art can be appreciated in so many different ways due to the countless way in which one can create it. Art is indefinable because anything can be considered so depending on who is judging it. As a result, those who enjoy art fall into different categories. There are those who admire art. Then, there are those who love art. There are also those who desire art. There are those others who have a crave art. Finally, there are those who need art. Although superficially these people seem to be the same, they are different art consumers. They do indeed share certain characteristics, but that does not render them the equal.
Those who admire art, well, admire it. They enjoy going to museums in particular to look around the greatest creations of the artist from the past as well as those contemporary geniuses. These art admirers conform themselves to a life devoted to knowing about art because that will help them understand it; and, as a result, admire it from a better perspective. Art should never be undermined because as odd as it might sometimes appear, it is still art. Admiring art is an art in itself because not everyone is capable of endeavoring in such task. The people who admire art are committed to the artists’ creations without criticizing. They simply admire the art piece as it was created and take for granted that the artist did not fail in communicating the intended message. They do not question, only admire.
Then there is the rare breed of those who love art. They live for it. They breathe it. They eat it. They drink it. Their lives are about art. Art is their passion. These people are those whose houses are filled with art pieces of multiple kinds. They do not skimp when it comes to spending on a piece of art if the money is available to them. They do not much care for what others think about the art they collect. It is art to them, and that is what matters. Their love for art goes far beyond their love for anything else. Art is what their world revolves around.
There are also those who desire art. These people are a sort of mixture between those who admire it and those who love it. They enjoy museums and the like, but they are mostly unable to identify art if they see it on the streets. They love what they see at the museums, but since those pieces are generally unaffordable they go through life desiring art without realizing that there are others forms of art. They are unable to accept that there is more to art than those pieces that can only be admired at museums. Their desire for art does not live outside of the museums’ walls. That is the only art they desire. The only art they can recognize, which is way they constantly desire it unable to find that joy in the more simple art live provides.
Those who crave art are those who unconsciously desire it. This variety of people does not only crave the pieces of art that can be found in museum halls, but are also capable of recognizing other types of art when they see them. They crave art and do not much care on the kind of art they are able to admire or enjoy. They do not limit themselves to one kind of art. They have a very extensive imaginary catalogue of what can be considered art in order to satisfy their cravings. So long as it is art to them, they do not care much by which of their five senses it is experienced.
Finally, there are those who need art. These are the artists. They are those who create art because they need it to survive. Artists need art in order to continue breathing. They need it in order for their lives to have a purpose because without art their lives are meaningless. They do not care for others opinions about their art because the true artists do not create art with the expectation of approval or making a fortune. The true artists create art because it satisfies them. Art is what nurtures them and keeps them sane in this chaotic world.
Art is around in many different forms. Everyone enjoys it whether they recognize it or not. It is just that some people admire that at museums others admire the art of breathing under a new sunrise.

xoxo,
Poison Drops


©Copyrighted 2008

The Memory of a Forgotten Town

At first sight, it does not appear to have changed much over the years. The air is still as fresh as in years past. The sun continues to rise in the east and set in the west behind the hills. The rain still falls in the summer and the harvest occurs in the fall. The days are as warm as the nights, the same way they have always been. There are occasional cold days, but the inhabitants of the town know that those days will not last. The flora and the fauna have perhaps changed along with the landscape, but those changes are necessary. History continues to walk around the streets, but it cannot maintain the pace with the parade change leads.
The streets have changed. They are not longer filled with mud, they have now been paved with concrete in order to bury the shameful past of poverty outside the doors while it remains very well alive the moment one steps inside the houses. There are many people whom are not recognized because time has changed them beyond recognition or because they are new to those who sometimes return. The schools are not longer filled with children eager to learn though they remain waiting. Waiting they will remain because those children will not come because they have left to never return. Others will return but not to stay and continue their education on those in the past remodeled classrooms that once knew greatness. The children who remain are not enough to fill the classrooms that were once so full that the children did not fit in them. Hence, the remodeling projects from past decades.
The sky remains as blue as anyone can remember. The holidays are still celebrated punctually every year. The routine has not changed, yet those who celebrate them have. They are all guided by a different light and warmed by different sunrays. There are those who have never left and the constant returnees, who make the journey every year to enjoy the holidays on the town in question. There are those others who return once every few years due to different reasons but equally enjoy their time in the forgotten town. The important detail is that somehow they have all managed to remain connected despite distance and time.
The children have now adopted a different age policy. They have formed a non-agreed on council to grow older faster than how they naturally would whereas in the past childhood the most precious treasure anyone could have. Those were the days of joy when there was not any need to worry because the adults took care of every need. Children have now altered the game of life to change their freedoms and obligations for responsibilities that they do not need. Said responsibilities they would most likely regret once they actually understand what they have done because the games have not really changed and the rules remain the same whether renamed or not.
New beliefs walk around the streets; and, as monarchs that have conquered new territories, they strain themselves to gently and slowly but ruthlessly displaced the old traditions. It is a long-term project that many have come to accept and others refuse to recognize, but everyone consciously or not participates in the new regime.
Though apparently the town has not changed beyond the obvious, time will reveal the deep changes that have occurred. The mistakes of the presents seem to be aimed at redeeming the errors committed in the past, but there was not anybody whom openly expressed the need to redeem the past. There is indeed a need for improvement, but the changes currently occurring are not necessarily the ones that are desperately needed.
The ruins of the old town remain hidden under the shadows of the new town that rises over to reach the sky. It lies in the foundation of what the old town used to be: the town that is cherished by those who knew it, by those who enjoyed it in the past. It remains in the memories of those who inhabited while the senses of those who now enjoy its premises experience a different town.
At the end, the town has deeply changed, indeed. The town in which past generations have lived is not the one which the new generations enjoy. People speak of treasured memories of a town that only dimly outlines the shadow of the one that the new generations know.

xoxo,
Poison Drops


©Copyrighted 2008

The Eternal Girlfriend

It is well known that when a sentimental relationship between two people begins, the effort placed in it to make it work is great from both parties. However, as time passes by it seems that, in a heterosexual relationship, the man usually does not considered the same effort to be necessary. The woman, nevertheless, believes that such effort such be made on a daily basis. This is perhaps best illustrated with a couple that dates for a long time and their relationship seems to be the best there is. Yet, once they are married, all the details that made the relationship so great begin to vanish until they completely disappear. The man begins to exhibit a certain carelessness that then leads the woman to completely disregard him over a long period of time because she seems to have the hope that the situation will return to the past great times. There is not guarantee that by her doing what she always has done to show her now husband how much she cares, that he will change to be the man she first met when he used to put as much effort as her into the relationship. Marriage then is a sort of dreadful stage in the sentimental relationship between two people.
Marriage has always been seen as the ultimate stage of love. It has been considered as a way to culminate a relationship and seal it forever. The problem with this is that because every relationship and as a result every marriage is different there are not equal, then many people acquire the wrong idea of what it would mean to be married. Many people marry because they truly believe in marriage while others only do it for the thrill of it or the glamour of the wedding. Whatever the reason, most marriages end up the same: miserable. Do note that it does not mean all will reach that state, but many will do so. Marriage is not miserable because it is marriage but rather because of the way in which it molds people. Marriage tends to necessitate of certain characteristics in those who enter this new stage of their relationship and many people are not ready for such change despite their beliefs. Women have learned from time immemorial that they should please men in any way possible, which sadly, leads to the conclusion that if something is going inadequately, then it is due to their mistakes. This is something developed since birth. Girls are more responsive to gestures and read facial expressions. They learned what it means to be approved of without their parents or teachers actually saying anything to them. In adulthood, this translates into pleasing a man in order to acquire that approval. It is subconscious, but very harmful. That is why when a marriage is not going well, the woman never ceases to strain herself to make it work whereas the man simply gives up after perhaps trying to fix it once if at all. This is not the case during the relationship preceding the marriage. At that time, the effort is mutual.
During the relationship previous to marriage, men show more interest in it. They make a bigger effort to please the woman. They are more careful to remember dates and details, which is a capacity they lose after the marriage certificate is signed. It seems to be the case that marriage as a negative effect on them.
It should then be considered to redefine the institution of marriage into a sort of eternal engagement. This could in a way guarantee that both parties involved would put an effort into their relationship. Men would certainly be more involved rather than lose interest as they do once they are married and the thought that there is not anything to lose anymore possesses them. It would then be more romantic for a woman to be the eternal girlfriend as opposed to the wife. If the man would not just fall asleep on the relationship and the mutual effort would never cease.
Unfortunately, this seems rather unrealistic due to the patriarchal society we inhabit. It is practically impossible for men to accept this change since it would contradict their own ideals of power. If marriage were an eternal engagement, men would not necessarily enjoy the upper hand in the situation. Thus, all hope is lost since as Woody Allen said, “only unfulfilled love is romantic” which does not seem anywhere near to become part of reality.

xoxo,
Poison Drops


©Copyrighted 2008

Project Self

People walk through life indulging in the art of imitation without even realizing what they are doing. Most people believe that the persona they are at any given time is the original version of themselves, but that is not always the case. It is then very important that one is not a copy of someone else because that creates multiple problems of identity representation and appreciation. Such event is problematic because the gazes of those around one constructs who one is. Said gazes create the socially constructed image that constitutes someone’s existence. One is nothing if someone else doesn’t think so. False presentations of oneself whether purposely or not can create conflicts with other people. But so do the original versions. As a result, one must be very careful since the detail that is part of one’s persona, which fascinates others is only known to those who are charmed by it.
As one grows up, it is very easy to pick up traits from those around. In fact, that is the case more often than not. By the time one is old enough to understand that a personality has been adopted, it is too late to identify those parts of one’s personality that were not part of the original copy. Thus, naturally there is not anyone who is precisely an original copy. Everyone accommodates bits and pieces of those who have at some point formed part of their lives. Therefore, false presentations occur both purposely and not. If they are on purpose, then one should be able to face the consequences of the misrepresentation. But when they are not on purpose, it is difficult to understand the results that brings. One is not always aware that traits from those have been adopted, which renders difficult the task of presenting oneself as one truly is.
There is an important issue that arises from projecting oneself on a certain way; which leads to causing people to perceive one in a certain way. If this perception arises directly from whom one really is, then there should not be any worries of what others might think of one since such thoughts are a direct result of what one does. Yet, if people have a contradicting idea of who is, one could be doomed to ultimately become that person. One is what other people think one is not necessarily what one believes one is. It is difficult to arrive at a consensus because most of the time one does not realize what one gives off as a personality or representation of one’s own real self. Due to fear of rejection that might come if one shows one’s true colors, one accepts the new persona imposed by others. At the same time, one simply might find that other character more appealing than the original as do those around.
Another major problem is the fascination that one causes others. Such fascination comes as a result of the perception someone holds of one. Some people enjoy believing that they know what exactly causes it. But that fascination is caused by a particular detail of someone’s personality most of the time unknown to the one who causes the fascination. Such detail seems to be only known to that person who is charmed by it. If one moves through life mimicking someone else, soon there will be time when one is not admired, appreciated, nor respected for who one is, but rather for whom that person of, which one became the copy is.
Thus, misrepresentations and, as a result, misperceptions rise the question of whether one is appreciated (respected, loved, etc) for who one is or for whom other people want one to be or believe one to be. Then one could also begin to appreciate more whom one is due to other people’s influences and not the one whom one really is, which renders one’s true self purposeless. If not recognized, it becomes meaningless.
People become devoted to the idea of someone and not to that person. People recognize only those parts of someone’s imagine which they approve of. They are fascinated by a random idea not by something specific. Hence, if one is not the original version of oneself, one is deliberately taking the risk of never actually knowing oneself. The risk of molding others perceptions of one and as a result molding oneself to what others perceive.
One should not be a puppet of others’ views and desires. After all, one is not born with strings attached.

xoxo,
Poison Drops


©Copyrighted 2008

A Blueprint to Reality

Upon awaking, there is sometimes a sensation of uneasiness because there seem to be residues of a certain life that never really happened. One must adjust those memories and placed them in the cabinet labeled as dreams. The dreams cabinet contains memories of stories that were once heard and seemed as a good plot for a novel. People who were once met, but that would most likely never be encountered in everyday life. Places that were once visited, but which remain unknown when one’s eyes are opened. Ideas that seemed fantastic at some point, which one finds unable to remember upon awakening. All files in the dreams cabinet are non-existent. They happened in a different reality, yet they provide a hope for an improve life that includes the details from the dream. They are also fuel to achieve accomplishments. Dreams are, it seems, a game one’s unconsciousness plays by leaving remainders of what they were in the conscious reality. Such reality is confused with the dream in such a way that it presents a new way of appreciating the sunshine.
Dreams provide a sort of hope for an improved life because in a dream one unconsciously imagines what one really wants. Dreams are here, of course, not to be confused with nightmares. There are some details of one’s life that one might wish to change but it is difficult to simply do it while one is awake. A dream might present a path to follow in order to implement those changes. One tends to dream about people whom one cherishes, but who are not part of one’s reality. A dream brings then a new roadmap which life should follow after all that is what one unconsciously wants.
A dream is also the fuel that the unconscious provides the conscious in order for one to embark upon a journey of success. One does not simply decide to achieve a certain goal rather the goals one has are first visualized in dreams. The desire comes as a result of dreaming about such goal whether during the day or at night. Ambitions are created through dreams because in a dream everything is moldable to one’s desires, hopes and fears. Everything can be unconsciously controlled on a dream. If anything is not occurring as one might have expected: one wakes up. In real life, however, one cannot simply wake up. That is the reason why one needs a sort of blue print, which more often than not is supplied by the dreams one has whether awake or asleep. Nevertheless, one cannot fully control one dreams about hence nightmares.
People seem to ask themselves the question of why are there dreams without finding any answers. There are not any answers because those people are not strong enough to pursue their dreams. Their unconsciousness is screaming what it is that they should do in order to achieve what they really want but those people do no listen. They are lost in their conscious state moving through life on the everyday without a blue print for their future. It is true that there is not an exact way to materialize dreams other than with hard work and time, but it is not impossible. One should follow one’s dreams in order to find that way to materialize their content.
Dreams are a way for the unconscious to communicate though such communication is blurry. The problem is, however, that one does not yet know how to interpret the messages that the consciousness receives. A dream is easier to mold life in a dream than in reality. Thus, people find themselves drifting into dreams to play a game with the unconscious without knowing that they will never win. Dreams are a escape from reality without abandoning it. Dreams are the only way we can create a future without forgetting to live the present. Attention must be paid in order to recognize the importance of role dreams play in directing one’s life in the right direction because a dream is more than the drifting of into an unconscious state, it is a therapy the consciousness needs in order to verify that it is moving in the right direction.
A dream is a sort of imaginary reality that one molds to perfection. A game everyone plays because it is easier to break the rules there than to bend them in real life. Dreams are an immaterial happiness, which must be considered when on is awake. Otherwise, life is a nightmare.


xoxo,
Poison Drops


©Copyrighted 2008

A New Location

People tend to relocate as part of their nature because there is a need for improvement. The desire for better housing or a better job is the drive. In other cases, moving is due to a negative and unexpected event. But whatever it is that prompts people to move, there is always a known location in which people can be found after they have done so. In that same way, when an object is moved, the new location can always be specified. When an object is lost, however, time and energy are directed towards finding its new locations. Yet, it can be found. So people move from a house to another, or from a city to another city. People change states and even countries. Objects are either relocated or misplaced, but they can be found. But there are other things of which a location cannot be identified. Such is the case with the love someone had at some point in time expressed for someone else and then said love is not there anymore. Where does love go when it is gone?
It is, first and foremost, difficult to say where something that is not material is located which is necessarily the case with love. Then, there is the problem of whether that item actually exists or not. But it does seem as though such things can be lost or placed as parasites on something material in order to be able to locate them. Love does not appear to escape such predicament. There is evidence of this in a recently discovered case. A certain couple that said to be deeply in love after sometime in the relationship decided to buy a dog. The love they felt for each other seems to have been symbolized by the dog. The both took equal care of the dog. It was equally important to both of the as part of their relationship. But as time went by they seemed to realize that the relationship was not working properly, or how they thought it should have been. Neither of them wanted to keep the dog, perhaps because it would be too painful to take care of a creature that had so united them. The dog was then gifted, and neither of them ever saw it again. When of the parties involved in such story was asked where the love went, the response was: wherever the dog is. This seems completely unacceptable because it would mean that the love they felt for each other relied on the presence of the dog and not on each other.
It is superficially simple to understand that the love did not die. The love remained, it just moved. But it is also rather complicated to accept that the love moved to wherever the dog went. One begins to wonder how to describe the love these two people felt for each other if it can be placed in another creature and sent away. It seems impossible that such possibility can be materialized. There are many couples that never have anything that can, in fact, be sent away in order for their love to move to another location; and, as a result, leave them in peace. Some people claim that it hurts so much live after they lose someone they loved, that living is unmanageable. But they forget that before they met that person their life went along just fine. So if love moves, then their life should be able to continue just as well considering that it has previously moved into their lives and that was also disturbing. Yet, they managed to live with that situation. The same way it becomes difficult to understand two people that shared everything come to a point in life where they do not even see each other from far away and life goes on. Perhaps because the question should be how two people that did not know each other came to share everything. Was it love or was it something else? If it can relocate, then perhaps is because it was never really there.
As Oscar Wilde said, “the only difference between a caprice and everlasting love is that a caprice lasts longer.” The problem is that most people assert that real love is eternal. Other people are smarter and instead of wondering whether love moved, they simply build a bridge and get over it as soon as the fall out happens. So love does not move: people do. They move on.


xoxo,
Poison Drops


©Copyrighted 2008

The House of [Label]

The need for labels arises at very early age, which come in multiple presentations. Some of those labels are easier to identify than others, but all are equally important in determining the way a person is perceived by others. There are cultural labels that one is born with as well as those used to associate oneself with a certain group of people outside of cultural ties. There are also those neglected labels that one seeks to avoid due to the negative connotations attributed to them. Finally, there are also clothing labels that seem to be at the pinnacle of pandemonium. The form they take does not matter because the labels are inescapable. Everything has a label in this world however difficult to identify it might be. In the same way, every human being whether the person knows and understands it or not.
Human beings are born with a label of which they cannot dispose. That label is the one that connects one with the ancestors that inhabited the land in which one is born hundreds of years before. In other circumstances it was a different land, but one equally derives one’s roots, culture and values from those that came before. Such label is undeniable because it is present everyday in the skin, the language, the food, the holiday celebrations, the people, and the surroundings. Positive or negative. That is the label one cannot ever escape. It embodies who one is; and as such, it must be embraced. Otherwise, it becomes a torture tool for identity.
Then, there are other labels that perhaps carry a bigger weight because one chooses to appropriate them. Such are the labels of organizations one joins, or causes one supports or the views and beliefs one has. These are perhaps the labels one most easily acknowledges because one freely chooses them, but one must be careful not to let a single label be the source of empowerment. If such was the case, then the rest of the labels one has proudly attained are unimportant, and one becomes only that one thing which the overpowering label represents. One becomes the label itself rather than one who advocates that label, which should be the goal.
There are also some seemingly dreadful labels one seeks to avoid at all costs, in some cases without success because they seem to evolve over time. One might think that a certain label is suitable. But as soon as that label acquires a negative connotation, one finds a way to sever all ties with it in order to maintain a reputation. Those labels vary in kind. A masquerade does not cover all the imperfections one desires to hide. There are some that one cannot avoid due to the way one carries oneself.
Finally, clothing lines are at the root of the power of labels. As young children, one notices what kind of clothes or shoes the other children at school are wearing and innocently criticizes them or demands to obtain the same items. This problem only grows with time as one has access to more expensive items whether such items are garments, shoes, accessories, attending a certain school, a car, a house, etc. The list simply grows because such items carry in their label a status. Those labels carry with them the promise of a better quality of life. It starts with clothes but it quickly moves on to other items. As time progresses, those labels are as deeply embedded through an unconscious attainment as those that one consciously appropriates or those one is born with. But labels should be the center of one’s universe. Yet they are inescapable because it is through labels that one is accepted or identified by the rest of society. Unfortunately, the labels one is able to afford in the financial world are the labels society considers important. Hence, the struggle to surround oneself with said labels.
There are thousands of people in the world that are labeled by others without those labeled knowing or understanding what the labels they have mean but who also do not care about the labels that they are known through since their primal worry is whether there will be food on the table that afternoon or whether they will wake up the next day. It is nearly impossible to evade the reality one represents because one labels oneself with every action, every word, and every step. Whether positive or negative, one must learn to live in a labeled society.

xoxo,
Poison Drops


©Copyrighted 2008

Birth Mark

Throughout history, many attempts have been made to render every human being in the planet as equal. Despite major efforts and changes, such goal has not yet being achieved. There are still many ways in which discrimination manages to constantly appear in the every day life. As it is well know, the victors write history. It also seems as though those who lose must endure in order to have another battle. But after power has been in someone’s hands for so long, the battles are simply a farce theatrical presentation in order to justify power holdings. There are barriers that are acceptable to be crossed so long as those at the base of the discrimination pyramid remain at the bottom. Special attention should be placed in that pillar because it would be the most difficult to destroy in the quest for equality. Women are that basis because the patriarchal society, which we inhabit, prevents women from being treated as equal from the moment of birth.
Barriers have been crossed in order to attain equality. Humanity appears to have come a long way since the days of slavery from the first recorded slavery shipment to America in 1619 to November 4, 2008 when a half African and half stereotypical American man was elected president of the United States. But that is not the only inequality that affects people. Racism is, of course, one of the biggest problems to affect the world. It still remains even though it hides in the shadows of what seems to be equality. Yet, there are other types of inequality that still have a very strong hold in the across borders. Jean Jacques Rousseau wrote about natural inequalities, which were to be age, intellect, and health, while he also spoke of unnatural inequalities, which are contrived and come from acquiring property and enhanced by said equal inequalities. Poverty levels rather than decrease seem to increase as days pass by. The world is not the world of the merchantilist. As a result, the amount of wealth is not believed to be fixed anymore; yet the attempts to alleviate poverty fail. Perhaps it is simply because the correct ways to lessen the problem are not the ones used. Rousseau’s writing might be taken as a blue print for how to solve the problem through the healthy, intellectually capable and who are an appropriate age to rigorously work on a solution. This should not be taken to mean that Thomas Malthus’ idea of letting the poor die should be implemented because poverty does not justify death.
The separation of classes is taken as the most common or well-recognized form of inequality. Then, there is the division of the races, which is extremely prominent in the matters of discrimination. It was thought to be the biggest obstacle to surpass in order to achieve equality. It is also irrational since we are all one race: human. But most people pretend to have amnesia when it comes to recognizing sexism. The preference for the men in the world as opposed to the women is strictly evident in the double standards in which society is ran. It becomes clear that fear is what triggers such detrimental treatment of one of the halves that ensures the continual existence of the human race. Patriarchal society allows for men to step over women as they please even though women strive to end such violation of their rights on an every day basis. It is true that measures have been taken in order to address the problem and put an end to it. Nevertheless, those are baby steps compared to the equality that is to be reached because women still remain second hand citizens in any county around the globe. Women’s accomplishments have been so great that many countries have already been lead by women. But there is the key of the problem: it is an accomplishment. It should not be so. Since we are all supposed to be all equal, then the opportunity for one sex or the other to become the head of state should be, redundantly, equal. But such is not the case: for men, leading a country is the norm; for women, is a triumph that must be marked in history.
The difference that must be recognized and overcome is the one that marks a newborn girl as someone whose achievements would be out of the ordinary and unexpected, and a newborn boy as destined to be successful.


xoxo,
Poison Drops


©Copyrighted 2008

Preventing Chaos

There are, indeed, many material ways to prevent society to fall into a complete and irreversible chaos. The most common publicly recognized is the prison system. It is widely believed that the prison system, used around the world in different manners, prevents people from committing certain actions that would lead the world into a worse state than the one it currently finds itself in. It is also true, that at times people seem to forget the consequences of their actions and certain terrible situations are brought about. The prison system does not then appear to be enough as a punishment for human wrongdoings. In those cases, there is the need for something with a bigger power to controls people more often than not in order to prevent world mayhem. There is a secret key holder to the chest that holds pandemonium to its maximal potential: religion. Even though many believe that religion is simply the hope of a better after life, religion plays an important role in society as a stability safeguard. People seem to be more scared to go to hell than to go to prison since there are known ways to escape prison but that cannot yet be said about hell.
The prison system is known to have plenty imperfections even though it has evolved through time. Those defects begin at the work it takes to find someone worthy of spending some quality time in one of its locations, to what happens once that person is inside. In simple terms, first of all, a criminal must undergo a trial during which said person must be found guilty. If that is not the case, then that means one less inmate. However, if after what sometimes takes months or years, the conclusion is reached that the person in trial has been found guilty as charged, then a sentence is given and the person is sent to prison. There are ways to work with the system to play with the sentence, whether that means a reduction of the time that is to be spent behind bars or changing a death sentence to simply spending a lifetime in jail, or even setting a time and date to leave the prison. This, of course, it the person in question is able to go through the trouble. Once inside, however, there are privileges for those who can afford to pay for them. For some, it could be as though they had never left the outside world. The other option, as difficult as it could be, is escaping and there are several individuals known to have escaped whether by their own physical or monetary abilities.
Hence, religion’s existence is somehow necessary, but also fails its attempts to keep the world as a harmonious place since disturbances occur everyday. Yet, people seem to fear hell more than they do prison. The main reason for such terror is that hell is a place people speculate about, but there is not any concrete knowledge of what it is like. Since people tend to fear the unknown, whatever that might be, hell represents a bigger horror than prison. People then will stop themselves short of committing a crime or acting in what is considered the incorrect way as minimal as such action might be.
Hell is the place that everyone in his or her right mind should not want to spend at. Yet, that is that is known about it. There is absolutely not any knowledge of what it is actually like. That is not to say that people would actually like to find out. It is religion perfect tool the way it is. If any knowledge, provided of course that this place is real, was to be known to human kind, the thrill would be lost. People would immediately device a way to manipulate their way within its confines or escape it, as is the case with prison. It is very fictional, but precisely because of the horror charged mystery that accompanies it, hell is the best way to prevent chaos in the world. Independently, of which religion is presenting it or in what way as well as regardless of the name it is given. It is a place of eternal suffering.
There is much work to be done in order to materialize a flawless system that would prevent complete disorder. In the mean time, humans will continue to recur to their imagination as means to keep the world from self-destruction. The essential: innovation not indoctrination.


xoxo,
Poison Drops


©Copyrighted 2008

Self-Empowering Destruction

Punishment seems to be a norm for anything and everything. Whether directly or indirectly, punishment always seems to find its way to those who must pay for something done incorrectly. It is a very twisted enterprise, indeed. Nevertheless, punishment is not something many fear or dedicate thought to when committing some action that would otherwise be unacceptable. The kind of punishment that seems to have the most effective results is the personal kind, which founded upon three pillars: self-control, self-critique, self-punishment. It is also the worst kind there is. Contrary to wide spread belief, the fear of receiving any kind of punishment for what one does is not a strong enough force to prevent one from taking that certain action which one should not do according to the punishment expectation. Disaster begins, however, when the self becomes involved as a third party.
There are varying kinds and degrees of other punishments offered by family or the society one inhabits. They range from the silence treatment, which may lead to missing out on some very important family events to complete ostracism from the family circle. Then, on a different level there exists the monetary fines and community service as well as jail time, which are inflicted upon one who commits a crime. But such punishments can also reach the heights of execution, otherwise known as the capital punishment. The problem with this wide range of punishments is that results are not necessarily delivered. People are aware of what will happen if they commit a crime, or fail to fulfill a role at a family function or break a promise. Yet, that does not stop them from doing or not doing such things whatever the case might be.
The power of the self, on the other hand, seems to work its own magic. Self-control seems to be the first pillar to accomplishment. Yet, it can also be very damaging. Self-control is the best and worst kind of control there is. The fact that makes it the best is self-explanatory. Since it is self-control, then it means that one already knows what is best for one, thus preventing something which would hurt one’s own interests. Conversely, what makes it the worst is somewhat more complicated. The fact that is self-control also means that it has a stronger power precisely over the person executing it. This means that it might also prevent the one from taking certain actions that one would have otherwise enjoyed or be benefited from in the long run. But self-control obstructed one from acting so at the crucial moment.
Then, there is the next step: self-critique. When one fails to realize a goal or acts in a non-acceptable way, the second pillar of self-torture becomes involved in the game. Self-critique is the cruelest there is. It does not stop in superficialities; it digs deep down into those parts of one’s insecurities and reasons for acting in a certain manner. Self-critique never reaches the bottom of the abyss; it simply keeps dragging one down. One will be criticized by the world for an act committed or refraining to act but the world forgets. One might be forgiven. But one will never forgive. The critique, the memory will never fade. It will remain as a way to remind oneself of the mistake once committed and the many different ways it could have been avoided.
Finally, the most dreadful pillars in the quest to perfection: self-punishment. If self-control fails to prevent one from action, and if self-critique, as unkind as it might be, also fails to bring about regret of action or the fact that one remained static at the moment of needed action, there is self-punishment. There is, of course, the punishment that emanates from society and its inhabitants. Though, such punishment can be overcome. It stops when one enters one’s house or when one ignores what others do or say. The punishment one imposes upon oneself has further reaching consequences. It travels on a spectrum that goes from simply prohibiting a certain culinary pleasure to rigorously disciplining not only one’s every step, but also one’s every breath. It is the only way to the unattainable perfection one strives for or so one believes.
The fact remains that the only person of whom we should beware is oneself. The rest are only superficial material encounters with reality. The power of the self is further reaching than anything in the world that borders the bodily edges of one’s existence.


xoxo,
Poison Drops


©Copyrighted 2008

A Lethal Weapon

There are ways to corrupt people and then there are the ways to corrupt people. Most of the inhabitants of the terrestrial globe seem to believe that power and money corrupt people more easily than might do other things. Indeed, power and money tend to alter, dramatically in some cases, people’s behaviors, but rhetoric is a far more powerful device because it can pretentiously modify people’s thoughts, otherwise known as mind contents.
Power and money, which seem to be interrelated, have for centuries been considered the major source of corruption for men. People who are believed to be drunk in power are thought capable of anything and everything. Since power structures are an intrinsic part of how society works, it becomes easy to attribute them responsibility for many of the terrible happenings in the world. It is a widely held belief that if someone acquires too much power or has a substantial economic fortune, then those people have long been lost to the dark side. Of course, it is true that such can be the case, but there is much more to corruption than what money and power can do whether alone or combined.
Language and its persuasion power are far more compelling. Money and power are but two of the tools it employs in order to achieve its varied ends. Actions do not matter much when people speak of what others do. Deeds are more important than words it is said, but one must not forget that people also believe what they hear more easily when they have not seen actions taking place whether these words speak positively or negatively. Most importantly, however, is what someone’s speech can do to someone else’s mind directly. Ideas can be planted on people’s minds and can be cared for in order for them to grow healthy, as do seeds planted on the soil. In the same way that when the soil is not good enough to grow the seeds that have been planted, the soil is manipulated in order for it to produce so can people’s minds be twisted through language in order for the newly acquired ideas to developed into attitudes. There is precisely where the danger can be detected. Persuasion can be an evil power not only a good way to encourage others to improve and continue on their path however difficult it might seem.
Persuasion is a tricky device because it is difficult to detect as well as difficult to master. Yet, when used correctly it can have both positive effects and negative ones. Its positive effects are, however, well known since among them there is the renowned practice of persuading people to believe themselves capable of things beyond their reach. The negative ones are more devious since at first glance they appear to walk the ranks of the good intended. Hence, persuasive abilities are utilized in diverse ways that sometimes go beyond the expected. One can make people accept as true the unexpected if worded correctly. In that same category, is included the fact that one can change people’s minds contents if only one has a more convincing filling to place in the emptied space as soon as its former contents begin to drift out. In this way, language can corrupt minds, which is a capacity that money and power alone do not share.
Thus, the power rhetoric exudes is not comparable to anything else because it can control the mind. The mind is the most significant part of the human body as means to control a person because the body follows the instructions the mind provides. If through language one can achieve control over a human mind, then one has acquired complete control over the person. Money as well as power only allow for limited time control over someone. But with language, one empties the mind and fills it with whatever one pleases. The rest is history, but with money and power one must constantly work to distort people’s ethics. There is a need for reassurance. Rhetoric does not necessitate such practice.
It is imperative to pay close attention to what people have to say in order to learn how to understand the power of oratory. In such a way, one can at least attempt to prevent others from slowly converting us into puppets without our notice. It is key to be able to differentiate between our ideas and who we are and whom others try to make us become.

xoxo,
Poison Drops


©Copyrighted 2008

The Guilt in Celebration

The holidays are the one thing for which everyone patiently awaits because whatever occurs previous to their arrival does not prevent said appearance. They are bound to come around punctually as if they had a permanent date with humanity every twelve months. The problem lies, however, in determining why one’s excitement about certain days of the year is so great when the rest of the year simply passes by without receiving any special attention. So why are the holidays so special? The most common answer to such inquiry is as follows. The holidays are the perfect time to spend time with the family. But are they really an excuse to spend time with the family that is mostly neglected the rest of the year, or, are they a capitalist creation to coerce the public to spend money on commodities that more often than not are not necessary?
It is, indeed, difficult to reach a consensus about this interrogative since there is evidence that supports both cases. The holidays serve an important role as far as family time is concerned. It is well known that during the holidays there usually is also vacation time, in most cases because there are certain occupations that do not allow for said leisure time. The time that would then otherwise be spent working or at school is projected towards other activities. Family tends to become the number one priority because it requires a considerable amount of attention and there is the free time for attending to familial necessities. This occurs whether it is only one day off due to an obscure holiday or during the extensive winter holiday season. Thousands of students head home during holidays, as do thousands of people who have not been at home during the year due to their job location. This seems to suggest that family takes precedence to any other matters that could occupy the time of those who travel home during holidays.
On the other hand, holidays are the days that report the greatest profits as well as the times during which most companies or retailers offer items at reduced prices. Is it a coincidence that this happens during holidays? Of course, it is not. It is rather a plan to persuade people to buy more of which they would otherwise not do so, or simply to buy items that would not be on their list of articles to acquire. The situation correlates. The inhabitants of the world experience a certain ecstasy as a result of the time off from school or work, and they seem to think that anything is possible because their routine has changed for the time being. People then tend to forget that a reality check will come. Later, indeed, but it will materialize. In the meantime, they buy anything and everything that they can afford to whether the cash inflow or their credit card limits allows them to. It does not matter much the medium of exchange used to pay for the items that captivate their attention at the store.
The holidays are indeed an opportunity to enjoy an extended period of time with the family. This is proven by those who cannot wait for the holidays because otherwise it seems close to impossible to enjoy a sunset drinking hot chocolate while conversing with the other members of the family that have not been seen in months. Yet, that is not their sole purpose since those same people who enjoy a conversation with the family over hot chocolate, also take trips to the nearest mall in order to make purchases together as means of spending precious moments with the much missed family in order to make sure they do not forego the sales.
Are holidays then really necessary for family bonding purposes, or is that only a contingency because the actual beneficiaries are the retailers, which can always find an excuse to make people spend money? The consumerist society that we inhabit suggests that deriving family time from holidays is only part of a long forgotten instinct. If the need presented itself, there would not be any event whether work or school that would interfere with spending time with the family that we seem to miss so much when the holidays arrive. Then, family time is only an attempt to purge the guilt for the money unnecessarily splurged because we are easily influence by publicity but not by those who have spent most of their lives at our side.

xoxo,
Poison Drops


©Copyrighted 2008

A Possible Mask

Through out life, there is a question that always manifests itself one way or another, but it amounts more or less to asking who one is. The problem begins because being able to clearly advocate an identity is a very complicated issue. It requires not only time to figure out what that identity must be, but also energy to accept and establish it from within and then step in it and show it to the world.
As a child, one attempts to conceal who one really is in order to be accepted in a circle of friends that is in the process of being built. A mistake made from the beginning because one fails to understand that one can show oneself as one is since there is not anybody in that circle who already has a set idea of whom other people should be. Unconsciously, one hides those characteristics that one feels will not be accepted by those whom one associates oneself with it. At such age, one is unable to recognize what one is doing as positive or negative. It is automatic, even normal for the adults that surround the child. But in reality, it is abnormal because from an early age one builds the idea that one is not good enough as one is to form part of a group of people. One feels as though one does not fit, so one tries to fit. Then, as one moves on to adolescence, one moves on to the conscious concealment of those traits of one’s personality that one judges as unacceptable for others as well as those features of one’s life that do not fit in to what one wants to portray. At this time, one does not only feel as if one is unfit for having a relationship with certain groups of people, but one seems to be sure that if one does not change a certain mold, then one would not be acknowledged. As a result, one becomes an image of whom one thinks others would accept one for, which means that over time one might successfully cover up one’s true identity. One is not longer who one was when one first stepped into the preschool classroom, rather one is a combination of who one thinks one is and who one thinks other people want one to be. There is always the question of who can one be also present. At times, the inquiry is not about whether one wants to be someone, but who can one afford to be.
The passage of time makes this issue more difficult to clarify. Every step one takes along the way, takes one further inside a labyrinth from which one might not be able to walk out. One becomes entangled in one’s own creation that one forgets who one really is underneath all the layers of representation one wears. Besides the internal modifications one makes in order to persuade oneself that one is whom the mirror reflects and not someone different hiding in the depth of the eyes the mirror also reflects, which are ultimately reflected externally, there are also physical changes that are in turn illustrated by one’s actions.
One of the most important physical changes that can take place is relocation across an international border. Such change raises many questions that were not previously present and simply complicate more the idea of who one is. The quest for identity now takes on a political side. Now one must also consider the fact that other people judge one based on the color of one’s skin and the like. One finds so many different labels that did not exist on a formerly used vocabulary. But one ultimately finds oneself repeating what one did as a child: constantly trying to become. The story replays itself. Whether one has come across a border as a child or as an adult, does not matter because one endeavors into acquiring the suitable characteristics through which one will be accepted at the different location. It does not help that one never really knew who one was because it has always been hidden.
One must learn to not be afraid to show one’s true identity because with or without the mask, one will always be criticized and judged unworthy at times. Yet, if one’s identity is concealed, one could simply become a bad replica of what others wish one to be. Thus, forgetting whom one is, which ultimately renders one as nonexistent.


xoxo,
Poison Drops


©Copyrighted 2008

Superficial Appreciation

There are those who believe that life is much better enjoyed from the said top of the hierarchical socially constructed pyramid. There are also others who believe life to be actually better appreciated from the base of that pyramid. Both views have strong support even when society has educated us to believe that life at the top is indeed better. Isn’t this debate a bit superficial, however?
Obtaining a place among the very top is what society teaches every inhabitant of this world to strive for. There are indeed many qualities that can be considered as worth the effort to reach the top. On the other hand, there are also many features of life at the bottom that make it worth the struggle which is experienced everyday in order to simply remain in the fight. This raises the question of how at the bottom is the bottom, which is portrayed here. Of course, the bottom portrayed here is not the floor of the pyramid but rather the middle of said structure.
The place to start would be education. The so called middle class has a much harder time providing their children with the easy access to education that is enjoyed by the higher class. In this sense, life would be much easier from the top since education seems to be the way for improvement. Education is the answer to how to step into a better level in the pyramid. It is said that money does not buy class but education seems to do so. The only way in which a middle class individual will ever be able to achieve such status is through education. Education is the way in which to acquire slowly but steadily a position next to those who oversee the world from the higher levels of the pyramid. But this is a place where that difference is marked. Those that come from the top do not appreciate education. They have access to it and that is what matters to them. Education becomes a tool to remain at the top. For those who come from the middle class, education goes beyond. It is appreciated and seized with great enthusiasm.
There is another critical issue at hand: healthcare. Those at the top undoubtedly have complete access to the best healthcare available while those at the bottom must conform themselves to barely having access to said right if at all. Hence, another reason to strive for reaching the top. Healthcare is a detail that is very important to enjoying a long and decent life, but which eludes those at the bottom.
There is also the idea of housing. It is unquestionable that those at the top have access to better housing by which is meant better quality houses as well as better neighborhoods. That, however, has never stopped those at the bottom from taking pleasure in the place where they live. One becomes accustomed to what is available and strives to improve. But a bigger house is not necessarily at the top of the list of necessities that are lacked by those at the bottom. There are more important articles such as food which is indeed sometimes not present at the table of those at the bottom, but that is never even considered as important by the top because it is always there.
Nevertheless, the above-mentioned are not the items of focus when judging the quality of life that is most valued. Luxury is at the top of the list. But luxury possesses such a superficial definition that it becomes difficult to distinguish it from mere excess. Everyone wants to have a luxurious life, but when such is acquired then there is a sense of emptiness because there are more important things that money cannot buy despite all its power. If one achieves that state of complete economic accomplishment the need to continue the struggle ends. Everything becomes pointless because there is not anything else worth fighting for. There are more important things in life than luxury, yet even those fixations are relative to who is questioned about them.
At the end, perhaps life at the top is better, but those who are at such position fail to appreciate it whereas those at the bottom precisely do the opposite. From the bottom one can value every single detail that makes life worth experiencing while at the top one merely sees life as one more possession. There is indeed a difference between simply enjoying and appreciating that same phenomenon.

xoxo,
Poison Drops


©Copyrighted 2008

Children and the Sciences

It is said that as members of the animal kingdom, human beings should reproduce in order to ensure that the species remains alive. However, such statement should not be taken to mean that every member of said species should engage in reproduction. There are some who are not physically nor psychologically fit for bringing children to life. Such individuals instead of improving the race would bring about a steady detriment that is sure to take the human race into its complete demise. At the same time, there are others whom regardless of their potential to bear perfectly healthy and capable children decide not to although based on different yet appealing reasoning.
First, there is a moral commitment to bearing a child. Parents are expected to love their children unconditionally. Yet, this is a principle which not all people are capable of following. There are many who can indeed love but they can love from a distance even if those who are the objects of said love have the same blood running in their veins. There is also a moral duty to that emanates from consequentialism to maximize goodness in the world and if there are those who will not be able to love their children a with the unconditional love that is required of them, then they should not engage in such practices. By the same token, it is better to undergo the prevention of a good thing, than to allow a dreadful one to happen. For which one can borrow from a physical theory, one can expect for children to become either a positive or a negative force in the world. But there is not any assurance that all children would be positive forces. In addition, there is the same question of whether the chemical reaction that the child would bring to the world would be positive. Some might argue that one should be willing the take the risk; yet, consequentialism argues the contrary. Sometimes it is necessary to abide to the rules of consequentialism whatever form this might take.
Further, there is also an expectation to provide shelter, food, and education, which is not something everyone can afford despite their physical and psychological wellbeing. In other words, if one is not economically able to, then one should not have children. But this is a well-known argument, which leads to another very important point.
Biologically the planet earth will reach its carrying capacity. This will indeed lead to the so-called end of the world. Those who understand such precept should indeed take it upon themselves to dilate such a state as much as possible. Thus, the surplus of people should work as a call for a slower reproduction at least for those who, as just mentioned, understand the situation. Then, there is another objection, which says that the lack of quality of those who currently walk he world should be enough motivation to reproduce. That, however, is not a valid objection since if a higher quality is more readily available, then its marginal utility will more rapidly diminish rendering it wasteful considering that there is not a guarantee that demand will rise. At the same time, the opportunity cost of having a child is excessively high for those who never factored such variable into their life plan.
There is another reason, which is rather important although widely disregarded: selfishness. Some people have children in order to feel better about themselves, or to have something, someone in this case, to feel proud of considering that their personal accomplishments fall short of their own expectations. There are those who say there is certain pleasure in having a child because one teaches them how to navigate the complicated roads that life presents them, this is an example of said selfishness. Teaching something of this magnitude to someone is a rather great achievement, thus could be considered rather egotistic in nature to want to guide someone for almost two decades. There are others who simply argue that having a child brings a joy to their heart, which begs the same remark: it is not about the life that is born rather a selfish need for personal happiness provided by someone else’s existence.
While humanity appears to have become accustomed to the available supply, the demand for a better quality still remains. Nevertheless, reproduction should be a personal choice. Still, the new generation does not much care for real contentment, mesmerized by the smallest spark of artificial bliss.


xoxo,
Poison Drops


©Copyrighted 2008

The Same Words

There are three words in the English language (the number of which varies depending on the language in question) which many spend their lifetimes waiting to hear: I love you (some will argue that the correct form is “I am in love with you”). But are those words enough as proof for said proclamation of love, or rather, is it enough to hear them from the object of our affection or is it necessary to read them in order for them to obtain a life of its own? What do written words posses that makes them so powerful and is lacked by spoken words?
Before continuing, a clarification is in order. When I speak of a love in a written/material form, by no means I am referring to a certificate of marriage or expensive gifts. The more accurate interpretation of such reference would be a simpler item: a love letter as a representation of what many consider love. The question raised by such statement is quite controversial: Why do certain people have the need for said item in order to believe what another person had to say? Yet, the answer is quite clear: to write of such sentiment elevates its importance.
Nevertheless, the inquire is further complicated by the fact that there is absolutely not any prove that written words are more logically valid than are spoken words. Many people, in fact, would argue that simply hearing the so yearned for declaration of love is enough. For others, however, it is necessary to see them written in some form. When a person states the love felt for another out loud, the words are gone the second they are uttered. They disappear with the wind and will never come back, only the memory of having heard them remains. But even memories are lost with the passage of time. Those words are, of course, not meaningless in said cases in which they are only voiced. But when someone says, “I love you,” it is necessary for those words to be repeated often. Otherwise, the person who was the object of such assertion will forget very easily, specially, if there is not anything that will materially serve as a reminder. That is not to say that there is an intrinsic necessity for more than listening to those words, on an everyday basis, perhaps. Yet, when those words can be found in written form, the universe seems to be conspiring with a good end in mind.
Love letters have a very special significance because they have been used for centuries as promises of a love that, although it might never be fulfilled due to unpredictable circumstances, they are a breath of life to those who receive them. In that way, in the present day love letters are a symbol of that romantic kind of non-existent love that millions dream of encountering at some point during their lives. That is precisely the reason they are so important: whether the love for which many await exists or not, those letters serve as an indication that it real. When a love letter reaches the hands of the intended recipient, the world seems to stop if only for the minutes it takes to read the words printed in the paper. Then, life goes on. Whether said letter expresses a true state of affairs or not, does not matter much since the very letter is evidence for what it expresses.
There is, evidently, a difficulty with such assumption. There is clearly not any possible way for the reader to corroborate what the words in the letter seem to covey. It is a rather sad conclusion considering that the feelings entertained by the receiver of said letter tend to escalade in proportion after the letter is read. At the end, a love letter is a simple paper with words written on it. There is not much more to it. In fact, anyone can write a love letter because it does not require for the writer to observe the interlocutor by which to judge the way in which what is been expressed is discerned. The challenge lies precisely in standing in front of the person who is to receive the message when one expresses it since that is the most accurate way to confirm the veracity of what is said.
Therefore, whether written or verbally expressed words are not enough to provide the intended message. Suffice to say that images say more than a thousand words.

xoxo,
Poison Drops

©Copyrighted 2008

Method in Madness

The world today is on a constant state of crisis that we have come to accept as simple everyday events. Thus, after the numerous catastrophes occurring on the minute, it becomes inevitable to question the mental status of human beings. Why wonder why people go crazy when the correct inquiry should be why people do not?
There are not any specific criteria to follow in order to classify someone as insane. Yet, a very well known writer, Paulo Coelho, said that, “a madman is he who lives in his own world,” which is rather appalling since it implies that all humans inhabit their own separate worlds. This is precisely why one should not wonder why certain characters go crazy, but why more people do not. While on this issue, one should also consider why it takes so long for those who do so. If all people dwell in different worlds, then there is not connection between them, which ultimately means that we are all alone. Loneliness is a good thing given that we all need to learn how to coexist with our bittersweet selves. However, experiencing a long lasting constant state of solitude can also have negative effects.
After a deeper look, one will find that there are more important concerns in the world than individual matters. There are hundreds of diseases that millions suffer for which humanity is still unable to provide cure or simply has not yet classify them as diseases at all. That world is unknown to most of the human race since most of us do not know what it is like to be under the vicious hand of a deadly ailment. The majority are only used to dealing with the flu or the like. Then, there are those millions who do not have the means to subsistence among whom there are many children while there are others who have so much they are unable to appreciate the small things in life. It seems impossible that as the world advances as a whole from an economic perspective, the majority of its inhabitants do not receive any benefits from such improvements. There are many who do not have enough for a decent meal while there are others who have more than they deserve. At the same time, countless minds go wasted because the family funds, if any, are not sufficient to provide them with a proper education, which becomes another point of interest since there are those who have the means, but not the drive.
Of course, one must not forget about crime. The world has become so full of criminals of all sorts, not only those who steal or murder, but those who discriminate or deteriorate the environment are also included in this category. The list of possible crimes one can commit extends beyond the physical realm. By destroying the only world we have to live in, a crime is committed: not only is our only home dying a little every second, but also masses are murdered not individuals. Those who perpetuate psychological crimes must also be held responsible for the many who become senseless everyday. Sadly, the madness can also cause its victims to lose control and execute said crimes themselves. These acts are far more powerful than their physical counterpart because they hide the real injury and they don’t leave any visible wounds.
Simultaneously, this problem extends beyond such boundaries because one might also marvel about whether an authentic insanity is a mere variation of a self-inflicted madness. People who are medically considered insane are only considered so due to certain characteristics that have been socially deemed as symptoms of such disorder. Nonetheless, there is absolutely not anyone who is qualified to make said judgment because the human race as a whole could perfectly well be suffering from a self-inflected madness. The purpose this madness serves is not yet clear, but if there is in fact a purpose then one must definitely be questioning why are not more people precisely becoming mad, and populating those lonely spaces which are waiting to be claimed.
Perhaps there is something good in the insanity that the world experiences even if it is difficult to understand. Possibly there is a method that is brought to life through the madness. As marvelous as it might seem, the method embedded in this practice could be one of the best inventions: a tactic to normally avoid reality. After all, psychosis is the loss of contact with reality.

xoxo,
Poison Drops


©Copyrighted 2008

Spiritual Addiction

There are certain chemical substances, which are said to be addictive due to the effects they tend to produce in the person who ingest them. Yet, chemical substances are not the only causes of addiction in a person. Relief is a powerful drug. The strongest form of relief someone can experiences comes from thinking that all her problems are not longer dependent on her to be fixed. Religion, through prayers, presents the gateway to such relief. When one prays, one has the sensation that god, whomever she might be if she in fact exists, will take care of everything. This raises the question of whether prayers are an addiction. I am afraid so.
From the early stages of childhood until death is eminent, one always prays. When a child has started to talk, her parents want to accelerate the process of teaching her how to pray. It is at this time that the “addictive item” is introduced to the child. The child is told that in case of fear of any kind a prayer will prevent such fear from growing, in fact, it will rather decrease it. The child quickly learns this information; and, as she grows old, she starts to make us of the prayer in a different way. If it should occur that she finds herself in trouble, then she prays in order for this god figure to intervene in someway to preclude her parents from inflicting any punishment in her as a result of her wrong doings.
A pattern can be observed with as time passes by. The child then prays for insignificant things. She prays for her mom to cook her favorite meal and so that her chores are reduced. She also prays so that she might be allowed to go to bed at a later hour. She prays not to go to school, but she also prays not to fail her classes. The child also prays not become ill. As the years grow old, what the parents have installed in her, as what they thought was a good custom; such practice has become part of the addiction her parents share.
Throughout her adolescence, she prays to graduate from high school with a good academic standing so that she might be admitted in the college of her choice, which she then repeats in college. In early adulthood, she prays to find her perfect job, and the perfect life partner. She prays for her children to be good and successful people as well as for their health. As she grows older, prayer becomes her only way source of better expectations. She has by then internalized the idea of an afterlife. She wishes to achieve the pure spiritual state that would allow her to go to heaven. She prays to be forgiven for whatever mistakes she made in order to be worthy of entrance. However, while she waits for the moment of her death, she prays in hopes of recuperating her health.
The life of constant prayer does not seem reasonable. Prayer is something immaterial to which a person recurs in order to decrease or nullify afflictions. There are perfectly possible material ways in which one could fix those problems that cause one to pray desperately. A simple study time everyday could, for example, increase the chances of passing the class for which the child prays not to fail. In the same way, leading a healthy life could, for the most part, reduce the chances of becoming terribly ill in which case there will be not any need for frantic praying nights to be healthy again.
Nonetheless, it is always easier to pray, than to act accordingly in order to prevent circumstances where the need to pray is found. Prayers become life long addiction, one that is socially acceptable because prayers do not harm anyone, from a physical perspective. The harm the addiction inflicts is mental since the person praying can become so deeply involved that reality is not longer correct from that person’s point of view. The world is and its inhabitants are incompetent. All her possibilities become limited to what a prayer can do.
Prayers are only a way to help hopeless people feel better about their wrong doings, or those things they cannot mend. However, even though people have been praying for thousands of years, there has been little change in the world. And, the change that has been experienced has been achieved through action. So, do you pray or do you act?


xoxo,
Poison Drops


©Copyrighted 2008

Beyond Chemical Reactions

Is rain only a liquid combination of hydrogen and oxygen that the visible mass of accumulated water vapor that floats in the atmosphere -better known as clouds- drop on earth or is there a deeper meaning to such magnificent event? Rain seems to be more magical. There seems to be more to it than the chemical and natural components that make a drop of rain fall from a cloud and touch the earth.
Rain does not only quench the thirst the earth suffers or provide water for crops to grow during season. As part of the water cycle, rain provides life for all the plants, which would not be able to acquire it otherwise. It is bound to happen as a natural consequence that comes about through a series of chemical reactions.
However, the significance of rain is more profound than what that which chemistry is able to explain. Someone once said the rain has the power to make people feel alive when a drop falls on a naked body; by which he meant an arm, a leg or the face. Thus, rain grants the very feeling of being alive. In this sense, rain is very powerful because it provides a sensation that is otherwise forgotten by many. People around the world forget to live, they confuse existence with life and rain has the mission to remind them of the difference. Yet, at the same time, that same person said that, even if a drop of rain represents life, when those drops come together to create a storm or a potent stream, they can also cause death. As well as, bring about terrible natural disasters.
Rain is also a source of memories. For those who come from where the streets are full of dirt due to their lack of pavement, there is not any other smell more special than that of dirt wet after the rain has kissed the earth. That is the well-known smell to those who come from poor backgrounds. That smell brings about memories of rainy afternoons spent out in the playground. Memories of good times come about even when the circumstances were not the best. Such smell also carries reminders of the awful times that were spent on that same playground or watching the rain from the window. Whatever the reasons, whatever the moments, whatever the past, the present always necessitates those memories that travel through time in order to appreciate how far one has come. At the same time, one requires those memories because they feed the subconscious flow of life that keeps one standing after the knees seemed to be ready to give in to the pressure.
For the artist, or the artist-in-the-making, rain represents the most soothing muse in which inspiration feeds. When raindrops fall, they sound like music that alleviates any worry and consequently leads to a torrent of ideas. Every droplet represents a new chance to create a new masterpiece, a verse on a poem, a chapter on a book, a line on a drawing, a stroke on a painting. The rain droplets are like the tears of the sky that communicates to the artists the need for her work whatever form art might take.
There are also those who find themselves in a constant state of weakness of the spirit, for whom the rain symbolizes a refuge. The limited time of a storm or a simple drizzle represents a way to escape the afflictions that decline the state of the spirit. The body also achieves a state of wellness as a result of the comforting sound and feeling of the rain. Such is not attainable by any other means. The spirit cannot fly around with the wind when it is frail; and, the rain can ensure the return of its strength.
At the end, rain is only water for millions of people who are unable to appreciate it from a different angle because they must literally wait for the rain in order to survive. There are others, who have the privilege to perceive rain as more than a part of the water cycle; and, for that, they should be joyful. The idea of a raindrop touching the surface of the earth as a magical event provides a basis for understanding where the mind of those who dream dwells. In the same way, those raindrops in the menacing clouds await the moment when they can kiss someone’s skin in order to gift life…


xoxo,
Poison Drops

©Copyrighted 2008

The Ultimate Fairy Tale

Are politics a real life replica of a fairy tale? Politics seem to be one of the most complicated matters. However, when the subject is juxtaposed to fantasy, it appears a bit clearer.
In short, politics represent the process by which a group of people make decisions about their government, whether civil, academic, corporate or religious. Civil is the most commonly recognized as a political process –such will be the focus. More specifically, politics deals with the regulation of a collectivity, regardless of the circumstances and methods used to create and implement policy. A fairy tale relates the story of a folkloric character and enchantments through an exaggerated sequence of events. At the end of which, after having suffered many difficulties, a form of happiness is usually attained.
A race for a political position in a country run by a representative government is comparatively similar to a fairy tale. In a political race, a candidate uses all of what is available in order to portray the image of the perfect candidate. The candidate reveals only those attributes and sides of her personality that will help her win the position for which she postulates herself. In the same way, on a fairy tale the protagonist only exposes those qualities which will make the reader believe why she deserves better; while also making clear that all the suffering she endures is unreasonable. Thus, the protagonist of a fairy tale also strives to portray the perfect candidate, but in this case, for emancipation.
A political candidate uses her family to help her achieve her goal. All of a sudden, her children are the flawless example of what all the children in the community she will represent should be like. Her husband is the ideal husband which every woman should hope to marry and the husband every man must aspire to become. And her, she is the most wonderful woman there ever was. Of course, such image expands to her extended family and all the people that she has connections with. The protagonist of a fairy tale also uses her family as means to prove how much she deserves a better life. Indirectly, the protagonist ensures that at home she only suffers, and that she must leave before her chances of a better future obliterated. At the same time, she becomes the kindhearted person who does not complain; which makes her even more deserving of liberation. Both characters, then, fight a battle which will, at the end, make them or break them.
The campaign takes the candidate as well as the collectivity through a roller coaster of decisions. The same repeats itself in a fairy tale. In a political campaign, the candidate must choose where to make appearances that will benefit her campaign. She must be careful to choose the correct place and talk to the right people. In a fairy tale, the series or events are more or less the same. The protagonist tries tirelessly to survive in the unfavorable environment in which she finds herself, with some success, but without hurting anyone in her efforts.
Then, election time comes. If the elected candidate is that one in which the community had place all their hopes and dreams, the ending is absolutely magnificent. In the fairy tale, this ending is achieved when the protagonist finally finds her future attached to that of her prince charming. However, the reader is never told whether prince charming turned out not to be so charming after all. Nor does the reader ever find out whether the protagonist was simply pretending to be abused at home because she wanted a different type of life; one where she could enjoy all the pleasures of life. This might mean that when she was able to leave home, she could have bared her shell and shown her true self which was not as delightful as she made believe when she was home. In the same way, election time is too soon to recognize whether the newly elected candidate will rise up to the expectation of the community and be true to her word by fulfilling all the promises she made as a candidate.
Thus, the game of politics is simply a play on a fairy tale. One does not really know if one will get what one voted for. In the same way, that one will never know if the happy ending in the fairy tale was truly a happy ending and not simply a new beginning.

xoxo,
Poison Drops


©Copyrighted 2008

Only One Year

Does a year clearly represent a lifetime? Life considered from a minimalist point of focus becomes a parallel to a year-time-period. Of course, this has been a topic explored by many poets in the past although they have been largely ignored and dismissed. But what makes us think that they were wrong perhaps they were correct and if we were any smart we would listen to their words and better take advantage of the time we can enjoy in this life.
During the spring, life arises. Plants of all kinds blossom after having remained dormant for so long. Animals begin their copulation in order to preserve their species. Life can be breath around the world. That is the same way a person begins their lifetime. Everything seems so promising. During one’s early years, otherwise known as the spring, the wind blows strongly but it does not make the newly born shake. Life lies ahead. The imagination flies free and it does not worry itself with the mundane. There is not anything strong enough to cause worry because everything is possible. Dreams are the essential nutrients of one’s soul.
As the years go by and one grows older, there comes an instant when the wind that blew so strongly before stops and suddenly everything becomes clear. Then, a thought takes possession of one’s time: what about tomorrow? That is when the summer can be said to have arrived.
At that time, when the sun shines the brightest, one begins to question. Summer is a time to have fun, but also a time to invest. The fall will come and one would not want to be found in crisis for not doing anything productive during the summer. Then, when the sun burns the hottest, the road is also the clearer. But one does not worry. One does not think about the day when the sun will not longer shine as bright. That day will come and one will not find rest. Torture will make itself present because one will realize how childish it was to waste time having fun at all times as opposed to dividing time in order to have a productive and enjoyable summer. The summer is the time to materialize everything that one envisioned during the spring. As the spring did, the summer will also come to an end. When the summer presents its farewell, with it one’s dreams will also part. Dreams that were only fantasies, dreams that inspired an insufferable fear, dreams that made one a coward… they will all be gone. Forever.
Then, the grey autumn will not delay its arrival. It will be the time for one to turn back to look at the year that is almost over. One will want to look at the road that has been walked. It will, then, become clear that the best option will be to be happy and enjoy a sense of completeness with everything that one has achieved. Since the year will be over soon, it is hopeless to try to fix those mistakes one made in the spring. It will be too late to choose another path to walk; one must conform with what one has.
Winter will quickly approach. One’s success or failure will become a central point of focus. In those instants, when one enjoys the breeze of the cold winter that approaches and the random heat waves that the summer that has passed left on its way, one will have time to remember. The memories that will take custody of one’s days will be pleasant and will bring with them millions of smiles. But there will also be others surrounded by tears.
One will then remember the road chosen at the early spring. A thought that never during those months that have passed came before will play a central role. In the past, one had always counted with the next morning sun. But during the winter, when one will not know if the sun will shine the next morning, there will be a thought to torment oneself. As the year ends, one will realize that regardless of past beliefs when the year was still young and strong, the year is now old and it will be over. As the year reaches its end, a life will be over because one is only mortal as anyone else.
When that time arrives, one will only hope to discover that the ending year was spent in the best possible way!


xoxo,
Poison Drops


©Copyrighted 2008

Still Wanting

Is the fact that people claim not to want something specific -or anything at all for that matter- simply a way to prevent others from seeing the vulnerability of wanting something? In other words, is not wanting simply still wanting?
The idea of wanting something is a very complicated psychological state. However, it most definitely does not mean it is always recognized nor does it mean it can always be fulfilled. Even when we find ourselves not wanting anything, we still want something, namely, we want not to want anything.
New born children function as perfect examples of such claim. A new born child could be thought of as unconscious of its needs. This does not mean that such child does not know what he needs; it is only unconsciously that the baby is aware that he too suffers from necessities. The difference is that the baby is unable to express those needs with clarity. This very fact makes him so vulnerable. Thus, even when a baby is considered to be in a state where all his needs have been satisfied, the baby still wants something: to be left alone so he can rest.
As children grow older, their desires grow with them. The desires a new born baby had for food and sleep become more materialistic. Children want toys and more expensive clothing. But above all, they want acceptance. Their world view grows with them and so do their needs. The desires that children have also expand to a state where family related matters become part of the package. Children want not only to be accepted at school but also to be appreciated at home.
As we did as children, when we become adults, we still always want something. We all have desires whether for specifics or complicated generalities. Desires vary in degree of importance and go through a very extensive range of possibilities. Nonetheless, we all fit in some specific part of that broad spectrum. Material desires are perhaps the most widely recognized. Whether said desires are something as simple as a basic need such as food or something completely outrageous as the desire to own an island. Others simply long to be love. Yet there are also those people who claim to be free of such passions. Even if someone refuses to accept what his inner voice calls for, those desires do not cease to exist. Au contraire, the longer they remain unfulfilled, the stronger they become. Furthermore, those who maintain to be free of desires are precisely expressing the one stronger yearning, namely, not to desire anything at all. How then does one cope with that insufferable wish to not want anything? Impossible, it seems, due to the fact that such is the ultimate desire of which one cannot rid oneself.
Whereas that state of freedom is out of reach, in a paradoxical manner, many claim to have reached it. It is not possible to be free of desires because at the exact moment at which one wills to be so, one is already wishing for something specific and unattainable which further reassures such state as inaccessible. The inquiry becomes why the need to hide such a necessary human state. Fear to be vulnerable. When one admits to be possessed by such human passion as desire, regardless its nature, one is letting the world know one’s weakest point. To succumb to a desire is too dangerous in a world where only the strongest are said to survive. However, one should not fight against what one longs for when one can dedicate that energy to acquiring the desired items or achieving the aspired goals? In this way, energy won’t be wasted. If on the other hand, one decides to fight against a desire, one is merely wasting time and energy because the goal one aims at will never be attained.
But at the end it does not matter whether one accepts what one wants or not. Those desires are still there. Not wanting to have a desire for something is still having a desire for something. It would be easier to exist without experiencing desires at all. If one did not attach his existence to desires and feelings one would never have to suffer from any sort of pain whether physical, emotional or the like, but then the question becomes does one ever really live or would one only exist? Do notice the difference between life and existence since they are most definitely not equivalent.


xoxo,
Poison Drops

©Copyrighted 2008

Love: Attempted Definition (and Consequences)

Is love or is it not? That is the question. Does love really exist as an independent entity or is it simply a human creation which could be either helping the chaotic world in which we exist stay afloat or accelerating its demise?
Many claim that love just is and it cannot be questioned or defined. However, I believe that whatever cannot be defined it must, as a result, be inexistent. In this case, if love can be defined into existence, it could potentially be a frantic entity.
Love is, to begin with, a four lettered word that presents itself as a beautiful set. The letters that compose the word simply match each other. It is has roots in old English as well as old German and Latin. The interesting discovery is that is comes from the Latin word lubēre which means to please. This finding immediately makes one ponder the question: to please who? The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines love as a strong human affection which proceeding from one’s inadequacy, one necessitates and seeks someone who completes oneself. As well as an attachment, enthusiasm or devotion towards another being/thing; or holding someone dear which in the search for reciprocity in the desire for union, provides fulfillment, happiness, and energy to stay together, communicate and create. It is a feeling of surrendering to someone or something. Chaos not yet mentioned.
Society considers love a complement of various factors. Love functions then in a spectrum that ranges from simply wanting to see someone special to thinking that the presence of that person is necessary.
In love’s space between the ends of that spectrum, there are many different stages. Love is more an obsession or a habit. When one loves, one is expected to think about only one person day and night, to have an irresistible desire to hold that person in one’s arms. Yet, one is at the same time expected to continue a life in such a state. It is impossible. Love dictates that even if one tries to banish any trace of the object of one’s affection, one will not succeed in doing so. In the same way, there is not anyone who can compare to the beauty that the object of one’s affection embodies. That beauty goes beyond any physical boundaries. The moment one is said to have fallen in love with someone that person who has newly acquired our favor becomes unique. That person is supposed to become the center of our world without our knowledge. I repeat, how could one then lead a normal life after such an event? Impossible, I tell you! There is no such thing as this love societies speaks of, how could there be?!
Furthermore, once is supposed to experience a shiver and heartbeat acceleration when the object of one’s affection is present. This strange feeling can be controlled but not for long since the minimal show of affection is said to make it recur. Society claims the existence of a certain feeling of protection involved in the idea of love.
Nevertheless, love is not all personified by happiness. It is also claimed to be filled with despair and concern. One cannot dominate the idea that the person who is the object of one’s affection could not be doing well. Even worse, that said person might not be there the next day whether due to what would be considered a disaster, namely death, or simply to the fact that what one thought was an eternal connection might actually be time constricted.
One renegades of society if such relationship does end without realizing that society was the one who created it to begin with. One does not comprehend that the only eternal items that one possesses are the ones that one has in the present and that it will be thus while they last.
If we all thought that love really exists and that this societal definition of it is what love is, then the world would be far more chaotic than what it is now. We would all focus in these relationships that we hope to make eternal; only thinking about the future which will prevent us from enjoying the present.
At the end, in order for the world to remain afloat love is a luxury that we cannot all enjoy. It is a fight between those who want the boat to stay in the surface and those who want to sink it: which side are you on?


xoxo,
Poison Drops


©Copyrighted 2008