gooollysandra

Thoughts on thoughts and images of beautiful things

3:17 pm - April 15, 2013 -

The Spirit of the Cat

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Cats have  a curiosity that is unlike any other domestic animal, that I’ve had at least. In comparison to dogs, for example, cats are curious in a way that dogs just aren’t. They are not afraid and they get into everything. They are explorers, hunters, risk-takers, rascals, etc. Cats love to find the smallest space they can get into, and get into it. They like to jump onto a table full of things and sometimes display their agility and delicately walk around the pieces, and sometimes not. They like to get in your face while you’re eating, as they try to steal a nibble for themselves. They like to sleep anywhere but in their own beds. They like to drink water from anywhere but their own water dish (i.e. the toilet, the sink, the dog’s water bowl, your glass of water, etc…) They try to hide from you and get into attack position, even though you can see them as clear as day. They like to pretend windows aren’t there and attack them in hopes of catching that bird outside.

This has been my experience with cats, but I suppose, just like with everything, there are varieties of cats and not all of them are this adventurous. There certainly the fat ones that do nothing but lay around. But not mine, and I love them for it.

Categories: Nature, Photography Tags: ,
2:46 pm - April 3, 2013 -

Even when we’re ok, we’re not

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Just because we may think of things in a certain way does not mean that that is the way they are. We often skew our perception of certain things that might be sad into a positive perspective to avoid feeling down about them. But this does not change the way things actually are. Conversely, we may think of things that are perfectly ok in the world in a negative way when really they are not. So how can we know if how we think of things is as they are, or if they have an entirely separate identity independent of our thoughts of them? I think it is rather difficult to truly know the distinction, and sometimes the difference can become blurred. So, even when we think we’re ok and things in the world are ok, they may very well not be.

Category: Philosophy Tags: , ,
4:49 pm - March 18, 2013 -

Sporting Events

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Sporting events are interesting because they can become so intense that they almost feel like a fight to the death – maybe like what Roman fights were like in the Colosseum. It’s one side against the other and there is no objectivity, just subjectivity. Like when a foul is called on one team, even if it was valid, the fans don’t accept it as true (even if they might realize it as true). There is no objective reality in the opinion of the fans. Furthermore, fans feel a personal connection with a team or an individual athlete, but that team or athlete doesn’t know it or feel it. Fans not only support individual athletes and teams, but they also really connect to the tradition of it all. The tradition and hope for the future success of the athlete or team is what, I think, draws people to sports the most.

Category: Photography Tags:
6:36 pm - March 14, 2013 -

Pets

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Pets, and animals in general, are subject to our wishes. I find this rather sad because many animals, especially the ones people keep as pets, are vulnerable to the care, or mistreatment, of their human owners. I, a loving and caring pet owner (of the two pictured above), often think of those pets less fortunate that have owners who do not care for them as much as I care about my pets and perhaps mistreat them. The poor pet is in no way responsible for his or her own being, but rather subject to his or her owner and how the owner chooses to care for them. The way that people mistreat and neglect their animals is very sad to me, simply because I care for my pets so much. It seems that we, as human beings, have power over animals because we have a higher reasoning capacity. But animals were on the planet before us, and therefore perhaps think that they have power over us, and potentially do and could if they revolted against us, which is a scary thought if it came to that. Although I think they would have every right to do so.

Category: Photography Tags: ,
12:22 pm - March 12, 2013 -

Events

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What makes certain events stand out more than others and makes them more significant and lasting than others? It seems there are some events that hold more weight than others for whatever reason, either because they are inherently more important or because we value them more. Certain events like births, deaths, marriages, divorces, birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, big exams, etc. stand out in our mind as more important perhaps because we found them particularly joyous or sad, or as big achievements. It is important to have these kinds of substantial events to remember and reflect on when our lives seem mundane, to remind ourselves that we have had good (and bad) experiences in life that make living worthwhile and not so dreary.

Category: Philosophy Tags:
12:28 pm - March 11, 2013 -

Guilty

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Are there things that one does in life that are so bad that cannot be pardoned? That no matter what, there is no way out of it or no way of explaining it in hopes of rectifying it? I think so. There is something I have done that comes to mind, which I won’t reveal, that occasionally visits my conscious and I just can’t find any way of excusing it or expecting understanding and forgiveness. How do we deal with such things? Forget about them, face them knowing there is no way out, what…? I guess we just have to face it when it comes into our heads every once in a while and try to accept the fact that it happened and it can’t be changed.

Category: Photography Tags:
10:30 pm - February 23, 2013 -

Affects

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It is interesting how things, occurrences, experiences have an effect on us that is beyond our control. Something bad happens to us and it consequently has a negative effect on us that we can’t seem to change for the better no matter how hard we try. But when pleasant things happen to us or when we witness pleasant things, they can have a very positive effect on us that leaves a lasting impression. I find this interesting because it is nothing that we bring about ourselves; it is something external that is beyond our control and all we can do is accept it for what it is, and either enjoy it if it is a good effect or suffer from it if it is a bad effect.

Category: Philosophy Tags: ,
11:53 am - February 22, 2013 -

Ceremonies

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How much of what we do in life is ceremonious and how much of it is real? There are certain things we do that seem to be very ceremonious, such as holidays, special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries, etc. So how many of these celebrations are ceremonious just for the sake of celebrating an occasion that comes around every year so one is forced to celebrate it, and how much do we genuinely enjoy the celebrations and celebrate them authentically? It seems there are several occasions in life where we go through the motions ceremoniously, but don’t actually live in the moment for the sake of the experience, but rather for the ceremony and appearance of it.

Category: Philosophy Tags:
4:39 pm - February 15, 2013 -

In the public

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Doing things in public and sharing in things with others, such as going to movies, plays, concerts, lectures, etc., is so much better than doing them by yourself because instead of enjoying these things solitarily you can enjoy them together. You can observe others’ reactions to things, which might influence your own reaction, which I suppose can be either good or bad. But there does seem to be something of value in sharing moments and experiences with others rather than just by oneself.

The other thing of value about going out into the public is observing others and realizing the connection between yourself and people and things around you. Something as simple as going to a coffee shop and seeing familiar faces that you often see there and observing them each time you see them can help construct a little world in which you live and experience the familiar – perhaps these people were once strangers, but by becoming familiar they become part of your life.

Category: Philosophy Tags:
4:55 pm - February 5, 2013 -

Wants

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How do we know what we really want? How do we know that our lives and what we have in our lives is what we want? What if it is just a world that we have created for ourselves, and perhaps it was what we wanted at one point, or for a while, but ceases to be what we want? And how do we come to the realization that our current state is almost like a fictitious state and not our real life? But then how do we know what our real life is or how our real life might come about? Is it something that we have to create or does it come together on its own?

I think sometimes we come to a point when we step outside of ourselves and evaluate our lives – either voluntarily or because of some external cause that forces us to do so. These evaluations can be scary and even painful because they require us to be very honest with ourselves about what we want for our life. This is a difficult thing to do and I think sometimes we avoid it and simply continue on as before just because we don’t want to face it. But this does not lead to any kind of profound happiness, but rather merely a comfortable state in which we do not delve deeper into ourselves.

Category: Philosophy