Skip to main content

Reflections | It's All About Perspective

How do you define reality? Do we dictate what is real? Determine each and every component of our existence, debate, dwindle, and finally decide which parts are real and what is fantasy? Is it all real, and we just label fantasy that which we do not have the ability to cope with/comprehend?
I've been having the best time at college. These past few days have been some of the most precious of my life, and I've encountered so many dynamic, energetic, curious and intelligent students, all of them equally as enthusiastic about calling this amazing University their home.

Today, on the way back from a massive volunteering project, a few of us had a discussion on Literature. We talked everything from Shakespeare, to classics, to Dan Brown, all the way to The Hunger Games and Divergent. We talked about what actually makes literature one of the elements that holds society together, and the immense amount of creativity and dedication that is required to create world after world.

CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? THERE ARE PEOPLE HERE THAT ACTUALLY DON'T MIND TALKING ACADEMICS, PHILOSOPHY AND STUFF AND DON'T LABEL YOU PRETENTIOUS FOR WANTING TO DISCUSS SAID THINGS. Sorry i got a little excited.
[The proceeding two paragraphs has nothing to do with questioning reality and fantasy, but I felt the need to document this]

Needless to say, I've also been constantly exhausted, bouncing around like a fireball on 3+ hours of sleep every night. Caffeine, kids, is what maintains sanity. (But also, at the festival today, I walked up to probably a hundred random people and just started talking really fast; lots of mixed reactions, but I'm pretty sure all of these people assumed I was either high or drunk. Oops.)

But when I do take that precious me-time, I can't help but feel like I'm missing out on, well, life. Right now, I'm supposed to be at a Chance the Rapper concert at the moment, but after my shenanigans at the festival, I figured, if I don't get to my room and shower, I will probably stir crazy.

[I'll get back to the reality here]

Being here, meeting these people, going to the events- all of these magical moments- are so easy to take for granted. When things go uphill, it's easy to doubt it. It's easy to believe that this is the honeymoon period, and that soon reality will kick in, and once our dounts, our demons, our very own minds turn against us, all these experiences will only be a distant memory.

However, wasn't this the dream? Attending UCLA was a dream. At least, it was for me. Yes, we will drown in work. Yes, we will doubt our capabilities and probably fail a few classes; remember the things from our past that haunts us; listen to that voice that tells us that this is all in vain.

But it will also be the best opportunity to enrich our minds and challenge our beliefs in ways that isn't possible on a 9-5 schedule. The professors, the floor-mates, the people from across the street that you once played 10 fingers with- this is all real.

We all have our demons- those heavy entities that sit on our shoulders and tell us that all the positives are ultimately going to add up to a massive negative. The key to overcoming these is not something that I, an 18 year old who's barely seen anything of life, can advise you on. (Note to floor mates that may be reading this, though: I'm always all ears. Anything you have to say, I am always ready to be a sounding board).

 What I can say, though, is this:
It is extremely simple to lose yourself in what you think is your reality. But, if you can develop the ability to turn that filter off and delve into the fantasy, there's honestly no limit to what you can achieve, or the amount of rewarding experiences that may present themselves to you.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Perspectives | On Therapy

I am grateful to my therapist and to myself that I embarked on this journey. There is no shame in me accepting this opportunity to grow, and I will add increasing mental health service access to my long list of contributions I want to make to this world before I meet my maker.  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hey ya'll! I'm going to try a new posting schedule for my blog, once a week. This is because 1. I love writing and almost never do it without being prompted and 2. my therapist tells me routines are good. Overview Speaking of therapy, let's speak. I started going to therapy when I was a Junior in college, coming off of the 2016 presidential election. Born and raised in Bangladesh, where mental health is not a topic worthy of being discussed, I was not taught to think of myself as someone who "needed" therapy. This kind of thought process stems from social conditioning, which makes us feel like if we are not capable of dea...
Post a Comment
Read more

Perspectives | As Fathers, Brothers, Husbands, and Sons

These words are not a revelation, and they are not original. The credit for arming me with this capacity for discourse goes to the eloquent women in my life and victims of any form of harassment in general. Thank you for sharing your stories and your feelings.  Content Warning: sexual assault, sexual harassment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There are more Harvey Weinsteins in the world than not; this is fact. As men, we continuously contribute to a society where everyone that isn't born male, identifying and presenting male, feels threatened, because for generations upon generations, power structures have benefitted them for nothing other than the fact that they were born male and decided they were fulfilled remaining that way. Social Media is powerful, proven by the #metoo campaign and its far-reaching range, roping in stories from individuals all over the globe that have experienced some form of sexual harassment or sexual assault. More often tha...
Post a Comment
Read more

Reflections | We Know More

Being present in discussions of other communities with the intention to learn and not contribute, allows us to create these bridges we keep speaking of, because once we understand another group/individual's struggles, the links with our own become so much clearer. If we only pool our resources together in this manner, then maybe we can work towards a place where we truly understand each other's needs and advocate for the collective, not just our individual struggles. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If ya'll have been keeping up with my multiple instagram posts (follow me @thirdworldjar thx), you'll know that I was in Sacramento over the past weekend. What I haven't talked about yet is why I was there, and so I wanted to take some time and elaborate on that, and my experiences in the city in general. First of all, I honestly fell in love with Sacramento. The beautiful, organized streets, the tram, the cold-ish weather- checked off all ...
Post a Comment
Read more