“Life is too important to be taken seriously” – Oscar Wilde
“All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make, the better.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
NoctisBlackburn.com September 5, 2019
Life is experienced in a full kaleidoscope of circumstances
that show the endless ways that it can be experienced. How we choose to experience those
circumstances will ultimately dictate what we get out of them, and how much
meaning and depth will be had.
One of the vanguard reasons I love writing is because it allows for the
exploration of life through the written medium, which showcases countless
writing styles, but also because it allows you to examine meaningful
circumstances at length, but more importantly, to record them as a time capsule
of sorts for yourself, or for others.
Additionally, the wisdom garnered from many of the most astute
individuals in the past still lives on, all due to their choice to pen their
thoughts in timeless fashion.
This merger of an individual’s experience and creative process, brought about
through writing, still resonates today.
Such instances not only allows individuals to learn from the past in
myriad ways, but ultimately also aids individuals to live a better life, a
wiser life, a more fulfilling life, all because those individuals took pen to
paper and seared their voices into the pages of history after imprinting the
insights they learned through the trials and tribulations they faced.
That is incredible power, not only because words have the influence
to change people’s lives as well as history in significant ways through their
inherent resonance, but words add depth to life that at times can be looked
upon time and again for those with appreciation of it, as is the baseline for
these thoughts.
Don’t ever underestimate the power of writing, whether it is
blogs, paper notes, letters, creative writing, poetry, fiction, short stories,
and so on, to add depth to your life and those of others. For just like a mindful and deep breath brings
a moment of clarity, no matter how fleeting it may be, the act of writing can also
bring clarity that can allow not only for the recording of meaningful
circumstances that took place in an individual’s life, but this also allows for
more incisive examination of meaning within the very fibers of life, the untold
depths that often go unexplored not only in the moment, but later on.
Such circumstances while possibly seemingly insignificant at the time, might just echo through the end of time.
Noctis Blackburn is an author, bibliophile, writer,
poet, dreamer, star gazer, autodidact, logician, researcher, lover of
life, Carmel Macchiatto addict, and more.
“To understand your fear, is the beginning of really seeing.” – Bruce Lee
“Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.” – Yoda
NoctisBlackburn.com Noctis Blackburn August 26, 2019
After a lengthy series of incredibly busy and thought-provoking days, I’ve finally chosen to restart my ‘Blackburn Musings’.
This will essentially be sort of an online journal, except not exactly. What I mean by that is that, although I am sure I will cover personal topics and so on, I will definitely not write here as I would in my journal because that’s just too personal. That said, I do enjoy writing musings as I find them quite cathartic.
Moreover, the thoughts I share here will be just like the captions and stories I’ve shared on Instagram or Facebook in the past, except perhaps a bit longer given that there’s no cap on how much you can share like on IG, plus I can write a lot quicker on a keyboard than I can on the phone, which streamlines the writing process to an incredible degree.
With that out of the way I want to get to the backbone of this entry, which revolves around life, writing, and fears. I’ve chosen these topics because at the current moment it is what I have in mind, and given the integration and importance of these subjects in my life, I find it appropriate to begin an entry on them.
Jump right into the thick of it, the last year of my life
has changed at a much faster pace, and to a much higher intensity than any
other year. No other year comes close,
not even when I was starting to get rolling with Poker and growing as a player
at warp speed. Now, the main reason I
believe the changes in my life the last year have taken place is because at one
point I chose to face one of the biggest fears that I had, and thankfully I
didn’t buckle like I often did in the past.
Long story short, by facing that fear, I got the confidence to begin
facing many other fears, and have continued attempting to jump right into the
deep end to face my fears so to speak. I
can’t say I succeed every time, because I do not, but I am definitely a lot more
prone to just ‘go for it’ than I was in the past given everything I have
learned about myself, life, fears, and so on.
Facing my fears enabled me not only begin living life to a
more fulfilling degree than I did in the past, but allowed me to really come to
terms with the fact that facing your fears from my subjective point of view,
isn’t as bad as it seems most of the time.
I do understand that not everyone fears the same things. ot every fear, even if it is shared between
two people, like the fear of sharks, is of the same magnitude for different
individuals.
For instance, months ago, I was talking to someone via D.M.
on Instagram, and I really wanted to
ask for help about facing one of my fears, but I was afraid of what that
person, or anyone else would say about me being fearful about what I’m going to
mention. Those that are familiar with
Instagram will find it humorous, and yet I’m totally serious when I say that
one of the fears that I had (and still have) was screwing up on posting
stories. Silly, right? Well, it doesn’t matter if it’s silly or not,
it is one of my fears. To this day, I
have never posted one story, ever.
I am actually surprised nobody asked.
And the one time that I was going to ask someone for help, I totally
backed away because I didn’t want to be judged or feel like an idiot, so I didn’t
even try.
The reason I mention this is because as far as fears go, posting a story on social media wouldn’t
register under top 100 fears for almost everybody on Earth, and yet,
screwing that up is one of my
fears. I have no problem admitting this,
because I want others to learn from my mistakes so they don’t have to deal with
the same issues that I have dealt with, even if the fears aren’t exactly the
same. I do plan on trying to conquer that fear one day, but that will be in
the future given that I’m having incredible issues using Instagram at the
moment. Still, I mention it because it
is paramount to what I am trying to impart.
The main reason I mention this is because there was several
ways I could have addressed that fear. I
could have (1) asked that person for help, I could have (2) jumped into the
deep-end as I simply try it, as I often do, or I could have (3) researched how
to do it. Logical, right? Simple. And yet, I never even thought of that
until now. I simply let my fears dictate
me not trying due to ‘fear of failure’, if you want to be exact about it. ‘Fear of ridicule’ is another fear that’s
huge, so one could argue that it’s two fears instead of one, but they are both
interwoven to the same action.
Of course, the options mentioned above that could have
allowed me to face my fear are obvious, and yet, many of the things that are
obvious in society aren’t often followed through with. Healthy eating is one example of this. This is mentioned because there are a variety
of ways that fears can be addressed, and many times a person can ask for help,
like I could have, and the fear would be conquered, or at least faced. Not ever fear is that easy to conquer though,
and that’s okay.
I say all this because I didn’t even try, and that’s my
failure, and I’m okay with that because recognizing it retrospectively allows
me to be able to tackle it sometime in the future.
Coupling back to the main point, the reason I bring this
about regarding fear is because where not posting a story was a fear I haven’t conquered, I did conquer some of
my other fears in the last year, and these have allowed me to be here, this very moment, writing these very words. I find it incredible that my life has changed
so much, that everything that is happening now
in my life at this very moment is
because I chose to face one of the biggest fears I ever had. I don’t think it’s coincidence that such is
the case, and I also don’t believe it’s coincidence that my life keeps changing
faster and faster the more fears I continue facing. Granted, this doesn’t mean I’m fearless by
any means, I certainly am not. But I do
try and face my fears more often than not than in the past, rather than let
those fears rule my choices.
Be that as it may, there are a lot of other factors that
have played a role in me being in the current place that I am in, also writing
regularly, but everything that followed from that one key point took place
because of that one choice I made, and I’m definitely glad I made that
choice. By no means has everything that
followed been easy, because it has not been, but I am appreciative of all the
circumstances because I’m in a much better place now than I have ever been,
though still have worlds of growing to do.
One of the best parts of facing that fear was not only most
of what followed, but the fact that because I was able to conquer that one fear
I was able eventually to begin facing another fear, which involved writing and
eventually publishing poetry. The ironic
part was that, I did not think I would ever publish poetry until many years
down the line, perhaps 5-10 or so. But
one thing lead to another and before you knew it I jumped right into it, where
I wouldn’t have even considered doing such a thing in the past, and here we
are.
I share this not only is because conquering fears is
important in order not allow them to rule your life, but it’s also incredibly intriguing
because by conquering fears, not only can one grow, but also there could be
many positive and downright incredible things that could manifest from such
choices that would never take place if those fears were not faced. Yes, this is a subjective point of view, but
I’ve talked to quite a few people about facing fears often, and most have had
similar circumstances take place to varying degrees.
The last year has been a whirlwind in my life, and even
though I have made mistakes, heaven knows I’ve made many, I have learned to be
proactive in learning from them, or try to at least, but I wouldn’t change
where I am at for the world. Are there
things I wish I did, or didn’t do, or said, or didn’t say, and so on? HELL YES!!!
But, I am here, and I’m okay with where I am, for it is a much better
place than I was a year ago. This makes
me look forward to the future now more than ever.
The future is something that I historically always saw at arm’s
length. I always mentally ‘saw’ tomorrow
as ‘over there’, beyond reach. But for my purposes, that’s not a completely accurate
point of view. I think a more accurate
point of view is that, this moment, me writing this, and you reading this, is
what we have. This moment is all we ever have. The present is definitely a gift not only
because of the kaleidoscope of possibilities that exist within it, but because it
paves the way for the future that we ultimately attain for ourselves. Yes,
an eye to the future, and an eye to the past should always be ruminated upon,
but you can’t really ‘go’ to the future, the future comes to you. You always live in the now.
I say this because the thoughts of living ‘in the moment’, that
are admittedly taken from Eastern Philosophy, which I find incredibly intriguing for many reasons, is one of the vanguard considerations
I keep in mind every single day. This
doesn’t mean I don’t look forward to the future, nor plan on it, or overlook
the past, not at all. It’s just that I
often found myself leaving for ‘tomorrow’ things that I could do this very
moment. Ever the eternal procrastinator,
I know, but at least I’ve grown from being a default procrastinator and into a
selective-procrastinator. Ha!
With all seriousness, I’m just grateful to be here now, this very moment, with
everything that’s happened, and while I do wish some things didn’t and did
happen, I can definitely say I’m seeking to try and better myself, even if I
fail miserably at times. That brings me
solace when I end up feeling like my life and circumstances seem to be
spiraling out of control in certain instances.
Believe it or not, there was a few set of synchronicities that took place that made me choose to write this blog. The last was that I ended up drawing Tarot Cards from multiple decks, and had I not done that, I wouldn’t even think of restarting the musings until much later. But for some reason, it felt instinctually right, like many other of the choices that I have made the last year, and I’m glad I’m doing these Musings again because they allow me to consider ideas that I hadn’t consider before, and also allows me to vent somewhat about issues that could be bothering me.
Interesting enough, though I have never posted about it in
the past and only discuss it with my best friends, the next entry will discuss
the card draws that I did, and what I believe they may mean. This is also one of the ways that I am
choosing to fight one of my fears head on, which is also why I am doing
it. Of course, Tarot Cards, Oracle
Cards, and so on, are a topic that is way
out there for most, and that’s okay.
If that’s not your cup of tea, no
big deal.
But this is a subject that’s become part of my life
recently, and something that I have found incredibly helpful, so I will share
it for those that may find interest in it, plus it’s something that I’ve wanted
to talk about at length for a while, but never got around to for myriad reasons.
I just find life fascinating from so many different angles that not putting serious thought into those things that you considering most intriguing or love to do the most seems like selling yourself short. And since I will continue following my passions wherever they may lead me, why not share something else I am passionate about as well?
What are you passion about? What do you think about fears? Have you faced any recently? Do you think about it often? Are you afraid of posting stories on Social Media? Ha, I had to toss that out there because making people laugh is one of the things I enjoy to do the most, even if it’s at my expense. You all take care. _________________________________________________ About Me:
Noctis Blackburn is an author, bibliophile, writer, poet, dreamer, star gazer, autodidact, logician, researcher, lover of life, Carmel Macchiatto addict, and more.
