The Difference Between a Fail and an Epic Fail

The first step is always the most important one. Regardless of what it is you want to do, without the first step, you can’t really do anything else. Oddly enough, it’s also often the step that people most want to not take, or at least it’s the one that people don’t want to admit that they want to take. It’s in our nature to be proud, since the acquisition of ability creates in us a need to gloat about this ability, whatever it is. The reason that I think we don’t want to admit to wanting to take the first step is because the first step is surrendering in some way. The thing is, in order to do anything, the first thing you need to do is surrender to circumstances and admit that you may fail. Without understanding the risk of failing, you can’t really celebrate your successes at the end, much less even putting effort into the work you plan on doing.

This is especially true for artists; the prouder we are about our artistic talents, the less we seem to think we’ll fail, and that results in a dangerous amount of over confidence. But if, like me, one is willing to say “hey, I may fail at this” and still give it a shot, it might come out a pleasant surprise, but it also means less humiliation when you in fact don’t succeed. I’ve seen people who start out with some kind of plan, so sure that it will be where life will take them, and then they end up falling apart because something went wrong along the way. It’s always important to realize that no matter how much experience we have, we’re only human, and despite our ability to achieve some kind of perfection, it may not always happen the next time we try.

Catch ya on the flipside.

Paranoia and Orchids?

I was reading one of those free magazines that you can get at Healthy Planet stores, and noticed a little bit of the ridiculousness that society has taken and literally blown up. In this magazine is an article about “Orchid” kids.

So tell me, do any of these apply to you? In fact, they all apply to me, and most apply to most people. I was also reading on some other websites that some of the symptoms of other diseases are also normal. My question is, why do we get so paranoid just because of a little thing. A perfect example of this is back during the SARS outbreak in Toronto, people started joking about it when people coughed. At each corner, a cough or sneeze, a stuffy nose or a face mask meant that someone had SARS, and sure it was only said jokingly, but there were people that took it seriously, and people that take any symptoms that overlap between something which could change a person’s life, and a normal life, and automatically take the greater of two evils approach. Sure, treating a disease early is nice, but just because I overthink something, it doesn’t mean I’m hypersensitive or OCD. Maybe I just feel the need to be thorough because I don’t want to screw up? Isn’t that a normal thing for people, or do we all need to be bumbling and carefree morons who can’t get up off the pavement long enough to find a job?

This paranoia seems to lead me to think that society doesn’t want to progress any further…

Collectibles and Other Junk

Upon cleaning my room today (gasp! You cleaned it?!) I came across a little bit of a collector’s item; a first edition laser cel from Resident Evil 4 with the certificate of authenticity, in its original packaging. This raised an interesting question for me; what are collector’s items worth.

When it comes to collecting things, I’m curious about why people collect what they do? What kind of sentimental value an object can hold for a person seems to differ indefinitely and why it has that value is just as varied in terms of the different answers people will give. I find it somewhat neat though, when I talk to people about collections of things.

Today when I visited the Games Workshop at Scarborough Town Center, a group of teenagers came in and looked around, and I overheard them speaking with Dan, one of the staff there. They were talking about what they might be interested in getting, since their dad was a collector of miniature figures. After they left (because the stuff in the store didn’t suit their needs), I actually didn’t think too much about the scene, but I realized something about the people who usually frequent the store now that I think about it; all of the players of the various games in the franchise are collectors as well as participants in this hobby rather than being just people who have the hobby. In a way, we’re all people who share the hobby of collecting.

Many of the people who collect, collect just because they like having these things; I don’t have a specific reason for being a collector along those lines specifically, but I do collect stories. I’m not claiming to be too different from other people by saying this, but I don’t really have anything else that I am devoted to collecting. I mean I do have a bookshelf filled almost completely, but those are all because I’m interested in the stories. I remember the stories people tell me, like one of my friends who wants to go into modelling. Far be it for me to judge the stories of my friends and all the people I meet – in fact, I hope that the universe conspires to help her achieve her dreams, but I do enjoy listening to stories, reading them, telling them, and while strange, dreaming them.

The best thing about stories, the stories I collect, is that they exist in everything I touch. Sometimes I will forget a story, but I do remember most of them, and each one that I have I treasure; for example, I remember that I picked up the laser cel at the Anime club table at my university campus, I remember the girl signing up for the Chapters points program in line in front of me when I picked up one of my notebooks, I remember the game my friends bought me for my PSP as a birthday gift, I remember the day my brother got the PS3 as a birthday gift, I remember thinking that my mom got me a real cat, when she was talking about a statue, and I remember the experience of the handmade rosary around my neck right now. I remember stories and treasure them, and I don’t understand the sentimentality that goes behind it, but I realize now more than ever that I do understand what Dr. Orbinski means, and what many mean, when they say that “stories are all we have.” They really are. We may forget sometimes, but we’re human. As long as we treasure the stories around us, we will never lose our own story.

And whether your collection consists of paintings, insects, stamps, coins, or stories, as long as you do more than just collect, but actually transform the collection into something to share with the world, then I believe the story behind what you collect will never be lost.