Cody Musser vs Internet: Take Two!

I do my best to keep my blog squarely rooted in the world of games or movies, or some other form of acceptable entertainment, mostly because those are my favorite things; but also because I think that those make for a slightly more interesting read than:

"I called Sheila today, OMG!! she broke up with Brad..."
... or the even more common ...
"Why do I have to keep living this mundane life in this small town?"

That last one was the "EMO" post, get it? However, even I'm sometimes drawn away from my choice topics to divulge some random information about myself, or my life, that I just have to jot down somewhere. Whether it's read or not isn't necessarily the goal, the purpose is in the writing.

One of my college courses this semester is a Human Relations course that I didn't have much of a reason to enroll in, apart from the fact that I needed a PSY elective. I heard the class was going to require little work, and was also very entertaining. Therefore, enrolling seemed like the right choice.

This is where things will take a slight turn. I'm of the opinion that life will occasionally take these particular instances of chance (my enrolling in a random PSY course) and pepper them with full-on realizations of extraordinary substance. Perhaps this requires some explanation:

The Human Relations course that I found myself enrolled in began with some pretty heavy-handed conversations about goals, thoughts, wealth, and the human condition in general. That was apparently going to be our topic of discussion for much of the course, and I've never had a problem with going that route. I enjoy that route. To date, our conversations have always ended with some really beautifully laid-out suggestions about how to improve life. Much of which I've heard before, but I think this course is leaving me with something much more beneficial than simply the advice. I'm also finally learning to follow it.

It's always been really interesting that no matter how often I may watch a movie that reveals some particular insight about life, or read a book, speak in class. etc., I never find myself following that specific advice. It's almost as if I take the advice and say to myself, "That's absolutely profound, ... I'm now a changed person," ... and within minutes the feeling fades and I return to the ways of thinking that were never really getting me anywhere before. This has happened to me countless times, and most realistically to everyone that reads this as well. It's a feeling that I think is common, because changing the entire way to think or feel about the world is a pretty laborious task.

But, the real ticket is that it doesn't have to be so heavy a burden. Baby steps ...

One of the first steps I'm going to take to make my life move in a direction I'd like to see it heading is an idea proposed to us in our course called a Vision Board. It's essentially a board covered with items or things I'd like to have in my life, and the dates I'd like to acquire them by. The idea being that by focusing on those particular objects by reinforcing thoughts upon them often enough, they'll always be attained. I know ... it sounds so hokey. I'm like the godfather of cynics, so I obviously don't buy into the 'positive thought' pyramid scheme, but I do think that by having these things remind me often enough that I want them above all others, this could in fact work. Perhaps the positive thought affair can come afterwards.

I've going to begin my Vision Board very simply, and I'm going to do it right here. Before the week is out I'll have to make something concrete and visual, or it isn't exactly following through with the initial idea, but my Blog is as good a place as any to announce what will be happening in my life:

Cody's Vision Board

By December 1, 2006 - I'll own a Nintendo Wii.
By January 1, 2006 - I'll own a Sony PSP.
By March 30, 2007 - I'll own a new car. Not necessarily a *new* car, but a different car.
By September 15, 2007 - I'll own a new computer. A Macbook Pro.
By July 14, 2010 - I will have been to Japan.

That's a simple enough beginning, and those are at this point, the things I want most in my life. It's easy to read them and think, "Those are stupid things that aren't really making your life any better." However, that's missing the point of the Vision Board, and pretty much life as well. The Vision Board doesn't have to say, "I want $1 Million Dollars by the time I'm 25." It's about what you want, and what you're willing to spend your life thinking about.

Believing that those are things that don't make life any better isn't right either. I'll give out the meaning of life this one time only, and if you don't savor it, pfft... Ready? FEEL GOOD. Being happy is a part of feeling good, and those are things that make me happy. That makes them more important than anything else on this entire planet.

There are a myriad of other great things we're learning in my Human Relations course, and I'm doing my best to apply myself to all of them. Naturally within reason, I still don't go for hokey shit in which I'm supposed to wake up every single day and think about what I'm gracious for. I mean come on ... that's just gay.

There we go. That's sounding more like a normal post. I'll finish with a picture of Nintendo's extra bonus that came with my Star Fox review copy. I'll update my works to include the review and other projects soon enough.



Fox always had an issue with airline martinis.