What is Truth?

Okay, I just finished reading this book, right? The story is told from the perspective of one of the characters and it takes a while for the character to be identified as male or female, it just never said. Before the gender of the character was established I had got it into my head that this character was female. Then what do I come across in the book, "something something . . . too much for an old MAN." I had a moment of great confusion at this point. I was certain this old man had been an old woman. But, I decided I had probably missed something somewhere earlier in the book. However, I get to the end of the book and low and behold, there is a plot twist and the old man really was an old woman!!! I was right! But, it got me thinking about two things.

1) If you believe something and then are shown it is really something else and then you change your mind (see example above) and you put all belief in that is it still true? Or is it a false truth?

2) Who says what is really true and what isn't?


Well, in my humble opinion, I will attempt to give a go at these questions.

Answer for number 1: Gut instinct? That's what I had when I was reading the book. So, did I really change my mind when the book mentioned that the character was an old man? I don't really think I did. Throughout the book I kept thinking "I swear this is an old woman!" I was right. But, do people really change their minds if someone tells them something they thought was wrong? Or do they agree that they were wrong to make the other person stop going on about it? Does some stubborn little part of our mind hold on to whatever we believed and keep us from fully changing our minds? And if so, do we just continue to believe our own truths? Basically I'm not really able to answer this question.

Answer for number 2: If I said the sky was purple and not blue who's to say I'm not right? Isn't reality and truth all perception and interpretation? Scary thought I think.

So, in reality, I haven't really answered these two questions. More like just posed more questions. Oops.






Monolithic

Inspiration and Organization

It is a strange thing to be inspired. It happens like opportunity . . . not always at the most convienient time or place. For instance, I sometimes become inspired as I'm laying in bed trying my hardest to fall asleep. I have been woken up at five in the morning and couldn't fall back to sleep because of inspiration. Random ideas in the shower, while driving, in class, whenever I don't have paper handy. Inspiration occurs whenever the hell it wants to. It certainly keeps you on your toes. And who knows what inspires us? I'm not sure anyone does. It seems to me that you become inspired because you've stopped thinking about being inspired. Its like when you are trying really hard to remember something. You know that you know it, but no matter how hard you try you can't remember. You then move on in the conversation and eventually you will (sometimes comically) blurt out the answer and everyone will look at you funny because it makes no sense in the current conversation. It's like that kind of moment. The 'ah-ha' moment if you will.

As a writer I try to keep paper and a pen handy, and if not paper all the time, at least a pen. (Skin in times of need is just as good as paper, especially the back of one's hand).

I'm a pretty tidy and organized person. I keep my DVD's in alphabetical order and my books on the shelf are in alphabetical order (or as much as they can be since they're stacked and crammed onto the shelves.) I've pretty much got a place for everything and I put things in the same places everytime so that I won't lose them (a creature of habit to be sure). The only exception really to this is my desk. No matter how hard I try it usually is stacked with papers and books, pens and pencils hide everywhere. I've come to accept it and it just seems to be me. If I clean it off and organize everything it just looks strange and I let it go back to how it was in no time at all. I think desks are supposed to be messy. At least mine is supposed to be messy.


Juxtaposition (<-- such a good word)