Thoughts about Meditation

I think meditation would be an awesome thing to get into. Not the "totally radical" kind of awesome, but a more subtle kind. Many people view meditation in different ways. The way I see it, it's a way of relaxing not just the body but the mind as well. It feels like my mind is always buzzing with a thousand thoughts, and meditation would be a way to calm that.

It's a shame that I can't really imagine myself getting into it. First of all, I think I would have trouble finding the time of day to do something like this. It seems like when I have free time, there's always something to do. And frankly, I don't know if I'd be able to keep myself still and relaxed for that long. What really turns me off from it is the cheesiness of it. I know when I think of meditation, I imagine a person (let's face it, it's a woman) sitting, legs crossed, listening to some "relaxing waves" CD while rolling her head in a circular motion (either that or a Buddhist monk in a temple). I'm sure this is totally false, but that image is probably what most people would think of meditation.

Typical!

But why is meditation awesome? We'll, it is proven to help with stress in the long run. It apparently leads you to "true happiness," which can only be a good thing. Most importantly, despite sitting down and doing nothing for thirty minutes, it is productive. From what I understand, it must be good for your attention span. Focusing on one thing for half an hour without allowing yourself to get distracted is something like a brain training exercise. Meditation also encourages contemplation and deep thought, which also can only be a good thing.

After having written all these nice things about it, I'd feel bad if I didn't give meditation a try. I just don't know if I'll be able to get over my concerns with it. Or if I'll be able to muster up enough motivation to really look into it.

Ambition!

Here are some things I'm not good at, but would like to improve some time in the future:

• Playing the Keyboard (and singing too, for that matter)
• Speaking French
• Drawing (this one is a long shot)
• All kinds of athletics
• Cooking
• Other stuff!

Some of these things I'm beginning to work on already, such as keyboard. Others are more like, "It would be awesome if I were good at this" such as drawing. I figure that with all my free summer time, I should have progress by the time I'm back in school. But it's all matter of motivation.

Slow Improvement

Over the past week, I've been slowly getting used to sleeping at an earlier time. Some days I'll sleep at around 1 o'clock, while others, I'll sleep at 3. Generally, I've gotten used to sleeping before 2 o'clock and waking up around 10 to 11. It's nothing to brag about, but it is an improvement over last week.

Tonight, I'll go to bed at 1. The idea of getting up as early as 9 o'clock on a free day (I need my 8 hours, after all) is quite exciting actually. But I doubt I'll be able to do that until at least next week.

Learning the Keyboard

I already know how to play the bass and recently, I've wanted to learn the keyboard. It's a very interesting instrument and I figured it would be fun to know something that's much different from what I'm familiar with. I gave it a shot, but it seems to be a lot harder to learn than the bass (which I learned back when I was like 13).

I suppose it's harder for many reasons. For one, getting the left and right hands playing different things is quite a new thing for me. Also, I was taught the bass in a music class back in school. Now I'm teaching myself, and it's a much different experience. And since playing the bass feels so natural to me, playing the keyboard can be a frustrating experience.

I've realized that I'm just going to have to practice a hell of a lot, so that's what  I plan to do. I'm learning the songs that are programmed into the keyboard, and then I'll progress on to actual modern day music. Eventually after that I'll work on my improvising, which currently is pitiful. I still can't really pick up on songs easily, but I'm really looking forward to when I reach that level.

The reason I wanted to learn the keyboard is because I'm looking to expand my knowledge of all things music. I'm hoping that with this knowledge, I'll have a better understanding of things that I can use in making music. For example, I'll understand how the left hand is used in classical music, and I can use that to improve the way I make bass parts (it worked for Squire). I also hope that by playing classical music, it'll improve my understanding of music in general.

The Internet Trap

There is something about the internet that can just suck me in for hours and hours. For some reason, I can just find myself repeatedly clicking the "stumble" button or constantly coming back to the home page of my favorite video game news site. There's a collection of feeds at the top of my browser that I hover over every few minutes in hopes that one of my sites has been updated. When I'm on the the internet, my brain is starving to be fed.

This is something that most popular websites take advantage of very well. Facebook has its "Notifications" button, Youtube has its subscriptions, and I'm sure Twitter and Tumblr have something similar (although I  wouldn't know myself). A friend of mine often refers to her Blackberry's notification as the "Red Light of Love." There's an addictive quality to this, as the brain wants stimulation from the internet. This can be in the form of a funny video, a friend's status update, or a looping animation with funny music in the background. Whatever it is, the internet makes it ever so easy to find.

The problem with this is that while the internet holds a universe of information and entertainment, much of what it provides is incredibly shallow. I often walk away from my computer realizing that in the hours I spent on it, I achieved practically nothing. Sure, whatever was on screen kept me entertained, but much of it was meaningless. When you watch a movie or read a book for two hours, you remember what it was you've watched/read. Personally, I've read an embarrassing number of FMLs, yet I can only think of about ten of them right now.

That fact alone has inspired in me a determination to make some changes. There are deep and purposeful things to be found on the internet *wink wink*, they're just harder to take in than their instant-gratification counterparts. I could never part from my internet, but I can certainly begin changing the way I use it.

A big chunk of credit goes to Nicholas Carr's The Shallows, which is what got me really interested in all of this.

A Bad Night's Sleep

So, in an attempt to change my sleeping habits, I tried to go to sleep at 3 o'clock instead of 2. I ended up lying in bed, unable to sleep, until 4 in the morning. I then slept in two hours too late, despite the efforts of my alarm clock. Apparently, my body won't go down without a fight.
Will try again tonight.

Bad Sleeping Habits

Going to sleep early has never been my thing, but recently it's sort of been getting out of hand. I find myself going to sleep at around 3 o'clock and getting up at around 12 p.m. (or 1, if I don't turn on my alarm). I sleep much later than anybody in my household, and I wake up much later too.

Now, this wouldn't be so bad if I was doing something productive in the night. Instead, and like most people my age, my nights are spent browsing the internet and doing other computer-related things. During the day, I find it impossible to find free time, yet I can spend three hours a night at the computer. This is something I certainly need to fix.

My plan for this: go to sleep tonight at the ever-so-early time of 2 a.m. and wake up at around 10 a.m. That way I get my eight hours and I'm not too grumpy in the morning. Over the next few days, I'll try to sleep earlier and earlier until I reach a point that I'm happy with.

Introduction

There is so much to say here, to write it all in one post would take me about a month. I realize I'm probably leaving out many many things. Regardless, here's a brief summary/introduction of what this blog should be about:

Recently, I've been thinking a lot about the things that I do and the effect that they have on me. I always wonder, what do those hours spent on the internet mean for me in the long run? And if I choose to listen to music on the bus instead of read a book, is this affecting me in some profound way? Ultimately, are my habits and behaviors today affecting who I will be in the future? If I want to improve myself, it's clear I'm going to have to make some changes.

My concerns are rooted in common knowledge. The person who chooses to walk is healthier than the person who chooses to drive. This isn't only true for health and fitness, however. The same idea goes for the brain as well (which is what I'm most concerned about). The things that a person does in their every day life greatly affects the functioning of their brain. Simply put, the parts of the brain that are used often are strengthened, while the parts that aren't used slowly waste away. When looking at skills, habits, and other such things, this rule is usually universal.

With this (sort of newly found) knowledge and the summer break just beginning for me, I often think about how I can best spend my free time in order to better myself. And that's pretty much what this blog is going to be about. This is basically going to be my journal as I scrutinize and analyze the things I do (or don't do). In the end, all I aim to do is improve myself in all aspects of my life. Wish me luck!