Life is what's up!

So to quote a couple of lines from Mary Chapin Carpenter's "The Bug":

Sometimes you're the windshield
Sometimes you're the bug

Since I came back from Korea it seems like life has gone about 100 miles a minute. Which is why my pictures from my China trip is still not uploaded yet and why I haven't e-mailed all my super cool friends that I made in Korea either. We really don't want to get into all the things I should be doing right now either.

But as I've come to realize, if you live your life to JUST to fulfill obligations, then you might as well die, 'cuz you sure aren't living. There has got to be a balance between living and meeting your obligations. And if you're lucky then you can do both at the same time.

Right now, I plan on trying to slowing life down a bit and taking some of the stress out of my life. To set my perfectionist tendencies aside and accept that what I get done what I get done. While I would want to make things perfect, there are times when you just gotta do what you can and move on to the next item.

One recommendation for those who are into traveling and reading about idealistic souls who are looking for the meaning of life, I would recommend the book "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer. This is a true story about a young man who decided that he wanted to know what it meant to truly live. He got his inspiration no doubt from reading the likes of Thoreau, London, and Tolstoy, but unlike most people, he actually does it.

If you read the book superficially, then you'll just say the guy is an idiot and he deserved to die, and you missed the point. This book isn't about idealizing an idealistic youth who got in over his head, it's about giving you an insight into the question that has been haunting the human condition, "What is the meaning of life?"

This book is by no means the answer to this question, but rather it is a story of one soul who was trying to find the answer to this question. Especially from the point of view that society is poisonous to the human soul and the answer lies in Nature.

Amazon.com: Into the Wild: Jon Krakauer: Books ISBN: 0307387178 ISBN-13: 9780307387172

And if you don't like to read, the book is also on DVD, I don't recommend the special edition because honestly, I thought it was a let down. I bought the special edition because I thought it would give me more insight into Chris McCandless, but all the second disc was about the movie making process. Two documentaries about how they filmed the movie and how they picked the music out, big deal. I wanted to see pictures of Chris and I wanted to see pictures and pages from his journals, which were not in the special edition, so you might as well buy the regular version if you are going to buy one.

If you are wanting to do both, then I recommend you watch the movie first and then read the book. The book has so much extra information that is just not in the movie, and the movie does really well with following the book, storyline wise. However, there are certain themes that the movie emphasizes that the book does not, and again, I think that the book will answer all the questions that you might want concerning his motivations and just what this guy is about. Also the bit about Krakauer's life really added depth into the psyche of Chris.

I can't recommend this book enough. It has haunted me and when I get some more time, I will expand on this book some more. In the meantime, go read this book yourself.