Importance of crappy poetry

          I know it sounds odd, but crappy poetry is important.  That is, assuming you believe good poetry is important.  Anything good is good because of comparison.  Good poetry becomes more rare by the creation of bad poetry.  Let's say that there are a thousand poems, and only one is good.  Now let's say I write 200 crappy poems.  Now there are 1200 poems, and only 1 is good.  A good poem used to be 1 in 1000, now it is 1 in 1200.  This seems obvious, however many people are unable to see it.  After realizing this there are two other things that become obvious.

          First, it stands to reason that if all good poems are this rare, that good poets write a lot of poetry.  Think about this next time you try something and think you have failed.  Realize that those who appear to succeed at the same thing most likely fail many many times. Second is in regards to blogging.  If one blog is good, then great.  But if it sucks, it is only making the good ones sweeter.  By reading crap, you will earn a better appreciation for good things.  Therefore, it doesn't matter if this short entry is worth anything on its own.  In the sum of blog entries, it either increases it's own worth, or the collective worth of the "good" blogs.

          In the end, the true win is in creation, or contribution.  The more that is contributed, the better the good stuff is, and in addition, the more good stuff is available.  So create.  And if it sucks, then you are contributing to someone else, and making their stuff better.

JMO

Everything in perspective

       I know it seems obvious, but things don't matter so much.  The amount of time and thought put into thinking about things is generally wasted, and I am probably more guilty of this than anyone I know.  But the summation of everything does matter.  It's alot like voting.  Chances are your vote isn't going to be the deciding one (and if it was, I'm sure there would be a recount).  But if no one voted, we would be in trouble.  So voting doesn't matter by itself, but in context with everyone else's vote, it makes a difference.  In school, if I fail 1 test, it's not so bad.  If I failed every test for a semester, that is pretty bad.  You have to simultaneuosly not shrug the small stuff while still being aware of the end effect.  Aside from all of this, there is always the fact that you can try again next week, or next semester, or 10 years later.  While I believe we should see the big picture and not worry about little things, I think the things that you should cherish are the small things.  Say I had a 3 hour conversation with someone special and neglected to study.  I fail the test.  Not too bad.  Overall I'm fine.  But as long as it's not a habit, I am actually coming out ahead.  Small 3 hour conversations are fun.  They make you more positive, or can give you more confidence, or just make you happy in general.  This feeling is probably stronger than the feeling of academic success.  It is for me.  It didn't used to be, but I have come to realize one of the most important things in life.  You can't take a degree with you to heaven.  You can't take cars or money or any worldy success.  You can take relationships, though.  And you can take those good deeds you did with someone else and build up heavenly treasures.  It's fun to build up someone else.  I'm really starting to get a hang of this whole "existence" thing.  And I'm liking it more and more.

JMO

Getting back in the swing

Here's to getting on a regular routine.  Here's to doing something weekly (daily???)  Here's to doing this thing right, so that it's potential is realized.

JMO