Discovery

Standing, looking out on the world which lies before you.

Do you ever wonder...

....If the thing you dislike makes you who you are?

Or if the thing you like actually hinders you from becoming a more aware person?

Makes you reconsider good and bad.

Shhh!

I highly recommend checking out Post Secret if you haven't yet this week.

http://www.postsecret.blogspot.com

You have a lot of freckles.

But I like you anyway. :)

November

"You are sixteen going on seventeen. 

Baby, it's time to think. 

Better beware, be canny and careful, 

Baby, you're on the brink. 

You are sixteen going on seventeen, 

Fellows will fall in line. 

Eager young lads and rogues and cads, 

Will offer you food and wine."

11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6...

I like pretending not to procrastinate. 

I like dreaming of the future.

I like red doors and special trees.

Looking forward to later this evening, when it will be: 

11/10/09 08:07:06 p.m.

"How to Make God Laugh"

Cigarette butts, styrofoam shreds,

 glass shards, plastic spoons, used condoms,

 human waste, plastic wrappers, torn paper, 

empty bottles, fast food trash, 

plastic bags, and hypodermic needles.

Trashy and trashed.

But now I'm hopeful.

There was one man I saw on the street, who motioned me over and told me he had some more trash. He looked disheveled. His clothes were old and worn. He called me "pretty lady." I took the trash and said, "Thank you."

We cleaned (some of) it up. We served. I'm so glad I went. I knew it was the right thing to do, again and again.

We saw other people on the street, too. There was another man, who was younger and thin. 

"Want to hear a joke?" he said too loudly. 

"Sure," we said. 

"How do you make God laugh?" He was missing several teeth, I think. We looked at each other and smiled and we didn't know.

"Tell him what your plans are for tomorrow."

The greatest thing in life is...

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bthynjumiko

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The greatest thing in life is possibility.

Brainstorm?

My world?

-Successful, educated parents

-All-girls environment (in high school, girl scouts, Girls' Health)

-Diversified family, culture

-Opportunities through Artemis, Girls' Health, school activities, summer volunteering

As a result:

-I appreciate and respect diversity

-I enjoy teaching others

-I am a better leader

-I understand gender differences, while advocating women's rights

My goals?

-I want to explore the education field

-I want and expect to attend a challenging four-year university

-I will graduate from college and consider post-graduate school

-I will take advantage of new opportunities 

The big secret, and what I usually avoid.

The question to ask is not "Who is God?" but "What is God?" God is not a person or anything close to a singular human being. A lot of people call God "Him," but I know better. I know that this supreme being knows no gender or human limitations. God is as feminine as it is masculine.  The reason people call God a man, or depict God as a person is because it makes it easier for us to relate to God. We know people, we can understand people. So, perhaps if God were some old, wise man in the sky we could understand it better. That is a false representation steeped in outdated tradition and hasty belief. 

God is all around us. God is the force that makes events and occurrences meant to be. God is magic. God is one part karma and two parts hope. God is completely scientific and also beyond logic simultaneously. Maybe this idea of God is offensive, but I don't think so. God is merely fate, and I can believe in that. There is something that makes everything interrelated and I call it God. When a good friend has to leave, and the love lingers and stays, I call that God, too. When the seasons change, and you can sense a transition of the environment, that is caused by God also. When we ignore fate, and do things to silence our conscience, we are working against God. 

God is eternal and alive, but does not have direct control over anything. We can put some of our faith in God, but we also have to invest in ourselves and others around us. God is universal. All civilizations in history have been able to sense a higher, mysterious power. That's why religions were developed. People wanted to explain it. So, no religion is wrong, they are are merely different. Eventually, people came up with the word 'God' to show what they believed.  It's easy to see how God affects different aspects of life and can be attributed to separate deities, which is the basis of polytheism. It's also easy to understand how God can be seen as one unified being; monotheism. People get too caught up in the technicalities of belief, and want everyone to share a common belief. This can manifest in catastrophe, violence, and terror. It's very sad, because that's the exact opposite of God!

God makes people die. God makes people live. God makes nature flourish, and good and bad things happen. Of course, my authority on this subject is extremely limited, just as my knowledge is. I am ignorant of the actual truth of God, and therefore I am uncertain. I do not know what will happen to me after I die, and that really isn't important. We're not supposed to know a lot of things. That's the big secret. 

"The Madrone Tree"

            The last tree standing in the forest is majestic and tall. But it is hidden by the freeway overpass, monorail, and the new multilane roads built all around it. People in their shuttles and carbrids zoom past it at more than 100 miles per hour, so they never take notice of the tree.

Traffic conditions are conditions are excellent in the year 2167, due to the automated vehicle regulations and safety features. However, driving is not what it used to be. “Taking the scenic route” is all but impossible. Open land has been entirely paved over, and due to the invention of carbon converters, carbon dioxide emissions have been reduced so there is no need for “wasted” space or extra plant life. Everything a human could need is grown inside confined greenhouses and life-form homes. Scientists sustain Biodiversity in small quantities, but you wouldn’t know it by looking out the window of your carbrid. All space is occupied.

The only plants I had ever seen in person before the “last” tree were the genetically modified and engineered trees and flowering plants that are permitted in city limits for aesthetic purposes. But this tree does not fall into this category. It looks wild and old and too natural. It has thin, red, peeling bark and wide, radiating branches. It seems to be invisible to the people of the city of Greenslade.

I am different. I am different merely because I noticed the tree. I saw the last tree in the forest and remarked on it, but I only got strange looks. I apologize; I am getting too far ahead in the story. You may be wondering why I call it the “last” tree. Well, I first noticed it about a year ago. I went on the library and skyped with a historian who told me that Greenslade got its name from a large forest that used to be here, until 150 years ago. That was 2012, and there were many fires that year. I was surprised to learn that a fire could get so uncontrolled, but never mind. The forest was comprised mainly of madrone trees, a beautiful and rare type of tree. And this madrone tree survived. And with the once-famous forest gone, I guess the city planners had no choice. It was considered wasted space.

I needed to go see the tree- each time I passed it on the 230-G freeway; I felt it calling to me. I went on a mission to take a picture of it. One day after school, I walked by the furthest freeway entrance by myself, and approached it cautiously.

Time stood still in the immediate vicinity of the tree. As I approached it, that alluring quality of its branches and its leaves seems to draw me even closer. Then, suddenly, a door appeared, from within the tree! It blended in with the wood of the trunk, but was clearly a small door, its shape defined as though it were part of an old building or an ordinary wall. It had a brass doorknob- the only feature that contrasted with the reddish bark. Faced with the gateway, I had no choice but to open the door. I grabbed the handle. An abrupt, overwhelming dizzying sensation overcame me as I pushed the door ajar.

One moment, I was peering into what was on the other side; the next, I was being pulled into a thick fog and tumbling through the door. I couldn’t see much, but I could her the door close and click shut, its hinges blending into the tree once more, and I watched it dissolve. The door was gone. I sat up and turned around quickly. I was in a place unlike I had ever witnessed before. My madrone tree was no longer alone- it had a hundred companions just like it, and other life forms too! I could hear water running, which was very strange.

“Where am I? What have I done now?” I thought. It was cooler here, but the air smelled fresh and crisp. The fog was like a mist on the ground, making it feel damp. I felt peaceful, but it was a fleeting emotion. I began to panic. I touched my tree, I hit it, and I looked for the edges of the doorway. Nothing happened. I tried to talk to it.

“Please open!” I pleaded uselessly. The curious tree had now led me to an even weirder disaster. I was lost. I stood up and walked all around the tree’s trunk in a last-ditch effort, but then I realized something. The portal had not gotten me completely lost- in fact; I was in the very same place! The tree was the same, the mountains to the east looked familiar, and I could tell we were near seawater because of the fog. But there were no roads. I could not hear any people. This must be the Greenslade Forest! I had traveled back in time!

            Although this was perhaps the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me, I could not enjoy the excitement too much. I did not know what year it was. Although I knew this place in 2167, it was totally foreign to me in the past. How big was this forest exactly? Were there any people around?  Suddenly, I heard voices a short distance away. I couldn’t think of anything to do, I stood there stupidly. But when I looked back at my tree, the door appeared again. I took it as a sign to go back. I stepped through the door again, whooshed through the fog, and was back in 2167 before I could have any second thoughts.

            When I stood up again, completely dazed, I realized I could control the portal with my thoughts. All I had to do was stand near it and think about the destination on the other side. I thought about the Greenslade forest and the beauty of the madrone forests, or about the comfort of home. I learned that I traveled back to 2005 every single time. I met people, even a girl of my own age! I never divulged my secret, and I always returned within a few hours. However, as I made frequent trips to the past, I began to realize how corrupted my present was. I wrote this, my story and the secret of the madrone tree, so that the people of 2005 could maybe prevent the catastrophes of the future. I cannot tell you everything. I do not why I am different, but I know what my message is. Do with this information as you will.