So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, adieu.

            I merely wanted to write a final farewell blog to my fellow classmates. Having switched into the class the day after classes began, I must say, I’m quite pleased with how my decision turned out! It was probably the most enjoyable course I had this semester, and was one of the few courses in my post-secondary career to have pulled me out of my usual comfort zone. The class was made up of quite a diverse student body, and I’m all the better for having met you all!

I was lucky enough to get to know the handful of students I did, and regret that I didn’t have enough time to better acquaint myself with my other classmates. To be honest, I have too many stories to share about everyone to succinctly fit into one blog and wish I had time to reminisce about them all. I will do my best to mention those that come most prominently to mind.

Thank you to Thomas for our enjoyable and even hysterical political chats, and our shared sense of humor. Thank you to Justin for the amusing tales about my sibling as well as your charming view of life. Thank you to Kevin for a daily boost of entertainment both inside and out of the classroom. Thank you to Laura for sharing in the same form of sarcastic and cynical humor that we both know and love. Thank you to Mohammed for your hilarious attitude towards work and those that we work with. Thank you to Jude for proving that you’re more than just a reference to a popular Beatles song. Thank you to Talal for always having a smile to brighten up my day and an encouraging word to fuel the fire under my feet. Thank you to Melissa for your lovely demeanor and positive attitude every single day! Thank you to Bruce for sharing your knowledge and experience with those of us who will appreciate it further on down the road of life. Thank you to Karen for sharing her life experiences and her position as a role model in the class. Thank you to Adrienne for proving that height and humor go hand in hand quite perfectly! Thank you to Christina for our shared love of life, but more importantly, our shared love of food. Thank you to Haley for your enthusiasm and quirkiness both towards reality television and reality itself! Most of all, thank you to Professor MacMillan for your unique approach to life and teaching. Thank you for making the classroom an environment for interaction and growth, rather than the closed lecture method with which we are all familiar.

           I wish I had the chance to get to know all of you better, but unfortunately time did not permit as such. I apologize for not having a memory to share about all of you, but rest assured that you all made the class a joy to behold. I hope that all of you enjoyed whatever element I may have added to the course, and that you all have some sort of memory to equate with me. I wish everyone the best of luck in their futures and hope everyone has a magnificent summer! Good luck on your exams! May you all live long and prosper. Huzzah! 

If anyone is still checking these blogs, I thought I'd share a little Murphy magic with you.  

A little Clarification

            Earlier this week, I gave a presentation on why a company should hire me. Instead of the traditional approach to the question, I took the polar approach and talked about why I did not want to work for the company. I talked about the goal of being happy, rather than the goal of working. However, what I skimmed over was the fact that work and happiness can indeed be synonymous!

Finding the job that will make you both happy and prosperous is an exceedingly rare occurrence. I am not a man who cares too much for material possessions. I am a man of comfort. The main thing I want in life is to be comfortable and content with my situation. I desire to see the world. I firmly believe that life is too short to be living someone else’s dream. I felt I needed to clarify a few things in regards to my perspective on the assignment.

           

My approach was not one of laziness, but rather sincerity. I did not mean to make it seem as though I was copping out on the assignment. In my academic life, I am a highly motivated student who strives to do well. Quite frankly, I have no idea what I’m doing with my life. For now, I’m taking courses I find interesting and that will better me in my life (whatever that may entail is yet to be seen!). I do well for myself, not to satisfy some future employer’s outline of who I should be. It is easy for me to be cynical about the world of work, especially at my age.

I’m a 19 year old student who has only ever worked at McDonald's. I absolutely hated the job, but I made it my own for the year and a half I worked there. I was the guy who sang and danced while working, rather than dismally accepting my minimum wage fate. This is not to say I did not do well with the job. In fact, in the short time I was there, I was given three raises, was made employee of the month and was one of the top ranked employees in the store. The traditional approach to work is not always the best approach!

           

In reality, I take my work very seriously. My work reflects who I am as an individual. In regards to the presentation, I felt I conveyed who I am as a person. I am merely a person who works for his own merit. I do things in a manner that I find pleasing and engaging. I did not wish to bore the class with my buzz words of “dependable,” “punctual” and “interpersonal” skills. It was certainly a presentation that made the class stop and listen. They were both amused and engaged. After the class was over, I heard comments about how I would either do really well for going against the trend, or fail miserably. It is not always about the grade though. Success or failure on the assignment will not break me as a person.

We as students get so caught up in achieving a letter grade. The grade itself only represents a fraction of who we are as individuals. I hope you all got something out of my approach to the assignment, even if it was merely a laugh at that “Quirky Murphy.” I did not mean to leave my presentation incomplete. To explain my philosophy on life would take many days and require you to know more about the experiences that have made me in who I am today.

Simply put, I believe that the world is much bigger than the workplace or the classroom. In the end, I do not want my life to be a collection of wasted nights working at a desk in a job I hate. The paycheque is part of the equation, but it really doesn’t matter in the end. You can’t take it with you when you finally do go. I hope to live a meaningful life, filled with knowledge and experiences. When all is said and done, we’ll all have done whatever worked for our prerogative. 

The brain is a wonderful organ; it starts working the moment you get up in the morning and does not stop until you get into the office.

-Robert Frost


*Laura asked me to post the video so here it is! 
 

Live Well, Laugh Often

             I have found that I tend to be rather verbose when it comes to these blogs. However, today I intend on being rather brief. I generally try not to take myself too seriously in my personal life, but I occasionally have a moment of significant insight. I’ve recently been doing a little research on the subject of “life” in my spare time. I merely have a handful of simple quotes I would like to share with you all.

“Is life not a thousand times too short for us to bore ourselves?” ― Friedrich Nietzsche

 “A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.” ― George Bernard Shaw

“The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.” ― E.E. Cummings

“Get busy living or get busy dying.” ― Stephen King, The Shawshank Redemption.

          Each one of these quotes gives me pause in the hustle and bustle of my day-to-day life. I hope these quotes can provide you with a measure of insight or perhaps only a moment of reflection on your own lives. If they do nothing for you at all, I hope you have other things that might give you a momentary pause in your busy lives. Above all, be sure to live your lives well and to laugh often.

Familial Responsibility

          I must admit, I completely forgot about posting a blog this past week. I had fallen into a comfortable system of posting every Friday over the past 9 weeks. However, this Friday I was rather distracted and fell out of my normal routine. As disconcerting as this may be for my classmates, they can only imagine how shocking it is for me to fall out of routine! Naturally my first thought was to post a blog as quickly as possible in a futile attempt to remedy my forgetfulness.

My distraction has spawned from the fact that my parents are going away this weekend. My parents leave in a couple of hours to go away to Jamaica to celebrate their 24^th wedding anniversary. Since they’ll be away for a week, I’ll be in charge of the Murphy household. This has made me wonder about the responsibility I hold in my personal life under normal circumstances, as well as extenuating circumstances such as these.

         In general, I oversee the minor details of the household. I occasionally cook, I often (obsessively) clean, but I maintain my role as a sibling rather than a guardian. I have been quite fortunate when it comes to my family life. My little sister is an excellent student, a lovely child and generally a good person. I don’t foresee there being any problems while the parents are away, but it is somewhat intimidating that I’m in charge of her well being. Mind you, I consider myself to be a rather competent individual but such a great degree of personal responsibility is... daunting to say the least. I have intentionally lived my life only having to care for my own needs. I love my family deeply, but I prefer not to have to worry about the well-being of others.

          This has made me look at my life in a broader spectrum. I am certain that I am nowhere near parenthood. I neither have the means or intention to have children until I have at least established a career base (which could be anywhere between 3-8 years from now). I don’t mind taking care of my little sister, heck, I even enjoy it! She is not a rebellious teen, nor is she overly rambunctious. Our sense of humor is quite similar. The only major difference is that she is a social butterfly while I am the social pariah. I have taken care of her before, but never in a situation where I will be in control for an extended period of time. I do not relish the idea of being a caregiver, even if only temporarily, but I shall attempt to carry the mantle as best I can! 

          

Fortress of Solitude

          The past week has been an exceptionally stressful one. I’ve realized that sleep is a distant idea; an entertaining notion at best. March is a month of papers, assignments and the very brink of tedium! I am rather exhausted and there is still so much left to do! In general, I would consider myself to have a fairly relaxed personality. However, when faced with a plethora of anxiety-inducing assignments, my relaxed personality flees. Just sitting here writing this blog is significantly exhausting my intellectual reserves. Mind you, I always have the ability to indulge in my thoughts.

         I actually was discussing something rather fascinating with an old friend of mine yesterday. I posed the open-ended question “do you ever wonder?” Naturally the response was a definite “Of course!” Continuing in the exercise, I asked her what made her wonder. I laughed at the simple and yet resounding answer. “What doesn’t?” They went on to tell me that they had just been sitting watching the birds fly earlier that day and were wondering why can’t we fly? Naturally, I didn’t have any answers, merely more questions. It was just another one of a billion or so questions that fascinate and amuse me.

           

          I was indulging in my own fantasies of wonderment at the same time. I had always wished I had been born a prodigy, a child with some sort of advanced intelligence. Alas, I was rather simple. As a child, I was somewhat inept. I started school at the age of 4, and it was questioned whether I should be held back. I had trouble with the simplest of tasks and was relatively under-developed for my grade. However, I was given a chance to redeem myself. Continuing throughout school I was a rather mediocre student, merely portraying myself as intelligent. The reality of the matter simply was that I took solace in books. I was no more or less intelligent than any other average child. The only advantage I had was my voracious appetite for more books. Books were an intellectual haven, with characters that were relatable, plots that were shocking, and worlds that only exist in the mind. We all have our havens. My mind is my fortress of solitude.  

 

            

Heavenly Scented Candles!

            In regards to today’s entry, I would like to talk about something rather random. As of late, I’ve become rather attached to scented candles. I know what you’re thinking, “Scented Candles? I knew Adam was awesome!” Naturally you would be correct in your conclusion. I came across the candles when my little sister was selling them for a school fundraiser. I figured I should be the decent older brother by purchasing a few. The fact of the matter is that they are fantastic! 

The two I purchased include a three tiered candle that starts off as apple pie, then smells of cinnamon and ends with vanilla. The second is chocolate peppermint sticks. As I’m writing this, I’m burning the apple pie portion of the candle. I must admit, more than anything it’s making me desperately want a slice of apple pie with vanilla ice cream. I can’t speak for anyone other than myself, but apple pie is one of the biggest motivators in my own life (both real and synthetic versions it would seem). 

For me, it does not only smell quite lovely, but is also quite relaxing. I find this time of year to be rather stressful. Having to write multiple papers, assignments and work on a multitude of group projects makes Mr. Murphy somewhat of a madman. Having any remote means whatsoever to keep me relaxed is not something to be taken lightly! I am a man who likes to keep himself as relaxed as humanly possible regardless of situation. Not only are they relaxing, but they add a lovely ambiance to my room. The lingering scent of apple pie awaits me every time I walk into my room. 

          Another great thing about these candles is that they are supposed to burn for approximately a hundred hours. As well as the long life of the candle, the smell is not sacrificed by its longevity. Though they are not exactly cheap, ($20 for two) they certainly last much longer than any standard candle and smell far better. The way I see it, for every 10 hours of the candle burning I am only paying a dollar. Certainly a fair bargain for something that smells delicious enough to eat!  

Sci-Fi Living

            The past week has been quite a lovely time away from my life as a student. I was fortunate enough to have a few days to spend at my sister’s place in the valley, away from the usual humdrum nature of my life in Dartmouth. It was rather enjoyable to have a few days of nothing but quiet and time to myself. Considering that my sister and her boyfriend work full-time, the place was essentially mine for the three day period I was there. I intended to have a rather relaxed break, which I feel I was quite successful in doing. My break has consisted of a plethora of Stargate episodes (approximately 110 in the last week and a half) and casual work on the multitude of assignments I currently have to do.

In regards to Stargate, I recently made a bet with a friend. The bet entailed that I would be able to get through all of Stargate Sg-1, Stargate Atlantis, and Stargate Universe before I write my exams in April (he of course stipulating that I would not be able to do so). As you can tell, I am well on my way to winning this bet. There are 340 episodes from all the shows compiled, as well as three movies for the original show. You might have guessed that I love science fiction, and am in fact quite a bit of a “nerd” (which would probably be putting it a bit lightly). It hardly comes as any surprise if an individual were to look through my previous blogs, or if indeed they have ever talked to me in person. Arguably I am a... unique personality.

 Naturally, I find myself to be quite a fanciful lad. Though I may have a rather quirky viewpoint of life, I still can be rather down to earth and serious. I merely happen to prefer living in the world that abounds within my mind. The possibility of interstellar travel, or time travel, or indeed any thought of things greater than our current level of existence excites me far more than anything that currently exists in reality. I find such ideas much more enticing than any person, but alas many people do hold such ideas. I am not a man to suffer fools lightly. This being said, I am not so closed minded to shut out your thoughts. I encourage you to attempt to entice me with any number of thoughts, ideas or tangents.

 And yes, I do own the box set pictured above.

Bedridden and Thought Provoked...

            Thank goodness for reading week! The past week has been a particularly painful one. Having completed midterms yesterday, I can finally recover from this horrendous sickness. It’s been three days and I have been getting progressively worse every day. Today is a particularly quiet day in the Murphy household. I have been quarantined in my bedroom to avoid infecting the general populous. However, being sick provides me a great opportunity to dwell on my thoughts. With the inability to do anything of particular value, I’m caught up in that age old question, “where exactly is my life going?”   

           

In actuality my life is in the same situation it has been in for the past three years. I want to travel, have enough money to be comfortable, and get away from here. I’m not particularly social in nature, and have no real ties to Nova Scotia. I do love my family, but I desire to escape the humdrum nature that my life has become. I’m not so much unhappy, but rather unsatisfied with what my life has become. I dislike that I harp on about this subject so often but it really is the only major issue that needs addressing in my life. I mean, I’m open to someone breathing life back into the corpse that is my love life, but it’s a rather uninteresting subject on the face of it.

I’m hoping that I’ll be able to go to school somewhere far away from here in the coming year. I have had offers from family members to go to school in Calgary or Edmonton, as well as the far closer valley. While it would be nice to go back to Alberta, I’m not sure what opportunities exist out there. Granted, it would be beneficial to go out there for a year and experience it to see what exactly could exist for a person of my extensive (and useless) array of skills. Hopefully as time goes on, life shall present itself with an adequate offering. If not, I shall likely further descend into madness! Hopefully that doesn’t happen anytime soon... Regardless, I hope everyone has a pleasant reading week!

    

Care to travel the world?

            In my own life, I find it is rather rare for things to work out in the most favorable light. Things usually work out in the end, but the process of getting there is hardly ever smooth. It has been said that the journey is the destination. I do not believe this entirely, but feel there is some degree of truth to this statement. Where we are going can be just as important as how we end up getting there. Be it by car, plane, train, ship or any other mode of viable transportation, a deeper experience lurks. Every mode offers a unique ability to soak in the world (be that as countryside, expansive metropolitan cities of steel, or expansive ocean vistas).

These journeys are not to be taken for granted. It is easy enough to overlook the deeper feelings and offerings when traveling. I have been to Disney World and Land, Six Flags, Canada’s Wonderland and several other lovely trips. Though the amusement parks offered a great deal of enjoyment, the true excitement was in the food. My family often laughs at my anecdotes when questioned about my favorite aspect of any particular trip. For Vegas, it was the carnival world buffet. For Disney World, it was the delicious mint juleps. For Six Flags it was the lovely little country style buffet that we attended twice. I just happen to be a large fellow who loves food.  

 Though the food may have been my favorite part of these trips, travel was a means of escaping reality. Whilst on vacation, it was easy enough to do what I wanted, see what I wanted to see, and eat as I so desired to. It enabled me to see things I wouldn’t otherwise have seen and to not be tied down and trapped in one place. I do not like to stay in one place for very long. Having been in Nova Scotia for 13 years now, I feel I am more than ready to move forward in life. I desire to see the world! Though Nova Scotia is lovely, it is too small for my liking. Hopefully in the near future, I’ll be able to enable my dreams! I may need a traveling companion...

Young Man seeking Eligible Epiphany!

               I can hardly believe the first month of 2012 has already gone by. 1/12^th (8.34%) of this year has already moved into the realm of historical existence. As it currently stands, I have lived through 19 years. This translates over to 230 months or halfway through my 1004^th week on this earth. Today, Friday February 3^rd, is the 7,025^th day I have been alive. It seems rather amazing when it’s all broken down. But, what have I really accomplished so far in the cosmic scheme of things?

             As far as accomplishments in life, I have done relatively little that would warrant further examination. I see myself as the prodigal student. It’s astonishing to think of what others have already done in their lives in comparison to my own life. I do not like comparative politics, but I do believe it is necessary in order to give myself a kick in the pants. If I am to leave the Murphy mark somewhere on this planet, I would hope to do so within my own lifetime. So many of the great minds throughout history were scorned during their lifetimes, but later revered as brilliant and revolutionary! An epiphany is needed in order to merit my name joining the greats history has already provided...

          At this time in our history, the average human being will live to be slightly over the age of 80. To put this in perspective, this is about 30,000 days. By this logic, I have lived almost a quarter of my life on this planet (in reality about 23.4%, assuming that I managed to live through 30,000 days, but that doesn’t sound nearly as clear and lovely as a quarter of my lifetime). Of course as technology and medical science continually advances, it’s likely the human lifespan shall be extended. I must ask myself, what am I ultimately trying to accomplish? I’m open to ideas...  

        

Obsessive Confusion

          It has come to my attention that I am slightly obsessive-compulsive in my day to day activities. I am a person who loves order; a creature of habit if you will. I adore routine and predictability. I know my comfort zone, and stay well inside it. It is not uncommon for me to be mocked for my need to keep things clean and have everything in its place. I have a way of doing just about every household task. I like going through a familiar process. The laundry is folded a certain way, the dishes put in a pre-determined order, the vacuuming done in a particular fashion and so forth.

           

However, the question of why I do this has recently surfaced. The way I see it, I only have a certain amount of control over every aspect of my life. My desire to do things in a particular way further enables my need for routine. This stems from a lack of order in my own life. This is not to say that my life is in a constant state of anarchy or turmoil. It is merely a desire to have some measure of control in a time when I know very little about my future. Life is complicated and ever changing. Change can be a good thing! I just wish I had more information about the ramifications of the decisions I make. I recall simpler times when decisions were not so heavily weighted.

As a child, the choices I made were relatively simple. The hardest question I had to answer was “what is your favorite Pokémon?” Alas, I had to grow up one day. Nowadays, the most common question that plagues me is “what are you doing with your life?” It’s easy enough to spout off facts about a five year plan but in reality I have no idea whatsoever! At one point and time, the question would have caused me a great deal of distress and discomfort. For now, I’m merely taking courses I find interesting and engaging. As each semester goes by, the question gets to be a bit more of a larger burden. In due time I’ll have to decide where I want to go with my life. All I really know is that I want to experience Europe before life sweeps me away. For now, it is what it is and that’s what it will be.

           Although, I still have a hard time answering who my favorite Pokémon is to this day...

Toast the Crumpet of your Soul!

            As every day goes by, I realize just how little I actually know about life. In my mind, I often see myself as a brilliant, handsome, charming, hilarious and generally wonderful lad. I admit that this is a slightly biased account of my own existence. In actuality, I’m a rather simple fellow who happens to maintain rather basic mental faculties.

However, I feel most people see themselves in a somewhat unrealistic light. Unfortunately, we tend to go from one extreme to the next. I may love myself one day, and hate myself the next. Lately though, I’ve been attempting to fill my life with things that only further enable my delusions. I enjoy being unconventional! I deal expertly in self-depreciation. If you can’t laugh at yourself, you’ll never be able to enjoy life.  

It seems that we as human beings never do laugh enough. It’s so easy to simply let life pass us by and not allow for some small indulgences. No matter how busy my life may be, I find some time to watch an episode of a favorite show, or sit and read a passage from a favorite book. It is not known whether I will live for fifty more years or even fifty more minutes. I would rather have lived a life of enjoyment and amusement than to have lived in restraint and confinement. 

           Sitting here writing this, I am at the same time indulging my whimsical side. One of my favorite British comedy sketch shows plays, filling me with the greatest of mirth. To quote one of the sketches, “Toast the crumpet of your soul on these images.” I urge you to toast the crumpets of your souls on whatever you love to indulge in. Don’t take yourself too seriously. Life’s too short to always live for tomorrow. Lull yourself into indulgent oblivion, even if only for a moment. In the end, your life is a collection of the things you have done and experienced. Don't forget to experience the little things in life. Everything adds up in the end. 

Always look on the bright side of Life!

Life is a complicated and ever changing system. I cannot claim to understand this system or even understand why it is that we exist in the first place. However I am of the belief that as human beings, we are a collection of thoughts and experiences. Logically, these thoughts and experiences will neither be entirely terrible or wonderful. Whether an individual has an excess of good or bad experiences is not necessarily the most important question. The question to ask is whether you will give up or persevere through the tough times. 

The past year has perhaps been the greatest time of difficulty in my life. When things began to go horribly wrong, I was quite ready to throw in the towel and just walk away from it all. However, as time went on, life began to improve in marginal ways. I realized that I didn’t have to let a time of difficulty destroy my future. Instead, I learned from my situation and used it to improve upon myself. It wasn’t so much a change in the quality of my life, but a change in my attitude towards the world. I began to like myself and accept what had once bogged me down.  

The past has the ability to act as a great weight, anchoring a person in place. For a long time I was trapped underneath my own metaphorical anchor, refusing to look to anyone else for help or guidance. Quite simply, I was being a child about my life situation and was only further victimizing myself. Sometimes in life it takes great hardship to show a person precisely what they are capable of. As ridiculous as it sounds, sometimes one must hit rock bottom before they can swim back to the surface.
           
            I cannot claim to have the answers to the problems life may throw your way. I still don't have the answers for my own problems. Monty Python attempted to teach me a lesson in living several years ago that I have finally taken to heart. "Some things in life are bad. They can really make you mad. Others just make you swear and curse. When you're chewing on life's gristle, don't grumble, give a whistle. And this'll help things turn out for the best... And always look on the bright side of life..." Though this song was made in the name of comedy, it has a simple truth that we could all learn to live by. Always look on the bright side of life.