Let's Hear It for the End of the World!

Well kids, the world is ending in 2 days. Doomsday is upon us. Does that freak you out?

In case you don't know, I have a mild fascination with the idea of the world ending. Don't freak. Call it a social observation. People all react differently to the idea of it, and everyone seems to know how it's going to happen. Macabre as it sounds, it has always been very interesting to me to see how people think it all unfolds.

One of my favorite movies/series is The Terminator, because technology becoming self-aware is awfully good watching. Resident Evil, Zombieland, and The Walking Dead have all made a lot of money based on a zombie apocalypse. You can't go anywhere without seeing something about frickin' zombies these days.

Think of all of the freaky possibilities we have in front of us. The Mayan calendar that has been crazy accurate abruptly ends at 12/21/12. The I Ching prophecy from ancient China (circa 5,000 years old) has an odd pattern in its sequencing that was mapped out in the late 1980s ends on the same date.

Ever read The Bible? It doesn't point at the date, but I can't even tell you how many people have related the Book of Revelations to modern times to me. I've had people tell me that the Antichrist is everyone from Tom Cruise to Obama to Bono from U2. I even heard somone accuse Miley Cyrus. Hannah. Freakin. Montana. Crazy?

How about how the Oracle at Delphi and The Sybill from Ancient Greece have all related apocalyptic endings to the world with oddly familiar characteristics and time? You'll never guess the date they picked.

Not only that, we have astronomers predicting a polar shift at some point, potentially when the Earth is in perfect alignment with the other planets and the sun that only happens once every 25,800 years. Yep, I watch a lot of the Discovery and History Channels...But these are all real things I've seen on the 21 Days of Armageddon (I've DVR'd the crap out of this month...told you I'm fascinated).

That means if you want a scientific explanation, it's out there. If you want religion, that can be found as well. Go figure that they would finally agree on something then the whole world will end. Awesome.

Don't get me wrong; I don't want the world to end. Quite the opposite, actually. I happen to love my life. I am married to the girl of my dreams and I see my family on a consistent basis. I have a killer job, great friends, 9 guitars (ok that's bragging a little), and I even have a way to vent the inner workings of my brain to anyone who cares (yay blogging!). I am amazed on a daily basis by the things that I see in the world and by the people who live in it. I am captivated by some of the amazing technology we have access to, and the great things people are starting to do with it. I don't want Schwarzenegger to show up at my door asking for John Connor, but still.

The reason for this post is not to instigate panic or convince you one way or another that A) the world is ending or B) it isn't. My point is that time is fleeting, whether it ends in 2 days or not. The things that have happened across the nation over the last year have been mindblowing and horrific. The incident in Connecticut last week and the violence in Colorado over the summer have shaken me to my core. The storm that rocked the east coast is still very fresh in my memory, and Katrina still is easy to recall. A friend of mine had to go through the death of his 17 year old nephew who died tragically last week. I can't believe some of the things I have read in the news. Terrifying, awful, and utterly evil in some cases...But at the same time, it makes me think about the time that I do have and what I am doing with my life.

I personally am not overly concerned about the world blowing up on Friday. The Mayans didn't have a thing called Leap Year, which would put their 12/21/12 about 4 years ago. There have been a bunch of 12/21/12s in between their count and ours...once a century in fact, on December 21, **12 each. That's not my point. My point is we need to live our lives like THE WORLD ACTUALLY IS ending in 2 days. But I feel like we should live that way every day, whether tomorrow is the day the world ends or not. As I sit here, 'If Today Was Your Last Day' by Nickelback just came on shuffle...I'm a little creeped out by that particular wrinkle the universe sent me, but the point is driven regardless.

I am a strong believer in manifest-destiny; that what I put out into the world comes back to me. You can call it Karma if you want, or God bestowing blessings out to us if you want. I have my own beliefs, but so does everyone else. If we try to force the world to end in 2 days, I imagine someone will find something that could end it and interpret something to justify it. That's the way the world seems to go.

I don't know how the world is going to end or when and I don't pretend to. I write this now not to preach, not to bluster and posture for you. I'm not trying to offend anybody nor am I trying to stir up anything with anyone anywhere. I write this now because I think we could all use a moment to take a step back and remember what's really important. This is an opportunity to not take things for granted.

Is the world ending in 2 days? Maybe. But maybe it isn't. And even if it does, at the end of all things, what is important? That's your decision. It isn't too late.

Sb.

Wake-Up Call

One of my favorite quotes is "We must accept change as the rule, but not as our ruler." I love this quote because it reminds us that while we can't control that things change, we are in control of the changes we make. My last post was about seeing things differently, about approaching my own life in a different manner. I have tried to do what I committed to do, and have worked hard to make each day a new one and to start fresh each time I wake.

I recieved a post on facebook from an old friend. She is a successful independent writer/graphic designer/just plain awesome person. She had taken the time to create a cover for my novel The Nemesis Diary that I have posted at http://thenemesisdiary.blogspot.com. She has been following it since I started it a little more than 2 years ago, and consistently encourages me to finish it. First of all, I am completely blown away by that gesture. Thanks a million Keary :) Secondly, I have had more motivation to finish than I have had to do anything in a long while.

The reason I bring this up is because of the time of year we are in. It's no secret: I've been called a Scrooge for a lot of my life. I hate Christmas music (especially Mariah Carey), and I've never liked the claymation movies. More than that, I have always had a hard time with what people call 'the Christmas Spirit.' People use this term as a guise to be a good person for 31 days of the year, which I have always been against. There are 365 days in a year; 31 means very little in the grander stage of things. I hate the idea that people only need to be good to each other for 31 days. Call it what you will.

The reason I mention this is because I was completely rocked by what my friend did for me. She didn't have to make that graphic for me; I didn't even ask her to. It was exactly what I would want, don't get me wrong...but it was done completely out of the goodness of her heart. That is the change that I would like to make in my own life; to be able to do things that completely change the landscape of someone's life or mood and not attribute it to the time of year. I want to be able to make a difference through a gesture or thought, because I choose to.

I challenge you to make that kind of difference in someone's life. Today. Now.

Again, I am grateful for the wake-up call. My words could never express the gratitude I feel for a good friend taking the time to reach out to me. It will not go unnoticed.

 If you haven't read Eden by Keary Taylor, I highly recommend it and any of her projects. I hope to be half the author and person she is someday.


Sb