Always talk to your professors after class
I’ve never not talked to strangers before. I’ve always been the person who goes up to someone and asks. Speaking with people is one of my favorite things. In turn, this helped me develop a habit of speaking with judges, referees, doormen, or bosses outside of our sanctioned activity. There’s the initial wonders of mere conversation that arise. The glories and beauty of being able to communicate with any individual from any culture or corner of the world arise. You experience one of the most tangible ways to express the human conscious: talking. All of that is really cool. When you speak with someone a bond is simultaneously created. You have now added yourself and your words onto the tapestry of that individual’s life. They now have an experience with you. They have a memory. That’s even cooler. All of this applies to your professors or bosses when you speak with them, especially the last part. You’re creating a life experience with them. My professor will lecture to hundreds of students in one day. All faces in a crowd that ask the same questions, learn the same material, and generally have the same purpose for being there. They have to be there. When you speak with them after class, the rapport being created bases itself on a separate idea. You’re not here because you have to be here, you are here because you want to be here. I desired to make that connection after my class with renown Catholic theology expert Scott Hahn. I made it a point to introduce myself and shake his hand after his 100 person lecture. I believed that this would create a memory for him of me. Weeks later I approached him after another lecture. We had been working on the ideas of the Via Antiqua vs Via Moderna. I went up to Dr. Hahn after class to ask compliment him and ask further about the lecture. The past few weeks the intricate details of the unit had flown over my head. That day he hosted a phenomenal lecture and explained it perfectly. It felt like he had finally hammered the nail down far enough to hold on. We further discussed the idea and his philosophies on it for twenty minutes. It was a splendid conversation with a famous theologian. I really think it changed the way I look at things. Incredibly enriching experience that came from just speaking to my professor.
The line between fancying someone and dancing with someone is courage
This line is a reference to a very powerful song called “St. Ides” by Macklemore. The original line goes “I know the devil fancy me, but that don’t mean that m*********** gets to dance with me.” A deep cutting line that from a song that discusses spirituality and his alcoholism intensely. This is first indicated by the first words of the song “I think happiness went the other way//sometimes you just have to wait// I never believed in God, but things got so f*cked up that I had to pray.” The song, very harsh indeed, has been an inspiration in my spiritual life. It serves as a reminder that other individuals are struggling and fighting. Considering the falls and battles we have to face in living, I believe it can inspire courage in others. Courage to put down a bottle, start a prayer life, regain a positive lifestyle, or even just asking someone to dance. The courage we expel when we act is one of the strongest forces in the cosmos.
Furthering on the idea of moving between ‘fancying and dancing’, the courage used is almost always required to succeed. When we think about our goals and these highly touted acts or achievements, sometimes the only separation is a mental boundary. These boundaries often require incredible strength to overcome, yet, it was constructed by us internally. Anything we create within us can certainly be destroyed, right? These obstacles are only propped up by us.
Tranquility>most things
Brought about by a night filled with peaceful things from my past–mainly sleeping in my old queen tempur-pedic bed. The further I go in my life the more I long for slower things. The less I look for crazy exciting events, the more I long for smoke breaks on porches. The less I look for attention from wild people, the more I seek stoic and listening individuals. The less I want to have a ‘good time’, the more I want to have calm time. Because the calm time turns out to be the good time. After college I’d like to think I’ll miss only a few things, and I really hope they were the calm times on those porches with listeners. I certainly need excitement, I cannot deny that at all. I’ll always enjoy thrills and need ways to boost me up, who doesn’t? I just come to recognize how functionally great and under appreciated watching cars drive by can be. Or green tea in a park. Or people watching with the right person. It’s one of the things that can neutralize everything and bring you back to zero. Reset you in the right direction. If we forget about this things, then our psyches really suffer. We have to be able to unwind. We have to be able to see the importance in that. We have to be to live our lives looking towards tranquility as a positive experience, not a lifeless night.
Nightly Advice From Alexzander 