Come away with me;

It is the simplest things that make the greatest moments. You know which ones I am talking about, because everyone has experienced it at one moment or another.

Little moments like a kiss on the forehead, or a hand slipping into another as you walk down the beaten path, letting you know that you are not alone.

Sometimes you make me want to cry, most of the time you make me want to laugh. Sometimes you give me the biggest headache I've ever felt, but most of the time you make me smile so wide that my cheeks begin to hurt.

I don't quite know what it is about you, because I truly thought that we would not make it this far. Not only have we, but we just keep on going. And to me, so long as I have my head resting on your shoulder, that is quite okay.

There are so many turns and curves in this life. There are so many things to loose sight of and so many things to get thrown off course, but you stick with me constantly. You never let me give up on myself and you always make me face what I am most terrified of. Which is more then anyone has ever done for me. In fact I think that other then my parents you love me more then anyone ever has, and ever could. You see my strengths where others only see flaws, and you put up with me even though I drive people away with my craziness. I don't think anyone could love me like you, and I don't think I would want anyone else to.

To be honest it makes me smile to know that you are with me. I feel that much comforted.

So please stay with me, I don't want you to leave just yet.

Mad world we live in, eh?

It is a rainy day where I am. How about for you? I hope that whatever it is, that you're enjoying it. I know what it is like to not enjoy the weather, and it is not fun.

To be honest though, I like the rain. Which is quite obvious if you have ever read any of my earlier posts. I say that quite a bit. But, you probably never come on my blog. So no big deal.

I tend to write about me a lot. Which is a little boring for most people. To be honest, I understand completely if you are not into my writing. It is just a bunch of ranting and occasionally a few college papers I wrote. So I get it. No body wants to hear negative things. Everyones always going for the positive. And its not that I am negative, because I am positive on life. Its just that I have this weird tendency to hate negativity. So I try and get rid of it as fast as possible, through my blog. That is why I got a blog after all. Was to get my ideas out of my head and write them down. This way, I can look back and reminisce, or I can get rid of it and never think of it again.

This blog isn't so much about negativity, but it is about confusion. Confusion that I have been facing the past few years of my life. And I would just love it if my brain could figure it out.

You see, I have no idea what I want out of life. I know that I just finished getting a diploma in Public Relations, but I don't even know if I want to do that. I want to be a writer because I am in love with the written word. It blows me away.

I am also in love with philosophy. It really does calm me down sometimes, to know that I am not the only person who thinks crazy thoughts. Because sometimes I feel like I am the only one of my kind. I feel like I am the only one who questions things, and is not satisfied with a short and most convenient answer. And I love dark things, like space and what is beyond. Like gothic/romanticism periods (philosophy buffs know what I mean).

I wish that I could just figure stuff out like philosophers could. But everytime I get stuck on a question, no one really cares. I mean we do after all live in an era where if it is electronic it is cool, and if it is a thought process it stinks. Controversy was not invented by Lady Gaga people, even though she may be a genious at it. There are more things to life then Gucci handbags and Prada, and when you die and you get up before the row of judges, they wont let you into heaven just because you have cute shoes. So you should probably change your ways a little if that is how you feel.

Sometimes I think I am crazy, but then I realize that I am not the crazy one. I am the one who is determined to find a bigger meaning to life, and to me that is not crazy. Crazy is sitting back and going a long for the ride. To me, crazy is not caring about the bigger questions. To me crazy is sitting in a cubicle with a dead-end job not living your dream. Like me, and I hate it. But I am slowly starting to conform, and it scares me. I used to be a free spirited kind of girl, one who didn't have a care for designer handbags and what those around her thought of her obsession with science fiction and standing out, but now I do. Now I clutch my joys to my chest like a secret. I don't want to be like this anymore. I want to be able to speak my mind and not care.

This is why I am confused, because I don't know what is real and what isn't. Because I have no idea who I am or where I sit at my life. I don't have a life plan, but I already feel like I am off course. Either that or directly on course, but I have never been one to follow in a straight line.

Perhaps someone will be able to tell me, or perhaps it will be too late and I will have already gotten lost.

But that is life, isn't it?

Help.

I am writing this letter because I don’t know where else to come from. I have a problem that desperately needs to be solved. So desperately in fact, that if I do not fix my problem, I am afraid I will be doomed for the rest of my days.

My problem is something that most can relate to. It is one of the most common problems in this hectic world. A problem that everyone has faced at one point in his or her life, or will face soon enough. A problem that is swallowing the youths of today, along with the adults finding themselves in a rut filled with utter depression. The problem of finding ones self.

I don’t know if we truly know how to find ourselves. Some think it is through extensive reading and others think it is through life’s adventures and music. I am not sure, because I have no clue how I found myself before. But I find it odd how I used to know exactly what I wanted out of life and how, but today I have no idea how to face the world.

My self has disappeared and to my knowledge, has left me completely. Whether it is because it grew bored of my tiring lifestyle, or because it has simply faded away in the black, dying. I don’t know. The only recollection I have is that I knew exactly who I was yesterday, but today is a different story. And this has me gasping for air, crying and pleading out for help. I don’t know who I am. I don’t know what my life means.

The world is such a big space. So big, that I don’t know if we could cover the ends of the earth and back in one life time. I know that many people have tried it and maybe someone out there has succeeded, but I don’t think it to be possible. I cannot help but feeling that in this big world, we are very minuscule. Yet our problems seem to affect everyone and those around us. Not only are our problems greater then any other man or woman, but they are also affecting the fate of the entire universe. It seems to me, that I am not the only one who has lost their self. I think the world has become a victim of this unsolvable dilemma.

How should I go about finding who I am? Should I read more? Study the lives of great people who know exactly what they want out of life. Or should I coward away and save my depressing thoughts for a much more private space? I know what my body feels. I know that I really just want to hide away. Maybe not speak to another human soul again. That would be nice. But I know that I cannot. I know that in the face of our ever-expanding society, we have to stand up for ourselves. We have to find the answers ourselves, and we have to do what truly makes us happy. Unfortunately, we have to do all of the above ourselves, with no help from anyone, unless those people are the great thinkers of our past, present and future world.

Perhaps it is true what they say, that we have to rediscover our pasts to figure out our futures. Maybe the answers to life are between the lines of the holy book, or between the lines of space and time. If we search hard enough, chances are that we will find them and they will spell out the rest of our lives and how we think. The trouble of course is knowing where to look, and how to start.

I don’t think that my self has given up on me. I suppose I am just at a stage in my life where it is time for me to grow and expand. To change my life around, because I know that I need to change something. I think we all need to. Still, I find myself frantically trying to find out where my self went. I feel like the walks I take are not as beautiful, the sun is not as brighter. I am retaining information differently…my whole life as I know it has changed. I don’t think I can do this alone.

So should you find myself, please let it know that I am looking for it. And I miss it terribly. Let it know that I will be waiting patiently for its arrival, and that I will leave the porch light on.

Sincerely,

Lindsay Taylor.

Position paper

"The Threat of Nuclear Weapons in North America"

By: Lindsay Taylor

Background Information:

Nuclear weapons have been around since July 16, 1945, when the United States donated their first nuclear bomb in New Mexico, in Alamogordo (Asia Society). It was not even a month after the first testing when the atomic bomb was dropped on Japanese territory, Hiroshima. This bombing killed and wounded over 130,000 people. A few days later another atomic bomb was dropped in Nagasaki, killing over 70,000 people. Though this helped end the Second World War, it revolutionized the world and the views on war (Asia Society).

On average, there are 30,000 nuclear weapons owned by various countries (Greenpeace). These weapons are placed around the globe in 10 different countries. Out of those nuclear weapons, the United States has 9,962. An estimated 5,735 of those bombs are classified as deliverable. In the Russian Federation, there are 16,000 nuclear weapons, 5,830 of these being classified as deliverable (Greenpeace).

This is an issue that can no longer be ignored. Nuclear weapons are not safe and are severely overlooked. The issues associated with these weapons include: the production of fear to lives, their testing and radiation exposure creates severe problems to the health of many lives, and also creates harmful emissions into the Earth’s atmosphere, adding to the problem of Global Warming (Health).

My Position:

There are many groups and organizations across North America that work to stop the threat of nuclear weapons. Though this is a striking effort, there is still not enough being done. In order to reach out and make a difference to stop the production and threat of nuclear weapons, it is imperative that everyone combine forces to create action. By doing so, changes will be made and North America will see a positive outcome.

After combining forces, some ways of creating change are:

i. Attacking the media
By creating more of an outrage and adding more information on the effects of nuclear weapons to the media, more people are likely to follow. By allowing someone that many people idolize (for example: President Barack Obama) to agree with the fight against nuclear weapons, many people will follow his beliefs and opinions.

ii. To educate the population and future generations
By educating children in public and in middle schools, they will understand the consequences and the severity of the issue. They are the future generations and therefore can create more change. Another way to educate the population is by having more discussions on the topic and provide more information on the issue. This can be done through the major newspapers, and through radio and television talk shows. The more people know, the more they will understand and want to help create change.