A brief Update

So its been a little while since i've posted. I keep say i'm going to get better at this, and post more often, but I never do. I guess I should do a brief update on my life. I'm graduated from high school, and quite literally again all odds I am a student at University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). I've been blessed so much, and am so absolutely ecstatic to be here, beginning my journey, starting a new life. So join me along the ride, and trust me, its gonna be a ride.... You can keep up with me on my various social networks below:

Ask.fm: www.ask.fm/Adamyedwards
Instagram: @daoriginalchef
Snapchat: daoriginalchef
Twitter:@daoriginalchef
Tumblr: Anarchosophy

A Brief Post on Relationships

So someone on ask.fm asked me to do a post on relationships. I'm not really the best source of advice on yrelationships, because I've never really been in a healthy relationship, so I guess I'll just talk, and we will see what happens. 

Relationships between human beings, whether sexual in nature or purely platonic, are always extremely complex and multifaceted. That's all I can really think to say on the topic. Oh, and that relationships are never just purely between 2 people. They are always affected by a myriad of extenuating factors such as the family of the 2 parties involved, finances, previous relationships, living situations, and a whole host of other things, and all contribute to the success or failure of a relationship. 

Relationships change, as people change, and grow as people grow.... If you look at a couple that has been together for any amount of time whatsoever, and then look at them again in a few years, or even in a few months, the relationship will look different, and the difference will be immediately obvious. 

Hmmm, beededededee, what else do I have to say on the topic? Ummm, oh, that in order to have a healthy, long lasting relationship, both parties must base the very foundations of their relationship on some insoluble, impermeable, unchanging source. For many, that is their religious beliefs, for others it might be something different, either way, it sets your relationship up for success. 

Oh, and communication. Open, honest, and in depth communication is extremely helpful in making relationships work. Make a point to try to spend more time talking to your friend/boyfriend/girlfriend/whatever or whoever your applying this advice to in person, or at least over the phone or video chat than you do texting them. It's hard to maintain a relationship if its predominantly located in the  virtual realm, trust me, I can attest to that. 

Well, that's about the depth of my knowledge on the subject, at least that I'm willing to share. I think the reason it's so hard to give good relationship advice is because, there is no cure all, solve all formula of if you follow these steps, your relationships will be perfect, each relationship is different, and as a result, has a different formula. It's up to you and your other to figure out what that formula is.

A Brief Snapshot of my Time in High Point

So today is Tuesday, March 25, 2014, at about 1:15pm I am currently in High Point, North Carolina doing Humanitarian Aid and natural disaster relief with the Samaritans purse. Ive been here since sunday Night, and this is my second day on the Job. It's 35 degrees outside today, and rainy, and all I'm wearing is a t shirt under a hoody. I'm soaked to the bone, tired, and cold, and we still have 4 more hours before the workday ends. I'm not getting paid, I'm the youngest person here by 8 years ( the next older guy 25, then the next youngest guy after him is 40). I'm still in school, so I'm doing homework during the car rides from work site to work site. Why the heck am I doing this you ask? Because I love people, and these people need help. My body is absolutely miserable, but my soul and spirit couldn't be any happier. This is my calling, helping those who need help. 

P.S, this is pretty old, I just got around to posting it.

The Beauty of Humanity

Humanity is beautiful. I've always known that, but I've always wondered why. We are so hateful, so selfish, so angry, so prone to acts of brutal savagery at the slightest provocation. How the Hell can we be beautiful? But see that's the thing. We are prone to all those horrid acts above, but we also have, somewhere deep inside us, a little ember of love smolders, a miniscule, pitiful specimen of a thing, that can barely be seen. We have every reason to give in to the devastatingly powerful temptation to do wrong, to injure ourselves and our fellow mankind, yet for some strange, unimaginable reason, some unknown, mysterious force inside is us of us quells those urges, and instead carefully and patiently blows and fans that smoldering ember inside us until it eventually reaches our heart, where it smolders, and eventually becomes a fire.  Some of our hearts are less "flammable" per say than others, producing small, fragile little fires, and others of ours ignite into glorious, beautiful bonfires of love, that spark off onto other people. Spreading like a virus, until it engulfs vast areas, with no limit to how far it can spread. But that fragile little ember can also be stomped out, extinguished, leaving behind cold, "heartless" beings devoid of all conscience, who have no qualms about doing whatever they so please, only satisfying themselves.Most of us spend the extent of our lives teetering on the edge, able to go either way, becoming a beautiful bonfire, or a cold heartless creature. I say creature because the heart is what makes us human, and the heart cannot live without love. They have lost their humanity. To live life without your humanity is to not live at all. So I say to you, the beauty of humanity is that whatever we become, it all starts with a spark. 

Who am I?

I am a walking contradiction, full of the most wonderful love, and the blackest hate. I am capable of great things, things that will change the world, but also capable of destroying it. I fail often, and rarely succeed. I've seen beauty at its finest, and evil in its prime... The scary things is, they don't look that different. I've helped many people, and been savior to some, but I've also hurt many others, and become their greatest nightmare... I have a heart full of love, but also full of hate. I am bitter, angry, hurt, and spiteful, but I'm also loving... I can be rational at times, irrational at others... I see everything, but comprehend little. I'm brilliant, but in many ways stupid. I live 2 lives, and you'll never see both, I am genuine, but also fake.

I am human 

What Does It Mean To Hold A Heart in Your Hands

What does it mean to hold a heart in your hands??  The greatest honor, nay the highest, most powerful kind of respect you can show someone is too trust them with the most vulnerable part of your being.... Your heart (the essence of your being, the moral fiber that keeps you intact)  You can take somebody's body by force but the heart must be and Can only be freely as a gift, a kind of “love offering” to whoever or whatever you cherish....For the purpose of this discussion, I will be talking about what happens when a person, not a thing holds your heart. Whomever has your heart can do whatever the hell they want with it, which is why such a practice is so daring and even dangerous.... The holder of your heart can cherish and hold it for the immeasurable treasure it is, or they can play and toy with it like a cheap dollar store toy, using it to accomplish their own shallow, selfish goals at your expense, discarding it (and you) when it is broken, or when they no longer have a use for it/ want it..... So why do we as humans as a whole want so bad to have someone hold our hearts, and to hold someone else's in return?? Why are we so stupid as to take part in a practice that we know has a good chance of leading us to heartbreak, to the greatest mental pain and anguish that we can experience on this side of the earth? Why do we trust someone we know will most likely hurt us? The reason for this seemingly stupid, grossly impulsive decision is that we as a human species are risk takers, we will risk it all for the great reward, forsaking the treasures we already have.... When it comes to relationships, trusting a person with your heart has great risks, but can have even greater rewards.....  You see, a loving, committed relationship between 2 people brings the most immense pleasure ever experienced... It is hard work yes, but the feeling of having someone who knows you, your flaws, your past, the side of you that you hide, and does not love you in spite of your flaws, but because of them..... The feeling of having someone you don't have to lie to, that you can love unashamedly.... Someone you can trust, love and ultimately be open with. To trust is to love, and to love is to live….  Love is beautiful, love is trustworthy, and love is divine. I want to end this brief diatribe, with 2 quotes: One from the Bible, and another from a Russian composer named Igor Stravinsky:   If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.  If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.  Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 1 Corinthians 13: 1-8     Is it not by love alone that we succeed in penetrating to the very essence of being? –Igor Stravinsky

2013 Adam Y. Edwards ©

 

Pain And Pleasure

  In my opinion, our entire lives revolve around the pursuit of two things; the pursuit of pleasure, and fleeing from pain. Almost from the time we leave the womb, we discover what brings pleasure (things like being held, or eating), and what brings pain (being ignored or getting hit). As we grow older, everything we do begins to revolve around these 2 feelings. It is our human nature to avoid anything that brings us pain, and pursue anything or anyone that brings us pleasure. Here are some examples:

1.   We eat to avoid the pain in our stomachs that come from not eating. Eating anything is not good enough however, in today’s society we will go out of our way to find and eat something that tastes good. We stand in line for ridiculously long amounts of time then pay exorbitant prices, just to eat something that tastes good (Georgetown Cupcakes, Rita’s Italian-Ice, Cold stone Creamery, etc)
2.   We enter into dating relationships to avoid the pain of being alone, and to have someone to share pleasure with (Doing something with someone you love is automatically better than doing it alone, no matter what it is!).
3.   We avoid exercise because to us, the pleasure of looking good, and being fit and trim is not worth the pain, and sweat that it will take to achieve that goal. 

Unfortunately, in my opinion, we as a society have become masters of this endless game of pursue and flee. WE need to do things because they bring glory to God, not because we enjoy them. Not all good things are pleasurable, and not all pleasurable things are good.

2012 Adam Y Edwards ©