Making Sense of it All

It is an awkward situation to be childless in your late 20s; when everyone around you seems to be having kids left and right. It feels like most of the people I knew in high school/college already have kids or about to have their first one. The norm in our society is to grow up and have kids of your own which is what creates this awkward feeling in people that don't have kids. Attempting to find people in their 20s with kids is like playing Where's Waldo, except it is really easy to find Waldo One of the things that I have experienced as a late 20s adult with no kids is that family reunions can be annoying. Your family is constantly asking when you plan on settling down and starting a family. I always find myself giving the same answer, "Oh, I am too young for that." At work, all of my coworkers have kids which means that they often discuss tips on parenting or sharing amusing stories about their kids. Meanwhile, in my head, I am planning my weekend plans or decidin...

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), in any given year, 43.8 million adult Americans experience mental health struggles . Furthermore, 90% of the people who commit suicide have a hidden mental illness (NAMI). If mental illness is so prevalent in America, why is there a stigma associated with it? The mental health stigma pushes people to hide their mental health struggles out of fear of what their peers might think or say. This inner struggle manifests itself from the social norm that society is not open about mental health. It also comes from what people say and think once they hear a friend or a loved one suffers from mental illness. I have heard statements such as, "Well, can't you just get over it?" and "I am sure it's nothing. It will pass." When it comes to mental health, it is not that easy. I, myself have struggled with mental health. To be more specific, I have struggled with anxiety. It is something that I deal with on ...

The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo is one of the most famous Biblical artworks in history. The painting is said to depict the moment when God created Adam by giving him life. Michelangelo's famous painting depicts God floating, surrounded by a red cloth, reaching out to Adam; giving him the divine gift. However, when one takes a closer look at the painting; a secret message hidden by Michelangelo gives The Creation of Adam a new meaning. A doctor in the 1990's realized the cloth floating behind God in the painting was not a cloth; instead, it was a representation of the human brain. After the finding, scholars decided to take a closer look at the painting. They theorized that Michelangelo was trying to communicate the idea that everything which makes us human comes from within the mind, not from a  divine power above. Michelangelo's ideas were not the norm for his time, to say the least, he was going up against the church's beliefs which is why he decided to hid...

The excitement of getting your first tattoo is only met by the realization that getting a tattoo is a rite of passage because you made it through the pain. You're able to mark off a milestone from your bucket list. The rush you get when the needle first touches your skin to the feeling of having a sunburn for a couple of days after you get it; there is no other experience like it. A tattoo does not have to be "meaningful" for you to get it on your skin. At the end of the day; it is your skin. When I was growing up, I swore up and down that I would never get a tattoo because I couldn't think of anything "meaningful" to get on my skin. After all, tattoos are permanent; I wouldn't want to get something that I could regret later on. It took me way too long to realize that life is short. I should do what I want and not seek other people's approval. So, for my twenty-sixth birthday, I got Batman's head looming over Luke Skywalker surrounded by a c...

Yesterday, the family decided it was time to put our sixteen-year-old diaper-wearing dog to sleep. Grace, nicknamed "Crazy"; lived a long and happy life. However, we knew that it was her time and we wanted her to leave this world with her dignity while providing her with comfort and the least amount of pain as possible. When we first got Crazy; she was a young active Miniature Schnauzer, delighted that she was getting a new family to call home. Two days ago was a different story. Crazy had gone mostly blind in both of her eyes, had a hard time hearing, and her two back legs gave out from time to time because they could not support her weight. We knew that her time had come and we also knew that she was ready. When you build a lifelong relationship with your dog; somethings just come instinctively. The decision to put our family dog to sleep made me think about all the dogs I had owned growing up. My dad and mom divorced when I was five-years-old which was very tough on me...

I love Podcasts! This week I stumbled upon the podcast, This American Life. In their latest podcast episode, they tackle the questions that Fermi's paradox raises. I will link the podcast episode at the end of the post: If you are into aliens and space give it a listen. When it comes to Fermi's paradox, one question intrigues me above all else: Are we truly alone in the Universe? For you to understand the significance of Fermi's paradox; you first have to learn about the Drake Equation. The Drake equation attempts to calculate the estimated number of planets that contain intelligent life in the galaxy as well as the universe. Once all the values are inputted into the long equation; the result suggests that given the number of planets in the galaxy, intelligent life exists in millions of planets in the Milky Way galaxy. However, some scientists have criticized the equation due to some of the values inputted into the equation are speculated. If we go along with Drake'...

My twenty-sixth birthday was a week ago which had me thinking about birthdays: what their significance are as you get older. When you are a kid, a birthday is the most important day of the year because it is a day dedicated entirely to you and of course we can't forget about all of the presents. As a kid, no one tells you that once you turn twenty-one; it is all downhill from there when it comes to the significance of birthdays. I hope I don't come across as a pessimist but maybe more as a kid that grew up and became a realist adult. Once you turn twenty-one, the celebration of birthdays sort-of loses its pizzazz if you will and now simply it indicates the passage of time. After childhood, a person really only has three to four birthdays to look forward to; including a person's sweet sixteen, eighteen, and twenty-first birthday. After I turned twenty-one, after getting over the massive hangover from the night before, I realized that I had one more birthday to look forwa...

Hey, there. This is my attempt at a blog. A venture that I have been wanting to partake in for some time now. If you find yourself reading this blog, please just let me take the time to say thank you for giving my voice an audience.  I wanted this first post to showcase what the blog will be about and what you can expect from it. The blog will be about everyday things that the average modern person can relate to and deals with on a day today bases while I try to make sense of it all.  The idea to start a blog came to me years ago when I was watching one of my favorite movies: Marley and Me. In the movie, the main character works for a newspaper as a columnist writing about everyday things while providing his opinion on the issue at hand. I know this sounds silly, but it really sparked my interest in how my opinion could bring some perspective to what the modern person experiences on this giant crazy blue planet. The idea that a person could write about their opinions on a...