June's Theme: Letting Go

I hope you've had a good time with all of the "Letting Go" articles this month (just don't 'let go' of our blog...please!). June is an extremely busy month. But hey, we still managed 13 articles (including this one) this month. Not bad...at least we beat last month (12 articles).

Okay, I'm done with my intro. Let's get straight to the summary:

This Is My Mind – Acceptance comes to you, whether you like it or not.
Words Left Unsaid – What you say can be more important than you think.
Wonder How A.M. Got Started? – The history of Acquired Minds (link given).
Forgive or Forget? – The past may not have let you go yet, but you will.
A Cycle, A Lifestyle – Letting go is just a natural feeling.
Sweetness Follows – The term 'mixed emotions'—literally.
Hysterical Deliria – What IS going on right now in the world?
Faded Buttons – Insecurities will hold you back.
perhaps with the light off, too – Feelings shouldn't be bottled.
Erringly Straying – Dreams and expectations collide.
A.M. Logo Selection! – Our selection of A.M.'s logo.
Back and Forth – When you have great friends...hold on.

There you have it. This month has gotten its fair share of 'letting go' articles, 'holding on' articles, and just plain ol' random articles.

I apologize for the Theme poll. Apparently, the poll has been malfunctioning the past week, and therefore, I don't have complete results. But, I have decided next month's (July's) theme to be: Expectations.

-the clam.

P.S. We're really glad you enjoy A.M., Melody!

Back and Forth

Recently, I've gone to visit a bunch of old classmates and some close best friends that I haven't seen in years. Living 400 miles away has made it difficult for me to see them often. Sure, we've talked over the phone every other weekend, IMed and Myspaced, kept in touch, but I was anxious to see what had really happened during my absence...what things have changed, how many people are different...

After all the I miss you!'s and the Wow, you've changed!'s, after the awkward silence and hugs, things weren't so "different" anymore. Being less and less awkward, I actually felt like I fit in, like I never really left.

I caught up, for the most part, and some of the old gang got together to hang out...I was happy: it felt a lot like old times. The memories we shared, the things we did, the people I missed...they came back to me all over again.

During my absence, our time apart, I had expected the worst: being forgotten, having my friends let go and move on...But even so, I kept in touch, hoping a piece of each of them would stay with me. I was glad we picked up right where I left off, talking about the past and all that. We spent a while remember things, from way back in third grade, sixth grade...Smiling at good times.

Not only that, but we dove into the future. Making plans for a road trip when we turn 18, having fun in Europe at 21...Even as far as to fantasize our adulthood, all of us being neighbors living in big houses somewhere beautiful, working hard and making money, watching eachother's kid(s) grow up to become the best of friends (like we once were, still are, will always be...)! And all other things to do before we die.

In a way, me being apart has somewhat given our friendships stronger bonds...I mean, we're even talking about spending forever together!

Sometimes, it's just better to hold on (I'm totally contradicting my last article, right?). Especially if it's worth it. And for great friends, it always is.

From the Past,
From the Future,
From Forever,
-my.great.ESCAPE

(Picture credits to Photobucket.)

A.M. Logo Selection!

After five months, I thought that we should finally get ourselves a logo. So, I created 20 logos for you to choose from.

Look below. Choose your top 3 favorite logos from the selection. Send your choices to acquired.feedback@gmail.com, listing them in the order you like best. For example:

1. #[logo number]

2. #[logo number]

3. #[logo number]

Please also include any suggestions/changes you would like to see to the logo. If you'd prefer that logo in a different color/font, please tell me. I am open to any suggestions. I have something in mind that I want to do, and I need a logo to go along with it, so please help us choose a logo!

(c) 2008. All logos belong to acquiredminds.blogspot.com. Use of the logos is not permitted unless given direct permission. Contact acquired.feedback@gmail.com if you have any questions. Thank you!

-the clam.

Erringly Straying

Hopes and expectations, in a way, are very different. Sometimes they’re extremely different, comparable, but nonetheless as different as peacocks and Gatorade. I’m sure plenty of people would like to become famous, make cruise-loads of money, and all that. But to be honest, do you expect to? Do you really tell yourself that in a few years, you’ll be rich and on top of the world. Even if your hopes and dreams aren’t exactly stardom, maybe just doing what you love, meeting someone you can love, and being perfectly happy with life, sometimes, you can laugh at yourself for things as simple as that. You don’t expect anything at all to change, but that doesn’t mean you’d sure like them to.

The funny thing is, those very expectations could get in the way of those hopes, those dreams. If you don’t expect much at all to happen, there’s a good chance nothing at all will. Just because something is improbable, that doesn’t make it impossible to do. If you never expect to achieve your dreams, it means you never really tried to in the first place. Goals are achievable, well, because if they weren’t, there wouldn’t be too many albums, movies, and T.V. shows going around know would there?

Too often, those expectations get in the way of those dreams.

Hopefully, those dreams are reasonable…but then again…that’d be a bit contradictory…

Or maybe…those people decided to become whatever they are because they couldn't figure out anything else they wanted to be.

-digital delay

perhaps with the light off, too

I'm going to be completely honest; there have been times when I've considered just offing myself or hurting myself. I know it sounds stupid, right? This is supposed to be a sort of advice column isn't it? Well, it's true, and isn't that even more important (The truth, that is) ?

Now, what is the reason to my thinking such a preposterous thing? Well, for one thing, I get annoyed/pissed/angry/mad very easily. I guess you could say I'm pretty sensitive; I jump to conclusions easily, and I overthink way too many things. I also have a knack for keeping it all in and letting it out at the wrong moments. There are times when I just want to be alone, or just want to punch the wall so that that huge angry monster in my chest will go away and I can feel better. In a way, it feels powerful to have this feeling, but in more ways it's dangerous.

Something I've developed is the art of letting things go. I don't mean letting my fist punch the wall, or letting that blade cut my skin or whatever- what I mean is, to let the little things just be what they are: little.

Take for example th(i/e)s(e): Your parents yelling at you and telling you that you need to make use of your life and learn something. Or maybe they're telling you that you spend too much time out with your friends doing stupid things that won't help in life. Either way, they're pissing you off.

Now, here's where letting things go helps. Instead of screaming back, this is what I would do. I would take it all, then go someplace and take deep breaths. I'd say something to comfort myself- anything to comfort myself really. I'd say that 'okay fine, I won't go out tomorrow' or 'okay fine I'll have more chances' or 'okay that's all right, they say that now but they'll forget tomorrow'. Those are the things I say to myself, and I take a lot of deep breaths and think about something else- or maybe do something else- and eventually that little thing is forgotten and I feel fine again.

It can help at times when you're over thinking things, too. Just take deep breaths and in a way just let everything out. It's weird, but it's like you're breathing out all the bad stuff. All that bad evil stuff.

Maybe this is too personal, but maybe it might help. I don't know if it will or not, but whatever. I just know that there are people in the world like me, and I just want them to know that. I'm hiding behind this alias so it's not like anyone other than my fellow writers will report this as scandal of the year. Don't worry!

Whatever goes around comes around;
-Karma Police

Faded Buttons

(thanks to "electronicsweekly.com's gadgetfreak blog" for the photo!)

It's been...exactly fifteen days since my last post. Those fifteen days were filled to the brim with events though. But that's exactly what happens in June—school starts to end for kids, summer begins, graduations are in full swing, and emotions fly. It's normal, even though the schedules are hectic. I guess it's safe to say all of us here are going through the same things (which would explain our article-shortage).

Okay, so you're wondering what the title of this post means (or maybe not, but I'll explain anyways). I was flipping through the channels on the TV. Every channel that I wanted to watch had a commercial on, so I was bored. I took a look at my remote. Boy, was it used. The 'select' button became the 's t' button instead. The '5' button was merely a smooth, blank blue button (ooh, triple b's). Those buttons were seriously over-pressed. We've had that same remote for five years though (long-lasting!). And no, we don't have plastic wrap all over it...we just...don't.

It's just like doing the same task again and again. Eventually, it'll fade, and get boring (unless your life depended on it). People always say "Try something new!", but insecurities always keeps us from doing so. You're just too used to doing something already, and moving on to something else feels too risky. But rewards don't come without risks, and that's the frustrating part of it.

That's when you have to let go of insecurities. Maybe you're not a risk-taker, but that doesn't mean you can't let go. Holding onto things too long will just make you decay--no, correct me. The thing you're holding onto--that will decay. It's going to go away sooner or later. If you let go now, you'll be less hurt later. I know this is a lot to say, because I'm dealing with letting go as well. There's always a part in life where you have to let go--it's just a matter of when.

When it's time to replace a remote, you replace it. When it's time to try something new, you hesitate...but you'll do it anyway.

-the clam.

Hysterical Deliria

There’s only one way to settle an office dispute of epic proportions……..Office War!

[Man With Two Brains]
(Well then The Man With Two Brains says "It's a science
I've got one for my actions, one for my conscience)

That’d be pretty freaky if we had two brains. Each one is cooperating with the other, yet still completely different beings. Does that mean there are two separate people, or just one, with its faculties split up into to two? One brain for your actions, which means it doesn’t care at all about what happens. The other brain is for your consequences, it does the dirty work in other words. It cleans up the messes the stupid action brains does. Still, if they cooperate, then they could possibly act like one brain, in a way. Maybe it’s just as Jack O’Neill says it, “I’m gonna lose it, it means go crazy, nuts, insane, bonzo, no longer in posession of one’s faculties, three fries short of a happy meal, wacko!”

((It will be OK)
I don't know about that (It's the American way)
Yeah, maybe that's where it's at (You were raised that way)
The Europeans say (The Man With Two Brains))

I’m sure the rest of the world probably thinks America is wacko. But then again, we think the rest of the world is wacko too. That’s how we grew up, and maybe that’s how it’s going to be for a long time.

Congrats to the Celtics, after a serious punch to the head of a Lakers team that lost its center of gravity with a score of 131-92.

Helium balloons can get annoying, pretty much only when the float away, or run out of helium though.

Alexander the Great ******* conquered people. Yes, so did the Romans, or Genghis Khan, but who has the word ‘great’ in their name? Alexander the Great was who. Which is why he’s so...great? He either brought people together, or was a bloody mad man, either way.

Iron Man had the chance to be, or was, a good movie, until Iron Man never really fought in a mumbo jumbo kick-butt finale fight scene. SPOILER ALERT!...he told some girl to press a stupid switch…wow…

According to this list, the most badass stunt ever performed in the name of science is when Werner Forssmann cut his arm, and stuck a catheter up into his heart. Then he walked over to the X-Ray room and well, got an X-ray? Wow, that dude was insane, but 27 years after he got fired, he won a Nobel Prize. I’d want to post that whole article here, but it’s too long…and hilarious, for my article. This stunt beat plenty of others, guys drinking stomach-eating bacteria, and another dude who stuck himself in a rocket with a few rocket engines latched to it to test the effect of Gs on pilot’s bodies.

What’s a balaclava?!

MythBusters

Whose Line Is It Anyway?
I want them to wake up in the morning to read that headline that says……It’s time for your sponge bath! I want them to feel so...dirty about this that they want to clean themselves!

My pants….metal!

You don’t trust in yourself
For at least one minute each day

I shouldn’t go when I feel this building,
I shouldn’t go
But I can’t really help it
When I feel this
Pressure

hahaha....very funny...

-digitaldelay

Sweetness Follows

Is it possible to be so afraid of being paranoid that you become that very fear? The mere thought of something affects the outcome of something else, maybe ironically. The brain is everywhere at once, and yet it's going nowhere at the same time.

Oddly enough, or ironically, or maybe not oddly at all, opposites sometimes go hand in hand. Sweetness can follow bitterness, or vice-versa. Paranoia can be followed by a sense of calming, or the other way around, the calm before the storm. Innovation travels with waste, darkness marches with light, understanding lurks behind confusion.

Another, slight, oxymoron is ignorant bliss. Most people would associate ignorance as a bad thing. Almost arrogant, it’s as if you blindly walk wit your eyes closed ahead into a well lit area. Yet, bliss, is generally a good thing. It’s being happy, content, satisfied. How can two such contradictory things go together? All at the same time, it makes complete sense. If your completely ignorant, you don’t really give a @#$% about anything at all, so how could you be unhappy? You see things the way you want to see things, so you’re happy, but still foolishly, but you’re happy. But is it worth it? Is closing your mind off to reason really worth achieving something so unobtainable? How can you consider it being happy if you’re in that state so foolishly? Or is happy just happy? Maybe the impossible thing to do, is the only thing to do. A balance, not perfect, but enough of one, of both.

While two emotions messing things up together, a much more potent potion could quite possibly be one alone. A dumb, but to the point metaphor could be, would you rather have two two dollar bills, or one five dollar bill? I don’t know about you people, but I much rather see one thing that just brings a smile to your face, every time, instead of seeing two things that just cheer you up a bit. Those kinds of things seem to be missing in the world all too often. It’s like that song, “it’s the only thing that there’s just, too little of…”…or however that thing went. Just that thing that gets you every time…

When your head starts to spin, you start to hear everything around you, albeit in distorted bursts of noise, and yet while you sit there with your head boiling, you feel completely stoned at the same time. Almost as if you’re sick, and your head just starts to feel dizzy and you stagger around helplessly. You have no idea of what to do. So all you do, is sit there.

Perhaps all those feelings mixed together, all the contradicting thoughts, could that be bipolar? Does all this craziness mean you manic-depressive? Or are these emotions just impossible to describe? I’m probably just doing a cruddy job, but they seem like things where you don’t describe, you just let it pass. You let it pass just as you let the rest of the world pass before your eyes, as you sit there, staring blankly, at nothing of vague interest at all.


-digital delay

A Cycle, A Lifestyle

There are many types of letting go. There's letting go of a hand to get onto a school bus on your first day of school, there's letting go of what's holding you onto the edge of a cliff. They're both different, in many more ways than one, but yet they're the same.

Let's take a back track to before the 'letting go', think back to the 'holding on' part. Think back to when you extended your hand, your heart, your mind, towards that one thing, and latched on. That's the most important part of 'letting go' because without 'holding on' first, there wouldn't be a 'letting go'.

A child's blankie; something given to them not long after they're born. Perhaps even before, at a baby shower. That blanket is what keeps them company. When they're a baby, they lay on it, when they're a toddler they carry it around. It's their best friend, until they outgrow it. There's the 'letting go'. and after a few moments of complete loss, the child is bound to find something else to cling onto: perhaps a doll.

Letting go can't always be for the worst. Perhaps you're in a dead-end job that you can't quit because your boss thinks you love it there and your boss is a 'friend-outside-of-work'. Then one day, they go bankrupt, and what do you know, he tells you he's sorry, but he has to let you go.

Then there is the letting go, literally. Hanging on a wall with nothing but a big huge ten foot space of air between yourself and a cushion, you make the choice: hang on, or don't. Then it's either you fearfully climb back down, or you fall, fall, fall and feel that wooshing feeling in your stomach and your hair whipping around your face. Either way you land on the ground, or on something stable. Something else to lay on- something else to hang on to until you have to let go.


What Goes Around Comes Around;;
Karma Police

P.S. Some good music
check it.

Forgive or Forget?

Letting go of something could be pretty hard. We're talking: letting go of memories, letting go of dreams, letting go of love...It is natural in life to just let go.

There are those times in your life when you just have to accept what is going on and move on. Watch the baby grow up to be a child, learning to live without that blankie...and the proud parents watching their Little One grow up to be an adult like theirselves...

For some people, it takes longer to recover from a relationship than others. Letting go of love can be pretty hard! I mean, you've been spending "forever" with this person, and all of a sudden, you're just not? One day, you'll wake up, and realize that you have to start over. Begin a whole new chapter in your life; let the old one collect dust. It has had its time and fame, and now, you can move on. You can let go of the past.

That's right. The PAST is the key to this subject. How many times have you done something in your life that you ended up regretting? How many of you live your life without regrets?? When something happens, should you forgive or forget? Forgive and forget? I don't know about you, but when it can be hard for me to admit I am wrong. I just can't accept it. But of course, sooner or later, I would eventually have to accept it, move along, and forget about it. If it was an honest mistake? Forgive that friend, let go of the situation, move on. Everybody makes mistakes, and half those people deserve a second chance. For some, a second chance is all they need...

And if you refuse to let go? How much longer can you keep holding on?

It does not have to be the end,
-my.great.ESCAPE.

(Image credits to Photobucket.com)

Wonder How A.M. Got Started?

Yes, sometimes, I wonder myself how this blog began. If you're interested, you can now read all about how Acquired Minds began. Even when I read it to myself, it feels and sounds a bit awkward. But because of what happened, we have what we have today. So have fun reading it!

Click here to go see 'Acquired Minds: The History'!

Watch this space for more and more articles in the future!

-the clam.

P.S. Read this at any time, because the link to the page can now always be found on the right side -->.

Words Left Unsaid

There are moments when you oh so desperately want to say something, but you just can’t. You may consider it for a moment or two. Maybe even open your mouth to say it, only to retract the unspoken statement. Maybe you’ve been dying to say something, but don’t have the courage. Maybe you don’t want to cause conflict even though something horrible is bothering you. Maybe what you were going to say was just plain rude. My point is; second thoughts matter.

Someone was being hurt. By you? You could not stop. It was uncontrollable. And when the blows came until nothing was left, you felt guilty. Maybe anger has blinded you. Perhaps revenge? That apology was on the tip of your tongue. But they didn’t deserve it. Did they?

Someone was being hurt by someone else? You could’ve stopped it. You could’ve said something or even screamed for help. Perhaps you just stood there and watched as they pleaded. Maybe even encourage the pain. Or maybe, like a coward, you ran away. They could be innocent. They could be guilty. Either way, nobody deserved this. But the image was etched and scarred through your mind. And the memory played over and over again in your mind until you knew every bloody detail by heart.

You were being hurt. Stop her! Your brain screams. Why are you letting her do this to you? But no, you know how this will end. She will twist your words, no matter how carefully chosen, and make herself the victim. It will not be stopped. So you kept quiet and it continued. Maybe got even worse. And each day, you question your strength. And you make up excuses for yourself. Or tell yourself that it’s not that bad. It’s going to be okay, even when it’s not.

And when you think about all the bad people in this world, you wonder when it will ever end. But you never look at the children and think that one of those little boys bugging his mom for ice cream is going to grow up to hit my best friend, or shove a gun in my father’s face while demanding for money, or slip drugs into a girl’s drink. But some of them might grow up to be the one to find the cure for cancer, end world hunger, or become the best United States president we ever had. The potential and possibilities are endless. Maybe a few words could change that.

Maybe you just wanted to say hello. To the new girl? Or maybe you’re the new kid and you just can’t bring yourself to say hi to the person sitting next to you. So you duck your head down and hide behind you history textbook, pretending to be interested in the architecture of Aztec pyramids.

Or goodbye. You were leaving forever. And you left without a word. No apologies or farewells. Maybe you were running away. But you never saw them ever again.

Maybe you wanted to tell someone how you really feel. You’re tired of pretending. No dad, I don’t want to go to Yale like you did. I’m going to an art school. Maybe you want to tell your kids that you’re divorcing each other. Maybe you want to tell someone that you love them or someone else that you don’t anymore.

Maybe you can DO something. Actions speak louder than words. But I know that I have said and done things I regret. I also regret NOT saying or doing something. Maybe second thoughts aren’t the best. But remember that they make a difference.

-mourning.glory

This Is My Mind

Whether you like it or not, you have to accept some things. Even if you can do something about it, you don’t. After that, you can’t do much about it. You can only have so many chances, opportunities to grasp, before time runs out. Time, people, life, doesn’t wait for you. A bullet doesn’t wait to hit its target, words don’t wait to reach the ears, sights don’t wait to enter the eyes, and a bunch of other crud nobody gives a **** about.

Even the things you can do something about, you don’t. Things won’t change either, until something happens. Sometimes it doesn’t really matter what, just anything at all.

You just have to accept some things, and live with it. You may not exactly forgive yourself, or anything else depending on whatever circumstances, for it, but you have to learn to live with it. You learn to live with it, although you’ll never get used to it. But if you let that eat you up, you won’t stay sane. If you’re mind is never your own, you won’t last long. You have to try to be comfortable with yourself, and to accept yourself. You can’t have your skull too thick, of course, but you can’t have it too thin either. Of course, you start to depend on, to lean on, the most completely idiotic things in the world. Those things start to mean a lot to you, especially when you don’t have too many things to lean on. It can be hard to lean on a building that has no foundation.

-digital delay