tigerheart450

[tigerheart450]

The Thoughts of a Serial Killer

I want to write this to all my tumblr fans and college kids who may or may not have to do a paper on serial killers. Hopefully you can understand and get something out of this paper. 

Understanding the world around us begins with first understanding the people. Why do people do the things they do, what aspects of society and culture make people do things that originally they wouldn’t. Serial killers are one of those people who can seem like a regular person, who could be one of your friend, a family member, a co-worker or a neighbor that lives down the street.“may also have selected representations of the self to portray to others in particular contexts, or alternate between differing portrayals of identity. Arthur Shawcross (2005) noted that ‘‘to people in general, me as the type of person I am, I can be your worst nightmare, or I could be the man next door.’’  What brought them to that point though, to where they wanted, needed to kill people, not just once but multiple times? Someone who would keep killing if they weren’t stopped, why do they do it? The biggest argument is the concept of nature vs nurture, did they do it because of the way they grew up or is it something that was already there, that they were born with. 

It was brought up of what the FBI said in 2005 of how serial killers choose their victims, which they narrowed down to three things availability, vulnerability and desirability. It is just like with any other hunting predators looking for their prey. There was actually a comparison between serial killers and sharks. It showed that serial killers are just like sharks “ sharks do not attack their prey at random, but stalk specific victims, lurking out of sight. The sharks hang back and observe from a not-too-close, not-too-far base, and hunt strategically. They prefer prey animals that are young and alone, then typically strike from below, and try to attack when no competing sharks are in their territory. Older sharks are stealthier and more successful than younger sharks, indicating that these oceanic predators, like their human counterparts, learn from experience and improve their hunting technique over time.” 

Who or what is a serial killer, exactly? A serial killer is someone who has killed multiple people over a period of time with cool off periods between kills. For example when someone kills a person and then waits, let's say a week, before they find their next victim and then kill them. Serial killers have different categories such as the visionary serial killer, mission-oriented serial killer, or hedonistic serial killer (the majority of serial killers). The hedonistic killers is further broken down into the comfort killers, lust killers and thrill killers. “Not all psychopaths are serial killers, but all serial killers are psychopaths.” Most psychopaths are CEOs, doctors and lawyers, they are “driven, focused, and can have little remorse in their quest for success—but they don’t kill (usually).”

“They define psychopaths as being glib, lacking in remorse, being impulsive, and lacking in empathy, to name just a few characteristics.” There is a difference between being a psychopath and psychotic “the difference is that psychotic serial killers have lost touch with reality, while psychopathic serial killers know exactly what they are doing. ... psychopathy is not a mental illness and can’t be used for an insanity plea in court.” Serial killers know exactly what they are doing and they like it.  They showed in the brain scans of psychopaths that they generally have a missing link or fading link in their brains. The miscommunication seems to happen between the amygdala and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). The amygdala is involved in the experiencing of emotion, survival instincts, and memory, it’s also responsible for making responses to avoid things that make you unhappy, worry, etc.  While the ventromedial prefrontal cortex is responsible for processing risk and fear. These two parts of the brain, which any normal human being would have to help avoid things that could harm them, yet serial killers don’t feel that fear, they are fearless. “The answer to what causes reduced connectivity in the brain’s emotional system would help answer some of the bigger questions about psychopaths, for example, the question of whether disorder is partially due to social (or other environmental) factors or is primarily genetically based.”

In another study they focused on the DNA and found that 

On the other side of the argument of it being nurture they said “In its early stages, a baby is happy to be passed around from person to person. But at a certain point during the first of life, a baby develops attachment and becomes upset when taken away from its primary caregiver.

That attachment is a baby's first awareness that it's a separate being dependent on other people, Morrison said. Serial killers don't develop that feeling and don't see themselves as part of the world. "Your attachment is not there and attachment is really necessary for developing a full psychology," Morrison said.” It could result from abandonment.

What motivates a serial killer? Is it from trauma from their past? In most accounts I have read they said that most serial killers have been through trauma in their past “Many serial killers are survivors of early childhood trauma of some kind – physical or sexual abuse, family dysfunction, emotionally distant or absent parents. Trauma is the single recurring theme in the biographies of most killers.” A lot of their abuse are from their mothers and they usually get this feeling of abandonment form their mothers not being there or leaving them. “...many serial killers are actually insecure individuals who are compelled to kill due to a morbid fear of rejection. In many cases, the fear of rejection seems to result from having been abandoned by their mother in early childhood.” They are compelled or they have a feeling that they eventually can’t control to kill those that they should love (and strangers) because of a fear of rejection, just like how their mothers abandoned them in their early age.” “Such fear of rejection may compel a fledgling serial killer to want to eliminate any objects of his affections. He may come to believe that by destroying the person he desires prior to entering into a relationship with them, he can eliminate the frightening possibility of being abandoned, humiliated or otherwise hurt by someone he loves, as he was in childhood.” In their case though they tend to have that fear, which drives them to get rid of the possibility of rejection, by killing. Other motivators could be anger, criminal enterprise, financial gain, ideology, power/thrill and sexual based.

 “Many serial killers are survivors of early childhood trauma of some kind – physical or sexual abuse, family dysfunction, emotionally distant or absent parents. Trauma is the single recurring theme in the biographies of most killers.”With that being said there are exceptions like Ted Bundy who didn’t really have any childhood trauma but he did grow up believing his mom was his sister. They then bring up the argument that there can be 100 kids who went through childhood trauma but only one becomes a serial killer but what about the other 99 who didn’t become serial killers which brings us to that serial killers “choose to act on their compulsions.”

Ultimately most serial killers kill because they want to or need to, not all but most. “...regardless of the specific motive(s), most serial killers commit their crimes because they want to. The exception to this would be those few serial killers suffering from a severe mental illness for whom no coherent motive exists.” 

With all things considered, whether it be the abuse from childhood or because of the misconnection in the brain serial killers kill because they want to. I do believe that it does affect them and contributes to that way of thinking and desire to kill but that they use their agency, ability to choose to do this to others. 

Sources:

Bonn, Scott A. “Understanding What Drives Serial Killers.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 15 September 2019, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/wicked-deeds/201909/understanding-what-drives-serial-killers

Brogaard, Berit. “The Making of a Serial Killer.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 7 December 2012

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-superhuman-mind/201212/the-making-serial-killer

Conray, J Oliver. “What makes a serial killer?” The Guardian, 10 August 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/10/what-makes-a-serial-killer

Harrison, Marissa A., et al. “Female Serial Killers in the United States: Means, Motives, and Makings.” Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology, vol. 26, no. 3, June 2015, pp. 383–406. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/14789949.2015.1007516.

Harrison, Marissa A., et al. “Sex Differences in Serial Killers.” Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, vol. 13, no. 4, Oct. 2019, pp 295-310. EBSCOhost, doi: 10. 1037/ebs0000157.

Henson, JayneR., and LoreenN. Olson. “The Monster Within: How Male Serial Killers Discursively Manage Their Stigmatized Identities.” Communication Quarterly, vol. 58, no. 3, July 2010, pp. 341–364. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/01463373.2010.503176.

Miller, Laurence. “Serial Killers: I. Subtypes, Patterns, and Motives.” Aggression and Violent Behavior, vol. 19, no. 1, Jan. 2014, pp. 1–11. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1016/j.avb.2013.11.002

Nixon, Eli. “10 Chilling Glimpses Into The Minds And Lives Of Serial Killers.” List Verse, 30 August 2019, https://listverse.com/2015/07/23/10-chilling-glimpses-into-the-minds-and-lives-of-serial-killers/

Rogers, Abby. “A Terrifying Glimpse Into The Mind Of A Serial Killer.” Business Insider, Insider Inc, 8 June 2012, https://www.businessinsider.com/12-shocking-and-twisted-facts-about-the-worlds-serial-killers-2012-6

Warf, Barney, and Cynthia Waddell. “Heinous Spaces, Perfidious Places: The Sinister Landscapes of Serial Killers.” Social & Cultural Geography, vol. 3, no. 3, Sept. 2002, pp. 323–345. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/1464936022000003550.

[tigerheart450]

Did you know you have someone who always has your back and knows what your going through even when no ones seems to understand. When things seem to be falling apart and you are on your last hope of a better future, he stands next to you and whispers keep going the light, the end is coming, don’t give up and even at times he carries you through.

It doesn’t matter who you are or what you’ve done he will always love you and be there waiting for you to reach out to. He sees you for what you truelly are and not as the world sees you, as a son or daughter of God who has a divine worth. Did you know that you are a son or daughter of God? I can tell you now that you are. If you will seek him out he will be there answering the questions of your heart. The answer may come in a way you didn’t expect but he will answer. Never forget who you are and to reach out to the one person who knows you perfectly.

[tigerheart450]

I'm come to understand that trusting and opening your heart up to someone is super hard. Trust is hard to come by and when you break that trust it's hard to trust again. Like in any relationship it's a give take type thing. Not all give and not all take. It has to go both ways with both people.

[tigerheart450]

If you have to be someone you are not in a relationship then you should not stay in that relationship. You will find yourself beckming something you do not want to be and you will be very unhappy.

While if you are with people who love you for who you are, those are the people you want to be in your life. You will be so much more happy when you can be your true self.

I’m not saying that just say whatever, with no filter, don’t be mean. Rather find those who love you for what makes you, well you.

[tigerheart450]

When you’re in the service of your fellow beings you’re only in the service of your god. Service is an amazing thing it doesn’t just help those who are receiving the aid but it also helps those that perform that service. Do you remember that feeling you get whenever you are able to serve, help someone, that warm happy feeling that makes you want to keep seeking out opportunities to keep feeling that again and again. It helps open our eyes to the possibilities and it helps open our heart to change. If we as a people can change and become better each day it will in a sense save our lives and it will make us a happier people. If we could all have this change in our hearts imagine how much better this world could be, I believe there would be a lot more light in the world rather then darkness.

[tigerheart450]

You really cannot do a kindness too soon. those feelings of all I should help this person or I should call this person and see how they’re doing, and we shouldn’t wait to do that act of kindness, to do something nice. If you do not act on it you’ll find that the opportunity to do some kindness has passed you by.

When find yourself helping someone or doing a good deed, it becomes a butterfly effect. You help someone and then they help someone and that person helps someone, As it’s going and is spreading kindness love and joy to others. You never know what your actions will do for someone who is in need of help or is having a hard time.

[tigerheart450]

Love is a very powerful thing. How can you ever hope to help someone if you don’t care and they don’t feel like you care. I believe trust and love going hand-in-hand, you cannot have one without the other. When you truly love someone you want the best for them and help them the best you can. When you have that mutual love you tend to also trust that someone.

It’s hard to trust someone who you feel as if they don’t care.

[tigerheart450]

God wants our all and in exchange he will us him. I think that is a good exchange as we strive to be like him and do the things he has asked us to do we can become more like him. No that doesn't mean that in this life we will be perfect but we can strive now to be a little more perfect then we were before. Perfection is going to happen in the eternities.

[tigerheart450]

So I’ve had been having this debate about if it's better to talk or listen. I’ve gone to a counselor once before but she would just talk and talk and talk like I felt like she wasn't listening and didn't understand.

I don’t know if people are just scared of silence or what but sometimes I just want someone to be there to actively listen. I’m not necessarily looking for advice but I just want someone to be there that I know who is there for me and cares about what I'm saying but I don’t necessarily want solution sometimes. Some of the best conversations are spoken without words but by just look into someone's eyes. Eyes are the windows to the soul. Let me give you a challenge, look into someone's eyes for a few minutes and see what happens. It's amazing what you can see in someone's eyes, you can just have a conversation with just your eyes. That that other person understands what you are saying without words needing to be spoken. That you are able to understand what words can't convey. . I find that amazing. Here’s a little poem I started writing,

Look into my eyes what do you see

My whole world that was given to me

The emotions I try to keep hidden

Because of the experiences I have been given

Why is it so hard to speak the words of feeling

Yet the eyes show the words of forgiving

I close my eyes to stop you seeing

The world as I see it

Well isn't that revealing

I just want to see the world as it could be

[tigerheart450]

The End of the Beginning

I feel that writing courses are important to take while your in college. Taking the two classes that I have, because they were required, has helped me understand writing a whole lot more than before. I believe revising is the best thing you could ever do. If you aren’t revising your papers you should start to do so now. Read through your paper, even read it out loud, this will help you find things that need to be fixed or things that you need to change to make your paper better. I believe writing is never done. You will continue to write things the rest of your life and there is always something you can add or change to make whatever you are writing better. With taking this class it’s made me more curious about the world around me and how things work. After all my topic, which was trying to understand the mindset of a serial killer, was one small part of people I focused on to try and understand the people around me in the world or why do people do the things they do. It also made me focus more on audience and trying to understand how to write to different discourses and not just a teacher, which I have always done before. I really liked the Tumblr reposts it helped me with understanding myself, the way I create the world around me. With the discussion I had about serial killers I came to the conclusion that I’m with the group that believes that whether it’s DNA or the way they are brought up, that serial killers are people who understand exactly what they are doing and are choosing to kill. 

Curiosity is a very good thing to have, it helps you ask questions and to learn and keep growing. Knowledge is power.  I’ve always had questions about the world around me. I want to understand the whys of the world such as why do people do the things they do and how things work. This class helped me actually act on that curiosity by researching about serial killers and it’s helped me want to ask more questions and seek more answers. I’ve also learned that you have to be super open while researching and not set in your mind about something but to be able to take all the information about a subject and then make your own opinion. The biggest discussion with what made serial killers do what they did was whether it was more nurture or nature. I believe it had to do with a little of both, they both brought up good points such as disconnections in the brain but also abuse in childhood. They all play factors in what these people became but what it all boils down to, I think, is that they used their agency (ability to choose) to decide in killing multiple people. Within this discussion I discovered that we all ultimately choose what we will do and that I want to start choosing to be better.  

You need to be open to new ideas because that is how you will grow. My ideas of writing has changed, I’m more excited to write because I understand writing more, of how it works. It was nice to be free to make my writing interesting (writing to other audiences) and not just have to write a paper to the teacher, where it is super boring to write and read. Not only did this class help me with writing it helped me with knowing the right way to research. I’ve never done my papers in this way before and it really helped to break everything down. The one thing I found most helpful to just get started, get something on the page, was the freewrites. I’m going to use this with all my papers from now on and I believe I will start doing better with my grades.

 I love but hate the idea that writing is never done. It gives the possibility of growth but it also means I’m never done. This semester has been able to change my mind on writing, I don’t hate it anymore. I usually don’t like things I don’t understand and being in this class I was finally able to understand at least a little bit more about writing. Sometimes you are able to express things in writing that you wouldn’t be able to any way else. This semester I was actually excited to write but I’m one of those bad procrastinators so for some of my papers I waited till the last minute, which isn’t a good thing to do. That one of my goals I want to work on, getting stuff done on time and in a timely manner. I also think it would be great to have my papers done before they are due and not waiting until the last minute to do it. 

My favorite paper to write was the opinion series but it was also the hardest one to write. Writing to different audiences and trying to figure out how to make it so they understand was hard yet it pushed me and it was fun to do something different from the norm. I’ve found that I like using metaphors and descriptions to help people visualize and understand what I’m trying to say. I would like my writing to have an impact on others, whatever I’m writing, I want people to feel something or grow in knowledge. As I was writing Tumblr posts, when I didn’t know what else to write, I would start writing stories and I found that I would like to write a story or book. I don’t know what story but eventually I would like to write one. I also was able to write a poem, which actually wasn’t that terrible like how they usually are. 

The poem goes like this:

Look into my eyes what do you see?

My whole world that was given to me

The emotions I try to keep hidden

Because of experiences I have been given

Why is it so hard to speak the words of feeling

Yet the eyes show the words of forgiving.

I close my eyes to stop you seeing

The world as I see it

Well isn’t that revealing

I just want to see the world as it could be.

As I keep going with other classes and life I would like to keep improving my writing and do more research so I can start understanding the world around me.

[tigerheart450]

What’s Your Opinion?

Thank you for reading my reports, essays on serial killers so far. This time to understand other audiences I’m going to write a three part essay to three different audiences. The three I want to write to are the musicians, sports people, and surfer dude.

Does Music Help Us Understand People

On a serious note (see what I did there), I would like to talk a little on serial killers. I know why would we want to discuss this topic, well because if we want to understand the world around us, we must understand the people. Everyone and everything has a certain music to it which you can hear or understand if you aren’t paying attention. 

 We all have a certain music to us, where sometimes it’s playing a major key or in a minor key. It’s just that some people have more light than others and some are just all dark, it all depends on what piece you are playing. When we are first born we all have a perfect, bright music, all the instruments playing their part, everyone in sync but then life comes in and starts changing the music. Serial killers usually have had something that has happened to them to change their music to a very dark and scary song. Usually they have been abused physically and emotionally, some have even been tortured by their mothers. They are compelled or they have a feeling that they eventually can’t control to kill those that they should love (and strangers) because of a fear of rejection, just like how their mothers abandoned them in their early age. “Such fear of rejection may compel a fledgling serial killer to want to eliminate any objects of his affections. He may come to believe that by destroying the person he desires prior to entering into a relationship with them, he can eliminate the frightening possibility of being abandoned, humiliated or otherwise hurt by someone he loves, as he was in childhood.” This being said their music starts to become distorted and falling apart until eventually it becomes the most disturbing and gross music ever, their music starts to feel disconnected.

They have said that serial killers have a missing link in their head which stops them from being able to empathize and feel guilt for what they have done or they are missing a few instruments in their orchestra of the mind. This being said, not everyone who has been through trauma in their childhood becomes a serial killer but those who have become serial killers the trauma did seem to contribute to their need, compulsion to kill. You might ask well what about all the other kids who have gone through abuse and haven’t turned into serial killers or what “if 100 kids grow up in an abusive foster home, and one turns out to be a serial killer – what about the other 99?”  Ultimately you have to come to a conclusion that serial killers choose to act on their compulsion, it’s like an itch that won’t be satisfied until it is scratched. 

Serial killers are bad people who do bad things to people. They are like the music in a horror movie, where when you hear it you know something terrible is about to happen. Please be careful out there in the world, pay attention and listen, stay safe.

Bonn, Scott A. “Understanding What Drives Serial Killers.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 15 September 2019, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/wicked-deeds/201909/understanding-what-drives-serial-killers

Conray, J Oliver. “What makes a serial killer?” The Guardian, 10 August 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/10/what-makes-a-serial-killer

Goals of Not

How are serial killers like sports you might ask well because they are playing a game they can’t stop and don’t want to stop. This game being killing people and the main player usually being a white male. When your on the field with your team and when you spend that time working with your team they become your brothers or sisters. A bond is formed between players which can’t be broken and you become family. Do you know that feeling of trust and love. That feeling, serial killers don’t have. To understand this a little more I’ll share a few quotes from Ted Bundy "I didn't know what made people want to be friends. I didn't know what made people attractive to one another. I didn't know what underlay social interactions." Usually we as people try to build those relationships while they don’t. "I don't feel guilty for anything. I feel sorry for people who feel guilt." He and others, are psychopaths or as they put it “a callous, exploitive individual with blunted emotions, impulsive inclinations and an inability to feel guilt or remorse.” Actually they say that serial killers have a missing connection in their brains, it’s like in football, where if I were to throw you a pass that has a perfect spiral and is coming straight towards you but before it reaches your hands it falls just a little short, never reaches you. That's what happens in its brain. 

The disconnection in the brain seems to be between the amygdala and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). I know super confusing, don’t worry I looked it up so you don’t have to. The amygdala is involved in the experiencing of emotion, survival instincts, and memory, it’s also responsible for making responses to avoid things that make you unhappy, worry, etc.  While the ventromedial prefrontal cortex is responsible for processing risk and fear. These two parts of the brain, which any normal human being would have to help avoid things that could harm them, yet serial killers don’t feel that fear, they are fearless. Would definitely not want someone like that on my team, a narcissistic jerk who believe that there is only I in team. Have you ever had someone like that? Who believes and acts like their are the best and is mean to everyone else. Those people are so annoying. 

What scares the crap out of me though is to realize  that there are these kind of people out there (sadistic and narcissistic), which are sometimes closer than you think, that kill without regret without fear of the consequences. What’s even scarier is that it could be a family member, friend, neighbor, or even a coworker and you wouldn’t even know it. That they have learned how to appear like a regular human being during the day but then be this monster at night. Like how I said in the beginning serial killers are usually white males who like to hunt their prey (usually young women). They do it for the thrill of the hunt and they take trophies from their prey, like how you would take antlers after killing a deer. I hope none of us ever meet a serial killer.

Brogaard, Berit. “The Making of a Serial Killer.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 7 December 2012

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-superhuman-mind/201212/the-making-serial-killer

Harrison, Marissa A., et al. “Sex Differences in Serial Killers.” Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, vol. 13, no. 4, Oct. 2019, pp 295-310. EBSCOhost, doi: 10. 1037/ebs0000157.

Surf The Ocean of Darkness

Dude you won’t believe what I just found out, sharks are just like serial killers. I know it’s totally kook bro. These researchers or whatever said that “ sharks do not attack their prey at random, but stalk specific victims, lurking out of sight. The sharks hang back and observe from a not-too-close, not-too-far base, and hunt strategically. They prefer prey animals that are young and alone, then typically strike from below, and try to attack when no competing sharks are in their territory. Older sharks are stealthier and more successful than younger sharks, indicating that these oceanic predators, like their human counterparts, learn from experience and improve their hunting technique over time.” Apparently they are just super dangerous and attack without warning. Do you even know what a serial killer is? It this person or persons who killed three or more people over time, where they kill then cool off and then kill again, they are totally gnarly bro. These people are just crazy brah, can you believe that they just do it for the thrill of the hunt because they get bored easily, they just need to chill and calm down. If they are so bored they should just get amped about these waves and come to the beach. It’s way better than going out killin people. 

You know how the ocean gives us things such as shells and shark teeth, among other things? Yea well serial killers also pick up things like that except from them, they pick things up from their victims and I guess they call them souvenirs or trophies. These trophies can range from jewelry, clothing to the organs of a person or other body parts. Serial killers are so sick in the head that they sometimes drink their victims blood or eat parts of their body. The scary thing is that unlike sharks which when you see the fin you know what it is but a serial killer can seem just like you or I, a normal human being. He’s usually a white male in his 20s to 40s, a loner and to everyone else he seems intelligent and charming. Dude do you know anyone like that? I can’t think of anyone. That’s funny dude, just then I sounded like a news reporter.

“Not all psychopaths are serial killers, but all serial killers are psychopaths.” I found this quote and thought it was interesting. Did you know that apparently psychopaths and psychotics are different? Psychopaths know exactly what they are doing they are “... driven, focused, and can have little remorse in their quest for success—but they don’t kill (usually).” While psychotics have lost touch with reality. They are all just crazy up in the noggin. In court they can’t us psychopathy as an insanity plea because they are using their will (consciously choosing) to kill others. They are definitely not gnarly dude but plain crazy, not going to hang with them in the water later. Brah did you want to go surfing later? Sweet.

Miller, Laurence. “Serial Killers: I. Subtypes, Patterns, and Motives.” Aggression and Violent Behavior, vol. 19, no. 1, Jan. 2014, pp. 1–11. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1016/j.avb.2013.11.002

Nixon, Eli. “10 Chilling Glimpses Into The Minds And Lives Of Serial Killers.” List Verse, 30 August 2019, https://listverse.com/2015/07/23/10-chilling-glimpses-into-the-minds-and-lives-of-serial-killers/

[tigerheart450]

Two opposites attracted towards one another, coming together and making something beautiful. The calm of blue and purple, the cold coming together with the fiery red, orange and yellow. Neither consuming another but working alongside the other, making something new. Which one are you? Are you an warm and fiery red or the calm, cool blue?

I’m loving the blue and purple it looks so cool! My color is definitely blue I’m usually calm and laid back. I also really like the red, orange and yellow, it reminds me of fire. Fire is a really cool thing because it is alive until you kill it. Have you ever sat by a fire and just watched it? It’s so fascinating, it’s almost like meditating.

Heating by Cooling: Resolving a Fusion Paradox https://ift.tt/33CawCk

[tigerheart450]

That may be true but I like the harbor, it's comfortable. Change is hard and so is putting yourself out there into the unknown. Going out into the open water you don’t know if you are coming back. We are not meant to sit in one spot the rest of our lives, we were meant to move forward and grow. Life is a big unknown but that also makes it exciting, you never know what might happen. It has so many ups and downs, waves crashing down and pushing you forward. This life is a gift and it is better to take chances and have no regrets then sit in safe harbor having so many what ifs. I don’t want to live my life with ‘what if’ hanging over my head.

“A ship is safe in harbor, but that’s not what ships are for.”

— William G.T. Shedd

[tigerheart450]

Look at this picture for at least a minute or two...what came to mind as you looked at it. Did you imagine yourself in the picture sitting on the bank basking in the peace and calm of this place? Maybe you imagined yourself fishing, catching huge fish, that when you get home you can brag about to the others. I imagine myself sitting under the tree, on the left, with a good book reading while the rest of the my family are fishing or in a boat. The sun just barley making itself known, as the cold of the night dissipates into the warmth of the day.  

“Alpine Lakes” by Stef Kocyla / CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

[tigerheart450]

This has such a supernatural feel to it.

"The calm before the storm and war is coming. Young one you must prepare and be ready for when it does come," the old man said while looking into my eyes. He then starts to melt away and I'm brought to another scene with bodies everywhere and smoke heavy in the air. A form comes closer through the smoke but before I'm able to make out who or what it is, I'm falling. A scream ripes free from my throat as I bolt up in bed. I look around frantically as my heart races in my chest. It was all a dream but it felt so real and this isn't the first time I've had this nightmare.

Here's a little bit of a story I might write.

Yosemite National Park

[tigerheart450]

We all judge whether we knowingly do it or not. First impressions are important but they aren't everything. When people first meet me they usually see me as quiet and reserved but once I'm comfortable with that person I can be really loud and care free. If you really want to know who someone actually is, you have to work at it and really get to know them. A lot of the time we are so absorbed on what's going on in our lives that we forget sometimes to think of others and look outside ourselves. When you learn to look outside yourself you'll be able to see things you didn't see before and when your not just thinking of yourself you tend to be happier.

“You only know me as you see me, not as I actually am.”

—   Immanuel Kant

[tigerheart450]

When we think of changing the world, we usually only think of the big things that people have done. That only if we can do the big things that thats when you’ll change the world but in all reality it’s not the big things but the small everyday things that change the world. Even then it won’t change the world but that person you help you can help change their world. All the things you do and all the people you help it helps change their world. “…by small and simple things are great things brought to pass…” - Alma 37:6