Tidal Waves

 “Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” - Steve Jobs

Todays blog post is going to serve as a reminder to all of you out there: follow your dreams.

Yes, we all know the cliche..."Follow your dreams in life. You only live once, so if possible, spend it doing what you love." (I swear, if someone makes a YOLO joke...)

Although we all know this, it is easy to get consumed by a tidal wave of others. The opinions of society and those who are close to you begin to guide us and push us along. This guidance is not necessarily a bad thing, and can even help an individual accomplish his/her goals. But sometimes they can lead you astray from what you really want.

So this blog post serves as a reminder. Sometimes you have to take a step back, look at your life and where it is headed, and confirm that you are happy with the path you are taking.

Do you really want to study what you are currently studying? Do you really want to live where you are currently living? Do you really want to work towards the career you are currently working towards?

If you look at your life's path, and the answer to these questions and whatever other ones are all "yes", then keep doing what you are doing.

Each life we live is our own. It is our own story. Don't let other people become the author.

So take that step back, and confirm that you have not been led astray. And who knows...you may realize a new ambition.

Live your life how you want to live it.

Thanks for reading.

Hopeless Romantic...OUT!

It's The Little Things

I am a firm believer that the simple things in life are the things that make life truly worth living.

The little things that make up our day...the things we maybe experience very often, so much so that we view those things as unimportant.

But I say NAY! Those are the things that are truly important in life!

I know when I'm 80 years old, and I think about my life as a youngen, I'm not going to be thinking about my trip to New York, that time I saw Motion City Soundtrack live, or some hookup I had with some pretty little lady at a party.

I'm going to be thinking about the little things.

The chills me and my friends would have in my friend's basement every weekend.

The big get togethers with my family for brunch.

The performances I would do at the Free Times Cafe with my guitar.

THOSE things are the fabric of my life. Yes, the big things are still awesome, but it is the little things that string everything together, and can allow someone to be truly happy.

Life is about the little things.

Not the parties, but the chills.

Not the make outs, but the pecks.

Not the exams, but the study sessions with friends.

Not the sex, but the hugs.

THOSE are the things that make up our life, and those are the things that we will cherish forever. And I know, that when 80-year-old me looks back at his life, he's going to have a big smile on his face.

Thank you for reading. Hopeless romantic, OUT!

Some Introspective Perspective

It is easy for any of us to become overwhelmed with things - whether it be certain issues with our social life, school work, love life, or just stress in general. It is easy for our minds to become cluttered and confused with multiple overwhelming thoughts.

This being said, it is important for us to clear our minds and to sort out the cluttered bedroom in our heads (I use this analogy because my room is usually FAR from being clean...).

So what's my suggestion? Take a walk.

A few times within the past months I have decided to go on walks - usually at night - and I gotta say, it was an amazing way to clear out my mind. Whenever I felt stressed or overwhelmed with thoughts and emotions, I would just go outside and let my mind wander. It helped clear my mind and I was able to sort through that pile of dirty clothes in my head (an ongoing analogy? The writer in me is happy xD)

But what would I do on these walks? Just...think. I would think to myself, replaying scenarios or issues in my life, and just sort them out. Sometimes my thoughts were intended to sort out issues, and sometimes my thoughts were intended just to vent what I was feeling (which usually later led to the sorting of issues). Sometimes I would get lost in thought, sometimes I would get angry, sometimes I would get sad... Walking allowed me to be alone with my thoughts, allowed me to express any suppressed emotions, and allowed me to sort out anything in my mind. It allowed me to be completely introspective. And because of these walks, I was able to sort out my thoughts, begin to derive revelations from them, and gain some introspective perspective.

So the next time you are feeling stressed or overwhelmed, go for a nice long walk at night. Be alone with your thoughts, and just sort that shit out.

Thanks for reading.

HOPELESS ROMANTIC, OUT!

1000 HITS!

THANK YOU TO ALL WHO HAVE CHECKED OUT THIS BLOG!!!

This blog has reached 1000 hits! I'm honestly surprised so many have viewed this in such a short period of time :P Thank you to all who take time out of their day to read whats on my mind. More posts are to come! Thank you!!

Hopeless romantic, OUT!

Correlations

Today I will be talking about one of the greatest things in life: music.

If you've read this blog before, you'd know that I myself am a song writer, so obviously I enjoy music a lot. But the thing that I love the most about music is not the fact that it sounds good, but the correlation of music with emotion.

When it comes to this correlation, it works in two ways. The first is that music can make you feel a certain way. Different types of music can create different emotions in an individual both through the actual music and the lyrics. Some songs can make you feel happy, and others can make you feel sad. Music can really make anyone feel anything.

The second way the correlation works is that people listen to music when they feel a certain way. Because different types of music portray different emotions, people tend to list to music that portrays emotion that they are currently feeling. So if I were feeling happy, I would listen to happy music. But if I were feeling sad, I would listen to sad music. Now this brings me to a quote:

"When you're happy, you enjoy the music. But, when you're sad, you understand the lyrics."

I saw this quote online the other week, and it really struck a chord with me (no pun intended). I find this to be incredibly true. As I'm sure we all have, I have listened to music both while being happy and sad, and I have to agree that it changes how we experience the music. When you're happy, it's easy to enjoy the sound of the music, but this enjoyment can take away from the understanding of the lyrics. When you're sad, you tend to listen more carefully to the lyrics of a song, and to truly understand what the artist is trying to say. I find this to be especially true when the lyrics of the song mirror the emotions of the individual listening. In fact, when a song's lyrics and meaning mirror the individual's feelings, I believe that to be a truly amazing thing.

I love to listen to music when I'm sad. Me being a song writer, I really appreciate good lyrics, and I find it easier to appreciate lyrics and their underlying meanings when I'm in a blue mood. Sometime a song will present a lyric that really touches me. The amazing thing about when this happens is that you can use lyrics to describe emotions that you would otherwise be unable to describe. Additionally, it feels good to realize that song you love now mirrors an event and emotions that are currently going on in your life. It's reassuring to know that others have gone through the same ordeals.

Conclusively, all I can really say is....I freakin' love music! I love how it can make you feel. I love how it can be used to vent how one feels. And I love how sounds and words can end up meaning so much.

This being a post about music, I thought that I would share some songs that I have been listening to lately. Here ya go!

Human by Darren Criss
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGP4PUgQjJE

Jealousy by Darren Criss
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXuGdJGPRIA

Your Only Doll by Laura Marling
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPtqjHOPhgo

Broken Heart (Acoustic) by Motion City Soundtrack
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mQtcvgYCQ8

Drunk by Ed Sheeran
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2fOum_KWQU

A Drop in the Ocean by Ron Pope
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mt8jifKlbTc

Rapper's Delight by The Sugarhill Gang
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKTUAESacQM

And a secret one ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0


Thanks for reading! And have an amazing day!

Hopeless romantic, OUT!

Shitters and Waves

Hey guys.

I know its been a while, but I've been finding it hard to concentrate lately.

Its funny how one thing can just kind of break you down. But I guess that's something we have all had to go through at some point.

So then I guess we can collectively say that it sucks.


For this post, I don't have some insight or an opinion like usual.

My mind is pretty one-tracked these days.


So I'll leave you with this:

Every now and then, life goes in the shitter. So take advantage of the time when it's not. Because the harsh reality is that life is like waves on a shore; continuously going up and down, even when sometimes it seems like the waves will never come up again.

Thanks for reading.

Hopeless Romantic over and out.

Crank the Dial

The world is a fucked up place.

But when I say that, I'm not stating that the world is a bad place or anything like that.

I'm stating that the world is a truly incredible and awe-inspiring thing...so much so that it's fucked up.

There are billions of processes that are continuously going on every second of every day. These processes are what create and stabilize all life. From cells duplicating, to changes in matter, to processes that I've never even heard of; its all incredible. Now, I'm not much for science (creative student represent AWWWWW YEAHHHHH), but I do understand how incredible this is.

But even now, I'm speaking small scale. Forget the world, how about the UNIVERSE! We know SO LITTLE about the universe, its insane! Is the universe truly infinite? Is there only one universe? What exactly IS a universe? NO. ONE. KNOWS. And I find that to be incredible (yet also a tad disappointing). The universe is full of wonders that are (currently) way beyond our capabilities of comprehension. And I find that to be incredible.

But what about this?

Imagine all of our known existence as a radio station (that’s right…it’s METAPHOR TIME!).  Us as listeners, we tune in to the same station every day. We’re used to it, and we are comfortable with what that station shows us. We are comfortable with THAT EXISTENCE.

But what if we cranked the dial? Instead of listening to 102.1, we decide to listen to 99.9? What does that mean? What would we be “listening” to?

A different existence.

Time to bring in science: THE MULTI-VERSE THEORY

The multiverse (or meta-universe) is the hypothetical set of multiple possible universes (including the historical universe we consistently experience) that together comprise everything that exists and can exist: the entirety of space, time, matter, and energy as well as the physical laws and constants that describe them. – Wikipedia (AKA THE BEST SOURCE EVER)

WHAT IF there are multiple universes. What if radio station 99.9 is a place where everything is blue, humans (or other forms of existence) are see-through, and the sky is on the ground?

Is that possible? I have absolutely no idea, but I find it important that if one is to appreciate the impressiveness of the laws of our world, one must understand how someone would feel outside looking in.

Meaning that if we were to visit radio station 99.9, we would be in total shock. But that form is existence is the norm for its inhabitants. And yet, we would be in awe.

And I GUARANTEE, if there are multiple universes, and some being from one of them came to ours, he/she/it would be in total awe as well.

Cause our universe is amazing in every way. It’s incredible, fascinating, and awe-inspiring. But the most important thing to remember is that we are part of that universe.

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed this post.


My inspiration for this post: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2xzIgdD_XA&feature=player_embedded

I HIGHLY suggest you check it out.

I have decided to make my posts a weekly thing, as I have had too much work to post daily. Thanks for the support!

My name is Zachary Richman.

I am a hopeless romantic.

Over and out!

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