After about 6 months of blogging once a month, I’ve now written 3 entries in 3 days! You might wonder why (most likely not, but I’d like to think that my readership’s deeply intrigued in anything I have to say :P), so here it is.
I began to post my favorite quotes on Tumblr a while back. Whenever I read something I liked, open new browser, copy, paste, done. On this particular day, my quote was from Frederick Nietzsche:
And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.
When I pasted in the quote, I realized that I couldn’t remember how to spell Nietzsche. My first instinct was to go back to the page, copy his name, and paste it in. After I did that, I paused and asked myself, so do I know how to spell Nietzsche now?
The answer was no. I also couldn’t accurately recite the quote that I just claimed to be a favorite. In fact, if you asked me what my favorite quote was, I will tell you that it’s something E.E. Cummings once said and it talks about being yourself, but I would not be able to tell you what it says exactly.
I love to learn. That is my number one passion in life, and whether it’s learning how to make a vase, play basketball, Excel formulas or history of Hagia Sophia, I start with the most ardent fervor. My interest, however, is often short-lived and so is the memory of the information that I just gathered. Not too long ago I wrote about this being the age of TMI, too much information leading to too much distraction. Actually, that was 6 months ago, and I’m not sure my situation has improved.
Well, I guess this is my way of attempting to fix that. In blogging about specific topics, I am practicing focusing my thought process and being analytical, so information doesn’t just pass through my brain, but get digested and hopefully retained. This means when I read an article I like, I will try to write something about what I learned from it, instead of simply clicking Share on Facebook. When I finish a book, instead of merely giving it a rating on Goodreads, I will write a review on my thoughts. When I find a quote I like, I will think about why it inspires me, and at least try to learn how to spell the person’s name.
So the next time someone asks me what my favorite quote is, I will tell them this:
To be nobody but yourself
in a world which is doing its best
night and day
to make you like everybody else
means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight
and never stop fighting— E.E. Cummings
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