Emotions, funny little buggers at the best of times and the bane of any existence at the worst. I'm a great believer in "I can't change how I feel, but I can change what i do about it" but also in not doing anything hastily or without thought.
Today has been a veritable cornucopia of emotions, from rage, disappointment and sadness to exultation and contentment. So much so that leads me to wonder - how is it possible to go through so many emotional changes without imploding!
I have pondered a number of different themes for this journal (aren't I sad) but the rule of thumb which has worked so well before is that I must write about what inspires me, and this is what is inspiring me at the moment. Emotions have an interesting ripple effect, if you watch the reaction of a group of people to a disaster, very rarely do they all see it at the same time, more often there are tiny amounts of time between each realisation and this grows smaller by virtue of people looking to other people and in a sense mimicking their reactions, I think the best analogy here is one involving my two-year-old niece. Such a happy amicable child, and very energetic, running around everywhere, and of course, when a child runs they are very likely to fall over, when she falls you can see her watching the adults around her, to see if they are distressed, if they aren't and make no fuss, she gets up and begins to play again. However if a fuss is made, the bottom lip comes out and crocodile tears start flowing. This is an age old psychological state that in some ways we as humans never grow out of.
Another analogy (sorry I'm using quite a few today) an adult one this time is the hysteria (in some cases) or worry stemming from 'The end of the World' apparently this coming December. Now I am a fairly logical person, and judging by the past predictions of the world ending and likelihood of such things occurring (the only certainly is that in billions of years the sun will go supernova and vaporise the entire planet, but I'll be dead by then....) the world is highly unlikely to end. However I still had a seed of doubt that gnawed at me from what people had said and what I'd read and no doubt my last though before drifting off on December 22nd 2012 will probably be like 'will I be waking up again?' not that it will worry me to the extent at which it affects my life or that I decide that lying on the ground with a paper bag over my head is a good way to prevent the oncoming apocalypse. But there is just a tiny seed of doubt, a very small 'what if' in the back of my head.
See what I mean about ripples? Closer to home have you ever noticed how if one person in the office is in a foul mood it immediately affects everyone else? Jokes aren't as funny, work seems to be more hassle and you find yourself getting into a bad mood too.
On the other hand, it works the other way, I certainly find that laughter is infectious and smiling is habit forming and if someone is really happy at work it makes the day seem lighter.
An interesting exercise can be to decide to feel a certain way, like being happy, it seems like a load of rubbish at first but just give it a go, you might be surprised.
Equilibruim
Excellent film, plus it has Christian Bale in it who is seriously cool (only knocked off the top spot by Liam Neeson who is just amazing. If you haven't seen Taken, watch it and you'll see what I mean...) at the time of watching it was in the shadow of The Matrix and so didn't get as much exposure and I think it deserved, I thought it was very well written though the plot was somewhat predictable and had enough story to keep going through generous bouts of action.
The Elfstones of Shannara
This book remains my favourite of all the Shannara books, Wil Ohmsford sent to protect the Elven Amberle in her quest to restore the Ellcrys and force the demons back beyond the Forbidding. Sounds suitably fantasy and you'll know by now that I love this sort of book, however despite being done hundreds of times before this book just seems to shine, the perfect pace of adventure and character development coupled with genuinely likeable characters and a twist at the end that I did not see coming. To this day (and this book has made my yearly 50) it still catches me every time.
Essence
Such a pretty, delicate word, I find it fitting for the description of something distilled down to it's purest form, the very word appears to float and rolls off the tongue beautifully. Love it. :)
"Everything you can imagine is real."
And finally, for all who care, a book update! Proofreader is getting to it :) yay! so should be sorted fairly soon, when the first three chapters are done it's letter writing and agent time! :S scary! Part two is coming along well, just need to sort the house so I can get back to it!
Ciao!
