The Impermanence of Personality

     What we call personality is an illusion of self. We are fluid beings, not static. Our spirits as incorporeal beings yearn to move, not stay in the same place. A personality is a sample of you that is locked in time, like a ghost. Time is the key that unlocks it. As you develop through life, your personality changes. Behaviors are learned early on, supported by genes that solidify what appears to you as a personality during young adulthood. For many youths, this period is a turbulent time, fraught with uncertainty about who they are. Once they find acceptance, the storm passes, and they are comfortable with who they've become.
    Others never reach this stage, for they have already seen past the illusion of personality. Knowing that our personas evolve, like the earth and all its creatures, they are more comfortable having no identity. The imperfections that come with any given personality are transcended. They borrow pieces of each personality on the wheel (Enneagram, MBTI, Zodiac, et al), to suit one that is self-actualizing. They work hard their whole lives to shed the pieces that hinder development while embracing those that improve it.
    If cruel people complain they have a boring personality, or they don't even have one, they haven't the faintest idea what they're talking about. They have spiritually evolved enough not to fall into the same patterns they learned as a child, patterns their parents imprinted on them. They are mature enough to accelerate through the ruins of personality and all the expectations it brings. They would rather observe and listen, incorporating all the nuances of transient personalities into their holistic being. The dust begins to settle, they see through people's motives. Life becomes easier.

Pandora's Enigma

What if instead of
Hate, grief, sorrow, fear, greed-
All the elements of evil,
Pandora opened a box of treats-
Love, patience, joy, courage, moderation,
A blessing of goodness upon the world?
For if someone had summoned
All the vices of man to earth,
Surely it follows there was summoned
His virtues as well.

Rainbow Obsidian

    You who follow me in my dreams, what is it you seek?

    Find your way to life through me. Escape the unconscious void through my eyes. Become the words on my page. I invite you to my world with antipodean magnets of rainbow obsidian. Even they are not as beautiful as you.

    Scarlet velvet bedsheets you creased with your legs as the amber curtain retreated through infinite. The detailed fauteuil held your cambric scarf in polygon trances. You were a chimera in the mist, a glorious hallucination, the aurora of a stellar incarnation. 

    You came to me in the waxy flaxen room whispering, Metamorphosis.

    One can live a whole lifetime in a single night of dreaming.

Wembanyama and Brunson Highlight a Pair of Classic Game 1's

     It's been quite a start to the NBA conference finals. In the Western Conference, the Thunder and the Spurs played one of the best games I've ever seen, in what is sure to be the beginning of an intense rivalry. Both teams won at least 62 games and don't appear to have any weaknesses. They are both young, quick, and poised, led by the two best players in the league, SGA and Victor Wembayana. 
    On the night SGA won his second MVP award in as many years, Victor Wembayana broke through in a "coming out party" as the best player in basketball, and probably will be "the face of the NBA" for the next decade. In a double OT thriller sprinkled with epic moments, Victor scored 41 points and had 24 rebounds, altering at least 20 shots on defense. The Thunder were so intimidated they wouldn't even try shooting in the paint when he was around. Not since Shaq have a I seen a center this dominant (Shaquille was more dominant on offense, whereas Wemby is on defense). His capstone was a 30-foot logo 3-pointer in the first OT to tie the game, keeping the Spurs alive and giving them a chance in the second OT. He simply willed that team to win, and that's what they did. 

    The defending champs had swept through the first two rounds, winning by an average margin of 16 points. They are even better than last year when they dominated the regular season and won the title, albeit going through a couple 7-game series. They looked like the 2001 Lakers, who weren't as good in the regular season as they were the previous year, but who totally steamrolled through the playoffs. The Spurs put an end to that streak, and may possibly eliminate them, though I think the Thunder will "right the ship" from having a bit more playoff experience. I picked them to win in seven games.

    In the Eastern Conference, the New York Knicks mounted a 22-point comeback in the 4th quarter to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in another OT game. Like Wemby, Jalen Brunson put the team on his back, willing them to win by scoring 11 straight points. The Cavs are unlikely to recover from such a devastating loss, particularly with the baggage of having James Harden and the history of his mental collapses in the playoffs (this may be his worst one yet). I couldn't believe he was the primary defender on Brunson in the 4th quarter, as he is notorious for "falling asleep" on defense. While the analysts are lambasting James, the Cavs' coach should also be held accountable for giving him too much to handle, and for not calling enough timeouts when his team was clearly tired.

    Jalen Brunson has loudly become the most clutch player in the league. It's ironic how he led an epic comeback in the same Madison Square Garden that Tyrese Halliburton and Aaron Nesmith did a year ago, when the Pacers came back from being down 15 by in two minutes. This was a complete reverse of that event, with the home team winning this time. 

    That was another unforgettable game 1 in what has become a good trend for the NBA. Interest in the league has seemed to slip in the last few years, with Lebron James' career winding down, the Warriors no longer relevant, and no eminent dynasty or dominant player emerging. The latest top stars, like Jokic and Doncic, are overrated because they don't play enough defense. Anthony Edwards and Giannis do play defense, but their teams have struggled to maintain good talent around them (neither has had a strong second-option in my option). Now that we have SGA and Wemby, who are elite defenders and are surrounded by ballers, these playoffs are poised to determine the next cycle of drama and magic moments that fans will come to appreciate for many years. The league has never seen anyone like Wembayana, a 7'5 center who can handle the ball, shoot deep three-pointers, and cover more ground in the paint than two big men. Every time I watch him, something happens I've never seen before. That alone will be enough to save the NBA from its doldrums of the 2020s.

Pedestals of Gluttony

    Why do we teach our children to eat meat?
    Mounting evidence shows that meat accelerates gastrointestinal disease, including colon cancer, which is on the rise among people under 50. And heart disease from all the saturated fat it contains, contributing to obesity and all the other diseases that imparts. It seems to breed harmful bacteria in the gut and not probiotic ones, which can also impact our mood. I've personally noticed that after eating meat I am more sluggish and irritable.

    Meat production, particularly raising cattle, is disastrous for the environment by clearing forests, depriving the soil, and increasing greenhouse gases. It increases transportation costs that further pollutes because cattle cannot be raised near most urban settings. The meat for slaughter needs to be transported long distances before it can be consumed.

    We have a choice as parents to teach our children to eat healthy, sustainable sources of protein. Beans, nuts, vegetables, and to a lesser extent fish and poultry, are all better sources of it, having profoundly less fat. It's sad that in our culture meat is so ingrained that we can't reduce consumption, that it is one of the many harmful addictions we praise on a pedestal of gluttony.

Marty Supreme Fertilization Scene

     Marty Supreme is one of those movies that is so good, fast, and detailed, that watching it twice becomes mandatory. In a movie loaded with memorable scenes, the one that stands out to me the most is the fertilization scene toward the beginning, when Marty and Rachel conceive a child. It starts at around 3:00 in the video below. 

    It was the moment I heard Forever Young by Alphaville that I knew I would love this movie. As the lovemaking begins, the music picks up pace and we are invited into the uterus, syncing one of the best opening scenes in movie history with one of the best opening verses in a song. A crescendo happens during fertilization, when egg meets sperm, children break in to sing the chorus, and the egg magically transforms into a ping pong ball. 

    This happens during the opening credits, which unexpectedly makes it even more powerful. It foreshadows through music what the heart of the movie is, and all the ideas it explores. Young people who live as recklessly as Marty and Rachel are fortunate to survive their 20s. They want to be "forever young" by keeping the mindset that winning tournaments and manipulating people will make them happy. They fail to listen, deceive to get what they want, make unwise assumptions, and take dangerous risks. We've all been there, right?

    Once they have a child, a new version of happiness takes hold, forcing them to settle down and evaluate the lifestyle they've been living. The closing scene where Marty cries at seeing his newborn son drives the message home perfectly. That's why the Forever Young beginning is a perfect segue to the inevitable transformation that takes place in becoming a parent, when, for most people, career begins to take a back seat to family.

    That these two young adults were only 23 made it all the more realistic. My parents had me when they were the same age. (Marty and Rachel even look like my parents did). Both had similar behavior that they struggled to reconcile in their relationship and all through adulthood. After the movie ends, the audience can only hope this couple is successful in making the adjustment.