The Little Things in Life

“As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.”
Henry David Thoreau

The words of Thoreau never ceases to inspire and rejuvenate my soul.


As time nudges us forward, the days and nights seem shorter.  Time is relative to our length of existence; the amount we have experienced in life.  When we open our calendars and scan through the countless meetings, course schedule, work hours, study time, and friends/family time we realize how little time we have to waste.  It is incredibly important to realize that every moment in our life, every event consuming our time paves the path to our ultimate goal.  


Thoreau eloquently states that diligence will lead to your desired happiness, however I will go even further and say that cherishing the modest aspects in life will shape your perspective on life as well as lead you to happiness.  To appreciate the friends you meet on occasions, to be productive in your meetings, to love the home you live in, will broaden your worldly lens -- of course I do not mean to be excessively ecstatic in your interactions, but to be excessively optimistic.  


The summation of your life experiences will reveal itself as we grow older.  That is why it is critical to make every moment in your life worthwhile, to create your world filled with joy so you may live in that world in the future. 


Feels good to blog again.  More to come.


Dan

Stimulation

"Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything."
Napoleon Hill

The other night, I dropped off my roommate at a well-known club in downtown San Diego.  Traffic clogged the arteries lining the bars, restaurants and clubs as girls in their short skirts and guys in their black sweaters crawled the concrete sidewalks under the yellow lit night.  Taxi cabs left and right and the occasional wine bottle shared amongst a group of friends enhanced the intense scene.  These youthful crowds are now convening together under the drug induced atmosphere to share moments and memories, for some, again.  


Driving through downtown and observing these social 'norms' got me thinking.  All these mid-20's individuals have so much fire, so much passion in their lives right now.  They are living their lives out by roaming the streets at the dark of night and finding new companions to share memories.  They possess the desire to enjoy the atmosphere and surround themselves with people like themselves.  When they go out to have fun, they have fun.  


This idea suddenly made me reflective about desires outside enjoyments.  When one is driven mad with desire, whether it is for love or success, there is no stopping them, not even the impossible.  Human-beings have an uncanny ability to tap into their capabilities to achieve their goal, especially when driven with a fiery passion.  If every individual could engage this emotion, then success would be second nature to all of us; however, unfortunately most people do not reach this point until inspired with a vision, given a taste of the glory, of success.  Inspiration, stimulation is lacking in our present time.  Those who stare blankly at a chalkboard without a vision, a future career, a dream is prone to depression and lack of motivation.  It is extremely important to grow up knowing that anything is possible, that any dream envisioned by a single man or woman can be the hopes and dreams of others.
  
In order to achieve this form of motivation, though, others whom seen the potential in others must inspire them to aspire.  One cannot manifest excitement for their desires by themselves, but by receiving acknowledgment from others that their desires may be realized.

Go out and inspire others.  Open doors in their lives so they too may open the door for others.    


Dan

Journeys and Passions

"I will always remember those words: 'believe in yourself'."
Sean Plott

Sean "Day[9]" Plott's #100 online video deviated from his educational analysis of Starcraft gaming and instead told the story of how the PC game Starcraft, his mother and brother had shaped his life.  In this touching, 2 hour autobiography, he had highlighted his beginning encounters of the video game and his dedication to and appreciation for Starcraft. 

I myself encountered Starcraft in 1998 and instantly fell in love with the RTS game.  The science fiction based game had no limit to strategy, especially when played online against the mass of online players.  For the years I've played the game, my mother would constantly criticize the time I had spent on the computer.  Regardless of my mothers constant nagging, I continued to play the game until she was familiar with the game herself.  From then on, I had been a fan and Starcraft gamer.

Only recently did I stumble upon Sean Plott's Starcraft replay analysis.  His infectious personality made viewing his 40 min dailies seemingly short and refreshingly informative.  One day browsing his archives, I found his #100 video which highlighted his struggles and successes with Starcraft.  For as long as I remember, I had been bombarded with criticisms of playing video games from parents and friends -- Sean Plott's journey with Starcraft broke all the stereotypes.

Mr. Plott tells the story of his climb to the highest tiers of Starcraft gaming ranging from participating in qualifying tournaments in the US to international tournaments.  His dedication to practice and fine tuning his strategy were only supplements to his drive towards success -- the loving support from his mother and brother pushing him to levels once thought to be impossible.  The foundation of his success was his passion for Starcraft and his family inspired his pursuit towards success.  The majority of his story was dedicated to his mother and brother's unquestionable support.  When he had been stressed, his brother gave him encouraging words to push on.  When he shared his enthusiasm for Starcraft, his mother listened. 

I had once believed that success was coupled with a respectable occupation, but Sean changed my perception forever.  Determining the worth of a path should not be measured by others, but only by those who walk the path.  His story reminded me of the book Siddhartha which also highlighted the importance of believing in one's self and to weigh the worth of one's path by one's self. 

Thank you Sean,

Dan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJztfsXKcPQ

Naturally Mature

"A mature person is one who is does not think only in absolutes, who is able to be objective even when deeply stirred emotionally, who has learned that there is both good and bad in all people and all things, and who walks humbly and deals charitably.”
Eleanor Roosevelt 

 

For one to not think in absolute is one who acknowledges imperfections around him/her -- to be one-step ahead of first impressions and criticisms.  These individuals are not numb to cause and effect, nor impassioned.  Instead, they are wise souls whom favor the luxury of contemplation to spontaneous expression or decisions.  Within each vessel holds a passion, a powerful force of emotion that expresses in terms of an organized mechanism of thought.  For those who accuse these conscious thoughtful beings to be apathetic are unfortunately immature themselves.  I am not one to say that they are superior thinkers, nor the most logical, but these accusations lead to conflict without a cause.  For those who differ in their perspectives must choose to understand them.  And if the individual carries two opposing views, i.e. another's view contrasting with their own, then forms of rhetoric may take the air to persuade. 

Maturity requires the greatest amount of patience, to contain spontaneous reactions, however to completely suppress spontaneity is wrong.  There is a delicate balance that must be maintained.  It is part of our humanity to express and respond to our environment, all with respect to preserving peace.

Sincerely,

Dan

Dear Viewer

Dear Viewers,

As part of my New Year's resolution, I would like to become more consistent with my blogging.  I would like to submit one blog post per week.  I have realized blog posts have contributed to my relaxation of conflicting issues I conjure within the walls of my skull and helps catalog my ideas, issues and epiphanies.  Overtime I have also received feedback from viewers commenting that my posts are interesting, to say the least, and so I will do my best to be consistent with my posts in order to keep regular viewers interested. 

I thank you all for viewing and those who have given me feedback.  I have always thought these posts were lost in the crevices of the internet, but knowing friends and stumblers have taken the time to read is encouraging.  I hope to continue this blog for as long as possible with complete honesty and transparency.  Thank you all for making this possible.

Yours truly,

Dan

Critical Thinking

“What each must seek in his life never was on land or sea. It is something out of his own unique potentiality for experience, something that never has been and never could have been experienced by anyone else.”
Joseph Campbell

I believe in the importance of diversity, not perfection.


Initially, the academic world teaches us to follow the footsteps of our forefathers and replicate justifiable results -- never do they teach us to be wrong, to seek the incongruities of our society.  Why?  It is the optimal path to completely understanding the mechanisms of our world.  I am not arguing against our education system, but identifying the unfortunate flaws.  Especially in the world of science, the fundamental foundation of principles are the product of successful experiments with reasonable explanations.  The time required to understand these concepts is massive.  The amount of time required to understand the concept and how much exposure to the concept must be optimize in order to efficiently educate a large population.  In other words, we cannot replicate the time spent by past scientists in order to expose their full thought process -- it's kind of like cutting introns from exons on a piece of mRNA.  I believe that the struggles that our forefathers went through, the thought process required to reach their goal, is as important as understanding their principles.  Yes, practical application such as labs help replicate their experiments (the practical application the better), but to begin from a basic idea and flourish into a new realm of thought is beautiful, but difficult.  This is also known as critical thinking.


Critical thinking requires time and guidance.  Understanding basic principles in conjunction with critical thought encourages research, curiosity of the unknown.  The US education is moving towards the right direction as we are in a time of an increasing number of researchers in many fields particularly in natural sciences.  What does this mean?  A higher traffic of idiotic ideas which sooner or later will cause a breakthrough.  Stupid ideas are proportional to breakthroughs.  


A random note,


Dan Huh

A Minority Amongst Minorities

"Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth."
Mahatma Gandhi 

Mahatma Gandhi understood the importance of peace of mind.  Despite the struggles facing a people or an individual, there is always a safe haven: truth.

I decided to attend a Korean Calvary Church to surround myself with my culture -- if I can still call it my culture. To be a part of a Korean service made me feel at home and relaxed, listening to the language I am familiar with -- definitely a change from the University of San Diego scene, however I felt distant from these people.  For the majority of my teenage years, I was subjected to a non-Korean crowd.  Though it was my decision to be in these circumstances, I've always felt like the minority, regardless of the situation.  I took advantage of this position and enjoyed making friends with people unlike myself, but there was always a lingering discomfort.  I craved to be a part of the majority, to live in an environment with no judgment, with no stereotypes.  

Once I entered the University of San Diego, the craving exponentially increased and left me to discover the more diverse side of San Diego.  Not traveling far, I drove 10 minutes to the Korean Calvary Church and was greeted by a small contingent of church-goers (mid-20's).  Embracing the language which my mother taught me, I entered the main sanctuary and began to listen to Pastor Kim's message.  He spoke about the importance of maintaining your composure in times of change and want.   Despite the changes in environment and transitioning into a new location, one must not feel alone.  We have God and we have each other.  Strangers are and will be friends.  I appreciated the message, however I also noticed the interactions and exchanges of word between the people listening to the sermon.  There was an aura about them that I could not relate to, but could understand.  This is the feeling of anxiety.  I felt like an outsider despite the cultural backgrounds we all shared. 

I look like you, but I perceive the world through a different lens.

And so, I felt like a minority in the group of Koreans despite the similarities.  Did this discourage me?  Not at all.  This gave me the will to go out and continue to be a part, if not immerse myself into culture and make it my own, however there is always a battle to fight back at home.

Dan