The strange context of the title may be fairly obvious to some people–notice that the “IV” in the word “anniversary” is capitalized.
Well, I have good news: it has nothing to do with it being a day where I needed IVs… intravenous fluids. Ha! Or, as Drakkar Sauna sings (near the 11:00 mark), “We’re going to need insulin, intra-veneously! Seriously?”
Before I mention the context, let me talk a little bit about the word “anniversary.” This post may read a little bit disjointed, so please be prepared for it to wander.
The number fifteen on the calendar seems to have some good days and some bad days… and from what I’ve seen, there are some readily-known examples of both. Since everyone likes to hear the bad news first when considering “I have good news and I have bad news,” I will give the negative fifteens first.
There could be multiple-entendres within this post. About a month ago, I had posted an algebra problem that I had read from Views Splash. Thinking about this song actually makes me think of another song, and encourages me to give the answer to the problem. I’ll give the answer to the problem, and then say why the song made me think of it.
… that love is the answer. (Not necessarily, but I just had to finish the Blessid Union of Souls line. The music on the embedded clip starts at about the 25-second mark.) I like that song, and like the recent theme in the Daily Prompts of titles of songs.
Today’s prompt:
“For today’s prompt, tell us three things that you believe in your heart to be true. Tell us three things you believe in your heart to be false.”
Here are a few things that I believe to be true:
Family is above everything. You may have great friendships, good co-workers, or various other good relationships with people, but when it comes down to it, your kin will be your closest relationships. My favorite trips have often been going to see family, as opposed to the “exotic destination” vacation. I will have to exclude Israel from this, since that was not a place where I had family, but in some sense, the Jewish people are a close-knit, yet widespread, family.
Anything that you perceive as negative may actually have a positive outcome. Whether it be something like losing a job, not getting a promotion, having someone leave you, or something that you like ending (oops! That’s tomorrow’s blog post!), if you think positively, it may allow you to see the forest for the trees. My canonical example: I might not have gotten into the Math Resource Center and TA’ing if I had not been let go from Herman’s lab, where I was in over my head with physics research as a college freshman.
Deeper relationships can form from friendships. In the media, many “romantic” relationships seem to be the “love at first sight” type. Although I am not a romantic myself, I believe that true relationships develop from friendship, when people actually care for each other and have common and uncommon ground.
These are just some of the truths that I believe. Here are some falsehoods that I would deny from my heart:
Mental irregularities are a bad sentence. I have gotten pretty far despite Asperger syndrome, and have somewhat learnt how to overcome my shortcomings in social functioning. For people who have other mental irregularities, I feel that everyone has a calling somewhere, whether that be directly productive to the world, or being a great entertainer, or other things. Even those with debilitating conditions have an amazing calling somewhere that is waiting to be unlocked.
Literal veracity of scriptures. This may be calling myself out as a sacrilegious Jewish person, but I believe that, although there are some הלכות (laws) that I follow closely, many of them I interpret on a level of more moral, as opposed to literal, level. After all, many Jewish laws come not directly from תורה (Torah), but instead from Rabbinical interpretation. I tend to be very lenient in going by the letter of the law, but rather want to obey the spirit of the law. For example, although I am certainly not שומר-שבת (strictly observant of the sabbath), I have avoided doing academic work on it ever since I earnt my Masters degree.
Utter failure. The way I take the word “fail” is with the meaning, “to not succeed.” When I say “utter failure,” I mean that every sub-goal of the mission, task, or class were not accomplished. Even when a main goal fails, there are likely to be sub-goals that succeed, and many great successes (Apple, Ford, etc.) came after repeated failures. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Because in many cases, you have another chance, perhaps in a different context. Consider my “truths” bullet point number two!
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Today is the seventy-fifth day of M.M.X.I.V. That makes ten weeks and five days.
Here are some other responses to this prompt, as of 17:52, Central daylight time: