Writer's Block

Do you ever feel like you just can't figure out what to write? Because I do. I have never been much of a writer, I have always expressed myself through my art, not writing. Writing has always been something that is really hard for me to get started and when I finally do it never seems to come out as well as I would want. Even now, I decided to write about writer's block because I had writers block, and I'm still not 100% sure where I am going with this. I got to the point where I actually looked up, "Blog ideas" because that is how severely I had writer's block! So, what better thing is there to write about when you have nothing else to write about?

Whenever I have had some kind of creative block, whether it comes to painting, drawing or any other sort of art that I do, I usually just Google things that interest me and somehow I just magically find inspiration! But that doesn't work for me when it comes to writers block. In so many ways writing feels like it is more open ended than art has ever been for me. Writing involves putting things into words in order for others to visualize what you visualize. For me, this task is daunting. So, while being in an endless pit of writers block I decided to look up some tips to help deal with writers block. Here are a few tips that really seem helpful to me:

1. Write what you know
2. Accept that you are going to write garbage
3. Stop worrying about originality.

I chose these tips because all three of these things are very relevant to myself. Writing what you know is so much easier than writing about something you know nothing about, this tip actually helped me decide to write about writer's block, I definitely know writer's block very well. I chose tip number two because (like I said in my first paragraph) whatever I write never seems to come out as well as I'd like. 

The very last tip is one of the most helpful in my opinion, in a way it goes along with "Write what you know" because if you stop worrying about originality you are probably writing what you know anyway. The way I look at it is like this, chances are somebody out there likes the same things that you like, or they have the same interests, so no matter what there are people out there thinking the same types of things that you are, so no matter what it isn't going to be 100% original.

Writing doesn't have to be hard, especially if you use these tips. I hope they help you as much as they helped me.

OMG LOL!

Like many people in today's society, I am way too dependent on my technology. I always have my laptop or my phone ready and willing to surf the internet or play a game. Everywhere in the current society people are depending more and more on technology, everything is connected and everything is on just a few devices. However exciting each new advancement is,we are forgetting how to do a lot of important things, like spelling properly and writing in cursive. 

Society is forgetting the simple things like writing letters and giving people a call instead of a text. Our youth especially is forgetting how to put a sentence together with punctuation and without using, "LOL," and, "OMG!" what does this say about the future? If everybody is connected to their smart phone, how would one function without it if one never has before? 

I used to love the idea of having a cell phone as a kid, I could talk to people whenever I want, and I no longer had to use the home phone to call my friends. I thought having a cell phone would mean a new level of independence! When in reality it is more of burden than anything. I remember as a kid there was no pressure to always talk to people, or Facebook or tumbler to get distracted with. In school we would have to take real notes by hand instead of typing everything out, we hand wrote things and there was an exchange of paper with real conversation involved.

The more and more connected to technology we get, the more and more impersonal we are getting. It seems rare to speak face to face with somebody, and if you are with somebody they're on their phone the whole time. We are so dependent on technology for everything from keeping your calender to playing video games, to socializing. We have completely online classes that involve absolutely no interaction required at all, and the classes we do actually attend all use spell check and calculators. Socializing with people is happening less and less, and when it does it is awkward, with nothing to say because everything, even relationships are so web based. I meet people all of the time who don't even know how to write a check or do long division without a calculator. 

I often wonder if technology is a good thing, or if it has been doing more harm than good? Of course there are benefits to technology, like modern medicine and different sustainable sources of energy, but is that enough for us to just forget to teach our kids how to write in cursive? Or use punctuation? Or for people to be nearly incapable of doing things technology free? Is it more important for society to advance technologically but forget how to be a community?

We chalk it all up to evolution, "We are just accumulating more knowledge," But is it really learning if we forget how to do the basics? 

Back to Square One

Two years ago I was in tremendous pain, constantly for nearly two months. I had started getting migraines. I wasn't just getting the occasional migraine, I was getting chronic migraines. I couldn't stand up, or even sit up for more than a few minutes without feeling like my brain was catching on fire from the inside out. I couldn't go to school, I rarely ate, I couldn't function at all. In total I missed the last month and a half of school, I missed all of my finals, because all I could do was sleep. The pain  was too much to bear for long. So, logically I contacted my doctor.

My doctor pretty much just said I was in some sort of migraine cycle so I needed to go to the ER where they would set me up with an IV and pain medication, this was SUPPOSED to make my migraines go away, so I followed her orders. After lying on one of the uncomfortable plastic benches for nearly four hours I was brought back to one of the rooms where the nurse proceeded to inject three different medications into my left butt cheek. It was a miracle! No more migraines! I was so happy. I took my prescription and was on my way. I felt a little goofy and doped up, but I was pain free... For about two hours.

Long story short, I ended up back in the ER at about 5:00 am. because my stomach was on fire, it was like my stomach was filled with lava, and on top of it my migraine was back. Shortly after seeing a doctor, I was diagnosed with Gastritis (from taking so much ibuprofen and receiving the pain medications), I came away with three more prescriptions (pills to make my stomach better even though I was only in the ER because of all the pills? That's... logical, right?) and a recommendation to go see somebody who specialized in headaches. The headache specialist then referred me to a neurologist, who had me get an MRI. The MRI came back clear (no weird brain tumors or anything, WOO!) so she prescribed two more medications... At this point I had 6-7 different prescriptions all prescribed with in just a couple of weeks. It wasn't much longer before I had a small pharmacy under my bed.

After going through months of hell, I had come out with having lost 25+ pounds and gained a hell of a lot more pills than any 17 year old should have in possession (the majority of them I didn't even need to take). My neurologist prescribed a pill called Nortriptyline, which I have to take every night for probably my whole life. 

Common nortriptyline side effects may include: 

• nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite; 
• anxiety, sleep problems (insomnia); 
• dry mouth, unusual taste; 
• little or no urinating; constipation; 
• vision changes; 
• breast swelling (in men or women); 
• or. decreased sex drive, impotence, or difficulty having an orgasm. 

Oh, and if I ever get pregnant while taking this medication the baby will come out with severe physical defects. 

Two years later, and I am nearly back to square one. I have gone to my neurologist around five times in the past few months, I have to get another MRI and my medication dosage has been tripled since I started taking Nortriptyline. I have been showing a lot of the side effects mentioned in the list (not pregnant so that one doesn't count). I have seen a total of 6 doctors regarding my migraines and not one of them suggested something other than pills (aside from the MRI).

"Pills are the solution to everything," at least, that is the impression one would get visiting an American doctor. There is little to no investigation of other remedies for things like migraines, ADHD, Depression, etc. The automatic solution is a pill... or two... maybe even three? In 2010 the pill industry was worth over $275.6 billion. The sale of antidepressants has risen over 400% since the 80's. The amount of pills prescribed and advertised is only going to keep growing because the pharmaceutical lobby is one of the strongest in the U.S. We hear everyday that the United States is the fattest country in the world, but what we don't hear is that we also spend more than every other country on pharmaceuticals. We are one of two nations that allow pharmaceuticals to advertise directly to patients. We are the sickest first world country, but that is okay because it's just business. 

Environmental What?

  Our environment has always been a huge factor in our societies. The environment often gives us more jobs or can create them, for example: if a community lives near a river rich with salmon, the community will use the access they have to catch and sell this fish in order to create a lasting life. In this case the environment shapes how the culture evolves/grows. Environmental Determinism is something that people have believed in for centuries, our environment was one of the key factors that determine what people do in different areas. If we were to take the community of fishers and place them in a desert with no river to fish from, they probably wouldn't be fishers anymore. However, as society has evolved environmental determinism has been less and less commonly thought of. As we have made more advances over the years we are able to provide things like fish and fruits and and vegetables year round. In the middle of winter we are able to provide produce that is not currently in season, there are fish farms and factories that mass produce meat that can be shipped all over. So, where does Environmental Determinism fit in when we are able to do anything regardless of our environment?

With modern day conveniences we are capable of doing practically anything. We no longer need to depend on our environment to get what we need, areas that were at one point vast farmlands are now cities, rivers once filled with fish are now polluted with waste and can no longer be fished from, our environment is becoming less and less of a determinant in our every day lives, and social factors are becoming more and more prevalent. When we look back in history, rivers, mountains, climate, etc. all had huge impacts on what humans were doing, humans did not rely on green houses and farms, but on how much rain and sun they would get each year. In ancient Egypt the Nile River was one of the most important landmarks in the area. The river provided moist, fertile soil, the most important domesticated animals (goats, cows, sheep, and pigs) were in near by lands in abundance, but if for some reason the climate were to change –a drought for instance– providing necessities would be very difficult. Today, if there were to be a drought prices might go up on certain things but the ability to grow produce would not diminish.

Though our natural environment no longer has as much control over what we produce, our social environment could have some more pull. Historically people have done things based on their environment and based on social standing. Our natural environment has determined what we produce in a specific area, but our social environment determines who does each job. If one has a background with a lot of money than one is much more likely to do something similar to what one's friends and family (presumably other people with a great deal of money). Historically people who had high positions in the government –such as a king– than the family members and friends would likely hold high positions as well. In society today people often do things similar to what their parents do, or what family and friends often influence them to do. For instance, if your father wants you to take over the family business when he retires, there is pretty large chance that you will take over the family business because the people around you will be influencing you to do so.

Our social environment can help determine what one does in a similar way to how environmental determinism does. Environmental Determinism determines what people do in a specific area. If we take environmental determinism and add in a more social aspect, the social environment of each specific person, the environment would still help determine what one does, it would just be a different type of environment: a social environment. Social aspects of the environment help determine one's outcome in a more personal way, rather than a general way.

Historically our physical environment played possibly the largest part in what we as humans did based on our geography and climate, but as humans become more and more advanced, we have become much more independent from our environment and more dependent on our social environment. Our friends, family, peers, as well as our social class, influence us more and more each and every day on earth. It is very evident that our dependence on our environment has become more climate based than anything else, unless we redefine the definition. If Environmental Determinism changed to involve social environment as well. Our environment has always and will always influence humankind, but as we evolve as a whole, maybe some definitions should as well. Like technology, our ideas and definitions must evolve, in hopes that they will not become obsolete.