Don_Valdez

A few years ago, I read "A Happy Death" by Albert Camus, a story about Mersault, in my opinion, a man attempting to live a conscious life instead of just merely going through the motions.  If I remember correctly, the man died with his eyes open, which I believe meant that he overcame his indifference to the world & life events and in that one moment of clarity, achieved the enlightenment of being "conscious."  His path to get to that moment was filled with materialistic and trivial endeavors that he thought would make him happier.  When I realized that, I wondered if Camus and Hesse every crossed paths because Mersault seemed like a French Algerian version of Siddhartha.

With that said, I read that book at a very impressionable time in my life and have made an earnest effort to live a "conscious" life.  However, recently, I felt myself slipping a bit into a mindless black hole of going through the motions- work, gym, bar, rinse, & repeat.  Honestly, there's nothing wrong with those ventures, but there is something wrong if they are devoid of thought and/or emotion.  Although I lean towards being rational versus emotional (which I admit is something I've been working on), nevertheless, it is important to live your life, save the Groundhog Day robotics.
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My name is Don Valdez and the purpose of this blog is to share ideas with everyone who comes across my words, in order for us to improve in general.  "When one teaches, two learn," so perhaps we can all teach each other and learn.  Exploration and learning used to be the adventures that kept the human race driven; men would travel to the unknown ends of the earth simply for knowledge.  In these days, the knowledge people were willing to die for is just a click away and yet some of us choose to live in ignorant bliss.  We are embeds in a global culture, "firmly fixed in a surrounding mass," that need to exchange ideas so that we may grow and survive.

In doing so, selfishly, I hope this blog helps me maintain my conscious life as well as practice the art of writing.  This obviously isn't nuclear science or a work by Da Vinci, nonetheless, this is my attempt to contribute to our growth as humans in the areas of: (1) Health & Fitness, (2) Charity, (3) Books & Movie Reviews, (4) Travels & Experiences, and (5) Literature I've been working on.  I've also included a Resources section to link you directly to info.  In return, I ask that you "pay it forward" and if you have any constructive suggestions or solutions on how I can improve the blog or my lifestyle as a whole, please share.  Cheers.