The Restrictions of Love

Why are there restrictions and boundaries placed on love?  We are more often rewarded when we admit to our distrusts than when we use words of strong and personal approval of someone close to us.  Professional boundaries are placed upon institutions because people can hardly be trusted to exercise personal boundaries for the sake of themselves and others, leading to even more unhappiness.  However, if love is limited almost infinitely, then it is inevitable that we will be unable to accept love when it is rewarded.

-Nichole Bergstrand-

Behavior and Evolution

All of us feel the lingering divide among the people of today’s world.  Within my own peer-group, as well as the fresh college graduates a few years behind me, a strict adherence in beliefs exist where flexibility and balance have simply become undefined.  Balance is a term that is heading toward extinction.
If I could reach into the minds of those around me I would see the discontent that agreeing with two opposing views on a single idea can cause; as if it is a sign that your personal values waiver by not taking a side.
With the amount of information available and demanding to be seen on a momentary basis, we have become more knowledgeable of our world while feeling an overwhelming sense of negativity that is impossible to contain.
These fears can't be further from the truth if people refuse to balance what they believe to be inherently true or inherently evil.  

-Nichole Bergstrand-

Dream Through the Universe

I have always had dreams and goals but, when I was young, respect was never granted by anyone who dared to notice me.  I think that as a person whose survival depended on dreaming, I saw how they shape reality making everything in the universe possible.

~Nichole Bergstrand~

Originality: The overused idea

There is an exceptional amount of contradiction surrounding originality and its definitions.  Some believe that once a piece of work has been created, it can no longer be copied or recreated in any way or plagiarism becomes a factor. Others, however, have a more lackadaisical approach believing that originality is formed through past knowledge and therefore nothing new can truly be created; quite simply, plagiarism is inevitable.

Through time, and as a society advances however, it is necessary to use past knowledge in order to move forward; if every idea was patented, progress would come to a standstill. If the point is to evolve and move forward as a society, why hinder the natural process?

Perhaps then, it is fair to say that originality is one’s own creative ideas inspired by the works of others.

~Nichole Bergstrand~

On Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia and psychosis in general is misunderstood.  I don’t personally have schizophrenia, but have had the privilege to live beside different people over the span of many years.  Losing touch with reality isn't as unusual as people would like to believe and, in the brain’s natural state, psychosis isn't the unpredictable and out-of-control disorder that destroys so many lives.  Some of the most severe differences in functioning among people can be explained by prolonged negative experiences during childhood when the brain is developing, which only serve to adversely affect the social functioning necessary to overcome the dysfunction.  While every psychiatrist begins his practice understanding the correlation between nature and nurture, health workers fail to acknowledge the major social causes for behavior while focusing on the biology of a disorder.    

Unfortunately a combination of factors in a person’s life can better explain (in my opinion) differences in severity among illnesses with the same label including Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia, and so many others. 

I wonder, in its natural biological state, if schizophrenia would be so feared and detrimental.  Most importantly, would schizophrenia exist in the world as we see it today? 

-Nichole Bergstrand

Is God Real: The Invisible Man

I often wonder if God is real.  I wonder how it’s possible that so many individuals in every area of the globe can be driven by a fear so great that they refuse to acknowledge beliefs different than their own.

                I think that all people are searching for love.  I believe that people are searching for a type of desperate love so fulfilling that the fear of eternal rejection is enough to cause a person to do just about anything.  However, as I have grown older, I have come to understand that love surrounds everyone but can become invisible with the struggles of each new day.

                The light that shines through sorrows when a passerby gives a genuine smile or the gift of a child when ordinary life has completely veered off course are the signs I look for; the crazy things to redirect your spirits proving that no one is alone.  

But, I don’t always believe in God.  I don’t have a full house on the weekends or cards from family and friends filled with love during the holidays.  In hindsight, I know what choices I have made to make such a reality and, I have bettered my life because of those decisions.  I have been a victim of good luck at just the right moments so many times that I have come to realize how much strength I have as a person.  I understand why some people don’t believe in God; some people struggle for a lifetime just to look back one day and realize that they have been forgotten.  After years of praying and gaining nothing in return, its seems that the fantasy of eternal ecstasy is a beauty that can no longer be trusted with so many haunting dreams in the review mirror.

I can never seem to forget about love.  The fantasies I have of being seen, as my obsession with every passerby makes me realize that people do most things for love.  Whether an education brings a desired job, or planting flowers in front of a house that brings a feeling of beauty and passion, love is the driving force of the world.

As I fight to bring my observations into clarity, I remember a wise man telling me that the reason we pray is because every human is searching for love that can only be given from the God or Being from which we came.  As I picture the heavens above, I can’t help but wonder if this was an answer to my prayer.  

Recommended Reading: Ralph Ellison, The Invisible Man

http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/06/20/specials/ellison-invisible2.html 

Writing, Verbalizing, and Listening

Writing, to me, is a form of art which enhances an assortment of communication styles opening new avenues for one person to reach another.  The art of verbalizing is a talent that requires an immediate ability to process the environment while still responding with care.  Additionally, people who possess one of these two talents, or both, have been instilled with an innate capacity for situational compassion within his or her own environment.  

Besides needing awareness for one person to truly reach another, a link must exist where words are processed and fantasized to form a relationship of compassion; understanding is not formed with an endless string of words that end without a flow of progressive action. 

No one can expect to succeed on his or her own when action and awareness are lacking, in a world that relies on others for completeness; unfortunately, we all are expected to with reserved silence.    

~Nichole~