Life is strange.  Some people live from day to day like animals at the zoo, walking back and forth inside the confined space where they are allowed to roam.  Some people derive so much of their self-esteem from strange things, like the amount of waste that they are allowed to perpetrate on our children.  Some people work so intensely to accomplish absolutely nothing.  Some people simply have no compunction.

My father taught me that the sum of a person’s value is equal to the amount of value that they generate.  He was an enigma, in fact he was both incredibly intelligent and slightly retarded.  He was a good man.  He invented the magnetic strip on credit cards, and had dreams which precluded major world events, much like Nostradamus.  He always had the good word for his fellow person, and he was never quite able to kill his inner child.

interlocking circles

Wouldn’t it be fantastic if every one of your outfits was comfortable, durable and timelessly stylish?  Imagine clothes that last for your entire life.  A favorite coat that will never need to be replaced.  A pair of pants that you always wear on your adventures, and that will be with you for many adventures as of yet unimagined.  Natural fiber clothes that are well made tend to become more and more comfortable as they are worn in, washed, and repaired.  Why not develop a line of clothing that is designed to last forever?  Why not use natural fibers that are safer for the environment and longer lasting then many synthetics?  Why not make things that are responsible, stylish and timeless.

interlocking circles with a hollow center

Bugs are full of protein.  Space travel will probably involve people living their entire lives on a ship destined for a distant star.  The world is full of people who have never tasted a well cooked steak, or candy with artificial fruit flavors.  Demonstrators don’t actually demonstrate anything except their ability to complain.  My dogs only hate going outside when I am not outside with them.  The person who invented pizza is unknown, but we do know that pizza is delicious.

They were made using gd::simple for perl.  Here is a copy of the script that generated them. perl gd::simple script to make interesting circle drawing.

Learning a new language is very ninja, simply because it is challenging for your brain.  Learning to communicate with an entirely different set of rules is a good way to expand your brain power because it forces your thoughts to conform to a different set of rules.  Also, it makes it a lot easier to change to your order in spanish restaurants and taquerias.

spiral circle

There are three major things that need to happen before you can become fluent in another language:

• Build a sufficient vocabulary — Most languages require between 3000 and 5000 words to be minimally conversant.
• Learn the basic gramatical structure — How to conjugate the verbs, what order to put the words in a sentence, etc.
• Learn actual usage — How do people use the language when actually talking and conversing with each other.

Immersion is a proven way to learn to communicate effectively in a short amount of time.  Balancing your efforts across the three goals listed above will help you build a solid foundation that will last for you and help you to reduce wasted time.

Here are some links that might help you.

• Learn Spanish — A list of materials on Amazon, cds, books etc.
• Spanish Children’s Books — Spanish children’s books are a great place to start learning the basics.
• Spanish Sentence Database — A database of sentences using different conjugations of verbs.  Great for helping you nail down the different forms of common verbs and how they’re used.
• Spanish Translator — Babelfish, Yahoo’s translator
• Spanish Translator — Google’s translator
• Spanish Translator — Spanish Dict
• Spanish Translator — Free translation services (the original free spanish translator)
• Spanish Dictionary — A dictionary for building your vocabulary

Here are some other things you can do to help you build your skills.

• Watch spanish television (for instance, watch the news in english, then switch over and watch it on the spanish channel)
• Watch your favorite movies in spanish with english subtitles, or in english with spanish subtitles.
• Participate in spanish chat rooms.  Generally people will help you with learning the language.
• Use your spanish when talking with people who speak spanish.  Usually they will recognize and appreciate your efforts to communicate with them.
• Take a community college course.
• Shop at Mexican markets (They even have spanish newspapers!)
• Read blogs written in spanish about your favorite topics.

Babies have to hear things around 50,000 times before they learn them, so be patient with yourself.  People speaking in spanish tends to sound like staccato babbling at first, especially if you’re watching People’s Court in spanish.  Don’t worry though, if you apply your brain to hearing what they’re saying, eventually it will become natural to you.  Force yourself to listen.  Repeat phrases that you understand.  Look up words.  Talk to people.  It’s easy.

Black and white sun rays

Achieving your goals is easy and simple.  The difficult part for many creative people, is to stay focused on one goal until it’s completed.  Everyone is unique and will have their own particular obstacles to overcome when working towards their own particular brand of self-actualization.  Here are a few tips to help.

• Set your own objectives — Make sure your smaller objectives are in line with your larger objectives.
• Make your goals measurable — Measurable goals are attainable.
• Aim high — Put stretch into your goals to allow for changes as your approach achieving them.
• Add essential corollary objectives — Make sure you’re getting closer to accomplishment at an appropriate rate.
• Share your objectives with people who care about you — Sharing your goals with people can help clarify them and make them real in your thoughts.
• Plan to achieve your goals — Imagine what it will be like when you are done.
• Live your objectives — Make sure you’re living in line with your plan.

Exceptional skill and actualization

Achievement is generally the result of focused effort and thought.  Working with other people, and obtaining help from people is a great art that can help you in many ways.  Even just a word of encouragement from someone that you respect can be the most valuable pivot point that ignites your thinking and moves you closer to a life that you enjoy and are happy with.

Have you ever wanted to be the person who has all the new ideas?  Some people think that creativity is like skin, you either have it, or you don’t, but nothing could be farther from the truth.

Unleash your ninja of creativity

Learning to think creatively is probably a lot easier then you thought.  Your left and right hemispheres of your brain work together like a two person basketball team, and it’s natural for them to try new plays once in a while.  With just a little bit of effort, you can be bending your brain, and twisting your thoughts in new and exciting ways in no time at all.

The first step to actively taking charge of training your brain to generate new thought patterns is to sneak up on yourself.  It may sound strange, but follow me on this point.  There are things that you do, that you take for granted.  Patterns, or ruts that simplify your life and that help you to focus on what is important.  It is natural and healthy to develop patterns in your life so that your brain is comfortable and at ease, and able to focus completely on whatever task you assign it, but be aware that every pattern you fall into unthinkingly, is another thread of unconcious-unthinkingness that collectively bind and repress your creativity if you don’t take active steps to keep your thinking clear and fresh.

Here are a few little things that you can do to spice up your life and trick your brain into thinking a little bit differently:

• Wear your watch in a different location
• Wear two differently colored socks
• Use your left hand to do something when you would normally use your right
• Wear a flower on your lapel
• Invent a new handshake with your friends
• Start up a conversation with a stranger that you wouldn’t normally consider talking to
• Try ordering something strange or out-of-the-ordinary at a restaurant

Coming up with your own creativity exercises is a great way to flex your own creativity muscle and build your brain into a powerhouse of perspective and flexible thought.  Judicious use of self-trickery can slice through complacent, uncreative thought patterns like a samurai sword and release your natural power of creative perspective in no time at all.

Do you consider yourself a powerful person?  Your brain is infinite beyond the capacity of any computer and you have the power to think thoughts that leave mere egos with a sense of awe.  Animals and robots use their brains in tiny thought loops, endlessly wasting their time and energy.  Empowered humans and other ninjas consider the use of their brains, their energy and their time and actively manage them for maximum effectiveness and potency.

inversion

Here are a few points to consider that might help you achieve your own preferred level of self-actualization.

• What are your priorities in life?
• How do you spend your time?
• Where are your thoughts most of the time?
• Who do you respect?

When you think about your goals in life and the people who you look up to, your brain begins to align itself in a way that is closer to enlightenment.  The comfort that a consciousness allows itself when it is achieving this alignment is very different then the lazy peacefulness of a conceited zombie.