Arclight
Hollywood is a dirty town. The windows are mirky, the sidewalks are filthy, and there are strip clubs everywhere.
But the Arclight is glorious.
The place has a standard of excellence that I have never seen in a movie theatre. They approach films with almost a religious reverence.
Before the movie starts, they play film scores on the speakers instead of pop music. They test the audio before each screening, with employees walking the aisles to make sure it is optimal. They only show one trailer (while they test the audio). There are no terrible cartoons with dancing candy. And, if you’re late for the movie, you have to wait for the next showing. They are warriors for the movie-watching experience.
I wish every theatre took movies this seriously.
Remember
Remember where you are right now.
Remember to be a friend. People hide their insecurities, just like you hide yours. Consider the feelings of others first, and don’t worry about yourself so much.
Don’t be afraid of awkward moments. Push through them. If you are not experiencing awkwardness, you are not growing.
Remember the consequences. Remember the pain you feel right now. There are reasons your teachers, your pastors, and your parents said the things they said.
Remember that ninety-nine percent of the things you worried about never happened.
Remember not to think too highly of yourself. Because you do. Forget about yourself and you’ll have more fun.
Remember to write things down or you will forget them.
Definition
Definition is crucial.
Without it, all activity under the sun crumbles. Words become meaningless, work becomes pointless, and relationships become flat.
Without definition, there can be no communication. We could not comprehend what is spoken or written. Without definition, there is no order. If jobs, tasks, and positions are not defined, institutions fall apart. Without definition, there is ambiguity in relationships. There would be no clarity between professional and personal, romance and friendship, acquaintance and comrade.
Definition is the context for communication, order, and community. It is the antithesis of chaos.
It is scary to me that society champions relativism the way it does. We accept phrases like truth is relative, which is really the same thing as saying there is no definition. And if there is no definition, there is no context, only a vacuum.
Chaos will inevitably follow.
Order
Control is an illusion.
It’s strange that we have to let go of what we actually don’t hold on to. We presume to have control over the things that, in reality, we don’t. The addiction to control is humanity’s dirty habit. Most of the stress in our lives is caused by it. If only we knew how to let it go…
Anarchy and deconstruction is not the answer. The answer is order.
Instead of control, we ought to strive for order. There is a difference. Control is dictatorship and ownership. Order is management and stewardship. Order gives us direction and conformity. It gives us definition. We cannot control, but we can maintain order.
When we accept that all we really need to be concerned with is being good stewards of that which we’ve been given, our enjoyment of life will increase.