The Quest For Perfection

What is perfect? Is it something that can be easily defined? A series of checkboxes that once ticked will attain the ideal status of perfection.

Nobody's life is entirely perfect, it could be that someone is stuck in a dead-end job struggling to pay bills, perhaps they are alone and unhappy, or their health is far from ideal, or they simply just don't like the way they look (and while we are at it, lets not forget the billions of people in this world that live and suffer in poverty). There are so many ideas of perfection that persist in our society, all of which exclude the vast majority, and when combined exclude everyone.

In some respects, the pursuit of perfection can be a good thing. Like an artist spending his or her life trying to create that masterpiece, or the idealist dedicating his or her life to achieving a world of equality. But at what price does perfection come?

Pedigree dog breeders spend much of their lives trying to breed the perfect dog, according to a set of rules that define perfection explicitly. Whether it be the practically non-existent nose of a pug, the stumpy little legs of a dachshund or the frankly offensively named furnishings (loose wrinkly skin) of a bassett hound or many other similar breeds. In their quest for the perfect dog, breeders have brought about all sorts of health issues for these animals, unsurprisingly including breathing problems and mobility problems alongside hundreds of other common canine ailments. Yet, in the world of dog shows perfection is defined purely cosmetically, the way the animal looks when compared against this ideal is the only significant factor, whether that be to the detriment of its health or not. It is a sad fact that many perfectly healthy dogs are put to sleep (killed!!) simply because they do not look "right".

The idea of perfection as a rulebook prevails in many other places. The perfect pop song will feature a verse-chorus-verse structure, a common predictable chord progression and lyrics about joy and love. The perfect movie will have action, special effects, a love interest and an able-bodied good looking male hero. While these perfect songs and films will often be successful and top charts most would agree that they are, ultimately, shallow and forgettable. While the true classics are those that dare to be different.

This brings us back to our own perceptions of ourselves and our world. While we continue to judge each other and ourselves in relation to that which we believe to be perfect we can never be completely satisfied. Instead we should marvel at the wealth of diversity that exists in the world around us, we should see that it is these imperfections that ultimately make us who we are and we should learn to redifine what it is that we consider to be perfect.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to improve, but we need to understand the true costs. We need to realise that true happiness does not come from changing ourselves to fit with some mythical construct of perfection, but instead from changing the way we perceive ourselves and each other. There is no such thing as "perfect", none of us will ever be "perfect". We can only be the best that we can be. Surely thats good enough.

Which truth to believe? Some thoughts on conspiracies

I dont wish to get into all the conspiracy theories here, that is a matter of debate in itself and, unfortunately, to many people the apparent absurdity of certain aspects of some theories can devalue the fundamental point about not believing everything we are told to believe. For the record there are a number of good videos on youtube or similar sites providing compelling evidence that the "government" has lied to us about a great number of things in order to slowly create an orwellian dystopian state. I personally dont believe everything i see, and am fully aware of the power of misinformation in EVERY aspect of the media, but it certainly is worth researching this subject, with a film called Zeitgeist - The Movie being an essential introduction to Conspiracies and some of the many lies perpetrated throughout history and even to this day.

The question still exists, is there really any truth in these theories?

Well, anybody who believes everything they are told in the media is obviously a fool, tabloid newspapers clearly have an agenda and motivation to lie/distort the truth. Surely this is common knowledge. But theres a difference between sensationalist headlines designed to sell papers and increase profits, and the sort of lies the governments are alleged to have spun for years/decades/centuries.

Is it really plausible that 9/11 was orchestrated by some highly influential families pulling the strings behind the US government? Surely the fact that an idiot like George W is "in charge" is suspect enough. Those attacks were clearly a good motivation for war and the gradual removal of a great number of our civil liberties. Inside job or not, 9/11 has been used to the governments advantage ever since. In the last decade we have been fed anti-Islamic propaganda on many levels while lately the public opinion of China's communist state has become a popular subject in the media, reminding us how lucky we are to have our own (ever-dwindling) freedoms. Is the timing of the olympics really a coincidence?

Religion, of course, is a major part of all good conspiracy theories, and for good reason. Alongside money (the other great evil of the world) religion is historically the most powerful tool ever conceived for controlling the masses. Religion has encouraged both love and hatred equally, forgiveness and intolerance are both huge factors in all the worlds great monotheistic religions. The contradictions are obvious. All based around the fundamental questions of what happens to us after we die and why we are even here in the first place. God's name is used to justify so many human actions both good and bad, which coupled with his alleged ultimate power over us for eternity means that for a significant proportion of the worlds population, the fear of disagreeing with God's word is so great that the only conceivable option is to comply. The fact that religion is "inherited" and thrust upon the impressionable minds of children makes the brainwashing even easier.

Regardless of whether there is any real truth in spiritualty of any sort, anyone with half a brain should be able to see the dangers of organised religion.

So do the government/illuminati/bankers really benefit from creating these lies and controlling us in this way? Well if they are lying, it seems to be working, the rich and powerful get richer and more powerful while the majority of us remain poor and apathetic. The mainstream media continue to shape our opinions of the world and the conspiracies remain underground and, suspiciously, censored or deleted where possible.

Somewhere between the extremes the real truth exists, it is only through an awareness of all the different viewpoints that we can begin to see it and make our own decisions and, if the time comes, we can be prepared for the worse.

Say what you like, like what you say!

Nobody can truthfully say they have lived a life without regrets, but as mature adults we can accept responsibility for our actions and learn from our mistakes. In the real world memories fade and life goes on but online we leave behind a (near) permanent record of our every virtual movement. We post our thoughts and feelings on blogs, forums, chatrooms etc and communicate in ways that we never could in the real world, confident in the anonymity of a non-face-to-face medium.

And then sometimes, we look back at what we said and wish we hadn't, perhaps we have dropped our reserve and said something that could compromise our carefully constructed image or maybe we have let rip about something we feel strongly about but normally bite our lips rather than risk offending people. Who hasn't woken up hungover and thought "did i really do that?"

But, when it comes to talking about the things that matter to you there should be no regrets, if you have strong opinions on certain subjects it is only right to express those opinions regardless of whether everyone agrees with them. It is through challenging the ideas and norms that circulate within our society that our culture and collective knowledge evolves.

Take my own opinions on religion for example, should anybody really be offended by anything i post when the underlying message is that of tolerance and respect? Yet, all over the internet we find (religious and non-religious) examples of bigotry, hatred and ignorance. Surely no-one can truly take offense to me. So i will continue to post my thoughts on the things that matter to me, and if that means i lose a few potential fans, well i guess they don't understand my music fully anyway.

I encourage everyone to take pride in themselves and what they have to say. If your opinions matter to you then they will surely matter to the people that know you, perhaps you could be the one to spark the next big debate. Perhaps your (real or virtual) voice will help to sow the seeds of change. Its all too easy to be apathetic and quietly accept things, but in this era of the www its really not hard to speak up and be heard.

The internet provides us with the closest thing to free speech that exists in this world, unfortunately that freedom means not everyone will like everything that gets said but we have to accept that and exercise our freedom to challenge that which is wrong. Then, maybe, we can move toward a better world.

I hate this weather

What a shit state this country is in. Fuel is more expensive than ever, food prices are rising, the cost of living is getting higher all the time, all the while the value of the things we own is diminishing rapidly. On top of that we have a government led by a man who has hardly endeared himself to the public. The only thing we have to look forward to is our basic human right to a bit of sunshine in the summer.

Fat chance of that then. As if we dont have to put up with long enough winters in this country the general state of the last summer and this one so far has led me to feel like we are stuck in some sort of perpetual state of misery. Grey is the colour of our lives it seems.

The problem is that we endure the wet and cold for months on end, always looking forward to that little bit of release we get when it all gets a little bit nicer and we chill out in the park, go to a few festies and free parties and actually enjoy our lives for a couple of months before it all gets horrible again.

What happens when that release never comes? We are all imprisoned in some sort of nightmare world of grey. The tensions start to show everywhere around us. Sure, its a very British thing to endure the weather, thats one thing that defines our nation but it doesnt mean we have to like it. They say the eskimos have hundreds of different words for snow. How many different words do we have for rain? Drizzle, spitting, pissing/chucking/bucketing it down, raining cats and dogs, theres a whole lot more that we probably all make up as we go along.

We all like to moan about the weather in this country, thats because its shit and its controls our lives more than any government or corporation ever could. Surely all this rain can not be good for our spirits, i know its not good for me. Once again, i feel like the rest of the world are laughing at us and our pathetic little wet empire. And we sent our criminals over to Australia! Fucking genius!!! How happy are they over there? Its bloody winter in Oz and its probably still nicer there.

Well, i guess i shouldn't forget that its all our fault. Carbon emissions, climate change, we brought this upon ourselves. Is it too late? Who knows or cares anymore? All this misery breeds apathy. I suppose we can hope for a white christmas, but i have a sneaky suspicion that it will be wet and grey.

The future's dull, the future's grey. Accept it!!