New Year, New Blogging, New Mentality

Funny how the each new year tends to bring new blogging -- sort of like new years resolutions, but not as serious nor as difficult to keep.  With that in mind, I have made some visual changes to the blog to bring a lighter, brighter look to it, and am even considering a "dynamic" layout, although I'll more seriously contemplate that at a later date.

As it pertains to new blogging, I thought I'd share what I'm starting to see materialize as the year starts.

First, my old high school buddy, author of "Ramblings" as well as a previous blog (the title of which escapes me now) has once again purged the net of his previous writings and started anew.  This new blog, aptly titled "Thoughts and Brain Farts," is a giant unknown and, aside from my memory of his previous blogs, I can only speculate as to what will be posted.  I always look forward to this man's insights into the world, regardless of how much I have sometimes disagreed with his conclusions, and am confident that his thought experiments will continue to find ways to make me reconsider that which I assume to be true (or false) at any given time.

Next up, my younger little sister has created her first blog, titled "Fyrefly's Requiem."  I imagine it will be particularly interesting to me to gain insight into her thoughts on life, especially in light of events pertaining to our father and the struggles she will undoubtedly face.

Finally, new insight into my older little sister's life with a recent post on Glass Syringes that caught me off guard by focusing on real-life considerations rather than gaming.  Not that I mean to say that talk of computer games is a bad thing, but the additional inside-look at things that are going on in her life is a good thing from my perspective.

So this year looks like it will bring some new blog content for me to focus my attention towards, which is especially interesting as my own blog starts to take an unexpected, somewhat religious / philosophical overtone.  I continue to hope that my writings, which I'll admit are primarily for my own exploratory benefit, will somehow benefit others, and that when reading the blogs of others I will find constructive, beneficial things to say in support of all who, like myself, suffer in one way or another, some greater some smaller, always.

In closing, I'd like to share a few lines of text I found a few months ago, the reciting of which I find beneficial toward the retraining and betterment of my mental well-being, particularly as it pertains to relating to other beings:

May I have no enmity

may I have no hurtfulness

may I have no troubles of mind and body

may I be able to protect my own happiness.

Whatever beings there are –

     may they have no enmity

whatever beings there are –

     may they have no hurtfulness

whatever beings there are –

     may they have no troubles of mind and body

whatever beings there are –

     may they be able to protect their own happiness.

Be well, and as we start this new year, remember that no matter our differences, no matter how much another wrongs us, we aren't really all that different in life, suffering, and death.  Goodnight, friends.