Opinions

When Society Gets in Your Head

We all have the power to be who we want to be. That's what everybody tells us. They just leave out the parts about the limits to that statement. They leave out the fact that there are trillions of beings out there in the world who will try to stop you from doing what you want. Most of us avoid those things because what we want to be is "within reason." And it should stay that way, right? (Because who wants people running around saying they want to be terrorists?) Well, it really depends on who is setting the limits. The type of thing I'm talking about is the idea of, "Well, how do we know it's a perfect circle? That's just what 'they' call it." So who is setting this imaginary circle of "within reason," and what is considered in (or out of) the circle? Alright, this is getting deep now. Let's take a step back. Now, this is something that I don't normally talk about. I recently had three people I knew in my life pass away. They are all very different scenarios, so I will try to explain them each as best as I can. The first, and most distant was a couple months ago when my grandma died. It was peaceful and quiet. A few months after that, my dog, Merrick, died. His was what you could call noisy. It wasn't pleasant for any of us around him as you might expect. He was having some problems that suggested he be taken to the vet. Now, he was very old for his size and we figured he wouldn't have much longer, he may not even survive this. We decided to put him down. Two days ago, a summer friend of mine killed himself. I still know very little about it other than he had some problems with cutting beforehand. So, what does this all mean? Why am I bringing this up? Well, first of all, it's not good to keep these things to yourself. You should always talk to people about hard times in your life. One way to do that, which I prefer not to do, is share it publicly among many people to whom you most likely have no true personal connection. This is what many writers do. Even normal people who just like to instagram or whatnot. So, you might be saying "Well, you're a writer, just write some poetry about this stuff or something." The title of this blog page is "Opinions of the MODERN Author." 'Modern' is specified because modern means to move on to new things. Posting poetry about deceased people isn't exactly new or original. I want to keep this page genuine to my beliefs. So now let's talk about what sharing my sad experiences has to do with the theme of this post. Well, we have the power to be who we want to be. We can be the person who dwells on death, or we can be the person who moves on. We can cry and be pessimistic or we can be optimistic and think of the better place your loved one is in now. And it may sound weird to call a friend a loved one, but love should be shared through anyone, not just family. Let's go back to where we were before now. Who sets the standard for being who we are. Well, the answer is not only society, but also yourself. You say you want to be Buddhist. Society can tell you that you are "outside the circle" but ultimately, you get to decide if you want to be outside society's circle, or inside your own, much larger one. Our world gives us the freedom to choose many things. Some things come without us asking, but in turn, it all leads back to you and your way of handling decisions. I know that this is extremely long so if you made it all this way thank you very much for taking some time to spend with me and my buzzing thoughts.

-Tyler Ruof

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Advice from Me to You

So, yeah. Life. The terrible thing we all go through every second. The happy moments. The sad ones. The anger-filled ones. The peaceful ones. Based on huge decisions. Or is it? Is it deciding to go to college, or is it apple pie instead of blueberry? I think it's about the type of pie you choose. How could you go to college if you never ate that apple pie? Wait. Let me rephrase that. How could you go to college if you waited till the last minute to do that 1000 point project? Those points add up you know. That D amounts to a lot in the long-run. How could you marry your first love if you didn't decide to tell her you liked her 5 years ago? Do you know what I'm trying to say? Let's just assume you don't for a second. I'm saying to put some extra thought into those 'small' decisions. Okay? Maybe that will make your life just that much better. Just don't forget about me telling you this. Okay, fine. I know you can't help it. But I won't forget you. How bout that? I'll remember that I helped you. There's a quick decision I just made there. Oh, and your welcome by the way. And one more thing. Be yourself. Yeah. How many times have you heard that one? But who's more wise? The adult who told you that before, or the 13 year old writing a blog post. Okay maybe you shouldn't think of it that way... How about you just trust me? The world works a lot better when we trust each other, you know. And stop being so American. Your life doesn't suck. Don't you dare say that while  so many African kids  die of Ebola every day. Shut up about waiting 7 minutes for your microwave Mac & Cheese. Thank you.

✌, ❤, ��,
Tyler Ruof

***

Alright. Time to clear some things up and give my opinion. Please read the following with an open mind.
So some rumors have been spread about me and the type of person that I am. A person that I've known for a long time now (since 6th grade) has called me, and believes that I am, gay. I have no problem with this rumor and it doesn't upset me. The only thing that upsets me is the reasons by which I was called this.
Homosexuality is a disease. It's a sickness originating from an unknown source. Worst of all, it's contagious. Spend to much time by a person infected with it and you will become one too. Also, there is know cure. All you can do is warn others of the danger.
If you don't know the type of person I am, that was complete sarcasm. It may seem ridiculous to you and me but sadly, to some people all of that makes complete sense based on the information going around.
Gay people are not like zombies. If they were, we could potentially have a problem, but they aren't.
Now, back to the rumor and the person who spread it. I have nothing against this person at all. You can belive whatever you like. If you choose to stay away from me, warn others of the danger caused by gays then by all means, go ahead.
I am not going to answer the rumor. I trust that those of you who want to know the truth can stifle your hunger. I trust that those  of you close to me, who know me, know who I really am. So, decide for yourself the type of person I am.
I am not going to change who I am because of this rumor. I'm not going to act differently, wear different clothes, talk differently, or do different things. It's seems that then, the person who spread the rumor will accomplish his sick goal of trying to end individuality and make this world full of a 'normal' person.
I've learned a lot about who a 'normal' person is these past couple of hours. I've learned how controlling, stubborn, and wrong that 'normal' person is and I hope to whoever out there that I and the people I hold close to me don't end up like that.
Thank you for reading. Thank you for proving to me that a common goal of peace, love, and happiness is ultimately unachievable in today's society. Also, this is an un-revised message so please disregard errors.

-Tyler Ruof

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School. Yay.

So, school starts in a day. Usually I'm super excited. No. I am honestly terrified of freshman year. not because I'm a newbie or whatever. I'm scared of my classes. All honors/Pre-AP??? What am I thinking? I can't do this. Seriously. This is going to be way to much not to mention volunteering at the Boys & Girls Club 3 days a week! I'm really worried about what my heath is going to become at this point. My sanity level is going to be in the negatives. Yeah, this year is going to be fun, we're going to do some pretty cool stuff. But what with my sister and brother going to ASU I'm pretty much gonna be on my own. I know how much all of this is going to help me in the future but let's be realistic. What about the present? It's not gonna help me in the future if I die my freshman year! I know I'm totally overreacting but this is actually going to be hard. I'm not going to die but it's going to be really hard to get what I need to get done, done. I don't have good time management skills. That is a huge factor in getting my work done now. What's it going to be like doing twice or three times the work? Not good. I know I wanted this. I know its my fault. I'm just scared :(.

☮ ❤︎☻,
Tyler Ruof