Amita

I went to Flagstaff, Arizona over the weekend, to give my own priorities up as an act of service, and I helped a woman open up her Mayan cacao shop. In giving myself, I released my selfishness, my answers, my ego, everything that we seem to have to hold on to to feel any sort of validity.

But, I became a completely selfless vessel to help someone with their greater cause. This shop is for the greater good. Instead of thinking forwardly at a constant, What am I supposed to be doing? How am I going to get it done in time?, I slowed down and gave myself to a cause that was entirely foreign to me for a week. And through it, I found myself.

I will leave the program I am in right now, to return to Screen Acting and get a B.F.A. in that program, in addition I will have a minor in Theater and a minor in P.R. and Advertising, and that is the path that I've been searching for.

No drug would make me feel better about what was not right in my own life. I needed to change it myself.

*** Ok...What ever hapened to your life purpose?

Now, I know that I may be in the minority that tries to establish revolutionary thoughts, ideas, and questions. But think about it. We begin our higher education (mostly) as an almost involuntary step that seems to be taken all too soon. So much money is spent, and even wasted, on an education that does not interest, help, or forward young minds into the world. How can you ask me what I want to major in at 18? People that are only entirely sure should be the ones that actually go ahead and begin school at 18.

Now, this is an opinion that I have had for a long time. But, still, I sit and slave away at my tasks, working to get this degree before I turn 22 like it's some kind of made-up marathon. Recently, though, I gave myself some time. A little bit of time to breathe, think, realize, understand, know, and see the path of my life that I have been steered off of, and must return to. And, if I didn't give myself that time, I would have still been living on a path that was killing me inside, for the purpose of appeasing those I had been taught I needed to; parents, teachers, the working force, the government, etc etc etc...

Now, this is a very prominent characteristic in my personality as well: I want to make people happy. So these issues were plaguing a very specific me, and I'm not going to force the idea that it applies to everybody.
But how many college students are graduating, and certain, like 100%, that they know what they are going to do when they get out? That they are TOTALLY and COMPLETELY SURE that they know EXACTLY what they are meant to do in this world, what their purpose is, and how they can be the absolute best at what they can be.

Not a lot.

And, you know. That's fine. Those are huge expectations to have on a young person at this point in their life. But, don't you think that we should be given more time to establish who we are? And, yes, I'm going to throw my point in now. Don't you think we should be given more time instead of being pumped with stimulants, ADD and ADHD suppressing drugs, and have to listen to what we have to do to be "good enough."

I have found a friend on the internet.

Geoff, has made me cry, and shares my vision.

The Addiction Spreads

I just talked to my roomate about my blog, and he had a scary story to tell me.

A friend of his, who will go unamed, is addicted to Adderall, and is not prescribed. He takes roughly 60 milligrams a day, and Somas at night so that he can fall asleep. If he doesn't get his Adderall that day, he drinks 4 monster drinks to compensate.

WTF

*** SIR KEN ROBINSON!!! HELP THEM SEE!!!

CHANGE OUR SCHOOL SYSTEMS, SO THAT THEY WON'T PUMP THESE KIDS WITH DRUGS THAT AREN'T NEEDED!!!
This article says it all:

The Adderall revolution is written about, where "Adderall sales in the U.S. soared by more than 3,100 percent between 2002 and 2005, according to the Washington Post. Bootlegged at about $3 to $5 per pill, Adderall is both inexpensive and accessible."

Amphetamine-induced anxiety disorders.

Amphetamine-Induced Psychosis

Dependence

Tolerance of horrible side-effects

Withdrawl

LOSS OF CREATIVITY.
This is where our change agent comes in.

He MUST change our school systems, slow them down. The emphasis should not be the deadlines, the report cards, all the defining points of a good student in this over-stimulated society. Sir Ken Robinson already asks the question, "Are School's Stifling Creativity: Fertile Minds Need Feeding."

DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT Sir Robinson. YOU HAVE THE POWER. GET ADDERALL OUT OF THE MARKETS AND OFF OUR MINDS AS AN ANSWER. I WANT YOU TO LEAD THIS CHANGE.

*** The Good Ones Knew It

"When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge."

Albert Einstein

My Change Agent

Let us take a deeper look into my blog's beloved change agent, Sir Ken Robinson.

He is an internationally recognized leader in the development of creativity, innovation and human resources. He has worked with national governments in Europe and Asia, with international agencies, Fortune 500 companies, national and state education systems, non-profit corporations and some of the world’s leading cultural organizations. They include the Royal Shakespeare Company, Sir Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, the Royal Ballet, the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, the European Commission, UNESCO, the Council of Europe, the J Paul Getty Trust and the Education Commission of the States. From 1989 - 2001, he was Professor of Arts Education at the University of Warwick.

His 2001 book, Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative (Wiley-Capstone), was described by Director magazine as ‘a truly mind opening analysis of why we don’t get the best out of people at a time of punishing change.’ John Cleese said: ‘Ken Robinson writes brilliantly about the different ways in which creativity is undervalued and ignored in Western culture and especially in our educational systems.’

(From his Wikipedia page)

Teamed with new things like the Kaplan "Talent Campaign," Sir Ken Robinson should inspire those in charge of the school systems, parents and teachers alike, to not ever believe that their children need to be put on mood altering drugs. We must CHANNEL that of which is rightfully ours, the high energy, utter excitement, the ambition to achieve what most would call irrational, passions for things that are our own, these were the voices of my classmates at The Marin School, and their dreams must be heard.