New Adventures for a Wandering Mind

                I feel like it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything, though I think it’s really only been a couple weeks. I’d like to post maybe once a week if I can, but I’ve been pretty busy the last couple weeks. I’m only writing now because while I have homework I could be doing right now, this is probably more important in the long run. This is how I do most of my writing practice.

Discipleship Group

                For those who didn’t know (though I did mention it in an earlier post), I am a discipleship group leader this year. This means that once a week (for the whole school year) I lead a group of guys through a book. We’re going over Galatians for You by Timothy Keller. We haven’t gotten very far in it yet, but so far I really like it. Being a D-group leader this year means I also meet once a week with a team of other leaders also going over this book. It’s a really neat experience so far being a part of two different groups going over the same book. The leader group meets Thursday nights and helps prepare me for when I lead my group Monday nights. This is really the first time I’ve been a part of something where I’ve been an actual official leader. It’s kind of a neat feeling. In our groups, we’re not meant to be a preacher or anything; our job is to facilitate discussion in the group, and it was really cool to see that play out. For the most part, all the guys in my group (5, including me), spoke about the same amount of time. I kept having to remind myself in that meeting and in others that I am a leader. More importantly, they see me as a leader. It’s kind of been forcing me to step outside my comfort zone a bit, which is really a good practice to get into. It’s my job in the group to ask questions, to decide when we move onto the next question, and overall to guide the meeting from beginning to end. This is really my first time doing something like this, but I’ve loved it so far. For any Cedarville students reading this, I would highly recommend becoming a discipleship group leader while you still can. It’s really not too much of a time commitment, and it’s also very rewarding.

Church

                One huge lesson I learned this summer in Sequoia was how to be more adventurous. Through A Christian Ministry in the National Parks, I learned to adapt quickly to new situations and take on roles I never thought I would take. I developed a love for doing things I’d never done before. I learned how to be spontaneous and how to take risks. I’d like to think I brought these skills back with me to Cedarville.

                This year I have a new room and new roommate (though same dorm, because the guys I live with are like family). I have a new leadership role on campus. I’ve started watching Avatar: The Last Airbender, which is actually a really good show (I’m now on season 2). I’ve also now found a church home here in Cedarville.

                The last couple years I didn’t really have a church home. I would usually go to Emmanuel Baptist with my brother, Southgate with my uncle and aunt, or other random churches with other guys in the unit. But last semester, I visited Cedarville Presbyterian with a guy in my unit, and I really liked it. This school year, I’ll be going there every Sunday.  Two Sundays ago I attended a membership class the church offered and last Sunday I became an official affiliate member of the church. I’m just an affiliate member because I’m already a part of a Presbyterian church back home, where my dad is the pastor. Also, I’m only going to be in Cedarville until May, then I’m gone (hopefully to England…).

I’m not sure if I would consider myself a Presbyterian, I just really liked the atmosphere of Cedarville Presbyterian (as well as First Presbyterian Church of Exeter back home). Most of the other churches I’ve visited the past couple years are fairly big. I’m really bad at estimating amounts of people, but probably the average people in most churches I visited were around 200 or so. Cedarville Presbyterian, however, has maybe 20-30 people, and my church back home probably has around 20 as well.

                I’m much more comfortable in smaller groups of people (which another reason I’m glad God gave me such a small D-group). When I visited larger churches, I almost felt isolated. In huge congregations, I sometimes feel that there is no way I’ll be able to join something so big and organized and busy. Even people that go to large churches all the time would not single me out. They could just assume I’m a regular attendee of this church. With so many people, it would be likely that two members of the same church might not ever meet each other despite attending together for several years. That might be a bit of an exaggeration but I hope it explains what I’m thinking. This is why I like smaller congregations better. At a church with a much smaller congregation like Cedarville Presbyterian, people notice when I visit. They see a new face in the crowd, and they greet me.

                Another thing I like about Cedarville Presbyterian (and probably most Presbyterian churches) is that we have a fellowship time afterwards. In all the churches I visited the last couple years, this was the only one that had something like this. The word church refers to the people, not the building: the people are the church. Therefore I believe churches in general need to focus more on building relationships with each other. Honestly one of my favorite parts of Presbyterian services is the fellowship time afterwards (and not just because of the food). It’s great to worship with fellow believers but I especially love talking to them and actually getting to know them. If you’ve ever seen me with a group of people, I may seem very shy and will only offer a sentence or two into a group conversation. But if it’s just me and another person, I become much livelier. I’d like to say I thrive on one-on-one discussions, though I haven’t had too many. I love listening to people’s stories people and I also love to tell my own stories. And what makes this even better is that most of the people in Cedarville Presbyterian (and the one back home) are kind-of old. These people have lived much longer than I have. They’ve seen things and experienced things I never will (or won’t for a long time). Many of them have rich histories waiting to be discovered in conversation; stories of war and other scary times, but also stories of beautiful times long past. I love that because of their age, they are filled with wisdom far beyond my years. I look forward to building relationships with them this school year.

The Caged Dog

                Anyway, I went on a longer tangent there than I meant to, but it was enjoyable. This is why I enjoy writing. I have no rules. I can write about whatever I want for as long as I want. It’s a very freeing experience. At the same time it also helps me develop my writing voice, which is key in becoming a successful writer.

                Another aspect I like about writing is actually possibly a problem: I’m very easily distracted. I notice sometimes in class that while the professor is speaking, my mind wanders off to some other topic. This doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m uninterested in the subject, just that I have a lot on my mind. And often when I “come back to reality” I realize that I have literally no idea what the professor has just said. I get so lost in recesses of my mind that I can’t hear what is going on. I’m sure if I really concentrated I could stop this from happening but I almost don’t want to. And I don’t get completely lost in thought; I’m sure if the professor were to suddenly change subjects or do something unexpected I would notice. But it’s really interesting that when I “zone out” like that it’s like I’m not seeing and hearing the professor anymore; I’m suddenly seeing different things in my mind, and hearing the voice of my thoughts.

                But what does this have to do with writing? When I’m free-writing, much like now, I can write about what I’m thinking while I’m thinking it. Even as I’m writing this, I’m thinking it out loud in my head (if that makes sense). This is one of the only activities I can do that syncs my inner thoughts with direct tangible work.

                Think of it this way: my mind is like a caged dog. No matter where I am – in class, in church, or wherever – the caged dog in my head is itching to get out, always thinking about what it’s going to do once it’s free. For that caged dog in my head, a blank page is like an open field: it has no boundaries. After a long day of being caged up, I’m finally allowed to run around and play.

                I’d like to end this post with a quote of myself. About a year ago in my Intro to Creative Writing class, I wrote a piece called “Who am I?” In this assignment, I was supposed to tell about myself but in new and creative ways. This especially like what I had to say about my mind:

                “My mind is a free bird with no destination; it easily wanders and is easily lost. It has gone far but still has many places to travel.”

(You can find the full text here)

Epiphany

                Yesterday, a sudden amazing idea came to me. Well, a dream of an idea anyway; like Inception. I now know what I want to do after graduation!

                Last summer, summer of 2013, I went on a three-week school trip to England (I plan on eventually writing a blog post about it). While there we visited many awesome places, usually sites having to do with either Shakespeare or C. S. Lewis. One place we visited was C. S. Lewis’ home, The Kilns. We were able to take a tour of the inside, but we were told that his home is not a museum. The C. S. Lewis Foundation wants it to remain as it originally was: a place for quiet studying and living. The people that took us on a tour there actually lived there. Not permanently; just for a couple years I believe. I guess it’s part of a program through Oxford University. Through this program, from what I know, two or three people get to stay at the Kilns for a year or two while they attend Oxford.

                This is what I want to do.

                In the past, really ever since I got back from the England trip, I have thought about the possibility of going back someday to live and/or work for a year or two. I loved it there. But I don’t know why I haven’t thought of this possibility before. I also have no idea why I randomly thought of it; though I’m pretty sure God put the idea in my head. The past couple weeks I’ve been having to answer people’s questions about my future with “I still have no idea what I’m doing after graduation.” I have also been praying for my future. Now suddenly, this idea pops into my head. I’d like to think it’s God’s idea, because it sort-of came out of nowhere. Also, I don’t think I would have randomly come up with an idea like that that would have made me so excited.

                So if this is where God is leading me, how do I know? I guess I’ll start looking into the logistics of how I could actually do this. If the door closes, and I can’t go any further, then I’ll know that this isn’t for me. But until then, I’m going to pursue this idea, because I’m super excited about it now. How cool would it be to say that I spend a year or two living at C. S. Lewis’ house in England?

                This got me thinking: if the program means I have to be enrolled at Oxford, then I guess I would have to go to school there, probably to get my master’s degree, and I would be totally okay with that option. Maybe I could take more classes on writing; maybe then I’ll get a job as a screenwriter or something; then maybe I can help write the screenplay for a future film in the Narnia film series! I know quite a lot about the Narnia film series (I may eventually post on this blog a paper I wrote on it for my C. S. Lewis class last semester; UPDATE, now I have!). Of course, now I’m just dreaming even more.

                The point is though, that now I finally have a dream, a goal, an idea of something I’d like to pursue, and I’m going to pursue it. If this is what God wants me to do, then he’ll open the doors for me, and provide a way, like how to pay for it and stuff like that.  I’m pretty excited to see what God has in store!

The Voice, The Hobbit, and the Guitar

                I try to start every blog post with an introductory paragraph or something, but I couldn’t think of anything to say that ties in the three sub-headings. I’m writing this part last, after I’ve already written the rest of the blog. Everything that follows this paragraph is older than this paragraph, not newer. So if you’re reading this, it’s almost like you’re time travelling.

The Voice

                My Advanced Composition class looks like it’s going to be one of my favorite classes this semester. In this class we are studying the essay in all its forms. This may sound boring to a non-English major, but it’s actually not. One thing I like about this class is that we have the freedom to write however we want. Now obviously there are some restraints; like we can’t write anything explicit, and we probably can’t write essays on how to make a bomb or something. But what I love about this class is that the teacher is allowing us to develop our writing voice. A writer’s voice is like their writing style; what they sound like in the head of the reader. This is something I’m hoping to work on with this blog. Every writer has a voice, and I think the mark of a good writer is having a voice that’s unique. Now, in this class we are allowed to quote other works without using proper MLA citations or anything, which is really freeing. We’re not plagiarizing, just quoting them, as if we were talking to someone in person. If you’re repeating a funny movie line to a friend, you don’t then say “The Princess Bride was made in 1987, was directed by Rob Reiner, and distributed by 20^th Century Fox.” Instead, you simply say “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

                I believe a good writing voice is found the moment the words seem more like talking than an essay. Of course, I could be wrong; I haven’t finished my bachelor’s degree in English yet.

                We also learned in Advanced Composition that in finding a writing voice, we can steal from other authors. Now I know the speaker in chapel today spoke on Exodus 20:15, “You shall not steal,” but what we are doing is more like adapting. We find an author or writer whose voice we admire, and we take some of their writing styles and make them our own. One author that I believe has greatly influenced my writing is C. S. Lewis. In his essays and books on theology and apologetics, he takes complicated material and explains it in a way that seemingly anyone could understand it. But what I like about C. S. Lewis is that in addition to this he also does a great job narrating his Chronicles of Narnia.  In Lewis’ narration I feel like he is a grandfather telling me a story, which is how anyone would feel reading those stories. It takes people back to the time when they had stories read to them. It makes them feel young again.

The Hobbit

                Speaking of stories, I just recently finished re-reading J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. I had forgotten how good it is. I believe the last time I read it was in high school, so it had been a while. I wanted to read it again before the final film was released this December. I didn’t remember exactly what happens after [SPOILERS] Smaug is defeated, but now I know. I also read some of the appendices at the end of Return of the King, specifically the ones dealing with the events of The Hobbit. So now I know what’s going to happen in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, or rather, what is supposed to happen.

Teaser poster for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

                While reading the book it was fun to see where the films split it up. The first film, An Unexpected Journey, adapts the first 111 pages of The Hobbit while also adapting a large portion of the appendices at the end of Return of the King. The main events taken from the appendices are the backstory of how Thorin Oakenshield got his name, and how Azog killed Thorin’s grandfather Thror. The name of this film is taken from the title of the first chapter, “An Unexpected Party.”

                The second hobbit movie, The Desolation of Smaug, covers the events from chapter 7, “Queer Lodgings,” to about the end of chapter 12, “Inside Information.” This section is 121 pages long, just about the same as the first film. As many of you probably know, The Hobbit was originally just going to be a two-part adaptation. The first was called An Unexpected Journey, and the second would have been called There and Back Again. The first film would have ended right after Bilbo and the dwarves escaped Mirkwood in the barrels. Why it was expanded to a trilogy I’m not too sure. Possibly because Peter Jackson couldn’t fit everything he wanted in just two films. But since it was expanded, a third title was needed, thus the second film was called The Desolation of Smaug, which is the name of the area Smaug destroyed, and can be found on the map found in the book.

Map from The Hobbit

                For a while, most people expected the title of the third film to stay There and Back Again, but by the end of the second film, Thorin and Company are already There. Since Back Again would be a boring title for the third film, they decided to change it to The Battle of the Five Armies, after the eponymous battle that takes place at the end of the book. The third film covers 71 pages worth of material and is likely to be almost three hours long, just like the other films. All that’s left in the story really is Smaug’s demise, The Battle of Five Armies, and Bilbo’s short return journey. The only other thing that will be in the final movie is a section where Gandalf and the White Council attack Dol Guldur and drive out the Necromancer, causing him to flee to Mordor and eventually become Sauron. This is only referenced in the book, but explained a bit in the appendices at the end of Return of the King. It will be cool to see the end of this movie tie in to the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring, but I’m not sure if I’m ready to experience the feels. This will, after all, be the last adaptation of Tolkien’s Middle-Earth. Right, Peter Jackson?

…

…Right?

The Guitar

                I’m taking this last section to give a quick update on life events. The only major thing to report right now? I have a guitar!

My new guitar and I. Should I name it? Do people name guitars?

                As I’ve before mentioned, I learned guitar this summer. While working at Sequoia, I got used to practicing at least once a day, but since coming out to Cedarville, I had only practiced a few times, and it was killing me. I needed to play guitar, but even more I needed to get my own guitar so that I wouldn’t have to keep borrowing my friends’ guitars. I had set aside some money from working so that I could buy my own. So when I finally had enough free time and access to a car, I went to Guitar Center. I looked at a few guitars, but when I saw the one that would eventually be mine, I had pretty much already decided it was the one. The guitar I got is a purple-ish colored Ibanez acoustic/electric. It was normally $400, but because of the Labor Day sale I got it for $330. While there I also got myself I hard guitar case, a capo, and an extra set of strings. It totaled to about $450, which was only $50 more than I had intended to spend, so not too bad in my opinion. And when I got back to campus my awesome former roommate (now R.A.) gave me a couple picks and a guitar strap he didn’t use any more.

                So why purple? Because it’s unique. I didn’t want one of the boring guitars that all looked the same. You know, the wood-colored guitars that you picture when someone says guitar. An ordinary guitar would just seem plain; but people remember a purple guitar when they see it. Also, the neck on it really pretty, and the tuning pegs are gold-colored. It also had a built-in tuner along with places to adjust sound settings if it’s plugged into an amp, of which there are two different outlets.

                Altogether, I’m happy with my purchase, and I hope I get enough free time this semester to practice and play. But even if I don’t, this is something that I’ll keep with me wherever I go in the future. If it lasts, it could be something I let my possible future kids play so they can learn, just like I learned on my dad’s guitar.

                In an unrelated note, I’ve been watching Parks and Recreation, and I now have a new OTP: Andy and April. For the uninitiated, OTP is a tumblr term. Spend enough time on there and you’ll understand. Though be cautioned: prolonged exposure to tumblr can cause severe cases of feels. Of course, the BBC also excels at that.