Author Archives: Peter D. Marshall

Cultural anxiety behind mass of dystopian films and TV shows

01 Wednesday Oct 2014

Posted by in The Future

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Blockbuster Existential Angst by Christa Thomas.

HungerGames-NYET539-AP-676x450Dystopian movies aren’t new. From Fritz Lang’s silent classic Metropolis (1927) to The War of the Worlds (1953), and Blade Runner (1982), they’ve long been a staple of cinema.

What is new is the rise in popularity of these films and the veritable slew of them in recent years. Nightmarish futuristic visions of human misery are now regular blockbusters.

The volume of dystopian films raises questions about why audiences are drawn to this kind of screen angst.

Over the course of the last 20 years, movies with dystopian themes have been appearing more frequently. While there were approximately 130 film releases in this category during the 1980s, the number already sits at 175 for the 2010s, and will likely reach at least 300 by decade’s end.

Read the rest of this article from The Epoch Times.

A Life Worth Living

29 Monday Sep 2014

Posted by in Philosophy

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A Life Worth Living: Albert Camus on Our Search for Meaning and Why Happiness Is Our Moral Obligation by Maria Popova.

camus_lifeworthliving

“To decide whether life is worth living is to answer the fundamental question of philosophy,” Albert Camus wrote in his 119-page philosophical essay The Myth of Sisyphus in 1942. “Everything else … is child’s play; we must first of all answer the question.”

One of the most famous opening lines of the twentieth century captures one of humanity’s most enduring philosophical challenged — the impulse at the heart of Seneca’s meditations on life and Montaigne’s timeless essays and Maya Angelou’s reflections, and a wealth of human inquiry in between.

But Camus, the second-youngest recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature after Rudyard Kipling, addressed it with unparalleled courage of conviction and insight into the irreconcilable longings of the human spirit.

Read the rest of this article from Brain Pickings.

 

 

Lyrics: “Still Finding My Way” by Greg Tamblyn

19 Friday Sep 2014

Posted by in Music

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Sometimes I forget I need to dance
Spin around the floor like I got crazy pants
Letting myself go, getting in the flow
Don’t be cool, play the fool

Move into another state of mind
Going there not knowing where or what I’ll find
Look in someone’s eyes, dropping my disguise
Oh my, I realize

Chorus:
I’m still finding my way
A little further every day
Like that river in the song, rollin’ along
To the place where I belong
Still learning to love
Teaching this old heart to open up
Letting go what I don’t need, setting it free
‘Cause I know I’m where I need to be
Still finding my way

Sometimes I forget to just slow down
Walk outside and take a lazy look around
Listen to the wind, sunshine on my skin
Touch the earth, feel my worth

Turning back to you the one I love
Lookin’ back and laughing at the crazy stuff
We made our mistakes, fell right on our face
Goodness sakes, it’s no disgrace

I’m still finding our way
A little further every day
Like that river in the song, rollin’ along
To the place where we belong
Still learning to love
Teaching these old hearts to open up
Letting go what we don’t need, setting it free
‘Cause we know we’re where we need to be
Still finding my way

What is your (reason for being) (purpose) (meaning) (why am I here) in life?

16 Tuesday Sep 2014

Posted by in Meaning of Life

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the-meaning-of-lifeExcerpt from article in Epoch Times: NDE Research (Near Death Experiences)

“It is important for NDE research to reach mainstream society, said Holden, because the messages therein are so important. One of the lessons learned by many NDEers is that “human life has purpose,” Holden said.

At some time in everyone’s life, we should (need to!) address this question. And our answers will usually be based on our cultural upbringing, religious beliefs, scientific perspectives and the personal philosophy we usually acquire as we grow older.

Do you know the purpose (the real meaning) of YOUR life?

To help answer this question (with the same question), I have gone to the world’s experts on (never really figuring out this question) …

The Meaning of Life! (Click on photo to start video)

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“What if by engaging our imagination and opening our minds we could unlock the door to a world of wonders?”

14 Sunday Sep 2014

Posted by in Fears

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“What if by engaging our imagination and opening our minds we could unlock the door to a world of wonders?” Cirque du Soleil poses this question in its latest travelling show “Kurios: Cabinet of Curiosities.”

So how does this question apply to you and your life?

What is beyond the door of your imagination? What is holding you back from opening it?  What are you afraid of seeing – of feeling – of hearing? Could it be – THE TRUTH?

I think it’s time to open our doors!

Personality-can-open-doors--but-only-character-can-keep-them-open--50e08de4e9f3b