Hello

 We see a certain image projected on the screen We do not see the ones who work behind the scenes Our freedoms die in darkness, yet the light has been put out It's not comfortable to face what we really are about All critical thinking is swiftly cast away Instead we choose to follow the feelings of the day The labels that divide us are cancerous for sure No one can trust this sickness to bring them any cure But despite all the offended, there's reason to rejoice Each day we have the freedom to make a different choice Some choose their same old habits, the comforts of their life Others choose to push themselves and cut out waste like a knife I may paint a certain picture as someone who can rhyme words But in the bigger picture, I'm content with being heard @tateisimikito

 In many ways American's, and much of the developed world's lives are hyperstimulated. With the world at our fingertips, there is information coming at us from all angles. Headlines and soundbites such as "breaking news, critical story" among others seek to capture our attention. When I used to regularly watch ABC's "World News Tonight", their main announcer, David Muir and all fill-in announcers always had a sense of urgency in their tone as they would stress "Tonight! Multiple developments as we come on the air!" It got to a point, where I could nearly predict their opening line word for word.  Where we direct our attention is important. I recently watched an interview with Jeff Bezos circa 97 where he stated human attention as the most valuable commodity, and sought the need to capture it via Amazon. Bezos seemed to be ahead of his time and perhaps that's one of the reasons why his company exploded many times over. Along with attention t

 "2.5 miles, humph! How is that strenuous?!", we scoffed as my friend, Shane and I read the sign at the base of Mt. Scott in Crater Lake National Park. Both of us were from the east coast of the US. (Shane from Connecticut and myself from Long Island). Both of us were in for quite a surprise. As we started up, we soon realized the difficulty of the climb. The trail gradually became steeper with no sign of flattening out. In full direct sun, with just a few shady trees, we were tiring from the heat and the steep ascent. We each had some water, but in hindsight it wasn't enough. Around 2/3rds of the way up, I was really becoming nervous. My one water bottle was running low, the trail got significantly more steep and narrow, and we still had no clear idea how far we had. I mentioned turning back, but Shane encouraged me to push to the summit. Both of us are Christian and we both prayed before our trip, but my faith was being tested. Once I saw the outlook post at the summit,