Big chunk of republishing

content/post/2018/01/lifes-a-scream/index.markdown

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+title = "Life’s a scream…fear, joy or otherwise"
+date = 2018-01-19
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+categories = ["life"]
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+Life is just one long scream…literal or otherwise.
+
+In the literal sense, we arrived screaming. We may well go out screaming. And lots of screams in between might be the mark of a life well lived, in my humble opinion.
+
+In the sense of the metaphor, our life is a scream against Life. What matters is what you’re screaming about, and more to the point what you’re screaming *at*.
+
+Sometimes we scream in plain old fear. If we consistently saw the Universe for what it is, rather than what we *think* it is, we’d not be able to get a word in edgeways between the terror. Fortunately, this is not the case.
+
+Or the scream might be of anger.
+
+If we’re lucky the scream is a yell of joy. Not that it ever lasts…but neither does the fear, or the rage for that matter. The temporary nature of all things is, as usual, a blessing and a curse.
+
+Of course, there are other emotions but I think they can all be broadly classified under the Screams of Fear, Anger and Joy. Perhaps an oversimplication, but hey, this is only a half-sincere metaphor to begin with!
+
+There is one other scream, the trademark of Adrenaline Junkies (Capital J) everywhere.
+
+The scream of defright.
+
+That fluctuating mixture of the Rush and abject horror.
+
+Whether or not it is worth it is something I’d rather not think of because it risks showing me the error of my ways. And what *fun* would that be?
+
+Overthinking and the resultant paralysis is the enemy of progress and ultimately…fun. And what’s the point of life (there isn’t one) if it isn’t *fun *despite all the suck?
+
+Sod it. To live despite Life is the only way worth living. Live hard, and if that means living fast, so be it.

content/post/2018/01/meeting-my-match/index.markdown

@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ Pun very much intended. The fire metaphor for relationships suits me damn fine t
 
 > what happens when I meet someone who says “HELL, yeah! Let’s do it YESTERDAY!” rather than “No, that really is a step too far this time — even *you’ll* die if you do *that!*” ?We both agreed that meeting someone more than someone who was also on our Wavelength would be dangerously fun, emphasis on the danger.
 
-But as all Junkies know, all the best things come with a healthy dose of risk. What’s Life, what’s living, if you aren’t pedal to the metal?[^1]
+But as all Junkies know, all the best things come with a healthy dose of risk. [What’s Life, what’s living, if you aren’t pedal to the metal?](post/2018/07/chasing-the-edge/)[^1]
 
 So all in all, I think I *would* like to meet my Match. My other half[^2]. The ‘your crazy matches my crazy’ kind of person. We’d burn bright, if perhaps not for very long.
 
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ And she *wasn’t even* my Match.
 
 Wasn’t even someone who matched my crazy, not truly. Wasn’t quite a fellow Junkie. Wasn’t on the Wavelength, either. I thought she was all of those things.[^7]
 
-God only knows what will happen when I do meet my Match. If I indeed ever have the (mis)fortune of doing so.
+Gods only know what will happen when I do meet my Match. If I indeed ever have the (mis)fortune of doing so.
 
 The results will be truly **spectacular**[^8], that much is certain.
 
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ The results will be truly **spectacular**[^8], that much is certain.
 
 [^5]: Maybe I’ll tell the interesting bits of that saga sometime.
 
-[^6]: First love but not first girl…that was the first lesson
+[^6]: First love but not first SO…that was the first lesson
 
 [^7]: Through rose-tinted glasses, red flags just look like flags.
 

content/post/2018/01/not-a-morning-person/index.markdown

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+title =	"I am not a morning person…and that’s OK"
+date = "2018-01-11"
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+
+Society is built for morning people. A lot of people swear by the first few hours of their day as their most productive. Many writers, including lots here on Medium, advocate an early rise.
+
+But I say to hell with that.
+
+I am not a morning person and that’s okay. My best work is done not at the break of day, but as it draws to a close. The only hours of the morning I’m truly interested in — truly productive in — are those shortly after midnight.
+
+Sod 5AM-7AM. 11PM-1AM. Those are my hours.
+
+And that’s ok. As darkness falls, society slumbers…and the night comes alive.
+
+The silence of the night, the stillness of the air is my Muse. While the world rests, I write. That is the way it is, and it is the way I like it to be.
+
+Society makes it difficult, because as I say it is geared to morning people. Or at the very least, the overwhelming majority that don’t gravitate towards being nocturnal.
+
+Not everyone is a night owl, but that’s more than okay. Because it’d be no good if the world were just as alive at night as during the day. That’d steal the magic of the starlight. There is a stillness that accompanies the darkness, in which peace and power are found.
+
+Midnight workouts[^1]. Midnight scribblings. Midnight living.
+
+That’s me. If it isn’t you, ***that’s okay too***.
+
+Fellow night owls, I salute you in solidarity. We work in the darkness and that’s okay.
+
+Morning people, you do you. You work while we slumber and that’s okay.
+
+The counting of the hours is a human construct. Night and day are more tangible, but still ultimately constructs. Where possible[^2], work when it suits you, sleep when it suits you. Do what you do whenever it is best to do it and as such maximise your time, for it is severely limited.
+
+At the *end of the day* — who gives a damn what hours of the day you use? Find your most productive time and unleash yourself in it. Regardless of it being societally acceptable.
+
+Seize the day [^3]— it doesn’t matter in which hours.
+
+***
+
+[^1]: 24/7 gym access is made for people like me…
+
+[^2]: By nature of the fact night owls and morning people cannot be always segregated, sometimes one or the other will have to adjust their schedule. Compromise, as in all things, is a key skill.
+
+[^3]: By the throat!