I'm not very good at keeping this blogging thing up, am I? Believe it or not there was a time way back when I used to post in my blog every single day without fail for a whole year (after that year I eased up a bit and went to a post every second day or third... and then grew increasingly infrequent). That was some crazy dedication. Of course I was a lot younger with a lot more blab in me. Most of the posts were about my day at school and shit like that but they still always managed to be very long. Usually averaging a whole word document page. I think what made me give up on the every day thing was my self-irritating tendency to NEED to include everything. I just wouldn't feel right or wouldn't feel comfortable if I left stuff out (which is probably one of my anxiety/OCD problems). So in the end, I just really felt like posting was a burden since it left me with a feeling of unease if I left stuff out.... yet if I didn't it would take me around an hour or more to post it all.
Of course, it made for good documenting. I go back and read it fairly often. There's enough posts that I can go to a random date every once in a while and read a post that I'd completely forgotten about: read about my the days I had, the feelings I had (some stupid teenage feelings indeed), etc etc. But anyways, that's why I don't really do much about my day any more. Not to mention that to anyone who is not me, my day is probably of no interest to them. I feel like it was a very good exercise though; I learned a lot in working on that blog. It really did help to develop a writing style for myself and as I go through the posts I can really see the changes in my writing. The first post was completely colloquial then the later posts turned a lot more... literature-like. Since then I've let a lot of colloquial language come back in... but it's amazing looking back at some of my posts written when I was 14; they almost read like an adult wrote them. I'd recommend any aspiring writer to try doing blogging to be honest. It keeps you writing... writing anything at all. In fact, a lot of authors recommend writing anything just regularly to keep in practice.
This isn't what I came here to write about at all. But then the first line just completely distracted me. I guess that's one thing I do love about blogging. Other people may read it but in the end it's for you. You can write about whatever the heck comes to your mind there and then.
Going completely off topic but... packing. Oh dear god packing. I don't even know where to start =/. I've leaving for school on September 3rd, all the way to Kingston, Ontario. So I need to pack but what in the world do I bring? I brought tons of shit last time and a lot of it I never even needed or used. Like I had a box full of books and shit. Never had time to read them. On the other hand I discovered that I hadn't brought enough clothes and shoes. I brought a shit ton of jewelry but never really used them because I'm the weird type of person who always just keeps on the same ones and don't exchange them often. You'd think with all this knowledge it'd be easier but no... Not really. Listing stuff off in my head it seems like I'm not going to take that much at all but I just know that by the time it comes to packing, I'm going to be shoving shit in in every nook and cranny I can find. Remind me why I decided to go so far again? Ugh.
Monday, 29 August 2011
Monday, 1 August 2011
Worse Is Better
I'm curious to know whether there has ever been a time where better was better. I know, better is always better. So, what AM I talking about? Complaints. Better is never better between complainers. I won't really go into complainers themselves as everyone has some sort of gripe about complainers and being one myself it would be rather hypocritical. We can, however, look into one of the most common complainer's syndrome: Worse is better.
I noticed this very early on in my life that worse seems to always be better when taking part in a complainer's conversation. There's almost a sort of pride about it too. Before we get into that however, let's explain what exactly I mean by "worse is better." I'll simply record my earliest memory of an encounter with this syndrome and that should be self-explanatory. It's elementary school grade 4. I'm in the girl change room as everyone is getting changed into their gym clothes. The little girls are whining about having to partake in physical activity so early in the morning and inevitably comes the first complaint of, "Ugh I'm SO tired. I only had six hours of sleep last night." Immediately they are countered with, "Yeah? Well, I only got four hours." Then another boasts, "Well I didn't sleep at all!" Likely story... but that's beside the point. Boast. It's the perfect word to describe this syndrome. People like to boast when complaining of having the worse situation!
It is as if having the worst situation gives them the right to complain. All others have lost their right to complain as there's someone in their midst who has "suffered worse." I think there are a variety of people with this syndrome and it's not triggered by the same thing with everyone. Some people want the sympathy, some people want the spotlight, and some people are just reminded at that time that they have a similar and maybe worse situation and now would be a good time to complain about it. The last one is a common denominator of any group of complainers. The reason I don't deem it the primary reason for this syndrome is that the syndrome has a gradation.
"Worse is better" most often works from least to most. Somehow it's not the kid who got "no sleep at all" who pipes up first, it's the kid who got six hours.... and then the four hours, then finally the no sleep kid. Wouldn't you think that the person with the worst would be the first to speak up as they're "suffering" through the worst of it? I guess the only explanation is the comment I made earlier: "likely story." Stretching the truth. Those kids probably all got around 6 - 7 hours of sleep if not more. They just want to complain! And why do they want to complain? Refer to the list I gave earlier of the syndrome triggers: sympathy and attention. It's rather interesting the lengths people go to for those two things.
I speak a bit derisively of the people who have the "worse is better" syndrome but I have to admit that sometimes I fall victim to it too. It's hard to resist pitching in with the complaints when people around you are bleating theirs. Being a fairly big complainer myself I find it especially hard. That is why I have such respect for people who can sympathize or empathize and stop there. You know, the people who listen and show they understand your "suffering" and try to make you feel better with positive comments or what not. Or maybe you don't know... those people are hard to come by.
I noticed this very early on in my life that worse seems to always be better when taking part in a complainer's conversation. There's almost a sort of pride about it too. Before we get into that however, let's explain what exactly I mean by "worse is better." I'll simply record my earliest memory of an encounter with this syndrome and that should be self-explanatory. It's elementary school grade 4. I'm in the girl change room as everyone is getting changed into their gym clothes. The little girls are whining about having to partake in physical activity so early in the morning and inevitably comes the first complaint of, "Ugh I'm SO tired. I only had six hours of sleep last night." Immediately they are countered with, "Yeah? Well, I only got four hours." Then another boasts, "Well I didn't sleep at all!" Likely story... but that's beside the point. Boast. It's the perfect word to describe this syndrome. People like to boast when complaining of having the worse situation!
It is as if having the worst situation gives them the right to complain. All others have lost their right to complain as there's someone in their midst who has "suffered worse." I think there are a variety of people with this syndrome and it's not triggered by the same thing with everyone. Some people want the sympathy, some people want the spotlight, and some people are just reminded at that time that they have a similar and maybe worse situation and now would be a good time to complain about it. The last one is a common denominator of any group of complainers. The reason I don't deem it the primary reason for this syndrome is that the syndrome has a gradation.
"Worse is better" most often works from least to most. Somehow it's not the kid who got "no sleep at all" who pipes up first, it's the kid who got six hours.... and then the four hours, then finally the no sleep kid. Wouldn't you think that the person with the worst would be the first to speak up as they're "suffering" through the worst of it? I guess the only explanation is the comment I made earlier: "likely story." Stretching the truth. Those kids probably all got around 6 - 7 hours of sleep if not more. They just want to complain! And why do they want to complain? Refer to the list I gave earlier of the syndrome triggers: sympathy and attention. It's rather interesting the lengths people go to for those two things.
I speak a bit derisively of the people who have the "worse is better" syndrome but I have to admit that sometimes I fall victim to it too. It's hard to resist pitching in with the complaints when people around you are bleating theirs. Being a fairly big complainer myself I find it especially hard. That is why I have such respect for people who can sympathize or empathize and stop there. You know, the people who listen and show they understand your "suffering" and try to make you feel better with positive comments or what not. Or maybe you don't know... those people are hard to come by.
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