Wednesday, December 30, 2009

The Biggest Questions There Are - Intro

There are certain questions that concern every single one of us. And we all seem to think that we know the answers to those questions. Why are we here? What is the meaning of life? Is there a God? What happens when we die? What is my purpose? Can I make a difference?

Whoa, whoa, slow down there Kevin, you're getting all weird and philosophical on us. I know, and shamelessly so. Maybe it proves that I'm a nerd at heart, I don't know, but lately I've been thinking about these questions a lot. Just like everyone else, I think I have the answers to those questions (at least most of them) but lately, I've been on this kick of finding out what everyone else's answers are. By that I mean giving them a chance to really argue their position. It's really interesting to me. One, because it challenges my beliefs (after all, if you hold a belief that you don't allow to be challenged, then why in the world do you hold it at all?) Two, because for some strange reason, I find it fascinating to attempt to strip myself of all preconceived notions and look at these issues with pure objectivity (it's impossible, but I like to try). I have a degree in psychology...maybe that has something to do with me wanting to look at both sides of every argument.

So anyway, I'm going to initiate a little project here on my blog. I'm going to try to answer these questions. This probably won't be an uninterrupted project. Who knows, it may take years to finish and I'm sure I'll want to intersperse it with other topics of conversation in the meantime. But hopefully, I won't leave this train of thought unfinished. And I'll admit right from the start that I'm sure all my conclusions will be biased toward my already-existing beliefs, but I'm going to make an effort to be completely objective. That means taking the most solid arguments that each side has to offer on the particular issue. I think it would be fun if this experiment sparked some discussion and maybe even a little controversy. I'm only going to ask one question at a time, each time moving to what seems to me to be the most pertinent question left. I'm not going to start with a set list or anything, because the matter at hand will completely hinge on how the previous questions are answered. In short, I'm going to try to construct a worldview from the ground up.

So which question first? It seems to me that the first question to explore should be "So who's in charge here? Is there even anyone in charge?" A little more formally, "Is There A God?" When I think about it, it seems like every other question stems from the answer to this one. Some kind of authority needs to be established on how we know anything about anything. I'll tell you right now, I think the answer is "yes". But I'm trying to be objective here. So because of my own bias, I'm going to give the first say to someone who strongly disagrees with me - Richard Dawkins. Dawkins is perhaps the most notorious atheist out there. He's well-educated and rational and believes emphatically against the existence of a god of any sort, so he seems like a good person to represent the atheist point of view. I'm currently reading his book, "The God Delusion" and have read enough to know that he presents this view well. I hope to summarize his points here with total fairness, after which I'll give the stage to a theist. When I get to the end of this book, I'll check in with you here and I'm sure I'll have lots to talk about.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Back Again

If you had asked me when I was in second grade what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would have answered, "an author". Of course, I would have also told you that I wanted to use my authoring career to write books for boys along with my best friend, Steve. That hasn't happened and I suppose the direction for my desire to write has changed substantially since then. But despite my now-forgotten disdain for the many essay assignments imposed upon me by my schooling, in the end, that desire to write is still there.

A year and a half ago, I decided to intentionally neglect this blog in favor of a brand-spankin'-new, way-cool, business-oriented, imagery-centered blog showcasing my photography and videography work. That blog is still active and will remain so, but during the last year and a half, a feeling in me has been growing that I've been needing to resurrect my original blog. Don't get me wrong - I love my photo/video blog - but I guess there's just something inside of me that needs a portal for putting my thoughts on paper - you know, my real thoughts, the thoughts that stimulate my intellect before I fall asleep at night, the thoughts that sometimes just don't seem to fit amongst a bunch of photos of other people's weddings and updates on my work and livelihood. It's not that I want to compartmentalize my life, showing my clients and certain friends and family one side of me while showing the rest of my friends and family another side of me. I know there are some wedding photographers out there who believe in managing a single blog and like to speak plainly about religion and politics in the same place that they post photos for their clients to see. I have no problem with that...I guess I just feel like if I were to put all the stuff that I actually want to write about from my heart onto my photo/video blog, it might begin to consume the photos and videos and frankly, just become a confusing conglomerate to some of my readers (I know a few of you exist!) Beyond that, I guess I also feel that at least in my case, I have two separate goals. One: to showcase and promote my work (and Kelsey's work) in a way that will hopefully help me grow as an artist and maintain the success of our company. Two: to challenge myself and others in matters of the mind and heart. While these two goals will surely overlap at times, they don't overlap completely and I feel like each goal deserves its own space.

So here we go. This blog, "Fijitown", is my own personal space. It does not belong to Primavera Studios; it belongs to Kevin Visel. This is my space to speak freely - spread my wings, so to speak, and allow myself the catharsis of transparency and of emptying the thoughts in my head into print form. Everyone is invited to read, comment, or not - whatever you like. I've also chosen to keep a few of my older posts from this blog's history, since it just feels wrong to delete them...kind of like book-burning. I think a few people out there will be happy to know that I'm resuming this type of writing. I, for one, am looking forward to it.