Something that has and will always interest me is middle names. I always love to ask people what their middle name is and to share my own because, to me, mine isn’t even a real name. I have three older sisters each with common middle names like Jean, Lee, and Lynn. Then there’s me with the middle name of Seer. You see what I mean when I say not even a real name? Where have you heard the name of Seer before? I personally haven’t ever really seen that other than in big blue letters on the side of a department store spelled with an ‘a’ (yes, Sears the store). So, I decided to do a bit of research on the meaning of my middle name. I started with the origin of middle names as a whole.

The concept of a middle name dates all the way back to the Romans. They used the format of praenomen (first name), nome (last name), and cognomen which the name of a chosen saint. In the middle ages, Europeans couldn’t choose between a family name or the name of a respected saint thus giving the format of first name, saint’s name, and then the surname which is the format we follow now. When the format of first, middle, last reached America most people used the mother’s maiden name as the child’s middle name. Probably because a women’s middle name fades away and can be forgotten when they take the last name of their spouse.

The meaning of the word seer is a person who is believed to see the future through supernatural insights; a prophet. Now I am not saying I can see into the future or tell what will happen on June 14, 2020, but sometimes I can feel when something is about to happen. But I was in search of what seer means as a name, not as a noun. I couldn’t find too much information on Seer as a middle name but I did find information on Seer as a first name. What I found was actually quite relevant to myself, kind of like when you read your horoscope and you’re like “That sounds about right”.

Those with the first name of Seer come up with original and inventive ideas, can be somewhat too concerned with the personalities of others, procrastination is a downfall, it is not easy to overcome obstacles or face personal issues, people often feel comfortable sharing their problems, they don’t take their own advice, they often have a desire to make a good first impression, and lastly those named Seer often have sinus, and ear problems as well as often headaches. I found all of these things to be quite true. I always try and come up with my own way to do things and think outside the box. Other’s personalities and personalities, in general, spike my interest more than most things, sometimes I feel like I should have been a therapist. Procrastination is 110% my downfall and a prime example is this current moment of me writing this blog just hours before it is due. I have a very hard time facing my personal issues and often get over them or try to forget about them in unhealthy ways. I probably would never take my own advice because most of the things I would recommend someone to do or not to do are things that not doing or doing. First impressions are very important no matter the circumstance or person. You should always aim to be your best self when meeting someone new. When it comes to health stuff, I cannot make it through one week without having a series of headaches or one allergy season without a sinus and/or ear infection.

It’s the little things like your name or place or time of birth or eye color that can say the most about you. Whether or not you choose to believe these things, you got to admit shit like this can be quite interesting. I encourage you to do some research on your name and see what you can find. Not like you don’t have all the time in the world right now!

Man, when I first heard about coronavirus it was through memes on Instagram. From these memes, I thought it was a literal joke. I thought that coronavirus was a whole big giant joke and it was just something the meme gods had created. I mean come on, a virus named after one of the most iconic and well know beers worldwide.

This was in November 2019. Now that it is March of 2020 I have learned that coronavirus is in fact not a joke and it is a very real and serious thing that is affecting the world. It has also directly affected my world. I and everyone else in college was forced to move out of our beloved dorms and move back home and continue our college education online. Which sucks. Instead of losing my mind, I have been trying to distract myself in whatever way possible.

Music has always been something I could turn to whether I was feeling high and mighty or low and small. Music don’t judge, music doesn’t care who you are, what you like or think. Music is the cure-all, even when you’re listening to sad songs when you’re sad on purpose, you do that to try and make yourself feel better in the end. When I left college, my friends and I had really started to get into EDM and house music. You know the kind of stuff you hear at raves or music festivals. Instead of leaving that behind at school, I took it home with me. I have been listening to a lot of EDM and might I say that it really turns my mood around when I need it to. So to help maybe turn you guy’s moods around too, I have decided to share some of my favorites.

1. Still not butter by Dillion Francis
2. Helicopter by Dj Kuba & Neitan
3. Roses (Imanbek Remix) by Saint Jhn
4. OCB by Malaa
5. Werk by CID
6. My Frequency by Tiësto & 7 Skies (ft. Rebmoe)
7. Griztonics by GRiZ & Subtronics
8. Bad Guy x Satisfaction (ANGEMI Remix) (Bass Boosted) by David Danka Dewulf Ve
9. Losing it by FISHER
10. It’s My House (with Dillion Francis) by Ship Wrek

These are probably my top ten (not necessarily in that order) and all of these can be found on either Apple Music or Soundcloud. So when you find yourself in a hole of boredom, these songs will most likely be able to pull you out. If not then you’re even more of a lost cause than I am.

Feeling alone and feeling lonely are two different things. To feel lonely is to feel like you are in an empty room even when you could be in a room full of people. You feel like you are the only person on Earth and all you really want is some company. To feel alone is to feel like no one can relate or you simply have no one in general or no one to talk to. But being alone is different than both of these feelings. Learning to be alone is life-changing.

Step One: Learn to be selfish

If you learn to be less concerned with other’s needs and opinions, everything gets a lot easier. You realize that the only thing you truly have to worry about is yourself. The only opinion you really need is your own because you only have one person to please: you. This realization changes everything. Once you learn the only concern is you then the sky’s the limit. There’s nothing holding you back from doing anything other than yourself. You can go anywhere you can be whoever you want to be dress how you want say what you truly mean even if it hurts some feelings along the way. Who cares just do it.

Step Two: Realize your freedom

Once you learn to live for yourself there is nothing to stop you. You can pack your shit right now and get in your car and drive. That is called freedom. Everyone is free to do what they want and make any kind of choice they want. Not many people use their freedom to the fullest because they worry about other people or they worry about getting in trouble. Apparently, America is the land of the free but most people are still working their 9-5 Monday thru Friday and pay taxes and dream of retirement. How is that freedom? Retire now stop paying taxes live off the grid what is stopping these people from doing that? Oh yeah, themselves. Being alone, being selfish and realizing your true freedom as a human are the best things someone can do. So many doors will be opened along the way some doors that no one ever knew they existed because they never took the chance.

Step Three: Staying occupied

Just because someone is comfortable being alone and comfortable being selfish doesn’t mean they don’t feel those feelings of feeling lonely or alone. Everyone can feel that way and that is fine because that is also part of human nature. But when you want to be alone and live your freedom these feelings can be distracting and bring you down and make you forget about all of these freedoms. The best way to not get brought down by these feelings is to keep yourself occupied. For example, when you one day run away and leave everything behind you could find yourself in the position of “now what?” To avoid this position you have to keep things moving, always have something to do, something to see, read, or create. There is a surplus of things to do, see and create you just have to keep your mind fresh and your eyes open. Opportunity is around every corner. There is always something to do when nothing is holding you back.

“Being alone is a power that few can handle” -Desirae Mitchell

Netflix’s Bojack Horseman has to be my favorite show of all time with its true grit, brutal honesty, candid explicit humor, and dark views of the world and life itself. As Bojack learns to deal with himself and his feelings in some very bad self-destructing ways, with drug and alcohol addiction and meaningless sex, you learn why he copes with life in these unhealthy ways. His depression and self-loathing exposes his nihilistic views of the world. He states many times throughout the show that life is meaningless and nothing matters, but he remains optimistic as he continues to find meaning and happiness in his life, filling it with drugs, booze, and girls. Bojack is a nihilist for sure but what kind? As he is aware that life is meaningless, he still tries to fill his life with meaning, he fights with himself constantly and becomes incredibly anxious any time he is forced to make a decision. Bojack is a prime example of an existential nihilist. Every day he is faced with the fact that no matter what he does his happiness does not last long and he ends his days feeling a sense of nothingness and regret. He is reminded that no matter what he does that happiness is fake and nothing lasts forever because nothing he does matters. With this in mind, he is in a constant state of self-destruction and the destruction of his world around him. Bojack being the washed-up 90’s sitcom actor he is, is trying to get his face back on the screen and succeeds when he is nominated for an oscar in season three. When he was announced as a nominee for the best actor he expected to feel happy that he had finally accomplished a goal, but instead of feeling happy and proud he claimed to have felt nothing at all. The nomination and even wining and oscar did not make him as happy as he thought, because in the end none of that matters and he knows it. Bojack is constantly in a state of disappointment. No matter how well something may go, Bojack is always left feeling regret and despair. It is up to Bojack to create meaning and happiness in his life and with the freedom to do whatever he wants, this task can be quite overwhelming and daunting. He abuses substances to try and create this meaning, he has meaningless sex to try and feel good and happy, but it’s meaningless, it all is. The older Bojack gets the more he realizes that.

The popular cartoon Rick and Morty share similar nihilistic views that Bojack has but in a more dark and unforgiving way. Rick has come to terms that life means nothing and doesn’t even try to find the meaning of life or happiness. Rick lives full throttle not caring about what happens or what could happen and just filling his life with daring and risky adventures through space dragging his grandson Morty with him. He doesn’t care what happens because there is no meaning anywhere and there’s no point in trying to find or create meaning. Rick is a perfect example of a cosmic nihilist. He spends his days doing science experiments and traveling through time and space, not necessarily because he believes in science and wants to improve his own life and the lives of others around him, but to fill his days with pointless things. Similar to Bojack, Rick too is an alcoholic and has no problem spending his days drinking himself into a daze and having orgies with random alien chicks. Nothing matters to Rick because everything that is happening here and now is happening in a distant reality infinite amount of times and in countless ways. Because of this belief, Rick lives without regret and feels despair very seldom. He even sees love as a “chemical reaction that causes animals to breathe.” and the rest of the human emotions are basically bullshit. In fact, he states that one of the main reasons why Morty is always present on his dangerous trips to outer space and different realities is because his stupidity cancels out the strong smarts and intelligence of Rick, not because he simply wants Morty’s company. In cosmic nihilism, there is basically no kind of ethics or morals. Rick has very little ethical views or morals, for example, he once sold a galactic gun to a hitman alien just to play at favorite his arcade then he turned a whole planet into monsters, committed suicide, abandoned his family and then ended his night by sitting on the couch and having a beer. Rick is not looking for meaning in anything anywhere because it doesn’t exist. This is nihilism at its finest.