Paper Dreams

Passion can take you anywhere.

The Insanity of Life - Thomas Kurkoski

Genius and insanity abound on all fronts of every person every day. So, where is the line? Is it a line of making in the shadows of professional relationships or does it come from the personal relationships we hold so dear and continually try to dismantle? There really is no creative fine line between anything. The lines are made, thick and black and glaring. The only question here is of a difference between genius and insanity. What is the difference? Genius is all around us. From the smart moves of a financial tycoon to the despairing moment-by-moment life a poet lives. And what of insanity? Where does it come to play? Insanity is the inside coat pocket of society. We are all accused of being insane; of making poor decisions, of living without thinking, and of trying when futility is so noticeable that it hurts. But we try anyway. When genius fails, we go for the insanity.

Everywhere we look people are comparing themselves to the genius, to the insane, to the dead. We must make our own moves, be them a touch insane or perhaps sparked by genius. It is within all of us to write a “Sophie’s Choice”. A work of literary genius penned by the insane. To be human is to have more than a moment of insanity. To be human is to have more than a moment of genius. The genius are often insane, and the insane are often genius. The two go hand-in-hand, living the duality of life the comes from the pressure of the opposing sides. Without one, you cannot have the other. Styron and Hemingway are proof-positive that insanity is the underlying foundation of genius. Bukowski and Kerouc are the genius that lives in insanity. Within society though, they all lived and created. Insane, genius, or otherwise they all had their moments to share, their stories to tell, their insane genius to battle. From drink and clinical illness and genetic predisposition we have come so far. Life is not what it used to be. It is now a battle raging in all of us. That is why we write, love, hate, and share ourselves with total strangers. We all have a bit of genius and crazy in us. That is what makes us people. The insanity of life drives our genius. We are the derivative of the life we lead. Some moments are better than others, some worse, but they all chisel us into something that needs something else. We drive and fight and want to press on. To be better.

There is nothing better than stepping across a line in the sand. To say: “I have done it.” The genius oft times don’t step across that line, but leap across it, screaming: “I have done it!”. Usually it is insane, but to make a mark and progress us forward, it is necessary that someone do just that. As the genius knows, it is not about what you do, but rather how you do it. Sometimes it is practical to take the daring step, to oppose, and to kill the critics back with a fury of: “you didn't like it the first time….what do you think now?!?”. Genius coming forward forces us to think and rethink what we thought we knew. The insanity lies in the chance taken. The daring, under-encouraged, and the addicted are the jewels in the crown of humanitarian prospects. Fame and fortune not withstanding, it is in all of us to be the genius. Rightly so, it is also in all of us to be the insane. To not be either is to be nothing. We need the insane as much as we need the genius. The insane are the genius. And the genius are insane. There is no line, not in this sandbox of American society.

Author, Thomas Kurkoski

Follow your heart. Even when others believe you're insane. 

Gratitude..

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, and confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

Fate..

“Sometimes fate is like a small sandstorm that keeps changing directions. You change direction but the sandstorm chases you. You turn again, but the storm adjusts. Over and over you play this out, like some ominous dance with death just before dawn. Why? Because this storm isn't something that blew in from far away, something that has nothing to do with you. This storm is you. Something inside of you. So all you can do is give in to it, step right inside the storm, closing your eyes and plugging up your ears so the sand doesn't get in, and walk through it, step by step. There's no sun there, no moon, no direction, no sense of time. Just fine white sand swirling up into the sky like pulverized bones. That's the kind of sandstorm you need to imagine.

And you really will have to make it through that violent, metaphysical, symbolic storm. No matter how metaphysical or symbolic it might be, make no mistake about it: it will cut through flesh like a thousand razor blades. People will bleed there, and you will bleed too. Hot, red blood. You'll catch that blood in your hands, your own blood and the blood of others.


And once the storm is over you won't remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won't even be sure, in fact, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm you won't be the same person who walked in. That's what this storm's all about.”

Strongest Man In The World

Ninja's are cutting onions somewhere nearby.... I tore up a little.

Fight To Succeed

"To do something well is so worthwhile that to die trying to do it better cannot be foolhardy. It would be a waste of life to do nothing with one's ability, for I feel that life is measured in achievement, not in years alone."


- Bruce McLaren

Daily

No need for quotes. Simply inspiration at it's finest.

What Is Richness?

I had to write an essay of 150 words or less to apply to a scholarship and decided to post it here. I'll most likely look back on this and smile. Especially the poem :P

Richness to me has a combined meaning. 

It represents culture, emotion, inspiration, leadership and character. 

As a student, I utilize all of these preconceived conceptions to aid me in becoming an outstanding individual. 

I aim to do something extravagant and bring change to the Engineering Automotive world however, just striving to achieve this monumental goal, working day to day on this path to make a dream come true, what a student gains throughout the journey - is my absolute definition of Richness. 

I will have ups and downs, 

days full of stress and days full of happiness,

working towards something that seems so far, 

taints my dreams with tackiness. 

However through thick and thin, 

I will endure.

Until the end I'm sure to win.

I will endure.