Six feet under

Each day people bury metallic boxes placed ever so gently in cement vaults to house the corpses of loved ones for all eternity. As everyone knows, caskets and the vaults they are buried in are designed to withstand the tests of time but very little thought is given to the process of using traditional cemeteries.

Putting any religious or other views of the afterlife aside, if you really stop to think about it a cemetery is a glorified landfill. John Doe down the street dies and we really don’t want to watch him decompose out in his front yard so we are going to put him underground. However, we want to organize things so we created a plot of land where we can discard all of our dead. Since we know that the decomposition process can make our stomachs a bit unsettled we pump him full of preservatives, put him in a box and then seal off the box in a big concrete vault to make the processes easier to think about. Ah, that’s better.

Millions of people in the U.S. die each day and the vast majority of them choose to be buried rather than cremated or other options. Hopefully you have taken notice that we use a ton of land for cemeteries that serve no real purpose. That land could be used for so many other things or left alone if it was previously forested for some type of reserve. I understand that some religions emphasize the preservation of the physical body. However, almost every major religion claims that once you are dead there is no need for the physical body and you will continue on to some type of afterlife. Therefore, why do so many people insist on having their dead bodies be placed in the ground to use up valuable land? In the times when religions were written, the population of the world was much smaller but the world has changed and we can’t be sacrificing a ridiculous amount of land to a dead body. Similarly, I can’t understand why there are people who are not organ donars? How can you be so selfish as to not let someone use your organs when you are dead if it will save a life in turn? I can promise you it will not hurt.

Not only do cemeteries take up entirely too much space, but they are polluting the earth. The definition of pollution according to Merriam-Webster is the act of contaminating an environment especially with man made wastes. We never like to consider our burial process as pollution because we are burying loved ones, but that is exactly what we are doing. Consider this: I dig a hoe in the ground and bury a soda can and that’s considered pollution because it is not biodegradable. On the other hand, I put a seven foot metal box in the ground and it’s not pollution only because I loved the person in it? Maybe I loved that soda can. Come on!

I know this post seems very insensitive, but it really isn’t. I fully understand what it’s like to lose a loved one and you want to have a place where you can mourn them as well as feel a connection to them. If this is the only reason for a cemetery then cremate them and put them in an urn. Rather than destroying land, the urn will take up about six inches on your mantel and you can visit them every single day. Cemeteries are just wasteful and we should move away from using them.

RGM

Dear people, please open your minds

“Space is big. Really big. You just won’t believe how vastly hugely mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist, but that’s just peanuts to space.” -The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

For the majority of my life I have been astounded at how easily so many people can completely discredit any possibility of extraterrestrial life. Do many of you honestly believe that Earth is the only area that sustains life in a universe that the top scientists can only pretend to have an idea of how large it is? If so, you are extremely vain and a shallow thinker. You may take full offense to that if you choose to do so.

Our galaxy, the milky way, is a mere spec that is practically microscopic in the scale of our vast universe. The farthest stars in our galaxy are around 95,000 light years away which means that if we could travel the speed of light it would take us 95,000 years just to reach them. Did you hear what I just said? 95,000 years to reach these stars if we could propel ourselves at the speed of light in a galaxy that isn’t even a sneeze in Madison Square Garden with the lights off. The common argument I hear from most people is either “well, how come they haven’t come to earth?” or “why haven’t we found them?” Assuming these people don’t believe any UFO reports, which I can respect, I have several rebuttals in case the previous illustration didn’t quite click. First, assuming E.T.s have extremely advanced technology, it would still take them a very long time to arrive to Earth unless they are capable of altering time and space. Second, Earth is incredibly, incredibly small so the probability of another life form discovering the planet or having any interest in visiting the planet is an astronomically low percentage. We haven’t even discovered all the islands on our own planet for Christ sake! Third, who says that these life forms that are nearest to us necessarily have developed the technology for galactic travel? Look at the technology we have as humans, yet we have never physically visited a planet ourselves and the planet we did send a rover to is very close in a relative sense. Maybe we haven’t seen other life for the same reason they haven’t seen us. Science fiction has also created a false sense of what extraterrestrial life may be, so many people imagine E.T.s as being almost supernatural with an agenda to destroy our planet. If you think this way then you watch too much TV.

Consider the case of bacteria for spatial judgment of the universe. If bacteria were in fact “intelligent life” living on one person in LA, they would have no idea of living things in the next city over even, simply because of the sheer magnitude of distance. In fact, being that small in such a broad amount of space would make it almost impossible to even be aware of other bacteria living on the same organism they may be living on. Also, many people forget that a life form can be anything from bacteria, a cell, a tree, or whatever we want to define as “living”. Do you think that Earth is the only planet with a tree, bush, or anything that resembles the two? The problem with humans is our ego. We are determined to make ourselves the most important thing in the universe, because as we all know, the universe revolves around us. That’s why when we see a huge mountain or tall building it can take our breath away, because it makes us realize that we are small and insignificant, not this all-important, all-powerful, and top of the food chain delusions we walk around with everyday.

Also something else to ponder: there is very strong evidence to suggest that our universe, which seems infinitely large is only a grain of salt in a sea of other universes. Just thinking about this tends to scare many people because they begin to feel inferior once again. But think about what we simply know of the world around us, which isn’t even that much. Once again, consider microscopic life forms and the cells that make up the physical world. While we do know of the larger particles within a cell: protons, electronics, neutrons, it’s possible that cells could contain other things. Smaller life maybe? I’m no scientist so I can’t say, but if you think about how small bacteria is, who’s to say that we aren’t microscopic organisms? We may be microbes that are living inside of a universe that is basically a cell making up something else that could in turn be microscopic to another structure. To work backward, maybe there are bacteria living on bacteria. This may not be truth but why it should be discounted as impossible, plus it’s very fun for me to think about. I’m not telling everyone they must believe that there is life outside of Earth, I’m simply asking everyone to stop saying absolutely not, and instead say it is possible. Please step out of the box and use your head.

RGM

Heroes

We all have heroes;  The individuals who we use as templates to mold ourselves,  striving to follow in his or her footsteps. Some of us choose heroes who are athletes, political figures, scholars, inventors, musicians or incredible individuals that are often as close to home as our family. A hero or a role model is very important to have because it helps to channel positive thinking and allows us to have a concrete model of the person when dream of becoming. But what happens when you look up to someone your entire life.. and then surpass them in every way?

I have thought about this for a very long time and tried to conjure the emotions that must be felt when you become better at what you do than your hero. Athletics is the easiest to use as an example and is also the area I have thought about the most simply because the last portion of my life has been almost completely dedicated to it.  For me, my biggest running inspiration was the American distance runner Steve Prefontaine who was known for his unrelenting drive and desire to front-run. The vast majority of distance runner in the U.S. all grow up wanting to be just like Prefontaine in just about every aspect, but I can’t help but thinking what it would be like to become faster than him. I really don’t know what it would be like to surpass the race times of someone who I used for inspiration each day and put on a very high pedestal. In a smaller scale it would almost feel like beating god. I’m not calling Steve Prefontaine a god, but I put my thoughts and emotions into running much like a religion and he would be a figurehead of that. Granted, I would never see myself as being completely suprior to Pre since he did the things first and is an all around bad ass, but knowing I was faster would be a very complex mentality. I’ve always wondered who runners like Ryan Hall or Galen Rupp looked up to when they were younger and what its like to probably have surpassed every record their heroes ever held. I’m sure Lebron James looked up to Michael Jordan all his life and now what does it feel like to surpass his scoring record?

While everyone who reads this post should understand what I’m getting at, I feel like only those who have ever truly dedicated their life to something for a period of time will actually comprehend the guts of this post. Most of the recreational athletes(or any activity) dream of topping their heroes, but those of us that have made something such an important aspect of life will see it differently. Obviously when I was competing for Charlotte the goal was to be the best; a stronger, faster, higher mentality. Surpass your hero and then who do you look up to? Only yourself? Sure, but it would be extremely difficult not to get sucked into extreme vanity and become out of touch with reality, which I guess happens to many great athletes. This situation has always been a paradox type scenario to me. Think about it yourself.

RGM

The fork in the road

I would like to take this time to address a major change that has occurred in my life. Hopefully I will make everything clear as well as reach most of my friends so this can keep me from having to repeat myself or prevent any false information from developing.

As of Monday evening I am no longer a member of the UNC Charlotte cross country or track team. I hang up my blood-stained racing spikes and the 49er jersey with my toils ingrained in the deepest fibers. My running has been a long, hard, and beautiful journey, with intense emotional highs and the lowest of lows. I have met some of the most incredible people and it has shaped my life in many positive ways but I no longer feel that racing on a college team is serving me in the way that it once was.

I first started noticing that things were not the way they should be when I could no longer distinguish running from my everyday life. I built the structure of my days entirely around training, seven days a week for about 345 days out of the year. Naturally, this makes it easy for running to become the only thing of real substance in life. Running was no longer what I did- running became my identity. A bad workout would carry over to outside life making it almost impossible to ever fully escape thoughts about training when not doing it. The type of commitment it takes to be a part of a division 1 distance program is something that most will never know. Trying to explain to the general population exactly what you do to yourself physically, mentally, and emotionally on a daily basis as you try to become a better runner at this level is probably a lot like a soldier trying to explain what war is like to someone who has never fought. My situation was not one of being completely burned-out or a complete frustration with my coach like many of the seven other guys who have left since I have been a part of this program. My situation involved me comparing the things that I could accomplish while running competitively to the things that I could if I allocated my time elsewhere.

For a long time I fought off any thoughts I had of leaving the team, often too ashamed to even acknowledge them. The way I have been trained to operate in running is to just keep pushing, no matter what happens, just keep pushing forward. This mentality obviously conflicts with even thinking about leaving and for a long time the thoughts seemed blasphemous, getting depressed when I thought this way.
Then I began to allow myself to consider whether or not there might be more to life than just running fast. What would life be like if I didn’t have to neglect my friends and family because I had to put more value on the next day’s workout than spending time with them? Is it possible that there is more to life than just running fast?

I love running and I love the feeling of accomplishment that I can get while being on a college team but the math began to no longer add up. College is a short period of time in my life where I can be almost completely free of major responsibilities outside of just going to school and doing well, but by staying on the team I would continue this fast paced living where everyday is a blur to the next. I got tired of always having to pick at least one subject in school that I would designate as a “if I get time” course, which is a class where I know that there is physically not enough time in the day to always study properly or do the work. I got tired of having to almost completely give up playing music because I had no time to play guitar. I got tired of being tired, being tired at all times and struggling to keep my eyes open while trying to do my work. I got tired of hurting all the time.

I fully believe that everything about my personality and make-up is designed very well for college sports. I have no problem finding motivation, working hard, I have a very high pain tolerance, I dream big and I am blessed with a very strong body that is resistant to injury. The truth is I could have just as easily continued to run and remain on the team but there are just so many things I want to do before I graduate such as getting more involved with my freelance writing, getting more involved with the SGA, play music with other musicians, and enjoy the time with my friends, just to name a few. The work was not more than I could withstand, that was not the issue. I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that I could accomplish great feats in running if I continued to pursue them, but after stepping back and visualizing myself winning various individual titles vs. living a life outside of the constant strive to win, it just didn’t appeal to me as much as it should for the amount of work it takes.

Distance runners are the perfect model of human inability to never be satisfied. I tend to be very hard on myself with a lot of things, especially in running. Coaches have rarely gotten on to me about a poor performance because they have seen the kind of treatment I already douse myself with so they usually didn’t add to it. Distance running is a sport where you can never actually reach your goals. It’s much like placing everything you have ever wanted two inches from your hands but you are in an unbreakable glass box. I say this because anytime you reach your goal you immediately raise the bar before you can even enjoy what you just accomplished. As soon as you beat a pr(personal record) it no longer is a fast time and it is no longer special. I have met and studied many very good distance runners over the course of my life and I’m not sure I have ever seen one that is truly happy with themselves; I know I wasn’t one when I was running.

If someone were to ask me what the two best decisions I have made in my life thus far I would reply that they were joining the 49ers distance program and leaving it. I absolutely would not trade what I have done and experienced for any amount of money in this world. I have made so many great friends and learned more about myself than I ever would have imagined. I know how far I will truly go to accomplish something that I have set my mind to. I am also very happy I made the decision to leave the team when I did because I feel like I gained the most vital parts that are to be gained but I am leaving to pursue other loves in my life. I look back on my running career and feel happy and proud of what I accomplished. I came up from an underfunded high school program where I was under trained and under coached, but was able to train myself to become good enough to run on a varsity division one team and receive scholarship for it. I’m sure some people are going to be looking at me and wondering how I could just leave the potential to be a better athlete just lying on the table. I would like these people to know that I am not leaving any potential, I am simply shifting my potential from one thing to another and going to experiencing new things. With that being said, it has been an incredible ride but now it’s time to do some things differently. It’s a brand new life.

RGM