Living In Filth

FYI this post is a bit different than the norm.


   Ever wonder how hobos get by? Or how people, so long ago, could possibly live in the terrible conditions that havocked the world? Pondering along one may think, is it right that Africans live in such terrible conditions? Or right that there are Kenyans who run miles a day just to go to school?
   How can it be. Is there some force around us that brings these conditions to be, in some way, bearable? There may be an answer.
   I like many of my teenage friends live in a room that is commonly seen to be "filthy", "disorganized", or "in need of a cleaning." Where as I perceive it to be simply natural. Easy to live with and proactive in my creative process. Not to say I don't clean my room [though I do much more over the summer] but to say that this "Living In Filth" is a matter of perception.

   Back in the day conditions were rough. You lived in times of war and amputation was the best cure. "Live with the pain or lose it." Now a days, doctors will prescribe you pills that can fix anything. From migraines, to inherited diseases. Is there still wonder why those conditions were bearable. Or why, when you go back even further you lived in war. Where a slow death by blood loss and a dagger wound was more common than the unwounded troop count.
   Or perhaps we consider pain. How long does it last? At what point are you Numb? Have you ever fallen? Well of course you have, and what happens, soon after you find yourself in this sort of Numb state. A place between in pain and joy. A mix that really isn't conceivable in words.

   Try imagining the future? To bad you can't see into the future, and even if you could would you want to? Would you want to look at a Thanksgiving turkey feast, or live with what you have, not knowing of other existing ways of life.
   If the future has transportation beyond that of cars...what would they think of our lives? Would they feel sorry for the few hour commutes we have to take...that life wasting time, that could be spent better with family, friends, kids, pets and EVERYONE ELSE!
   It is a true shame that humans pity those of the past, who in their time, thought highly of themselves or did not care. How many in the industrial revolution thought they lived in the best conditions that there would ever be. And look at us now, with worldwide connectivity through the internet, TV and so many other devices!

   If we take a look in my video editing experiences I find multiple examples that show this well. I use to think what I did on the green screen couldn't get better. But it slowly got better, and increased in greatness, and even now I realize that in the future there will be a better green screen for me. And when I first started trying to do flame effects I had a better idea at the end of the week. I look back now and consider what I saw as impressive then to be my worst works ever. Even when some of them took me hours of work. All in all, it is a learning experience that builds to become who you are, and what you are, in the now and future...
   It's one of those things where you know something better is out there, but you don't know how, you just can't fathom it. Which in itself is a good thing as it makes you a much happier person.

   Another good example of crap conditions would be of the AE (After Effects) establishing body. Many think that you are more or less born into greatness. Which as we all no is only true for f'd up actors and musicians...
   But anyway. The AE team started out with meetings in an apartment building where one of the team lived with his Girl Friend and a couple other guys. This is the start of AE, right there, pretty crappy huh? They soon moved into a bigger building. At that time they were likely thinking, "Damn this is nice." And with all the odds piled up against them, it was likely the best they'd ever get. But everything got better they moved on in life and got greater, and look now, we just got AE CS5 [which I'm getting this summer--yaya].

   But all of this just goes to show you that, even in the past when things look bad, or in the present when you see something like a dirty room. It is only going to get better for the person. And they are living in an awesome place right then. Why try and teach them to live better when they are doing just fine? Yeah, sure, we can help the Kenyan school kids out, but it is their normal, they grew up with it. That's just how they live. And showing them little bits of a beastly thanksgiving, just pisses them off.


Thanks For Reading,


Alex Chandler


(and yes this was written just to prove to my mom that I can live with an unclean room for a bit)