Of jellyfish and robots.

So today I was lifeguarding. One of the counsellors asked me if she could go rinse off in the ocean. I said no, but she went anyway. [Thanks]. Well, the tide was going out, and it was leaving deep ish puddles of  water in its wake. In one of these puddles was a jellyfish. Of course we kept it. And named it Jerry.

Jellyfish are interesting creatures. With no bones, heart, or brain, they process nerve impulses to be able to directly react to danger and food stimuli. It is a mystery how they process these impulses with no brain. Jellyfish are 95% water, but some species are considered a delicacy in countries such as Japan. They contain large portions of protein, and some experts are contemplating using jellyfish as a solution for global hunger.

Being a solution to global hunger is noble and all, but however noble, I have personally never heard anyone ever wish they were a jellyfish. They just float. Sometimes they eat other animals. But they don't get in fights, like mammals. They don't take care of their young. They don't have emotions. (Or, re-interating, brains.) I'm sure God made them for some purpose, but I do not think that purpose was for us to freak out whenever we go to the beach. I could be wrong. Maybe he was just showing off his creativity. Have you ever touched the top of a jellyfish? It feels amazing. I am reminded of Finding Nemo, specifically, Dory.

I shall call him Squishy and he shall be mine and he shall be my Squishy. Come on, Squishy. Come on little Squishy.

Anywho... all jellyfish can do is what God wired them to do- eat, and sting people. Kind of like robots. They only have the capability to do whatever they were wired to do. What if God had created us like that? We would just exist. No choices, no emotions, no planning, no love. But if you think about it, we were "wired" to worship Him. He just gave us a brain, which, in this context is kind of like just giving us a choice. With no choice, there would be no love. With no love, there is absolutely no purpose for us here on Earth. Kind of like jellyfish. And robots.

"You've achieved success in your field when you don't know whether what you're doing is work or play."

~Warren Beatty

I am currently sitting on my top bunk bed in a room shared by two other girls with whom I have the opportunity of working this summer. The first half of the summer for me was spent taking a chemistry class at school. The whole terrible ordeal was only made better through the friendships that grew in the duration of the class, and the knowledge that I would be here the second half of the summer. Let me just try to express for a minute just how obvious it was that God wanted me here this summer. I had been planning on taking a couple of classes at my local hometown college in hopes of finding some kind of job in my little town in the middle of Nowheres-ville, Ga. Well, my GPA was a little bruised from taking chemistry (F) in the fall at the same time as an upper level bio class (B+). [Bad call- I had never taken a real chem class before. Or bio for that matter.] Anywho, my awesome chemistry lab (B+) professor sat down with me at lunch one day and talked me into coming back in the first summer term to take chem again with her, in hopes for a better grade, to replace it on my GPA. Well, I did, and got a B+, with very many thanks to the Lord. But I realized that the only summer job I would be able to get (sans staying in Birmingham for ALL summer) would be to find a camp. The camp I worked at last summer had already hired people, besides the fact that my job (horseback instructor) required me to be there all summer. Most camps had already hired their summer staff at this point. Well, I had volunteered with the Fresh Air Home in the past, and decided to just try to email them to see if they were still hiring. Turns out that the guy who answered my email was the same guy I had met a few months prior at a coffee shop. (Small world, AKA God.) Well, perfect timing. The staff interview weekend was that weekend, four days away, seven hours away. I wasn't doing anything, so I went. And got the job. And here I am. And oh how I can see God's hand at work. It's amazing. And I'm on a break right now, and am about to go do something fun and exciting. So just ready yourself for the next installment, where I will post some of the letters my campers have given me. It will be worth it.

Was Tennyson on track with his famous, "'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all"? Or was Yakamochi closer to truth with, "Better never to have met you in my dream than to wake and reach for hands that are not there." Regardless, Socrates said it best when he stated, "The hottest love has the coldest end."

It might be a stretch, but I would venture to say that these love quotes could pertain other things in life, besides people. Yeah, sure, you may love a guy/girl (meant as either/or, not a transvestite, although I am sure they are loved too- I've just never met one). But if you passionately love somebody and then suddenly they are gone, it leaves a void in your heart. You can also passionately love an activity or an object, and if you are abruptly snatched away from it, it would leave the same emptiness. Well, maybe not the same emptiness, but just go with me here- I have a point, I promise.
Does a girl who was stricken with blindness at age fifteen regret the fact that she ever had the opportunity to see beauty, now that she's left in darkness? Or does she relish her memories of sight, tenderly remembering what she had? Perhaps, with the right attitude, she secretly enjoys the freedom she now has. Most people will never have the opportunity to 'see' without their eyes getting in the way.* I would imagine that blind people have the capacity to perceive things that us gifted with sight will never know.  In this case, I would imagine that Tennyson overrules.
I'm not one to speak to being "in love", per say, but I have had persons pass on or leave who I cared for deeply, and I know for a fact that I wouldn't trade all the pain and hurt of loss in the world for the memories that we had together.
Overall, I guess that Tennyson takes the cake for being able to put into words something that I am sure many of us have felt. My point for all this, then, is to do everything with all of yourself. Never be too scared to love for fear of being hurt, because life is too short to miss out on.
This is put best into words by Mark Twain, who said, "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowliness. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

*Ben Underwood is an extraordinary example of seeing without sight. He lost his eyes at a young age to cancer, and is the only known person in the world to use the reflection of clicking noises from his mouth to pinpoint the location of walls, stairs, doors, people, etc.