"LIFE IS AN ENTROPY"

               The word “entropy” has been using outrageously nowadays. You usually heard this to physicists, engineers and made use of in engineering subjects. But lately, you learned that even sociologists used this word. Therefore, go ahead and be a part of those who abuse this term. Entropy – synonymus to disorder, chaos, disturbance, noise, random, mixture, and heat. From the Greek word entrope, which means change. In thermodynamics, it quantifies the disorderliness of the system. According to the 2^nd law, the entropy of an isolated system never decreases over time. This means that, the longer the time, the more chaotic the system is.

               Is it not life is an entropy? Chaotic. Complicated. Interweaved. Packed with changes. Some people, while yearning for a simple and peaceful life, do not run off by problems, while others, want to stay in their life’s entropy. Life is more challenging when it is disordered. People love to struggle all the more when they are pushed to the limits. Maybe, these types of people are masochistic. They enjoy life’s crisis. They are in pain, yet they can afford to smile and laugh at their situation.

How will you understand life then when it agrees with the 2^nd law of thermodynamics in which life ends with degradation, annihilation, decomposition, separation, and death? A living proof that life is an enigmatic oxymoron; that nature favors a disordered state; that Darwin’s theory of evolution is impossible because entropy needs to be decreased to achieve the simplicity of life. Evolution is to simplicity as entropy is to complexity.

A novel can have a prologue, an epilogue, a prequel, a sequel, can pack with episodes, or can be made into a book series. But this has to be given a splendid ending by the author. At the end, the good defeated the evil, two people separated by time found each others arms once again and ends up being together, the protagonist endured, while the villain died, and just like a fairy tale, everybody lives happily ever after. Readers despised a hanging up finale. A tragic conclusion is disheartening. But in reality, each life’s story is not as always as a happy ending. Whatever happens, there has to have a period at the end of a life’s story. A part of one’s life ends with a decision; a choice of what is right, and not what is easy.

 The cliché, change is the only permanent thing in this world, is also according to the 2^nd law of thermodynamics. It says, energy is transformed from one form to another. The transformation is from higher to lower level. That is the reason why, when a hot water is filled with ice, water does not turn into ice, but instead ice turned into water. Same thing with life. You maybe rich today, tomorrow you will live with poverty. You are happy today, expect that you will cry later. That is why make the most out of your life. Enjoy each moment as if it were your last. Because you never know until when the happiness that you feel at the moment lasts. Because you believe in entropy, you knew that happiness goes to loneliness; that everything is just temporary. The ice-hot water system will come to a point of achieving its equilibrium, wherein the temperature remains constant. Life’s events consist of a symmetrical pattern. Therefore, loneliness is in symmetry with happiness. This balances the system of life. Just like the ice-hot water system, there is a gradual change. You need to adjust and to cope up, because eventually, you will reach the state of equilibrium in which you will never feel the pain, sadness, and turmoil.

Even Barbra Streisand’s question, “Some good things never last. Why can’t they last?”  can be solved by the 2^nd law of thermodynamics. They can’t last because of entropy. She watched love get closer, then it fade away. “What good is holding on when you know you can think about is letting go.” When energy is transformed, hot water rejected energy while ice accepted the same amount of energy in a heat form. Same goes with Barbra’s song. In order to achieve equilibrium, rejection and acceptance are needed. One has to let go and accept the other.

 He said, life is simple. Human just complicates it. You disagreed. It is the reversed, instead. Life is really complicated. Human has just the choice whether to simplify it or not. A jar with coins, which appears to be heads, is in an ordered state. When you agitate the jar, chances are, some of the coins will turn out to be tails. There are two choices: heads or tails. The more you shake the jar, the greater chance tails will come out. It all boils down to choice. Choice is the reason why life is an entropy. Choice makes life in a disordered state. Paradoxically, why can’t we have a choice without having to choose instead? Let life accept everything whatever comes out, that’s already it, be it hurtful or not, happy or sad, good or bad. You just have to accept as it is because you do not have a choice. Why can’t it be like that? The jar with coins has to be applied with “external work” so that tails may come out. To make a choice is to do an “external work.” One needs to make an effort. Choice spices up our lives. It tries our free will if we will be using it to good or to bad, difficult or easy, compromising or sacrificial, and the choice between what is right and easy.

               In your case, your life is still an entropy. But you know that eventually, you will reach the state of equilibrium, wherein you will never be disordered anymore.

"IF ONLY"

 "LOVE"

Crossroads

Crossroads – a place where one meets another and encounters something. Rico better puts it as, “… two roads intertwined.”

When Gollum led Frodo and Sam to Cross-Roads (it is the way to Mordor to destroy the One Ring) in Lord of the Rings – The Two Towers, indeed, Frodo encountered the Lord of Nazgul.

         Crossroads may also be a metaphor of the choices that we have at some point of our lives, and from there, we make a decision to choose just only one. Where roads cross, two great forces are concentrated -- the path that will be chosen, and the path to be ignored.  Both are transformed into a single path, but only for a short period of time. No one can remain at the crossroad forever. Once his choice is made, he has to move on, without thinking about the path he has rejected. Otherwise, the crossroad becomes a curse.

You have had so many crossroads that you have walked on. You had different reactions on different encounters. You sometimes wanted to go back where you came from; afraid to confront the encounter the crossroad may bring once you’re already there. Sometimes you just “cross the bridge” and let it happen and see how it goes. Crossroads is an adventure. You’ll never know what is going to happen next. You’ll never know unless you face your personal encounter. Sometimes, you are playing it safe. You sneak through the window looking at the other road where your personal encounter is going to pass through. That way, you won’t worry about the things to come, for your personal encounter has already passed. One thing is sure, though. There is no need for turning back. You need to walk forward and go on with your life. There might be so many roads to choose from and choosing might be difficult, but you only need just ONE. You don’t know where that road may lead you, but you have to accept the fact that you cannot walk through all the other roads. Because when do so, it maybe late to realize that you are at the wrong road.

An Attempt to Write

You read in an article that there are three things a novelist must have: a room, a personal computer, and money.

A novelist must own a room. Writers need privacy more than anyone else in the world. So it is not really surprising if he considered his room as if it is his own universe. It is his sanctuary where no one bothers the clattered pieces of paper all over the whole place, where he can have brainstorming sessions with himself and where, like pieces of jigsaw puzzles, ideas are put together.

A novelist must have a personal computer. It is the storage-house for his stories. At the age of modern technology, a pen and a paper are not enough. Writing directly using an office application is the most convenient way to write. He just needs to have an excellent typing skill so that ideas are able to jibe with the flow of writing.  A writer is used to the “spur of the moment.” Even in the quiet middle of a deep sleep, when an idea gets in, he needs to write it right away. The use of a computer will be very useful to do so. It is also possible to set a password for the articles that he made if he does not want others to sneak on it.

A novelist must have money. It is really a must-have. Being able to see his works on published is an achievement. To be able to do so, he needs a lot of money.

Unfortunately, you do not have those three things. You do not own a room; you shared it with your sister. You do not own a personal computer; you just have a computer station at work. And you don’t even have a lot of money; just enough for your needs. What are you trying to say, then? You are not a novelist, though you are aspiring to be one. A trying hard, but not a copycat writer. You are not a writer; just trying to be one. Your verb just agrees with the subject. You can just construct a sentence without getting a headache after reading it. Your words are just grammatically correct. You are not a writer; you are just attempting to put the ideas together and see how it looks. You just have in mind the articles that you’re planning to write.

JK Rowling is someone you look up to when it comes to writing. You know that when she started her career in writing, she did not have those three things. She owned the ugliest and cheapest flat in the whole world with her daughter. She did not even have a decent paper to write on. Harry Potter’s world was first written on a piece of tissue paper at a restaurant café. She did not even have much money on her bank account when she wanted to publish her first four book series. You could feel how much she was so desperate just to get her books seen in-print and how she was rejected many times by the publishing companies. You agree with her that children are a writer’s dream. She captured not just the children’s hearts, but as well the people’s childish heart. You always wish that when you write your first novel, it would be just exactly like when Rowling had her debut book.

You always believe that writing is a vocation. Some people accepted the call and they made it and became a writer. Others who were also called were not able to make it because greater opportunities come in. Anyone can become a writer. He might have become a teacher, a doctor, a lawyer, or a scientist first, but then later on he might be famous for his writings. How about an engineer, then? J

“It is never too late who you might have been.”

“Firsts”

Sabi nila disaster daw ang “my first.” Kasi nga, “Practice makes perfect.” So okay lang na magkamali ka sa una. Tutal naman meron pang pangalawa, pangatlo,… and so on. Tingin mo nga. Bakit? Ito ang kauna-unahang magpopost ka ng article sa group. Actually, it’s your second time. Yung una, sa messages mo sinend. But then you had a thought, why not make a compilation of short stories, articles, and essays tutal naman eh nagpapanggap ka rin lang naman na maging isang manunulat at gusto mo talagang magsulat. Yes, you must admit that you miss writing so much. Hindi lang pala pagsusulat ang nami-miss mo. Pati na rin ang pag-solve ng mga mind-boggling algebraic problems. Uhm… maybe you just miss to use a pen and a paper… and a calculator.

“My first” is usually a disaster. You hope not. But the truth is, you’re having a language battle whether you will use English or Tagalog for your first post. Tingnan ninyo, sa una Tagalog, then yung mga sumusunod na sentences, English. Sige, para walang gulo, Taglish na lang. Ay hindi, Englog na lang. Whatever. Basta bawal ang txt. U know wat u min? You hate it when you read, “Musta na u? Grrrr!

“My first” is usually a disaster. Maybe not all the time. Sa mga hopeless romantic ang mga “my firsts” nila ay usually masarap at memorable. First crush, first love, first kiss, first hug, first touch,… ooops… tama na!

You’ve had your “my firsts.”  And usually it’s a disaster. First entrance exam in grade 1 na iniyakan mo at gusto mong ang nanay mo na lang ang magtuloy ng exam. First menstruation na sobrang iniyakan mo rin dahil hindi ka na makapaglalaro ng 10-20. First time na ipatawag sa faculty office dahil sa pagsusulat ng “Shit! Ang Hirap!” sa test paper na later on ikaw pala ang highest na iniyakan mo rin sa banta na tatanggalin ka sa top ten kapag hindi mo dinala ang parents mo sa guidance counselor. First time mong makipagdebate tungkol sa kung bakit mo napili ang kinuha mong course nung college stude ka pa lang. First cellphone na nakuha sa bag without you knowing it because obviously you were sleeping. First time kang mahuli ng jaywalking sa Crossing at after mong magbayad ng P100 fine ay na-realize mong gimik lang pala yun ng mga manggagantsong mandurugas. First job mo na tumagal ng five days because you realized pagbebentahin ka lang pala ng insurance. At kung anuano pang “my firsts.” Hindi mo na nga  mabilang. Ngunit bawat “my first” mo ay nag-iiwan ng marka sa utak mo at meron kang bagong natutunan. Hindi nga ba’t nawala ang kainosentehan mo nung unang pagkakataong nakapanood ka ng porn film at natutong ma-distinguish ang tama ng gin-pomelo at gin-strawberry?

Kakaibang pakiramdam ang dala ng “my first.” Parang constipation when you had your first take for the licensure exam. Gusto mong tumae pero wala kang mailabas sa sobrang kaba. Pero para namang diarrhea when you passed your first take kasi dire-diretso ang buhos. Masayang-masaya ka because finally merong ka ng “Sir/Ma’am” na maidudugtong sa pangalan mo.

Punung-puno ng anticipations ang “my first.” Kasi nga hindi mo alam ang mangyayari. Is it a good news or a bad news? You took your first risk. You expected something good, but then you got frustrated when “your first” was realized. Nariyan na rin ang kabahan ka, malungkot, masiyahan, magalit, matawa, at maawa sa sarili. Haay, pathetic!

The Mayonnaise Jar and 2 Cups of Coffee

When things in your lives seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.  When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.  He then asked the students if the jar was full.  They agree that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar.  He shook the jar lightly.  The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.  He then asked the students again if the jar was full.  They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.  Of course, the sand filled up everything else.  He asked once more if the jar was full.  The students responded with a unanimous “yes.”

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand.  The students laughed.

“Now,” said the professor as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.  The golf balls are the important things---God, your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions---and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.

The sand is everything else---the small stuff.  “If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.  The same goes for life.  If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

“Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.  Play with your children.  Take time to get medical checkups.  Take your spouse out to dinner.  Play another 18.  There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.  Take care of the golf balls first---the things that really matter.  Set your principles.  The rest is just sand.”

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.  The professor smiled.  “I’m glad you asked.  It just goes to show you that no matter how full you life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.”