Apparently I missed something that blew up on the internet so i am not entirely sure what caused it. It has to do with a recent move against people who claim to be nerds/geeks. Particularly when it talks about females that are considered extremely attractive on the scales of society.  This all stemmed from a statement made about the girls that cosplay at comic cons and other fan-based conventions.

So what spurred this post? This video:  http://www.ifc.com/portlandia/videos/portlandia-nerd-psa

The “Nerd PSA,” above. It is a nicely done, with a man named Brian who describes himself as “an actual nerd” (and does not appear to be an actor; however he could just be a really good actor) insisting that the purely derogatory term “nerd” does not describe, for instance, “a sexy girl who went to a second week screening of The Avengers.” That “true nerds do not like being called nerds” The idea that women are not real nerds, and that some of them are, for whatever reason, faking it, is a fairly common notion among us. Some of you might be asking why?

To start with we have to understand the idea of gatekeeper behavior. This is where someone in a particular social group decides it’s up to them to protect the group by determining what is and isn’t appropriate for that group and attempting to purge that which they deem inappropriate. Pick any type of group that a person could be in, political, religious, social, or professional and you will find people who act as gatekeepers for that group.

By their very nature a gatekeeper is going to be a conservative member of that community as they want to keep it pure. Now how do we apply this to geek culture?  You have to remember that as we have said before the various subsets that make up geek culture have traditionally been male dominated industries that cater to a male dominate fan base. But smart business owners know that it is good to expand your consumer base and the best way to do that is to appeal to as broad a market as possible. For a male dominated market this means trying to bring in the rest of the human race, in other words females.

While this seems simple on the surface, there is a catch. That catch is that while someone new may enjoy something, they way they enjoy it may be different than how you do.

So basically what we have an issue where people are feeling threaten because other people are doing things differently. We are also starting to believe that our one place of safety from what we call society is becoming smaller and smaller a place that we cannot run too any longer as it gains more and more popular among the masses. I used to think the same way. I use to think that by letting others, who shunned me for being a nerd/geek, have a taste of my world then my world would no longer be mine. That has changed now; I say we let them embrace it in hopes that it starts to open their eyes. We have to set the standards by example, we have to show them the path and embrace those who truly want to express their passions. Show that there is nothing wrong with being passionate about something. immersing oneself into that passion.

When people start to understand each other only then will the lines that are thought to never cross will cross.

Grow Up… I’ve been told many times to do so. I don’t believe that growing up means you cannot be immature, hyper and crazy sometimes. Growing up doesn’t mean that you have to stop having fun. Growing up just means, taking responsibility, being wiser and more mature, being able to differentiate the time to play and the time to work

I’m in my late 20’s so I’ve experienced the innocence and inquisitiveness of being a toddler, active play and imagination as a child, pushing boundaries and exploring new things as a teenager, and now developing and navigating a sense of self, self-acceptance and self-efficacy as I take what I have learned thus far and experiment creating a life in the real world. When though, did society teach us that we must live in segmented stages of life? Society tells us that if you are now in your ‘adult’ stage of life you better stop acting like a child. I’m sorry, when did ‘society’ decide that eating food with my hands, finding shapes in the clouds and jumping on the bed is not acceptable behaviour for me? I am AWARE that I have been on this planet longer, but I do not feel ‘older’. Why then, should I stop doing the things I loved doing as a child (the things that brought me massive joy by the way) simply because I’m old enough to buy liquor and qualify for a mortgage.

It seems to me that it would make more sense, as we age, to retain all the amazing qualities we’ve developed, and discard the ones that aren’t as amazing. I am a child at heart, and so is everyone else. We have just forgotten what it feels like. Which is so bizarre to me. Adults ‘plan’ fun. Children have fun on impulse. If an idea comes to a kid, they do it. They don’t think about who’s watching, or if what they’re doing is going to create a mess (because if it does, you can clean it up later anyways). They just live fun. They are Joy in action all the time. It seems that we stop doing the fun things because someone in our lives told us that ‘adults’ don’t do that.

We, based on external and internal stimuli, create our perception of the World. And it is our perception of reality, that creates our emotions, and thus how we see/feel/experience the World. Every experience (good and bad), every person you talk to, every advertisement you see, every parent, sibling, friend, teacher, co-worker, or partner who has ever dispensed on you their ‘opinion’ of you and who you are, has the potential to shape our grooves, and thus, how we experience ourselves in this world. Being UNAWARE that external stimuli affects our reality.

By not taking responsibility for our own thoughts and actions we fall victim to our own lives. The next time someone tells you that you’re are a bad listener, or that your dreams are unattainable, stop for a moment before you internalize these thoughts and act on them.

meditating. a practice in which an individual trains the mind or induces a mode of consciousness, either to realize some benefit or as an end in itself. it was not until I started Aikido that I started meditating. and it was until recently that I learned what meditation does for me. Don’t think you can meditate? Close your eyes. Take 1 deep breath in, then out. Now imagine yourself jumping on the bounciest bed you have ever been on. Feel how alive you feel. Now remember a time in your childhood when you got the best hug you’ve ever had. Stay here for a moment. Let your heart melt a bit. Exhale.

Be good, to yourself, to others, and to the planet. Give to receive.dance in your underwear, run through sprinklers, ask questions, believe in people, hope, have Faith, have faith in others, and in yourself. If you want to attract people around you who like who you are, guess what, you HAVE TO BE WHO YOU ARE AT ALL TIMES!