Issues of Trust

This is a picture to supposedly symbolize "trust" - even though they're
clearly holding a baby's hand. I don't trust babies... They can't even support
their own heads some of them... let alone emotionally support another person. 

This blog update centres around the issues and implications of trust.

I, as a person, am very trusting. To the point where most people would assume it causes a hindrance to my everyday life. I don't think it's an entirely bad thing to be as trusting a person as me. I like to think I would give a mass-murderer the benefit of the doubt if he argued his case well enough... wait - that doesn't sound right. What I mean is, I wouldn't necessarily right him off as a person based on his actions - there's nothing to be gained from doing that. It would be far more useful to understand the reasons why he acted that way in the first place. 

(Note: I do not, nor have I ever condoned mass-murder or any murderous-related acts. Nor have I ever partaken in said events, be they directly or indirectly. Remember kids - MURDER IS WRONG) 

I'm not saying that I'm naive in any sense. I'm not at the point where I would happily give up my shoes to a tramp because I trust him enough to sell them to pay for food, (or more appropriately, to ward off the rats from biting his toes o.O). Let's face it - he's far more likely to sell them to buy drugs :|


(Note: I must once again stress that I do not, nor have I ever partaken in the use, and/or misuse of drugs... I'm sure you get the picture by now, but I'll reiterate regardless: DRUGS ARE WRONG) 

When it comes to meeting new people, I have no option but to trust them. It's in my nature. I see no reason in my head to believe that they would have any incentive to do me harm. Sure - they could be a mass-murderer. They might be a creepy cyber-stalker. They could even potentially be the next Hitler (God forbid...) But why would you put a negative spin on things? Why face everything with pessimism? Who's to say that your trust might just prevent them from becoming that terrible person in the first place?

If trust (as a conceptual interpersonal "force" so to speak) didn't exist, where would the human race be today? We would all be figurative "lone wolves," as opposed to a "wolf pack." (Wow, actually don't know where I pulled that analogy from - I think I secretly want to be in a wolf pack...) The human race moving as random particles, never colliding (OK chemistry now? Seriously?), never trusting each other to accomplish things that are greater than the sum of their parts. (the analogies stop now - I swear... -_-) 

Another seemingly unrelated cat picture. Although to be honest,
I probably wouldn't trust these cats. They look pretty G. 

I just think that trust is a rare thing these days - and to be able to find someone you can trust unequivocally is even rarer. To be able to find just one person that you can put yourself in a position of complete vulnerability, and trust them not to destroy you... I believe that is true trust. 




Cheese... :D 

Fear.

Fear: a negative emotion induced by a perceived external threat.

Today is Friday the 13th of May 2011. A day viewed by many as a source of paranoia, anxiety and/or fear. Phobias come in many varieties, from the common arachnophobia - fear of spiders, to the hilarious (but completely understandable - these things are scary as) zemmiphobia - the fear of the great mole rat. There's even a phobia concerning this very day: friggatriskaidekaphobia - the fear of Friday the 13th. 

How people deal and cope with fears differs from person to person. How can one person, for instance, happily touch a tarantula but be defeated at the thought of touching cotton wool? I believe that fear manifests itself as a symptom of hormonal imbalance; One person may be more genetically inclined to develop phobias than others.

However, I don't know anywhere near enough about psycho-biology to comment on that. 

What I do know is that there are people out there who are scared. Scared of things that other people may belittle, or scared to show their emotions to others, or even too scared to admit that they have these fears in the first place. And what happens to those people that are scared of themselves? To look in the mirror everyday and hate the person staring back at them because they find certain aspects of themselves too hard to accept. 

I'm not suggesting that this type of fear is easily overcome. What I would like to say is, however you deal (or, as the case may be, not deal) with fear, it's important to not let it rule your life, or indeed, stop it from letting you become - in the immortal words of the great Jessie J - who you are... even though I've probably heard several other people say that... :|

Yep, I defo just crossed the threshold into ULTIMATE cheese :)

(also - are the cool kids still saying "defo" these days?!)