By Marissa Mitchell

I used to think it was a shame when everything good that could happen, didn’t happen.

Meaning, every time that I had an opportunity or potential opportunity present itself before me, if I did not avail myself of it, well, that was a shame. It was a waste. It was something to bemoan and regret.

Oftentimes I’ve wished to split myself into ten different “me”s and act (or re-enact, if I have regrets) out scenarios, so that I could choose the best one, the better one. Which one leads to the happiest life? Which one brings long-lasting fulfillment? Which one gives the most joy? I choose that one.

Musing upon (perhaps imaginary) “lost” opportunities, or simply wondering “what if” something different would have happened, whether on the part of my own, another, or naturally, has eaten away many a moment in my life. Many a dream. Many a memory. Haunted by the “could have been”s is not a pleasant activity to frequently engage in, nor is the constant fretting over if “this” is the “right” decision or not.

Let’s get scientific. Every event, in quantum mechanics, exists as a wave function. The Copenhagen Interpretation of quantum mechanics is a mainstream interpretation – namely, that a function (i.e., event) only “collapses” once an observer (such as you or I) enters the scenario. Thus, one outcome is realized. And we, most evidently, have a say in those outcomes. We are the captains of our own ships.

On the other hand, the Many Worlds theory (not that I ascribe to this theory, but it is thought-provoking) states that since this wave function theoretically never collapses, every single possible outcome of any which event is actualized in a distinct reality parallel to our own. So, maybe, somewhere, we already have chosen that “other” path and are finding out exactly how it is turning out.

“Could have been” is an obsolete and useless term and way of thinking, I have come to find. It is only in the here and now that anything at all is realized, that anything of value is decided. The moments that we have shared with others are precious, and while the “what-if”s may haunt us, the river has run a course for a reason.

Perhaps we chose it that way.

By Marissa Mitchell

Looking at the way in which people are fettered to their phones, their computers, their watches, their iPads, their televisions, it’s a wonder that anyone would ever be able to stay present in the moment. Today, I spent most of my waking hours in front of some sort of screen, running around in a fossil-fuel operated mechanism between screened devices.

It is times like these that intermittently I will experience a pang of grief for our current state of “being” and for the generations to come. Will our children and grandchildren be chained to the pixeled and coded world, somewhere in limbo between the life of the living and virtual reality?

Not only mourning for future generations, I mourn for myself. For all the lost time caught in a fantasy world of nonexistence of…what exactly? It’s hard to explain. However, I know that in that world, I don’t really have to face my own. Or, I can become so consumed with work-related tasks that the meaning of life completely eludes me (as though I even knew what that was).

The “being present” aspect that so many yoga and meditative fads are espousing is not less meaningful for being supported by what many people would qualify as “odd” or “hippy” people. At the end of the movie A Dog’s Purpose, the dog finally finds out his life purpose: to “be here now.” Simple. That’s it.

When my dad, a hospice doctor, found out his entire medical company was switching to virtual records, he bemoaned the potential loss of his precious “patient cards,” paper cards on which he wrote down all of his patients’ important information, as well as special reminders for each. Though then I was inclined to think of him as old-fashioned, simply unwilling to change, now I can appreciate just how much the tactile feel a patient’s card prior to a visit can mean to him, how much that can really identify that patient, for him, and for them.

I mourn for the loss of the days when families, not having these things, were forced to interact with one another. So much of our time is spent in virtual hypnotism, this kind of surreal immersion, that our most wonderful moments with the ones we care about, or who we may even come to care about, are lost to us. But we chose it to be that way.

I am no different. But I want a change. I want to live in this system of a virtual world insomuch as I need it, but no more. That way, when I come to end of my days here, I will have so many moments that I can fondly look back on of my very own, I won’t be able to contain my joy for having had them.

By Michael Armijo

“I am not insane.  I am angry.  I killed because people like me are mistreated every day.  I did this to show society push us and we will push back.”  This statement came from a note a boy wrote in Mississippi after he went to school and open fire killing two classmates with a rifle.  “Never in a million years did I think this would’ve happened here,” a  Kentucky resident said after another student open fire into an unsuspecting teacher.  Now these communities are struggling to find out why this happened and whether it could have been prevented.  Will we find ourselves saying the same some day?  How do we go about preventing this type of tragedy from happening here in our community?  Is anyone exempt from tragedy?

The recent shootings at schools and recent incidents involving students and children are on the increase and alarming.  I believe that none of us are exempt from tragedy, and I feel we need to prevent such tragedy, or at least try.

I believe the parents of these children are very much responsible for the actions of these kids.  As a parent of two children, a seven-year-old and a twelve-year-old, I am willing to take responsibility for my own.  I did not have a perfect childhood nor was I a perfect father.  But I’ve taken the time and effort to recognize how my parenting skills are and I’ve spent the last eight years trying to better myself.  Education, stronger health habits, counseling, and even forgiveness.  I’ve been there and done that.  Although I do not profess omniscience, I do know where my heart is and where my head should be.

As we’ve stated in our mission statement, this paper was designed to be a pro-positive publication that promotes education, communication, positive reinforcement, understanding, care and awareness.  We are not a forum for political power nor do we have a quest to be rich or famous.  We don’t want to change the world, we just want to change your outlook on life.  We just want to help.

In the last five months of 1997, there were four shootings, ten dead, and twenty-two wounded.  In each attack, a boy under the age of 16 was charged.  Child perpetrators that have lashed out at society by killing others didn’t develop this type of anger over night and they certainly weren’t born with it.  As a community we need to remember that it does take a village to raise a child.  I think it’s time to start watering the garden so that we can still stop and smell the roses. (originally written in Jan 1998. How much have we, as a society, changed since then?)