Hello modern day cyber journalists,
Today I will be discussing my ritual and what it means to me.
Well to preface this blog I would like to say that I have two differing rituals that focus on two areas in my life. There is my personal ritual and my Fiji ritual.
I think i'll start off describing my Fiji ritual. The all encompassing friendship, knowledge, service, morality, and excellence. What's nice about these "guidelines," as another one of my brothers put it, is that they challenge us to live to a higher standard. Everyday we are reminded about our ritual and we can see if we measure up to those lofty ideals our founders set out for us. What is nice about the Fiji ritual is that it is split up into two fundamentally significant life groups. Those values focused on yourself and those focused on others. Although one can say that all the values benefit others, I believe morality and knowledge are there to improve one's self. To counter balance these introspective ideals, Fiji also presses the importance of friendship and service. What a better way to push a group of people toward a higher standard of living then to focus on individuals and the people they interact with. To top it off, all of these values are tied together through excellence.
All in all I would say living in Fiji really helps to put these values in to practice (living my ritual.) Being around my brothers who all hold these values like I do helps to keep me committed. Which brings up a good point I want to make; living a ritual is made easier when you surround yourself with those of similar ideals. I would like to say, however, that your ritual isn't tested until you surround yourself with people who's beliefs differ from yours. So it is good to build the basic structure surrounded by similar thinking men, but to cement your ideals you need to put yourself in uncomfortable situations.
Now fortunately for me Fiji has helped to finalize my personal ritual. My personal ritual used to focus more on friendship, knowledge, and excellence. Friendship because I am probably one of the most extroverted people you will ever meet. Knowledge because for some reason I just enjoy learning (if it is in an area I enjoy.) Excellence existed in order to prove to myself and my parent the type of person I could become. Fiji has helped me to move away from a self centered approach on life. Now my ritual is more focused on my interactions with others and less on myself. Now of course I am still struggling in areas but I really enjoy the man this ritual is making out of me.
Anyways I guess a little sum up of this blog for those who aren't going to read it all. My personal ritual focused on improving myself and the Fiji ritual has helped to "round" my life out by focusing on others.
Cool? ha. Hope you guys enjoy finding out a little more about me.
Coz
Monday, January 24, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Representing Fiji
Hey brothers and blog readers,
This blog I think I am going to discuss what it means to represent Fiji and stigmas in the greek community itself.
Last class we discussed for a while why we do not drink in our letters. Out of respect for our fraternity and to not adhere to the normal fraternity stigma, we make it a rule to keep our attire Fiji free (when alcohol is involved). Jon Brown brought up a point that even if we aren't in our letters people can still associate us with Fiji. I have been thinking about this a lot and am very conflicted. Does this mean we shouldn't drink alcohol at all? Do we have to be the "perfect" fraternity in order to break these greek stigmas? And if we do go and partake in a few libations does that mean we aren't in congruence in our values as a fraternity?
These questions have been running through my mind ever since last tuesday. WE are already known as an "organization" of the greek community. We aren't greek week partners with theta because we couldn't throw the big parties the older ladies were looking for ( damn ATOs ha). This brings me to another question I have been thinking of. How can we change a community that actually lives up to the negative stigmas that are placed upon it? 90% of the greek community joined in order to be sexually promiscuous and go to raging parties. You can see that in the Ohio State greek community where the "best frat" is the one who has the biggest bros, throws the best parties, and has with the most free alcohol.
I think representing Fiji in the Ohio State greek community is similar to representing your faith in the present day. You want to be an example in your community, but people judge you for not "living your life" like they do.
This similarity brings another question to my mind. Just how perfect are we supposed to be? One of the main reasons I question faith is because of people who have to adhere to strict rules and believe their way of faith is the only way to worship. I don't want Fiji to take on this role in the greek community because I feel that it is counter productive to getting the results we wish to see in fraternal life.
Anyways... I kind of feeling that I am rambling and not making to many coherent thoughts.. So I think I am just going to leave this blog for now. It is something to consider so please let me know what you think on this issue. ( And sorry if this offended anyone. It wasn't supposed to. I was just trying to convey my thoughts. ) PLEASE RESPOND.
This blog I think I am going to discuss what it means to represent Fiji and stigmas in the greek community itself.
Last class we discussed for a while why we do not drink in our letters. Out of respect for our fraternity and to not adhere to the normal fraternity stigma, we make it a rule to keep our attire Fiji free (when alcohol is involved). Jon Brown brought up a point that even if we aren't in our letters people can still associate us with Fiji. I have been thinking about this a lot and am very conflicted. Does this mean we shouldn't drink alcohol at all? Do we have to be the "perfect" fraternity in order to break these greek stigmas? And if we do go and partake in a few libations does that mean we aren't in congruence in our values as a fraternity?
These questions have been running through my mind ever since last tuesday. WE are already known as an "organization" of the greek community. We aren't greek week partners with theta because we couldn't throw the big parties the older ladies were looking for ( damn ATOs ha). This brings me to another question I have been thinking of. How can we change a community that actually lives up to the negative stigmas that are placed upon it? 90% of the greek community joined in order to be sexually promiscuous and go to raging parties. You can see that in the Ohio State greek community where the "best frat" is the one who has the biggest bros, throws the best parties, and has with the most free alcohol.
I think representing Fiji in the Ohio State greek community is similar to representing your faith in the present day. You want to be an example in your community, but people judge you for not "living your life" like they do.
This similarity brings another question to my mind. Just how perfect are we supposed to be? One of the main reasons I question faith is because of people who have to adhere to strict rules and believe their way of faith is the only way to worship. I don't want Fiji to take on this role in the greek community because I feel that it is counter productive to getting the results we wish to see in fraternal life.
Anyways... I kind of feeling that I am rambling and not making to many coherent thoughts.. So I think I am just going to leave this blog for now. It is something to consider so please let me know what you think on this issue. ( And sorry if this offended anyone. It wasn't supposed to. I was just trying to convey my thoughts. ) PLEASE RESPOND.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Values
Hello blog readers of 2011.
I suppose today is the day I will be discussing the three most important values I hold.
Before starting this bog I would like to preface by saying these aren't necessarily always my top values since my values seem to change with the different stages of my life. I think this is true for everyone. Values seem to come and go depending on what is most pressing currently in your life. Now i'm not saying one loses interest in certain values or that everyone lacks integrity. All I am trying to say is that the values that one considers the most important seems to change over time. That at least is true for me. I always have the same group of values. The ones I cherish the most however change from time to time. Since this is true for me, it makes it a bit difficult to pinpoint my top three values, but I will say, for the most part, these are the ones that have been fairly consistent no matter what has been happening in my life. (So I suppose they are my "top" values.)
The first value that has been very stagnant in my life in open-mindedness. Within the last four years of my life I believe this has been the most prevalent value I have acquired. Maybe its because of my own personality. Maybe I acquired it because of some of the situations I have had to deal with. Either way I admire and respect people with open minds. Now i'm not saying that one shouldn't stick to their values, but when a valid argument is brought against your own I think a revision of your own views is necessary. When a revision isn't made I think it borders on ignorance and I hate ignorance haha(if someone wants to show me how its not I would love to hear it (trying to be openminded)). Ok, that might have offended some people so my apologies. Anyways I think that open-mindedness is a great trait for someone to possess and that it leads to improvement of ideas and society in general. What if society was close-minded ... say around the time of the geocentric model of our galaxy ( and yes I know they weren't completely receptive to the idea at the time, but they ended up "opening" their minds.) If they stayed close minded we would still believe that we were the center of our galaxy even though we now know that the sun is the true center. Just trying to back up my value haha.
OK this guy might annoy you a little but I think this video makes some great points about being open minded.
And on to my next value. That is my value of honesty. Honesty speaks a lot about a person and what kind of relationship you have with that person. I believe you can completely understand a relationship from the level of honesty that is present. The better the relationship the more honest you are to one another. Even when the truth will hurt someone I believe the result of telling them will be better than keeping someone in the dark. White lies are only needed if you don't have a good relationship with person. Although I say this and although this value is one of the most important, it is probably the hardest in practice. Every value only becomes a character trait once it is "practiced" in life. I am working on this however because the consequences of a lie outweigh the consequences of telling the truth or said in a different fashion "coming clean."
While i'm discussing the value of honesty, I thought I might share this honest 4 Loko commercial.
Recently I believed that my third most appreciated value was encompassed best by the term hard work. That was until I had a discussion with my brother Eli. After that discussion I believe passion provides a better description of this value. Passion. Its amazing. So many different aspects of a person's personality can be explained by their passion. What they value in life, how seriously they take their work, how they love, what fascinates them. These are just a few of the many things that can be explained by a person's passion. I feel like it is this all encompassing trait of how one faces the different tasks and issues life throws at him. It literally describes everything, which is why I value it so much. I always wish to express my passion to the world, but sometimes I feel I do a poor job haha. Anyways, it is probably the one value that is impossible to express through words. Passion is shown through actions and that is definitely something I have to work on.
Well I feel I went a little to long with this so i'll spare you a last video.
Peace out.
I suppose today is the day I will be discussing the three most important values I hold.
Before starting this bog I would like to preface by saying these aren't necessarily always my top values since my values seem to change with the different stages of my life. I think this is true for everyone. Values seem to come and go depending on what is most pressing currently in your life. Now i'm not saying one loses interest in certain values or that everyone lacks integrity. All I am trying to say is that the values that one considers the most important seems to change over time. That at least is true for me. I always have the same group of values. The ones I cherish the most however change from time to time. Since this is true for me, it makes it a bit difficult to pinpoint my top three values, but I will say, for the most part, these are the ones that have been fairly consistent no matter what has been happening in my life. (So I suppose they are my "top" values.)
The first value that has been very stagnant in my life in open-mindedness. Within the last four years of my life I believe this has been the most prevalent value I have acquired. Maybe its because of my own personality. Maybe I acquired it because of some of the situations I have had to deal with. Either way I admire and respect people with open minds. Now i'm not saying that one shouldn't stick to their values, but when a valid argument is brought against your own I think a revision of your own views is necessary. When a revision isn't made I think it borders on ignorance and I hate ignorance haha(if someone wants to show me how its not I would love to hear it (trying to be openminded)). Ok, that might have offended some people so my apologies. Anyways I think that open-mindedness is a great trait for someone to possess and that it leads to improvement of ideas and society in general. What if society was close-minded ... say around the time of the geocentric model of our galaxy ( and yes I know they weren't completely receptive to the idea at the time, but they ended up "opening" their minds.) If they stayed close minded we would still believe that we were the center of our galaxy even though we now know that the sun is the true center. Just trying to back up my value haha.
OK this guy might annoy you a little but I think this video makes some great points about being open minded.
And on to my next value. That is my value of honesty. Honesty speaks a lot about a person and what kind of relationship you have with that person. I believe you can completely understand a relationship from the level of honesty that is present. The better the relationship the more honest you are to one another. Even when the truth will hurt someone I believe the result of telling them will be better than keeping someone in the dark. White lies are only needed if you don't have a good relationship with person. Although I say this and although this value is one of the most important, it is probably the hardest in practice. Every value only becomes a character trait once it is "practiced" in life. I am working on this however because the consequences of a lie outweigh the consequences of telling the truth or said in a different fashion "coming clean."
While i'm discussing the value of honesty, I thought I might share this honest 4 Loko commercial.
Recently I believed that my third most appreciated value was encompassed best by the term hard work. That was until I had a discussion with my brother Eli. After that discussion I believe passion provides a better description of this value. Passion. Its amazing. So many different aspects of a person's personality can be explained by their passion. What they value in life, how seriously they take their work, how they love, what fascinates them. These are just a few of the many things that can be explained by a person's passion. I feel like it is this all encompassing trait of how one faces the different tasks and issues life throws at him. It literally describes everything, which is why I value it so much. I always wish to express my passion to the world, but sometimes I feel I do a poor job haha. Anyways, it is probably the one value that is impossible to express through words. Passion is shown through actions and that is definitely something I have to work on.
Well I feel I went a little to long with this so i'll spare you a last video.
Peace out.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Social Stigmas ( sorry class I got personal )
Ok. Before I start this blog I need to preface it by saying this might not be the most well put-together or thought out blog entry, but I need to get it off my chest before I take an extreme rash action and potentially jeopardize my friendships in Fiji. This is also commenting on Fiji as a whole, not any individuals specifically so if anyone is reading this that feels it is a personal attack... its not.
Joel... ha... this is personal, especially to this fraternity ... so if you don't want to know about some of my private issues then stop reading.
(Also this post will include some derogatory and vulgar language so stop reading if you don't want to let your eyes fall upon these words. Also if you don't want to read some very personal information stop reading as well.)
And so it begins.
Stigmas. Fucking social stigmas. How or why these come into being and come to define one's whole existence is beyond me. Whats even worse is the stereotypes that come along with these stigmas. If you excessively drink one too many nights, society defines you as someone who has a drinking problem(by the way this is not my problem.. at least I don't believe its the heart of the issue in my fraternity. I will dive into my problem later on.) This drinking problem leads to stereotypes, and stereotypes lead right back to worsening the stigma that has now been placed upon you.
Stigmas don't even have to be a direct result of your actions. In my example about myself, that i'll get into later, it could even be placed on you through who you surround yourself with. More easily defined, you are guilty by association.
Now that I have expressed some of my views about stigmas I suppose i'll jump right into my situation.
Who fucking cares? I like to have a good time and party as well. Not many people can say they don't. So what I want to know is why some people get their panties in a bunch over this? What in god's name gives these elitist pricks the right to assume that if a person has ever "patrtied" they are of no contributing value to society? Why is it when someone has smoked pot or partied that instantly they have a stigma put upon them that instantly defines every unexplained action. Recently I needed to take a break from my brothers because I was pissed at a certain situation in my fraternity. So I removed myself from the situation and spent 2 nights at some of my friends outside of Fiji. When I came back..... guess why everyone thought I was away..... to smoke pot. What the fuck? Do people seriously not know me well enough to think there might be other reasons for my absence?
This situation has perpetuated itself over and over again in Fiji. At the start of my Greek career I informed my brothers that I loved to party. Guess I set myself up poorly for future interactions because from that point on I was known as "that" kid. To make it worse, the friends I hung out with in Fiji already had a bad stigma. So even though I have never really been out of control drunk (or at least not as consistently as most of my brothers), and definitely do not fit the stereotypical stoner role, I all of the sudden found myself in a world of judgement for not living my life "up to Fiji code."
Now I will admit that I was might have partied a little harder than some. But I do not believe, especially after I have made so much progress in Fiji, my life goals/priorities, and myself as a person, that my freshman year should hold me back in people's minds.
People in Fiji do NOT value my opinions or look to me to be a contributing member in any fashion.
Recently I applied for Chair positions in Fiji to prove myself to my fraternity, in an attempt to "throw off" my stigma and the stereotypes that have been put on me. Apparently, two brothers who have been in Fiji a lot less than I have got the two positions because our Cabinet wanted them to have a chance to shine. I still don't actually believe thats the real reasons why I wasn't chosen, but I still would have been fine with the decision. What pisses the FUCK out of me is that everyone else who applied for chair positions, and like me didn't get a position, were told by cabinet, specifically, how they wanted them to contribute to Fiji's overall improvement. GUESS WHAT? I wasn't even talked to until I asked why I wasn't chosen. When I questioned this, the response I got was "well if you want to do something just join a committee and contribute how you want to."
I don't know if i'm overreacting but why would other brothers be informed specifically on what aspects they were to contribute and then I get thrown by the wayside?
I have never given Fiji a reason to doubt my abilities when contributing to its well-being. So why am I not trusted? All I can think of is my stigma that for some reason is still around.
Not everything I do revolves around partying and getting fucked up. And if people don't know this then I seriously am frowning on the years i've wasted with people I thought were my friends and would get to know me... for ME, and not some stupid stigma that was placed on me.
This isn't even an issue with me specifically, I think it is a problem with Fiji as a whole to anyone who has a stigma that has been placed upon them.
Anyways, glad I could get this off my chest. Thanks if you have read this all the way through.
Joel... ha... this is personal, especially to this fraternity ... so if you don't want to know about some of my private issues then stop reading.
(Also this post will include some derogatory and vulgar language so stop reading if you don't want to let your eyes fall upon these words. Also if you don't want to read some very personal information stop reading as well.)
And so it begins.
Stigmas. Fucking social stigmas. How or why these come into being and come to define one's whole existence is beyond me. Whats even worse is the stereotypes that come along with these stigmas. If you excessively drink one too many nights, society defines you as someone who has a drinking problem(by the way this is not my problem.. at least I don't believe its the heart of the issue in my fraternity. I will dive into my problem later on.) This drinking problem leads to stereotypes, and stereotypes lead right back to worsening the stigma that has now been placed upon you.
Stigmas don't even have to be a direct result of your actions. In my example about myself, that i'll get into later, it could even be placed on you through who you surround yourself with. More easily defined, you are guilty by association.
Now that I have expressed some of my views about stigmas I suppose i'll jump right into my situation.
Who fucking cares? I like to have a good time and party as well. Not many people can say they don't. So what I want to know is why some people get their panties in a bunch over this? What in god's name gives these elitist pricks the right to assume that if a person has ever "patrtied" they are of no contributing value to society? Why is it when someone has smoked pot or partied that instantly they have a stigma put upon them that instantly defines every unexplained action. Recently I needed to take a break from my brothers because I was pissed at a certain situation in my fraternity. So I removed myself from the situation and spent 2 nights at some of my friends outside of Fiji. When I came back..... guess why everyone thought I was away..... to smoke pot. What the fuck? Do people seriously not know me well enough to think there might be other reasons for my absence?
This situation has perpetuated itself over and over again in Fiji. At the start of my Greek career I informed my brothers that I loved to party. Guess I set myself up poorly for future interactions because from that point on I was known as "that" kid. To make it worse, the friends I hung out with in Fiji already had a bad stigma. So even though I have never really been out of control drunk (or at least not as consistently as most of my brothers), and definitely do not fit the stereotypical stoner role, I all of the sudden found myself in a world of judgement for not living my life "up to Fiji code."
Now I will admit that I was might have partied a little harder than some. But I do not believe, especially after I have made so much progress in Fiji, my life goals/priorities, and myself as a person, that my freshman year should hold me back in people's minds.
People in Fiji do NOT value my opinions or look to me to be a contributing member in any fashion.
Recently I applied for Chair positions in Fiji to prove myself to my fraternity, in an attempt to "throw off" my stigma and the stereotypes that have been put on me. Apparently, two brothers who have been in Fiji a lot less than I have got the two positions because our Cabinet wanted them to have a chance to shine. I still don't actually believe thats the real reasons why I wasn't chosen, but I still would have been fine with the decision. What pisses the FUCK out of me is that everyone else who applied for chair positions, and like me didn't get a position, were told by cabinet, specifically, how they wanted them to contribute to Fiji's overall improvement. GUESS WHAT? I wasn't even talked to until I asked why I wasn't chosen. When I questioned this, the response I got was "well if you want to do something just join a committee and contribute how you want to."
I don't know if i'm overreacting but why would other brothers be informed specifically on what aspects they were to contribute and then I get thrown by the wayside?
I have never given Fiji a reason to doubt my abilities when contributing to its well-being. So why am I not trusted? All I can think of is my stigma that for some reason is still around.
Not everything I do revolves around partying and getting fucked up. And if people don't know this then I seriously am frowning on the years i've wasted with people I thought were my friends and would get to know me... for ME, and not some stupid stigma that was placed on me.
This isn't even an issue with me specifically, I think it is a problem with Fiji as a whole to anyone who has a stigma that has been placed upon them.
Anyways, glad I could get this off my chest. Thanks if you have read this all the way through.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Blog Assignment #1
Why Hello Blog World.
Current Song: Chrystal Castles
Current Location: The Quaffice
My name is Chris Osborne and this happens to be my first official attempt at blogging. I never thought I would be hopping on the blogabus, but now that I'm on I might as well see where it takes me.
My full name is Christopher Mack Osborne and I am a junior majoring in accounting and finance with statistics and information technology as my minors. I was born and raised in Libertyville, Illinois for a majority of my life, except for a couple years in the U.K. and my high school years in Bay Village, Ohio. Even though I have only lived in 2 states and Britain, I did move around a lot in those areas. If one wants to get a preview into my private life, this traveling caused me never to really have a best friend and definitely shaped my personality and character into what it is today. My "best friends" are always the group of people I am currently hanging out with. With that being said, Fiji has definitely become my new best pal. I'll go into why I love Fiji here in a little bit.
Anyways, to retreat back into a comfortable area, I am obsessed with hockey, lacrosse, and football (the british use of the word of course.) I have played hockey since I was 5 years old and would like to think I'm pretty talented (being modest and all haha.) I didn't play lacrosse till high my sophomore year, but it is my favorite sport to play. If I hadn't torn my acl my senior year, then I would probably still be playing it competitively now. As for the best sport to watch in the world, i.e. FOOTBALL, I am head over heals obsessed. Love watching the Premiere League and the World Cup (Go Uruguay (D. Forlan is a beast.))
If anyone wants to watch some matches let me know, we'll make an event out of it.
If you are still reading this I guess i'll throw in another tid bit about myself. To put this bluntly, earth and environmental sciences revs my jets. I have never been so fascinated by a study. Something about earth's gerontology I just find fascinating. Maybe it has something to do with my religious ... how should I phrase this... anxiety? Either way it is my favorite study, which makes planet earth one of my favorite shows and national geographic my favorite t.v. channel.
Ok, enough of that.
I think this will be the part of my blog where I transition into the Fiji aspect of my life.
To be honest, when I arrived at The Ohio State University I was very skeptical about joining a fraternity. Everyone has those stereotypical views on fraternity life before coming to a university. To save a thousand words, I will sum up my previous preconceived views on greek life with some visual aid.
Ok, let that soak in. Alright, another thousand.
Ok, heres a little Kevin Bacon to further this description.
I believe that was a sufficient summarization to get my point across. Don't get me wrong, some of those might seem fun and or funny, but I didn't want these stereotypical views to be a sum total of my college experience. That is why I was very hesitant when it came to looking at fraternities. Fiji just so happen to be the fraternity that changed my perception of what it meant to be a contributing member of the greek community. Attractions to this magnificent brotherhood included the dedication to academics, the diversity of personality types, and the chance to gain a multitude of "best friends." Now I know some of you reading this blog might think that I am "buying friends" by joining a fraternity, but I became friends with my Fiji brothers even before I officially joined. I also knew that by joining I would have people always pushing me to strive for excellence in all areas of my life. That was the biggest factor that compelled me to join and now I can honestly say it was the best choice I have ever made.
To conclude my article i'll finish off by talking about how I felt after reading the Blogabus in it's entirety. For one I am really interested in what we will be covering in this class. I have always wanted to take a leadership class, and now that I am finally in one, I am excited to have been put into a class that is focusing on how leadership can impact the greek community and the view of outside scrutinizers. I am also really happy to be able to discuss all of these issues with a group of my brothers. I feel that we will be able to be brutally honest and beneficially critical i.e. these conversations are going to (for a lack of a better word) rock! I am also excited to find what leader type I will be. I have never really looked into it, so now that I have the opportunity, I am going to take full advantage of the situation.
I don't know if any Fiji's have seen this video but I think this is a great way to portray the greek community.
Anyways I suppose i'll thank those of you who will made it through first blog and hope you have enjoyed getting to know a little about me.
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