I’ve decided I’m going to par­tic­i­pate in the National Blog Posting Month exer­cise. It’s been a long time since I’ve posted on my blog, and I have missed it. I’ve been dealing with a very hectic schedule in my real life, between taking a full load of courses at the uni­ver­sity, and working, and home life, social life etc., I’ve ignored my blog for too long. I get these email alerts for NaBloPoMo, an off­shot of NaNoWriMo, and I always look at the monthly theme and think to myself, “oh that sounds inter­esting, I should write some­thing about that.” Then I forget all about it till the next email alert. But this time, I’ll make it a point to stick to it.

“Look up” invokes three basic con­cepts in my mind:

1: Optimism.

As in, looking up at the bright side of life… trying to find ways to look at things from a pos­i­tive per­spec­tive as much as pos­sible. This is hard for those of us who pay atten­tion to the news, to pol­i­tics, and the state of affairs in many, I’d say most, parts of the world. But as a won­derful vis­iting Professor told our Equity Studies class recently, “the greatest chal­lenge for those of us aware of the prob­lems of the world, is to learn how to love the world.” This really is the greatest chal­lenge and one I’m learning slowly how to handle. I will blog about some of the people and orga­ni­za­tions that have inspired me and are moti­vating me in the world today. I’m not sure if opti­mism is some­thing I really under­stand, on a bigger scale, but I will make a honest effort at it. More on this as the month pro­gresses, I’m sure.

2: Searching.

As in, searching for/looking up infor­ma­tion, or a person, or a resource, group, or any­thing else that isn’t readily or easily avail­able. It could also mean searching for answers, or at least, better ways of artic­u­lating the ques­tions. This month, I’ll blog about some uncanny, off-the-wall, and inter­esting bits of infor­ma­tion that I find, and also about how to search for things on the internet.

3: The Sky.

Halley’s Comet 1986

One of my ear­liest mem­o­ries is of my dad taking us out near the air­port to watch for Halley’s Comet as it came within viewing range from Earth in early 1986. He explained to me what a comet was, and that the next time this ancient one came around I’d be in my 80′s. It was a mind-blowing thing for a 7 year old to dis­cover. It made me appre­ciate from a very early age, the expanse of space and time, and how insignif­i­cant we really are in this grand, beau­tiful uni­verse. Since then, my love for astronomy and cos­mology has only increased. Some of my blog posts this month will revolve around this enduring pas­sion of mine.

So, if you’re reading this and you’d like to com­ment, please do so, and let me know what “Look up” means to you.