I’m not quite sure how to start this blog, but I’m almost positive it starts with a beginning. I could start with an ending and work my way back to a beginning, but I’m not competing for an award with this entry.
My name is Dylan and I’m a 30-year-old male who grew up in suburban America in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The first CD I owned was the Offspring’s Splinter album, my first video game experience was Jet Moto 2, the first book I read was Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, and my first kiss was with a girl named Emily, following my eight grade Catholic Confirmation Ceremony (romantic, I know).
Like I said, I’m thirty and I often wonder how I got here. Some of my best friends tell me thirty is the new twenty, but that might just be the hair and muscle supplements talking.
I spent the majority of my adolescent and young adult life worrying about a lot of things that ultimately didn’t matter, at least in the grand scheme of things. Who’s scheme is it, you ask? We’ll get to that later.
I’m a veteran. I’m a scientist. I possess a bachelor’s degree in molecular and cellular biology, a master’s degree in biochemistry, and a third-degree black belt in Isshin-Ryu Karate (although not necessary acquired in that order). If you cared about my qualifications, you now possess a limited list. If you didn’t, I’ll do my best to build a time machine and un-waste the last thirty seconds of your time.
I love learning, and I’ve spent a majority of my life seeking knowledge from academia, books, the internet, and my trustworthy television. Some people often consider their TV as a member of their family, until they remember they never got to pick their kid out of a store lineup or sign up for a pay-in-four plan when Timmy or Sarah crawled out of their respective wombs. While I spent many years of my life reading and memorizing facts and figures in textbooks, I’ve learned far more from my own life experiences.
The world is full of labels. For example, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test, a pseudoscientific self-report questionnaire, places people into one of sixteen different categories. To do this, the test assigns a binary value to each of four categories: introversion or extraversion, sensing or intuition, introversion or extraversion, and judging or perceiving. The MBTI test is a great example of humans trying to place other humans into categories to better understand them. While this test does help people start to see the perspectives of others, it unfortunately utilizes broad overgeneralizations.
If you’re curious how overgeneralizations lead to problems, I recommend consulting a history textbook. If you’re curious why the textbook is verbally responding to your consultation, I recommend consulting a medical professional.
I possess my own labels. I’m an ENFJ on the MBTI test. I’m an enneagram type 2. I’m a taurus born in the year of the rooster. I have post-traumatic stress disorder.
Throughout this interesting journey called life, I’ve continued to maintain a love of writing, which is the main reason I decided to share my story with you today, along with future stories.
I’ve attended years of therapy with several different therapists and during very distinct periods of my life. In addition to reading science fiction, fantasy, thriller, and mystery novels, I read a lot of nonfiction, including books on wisdom, happiness, and achieving inner peace. I journal often, including, but not limited to, right now.
I’ve read many self-help books, and eyed countless more, while perusing through the English sections of foreign bookstores. Why foreign bookstores? We’ll get to that later, too.
Ultimately, I believe self-help books mean nothing, unless you’re willing to put in the work to change your mind. This task might sound simple, but breaking your subconscious understanding of the world and your views about yourself and others can take months, or even years.
Let’s be honest: humanity has a lot of issues to cope with right now. The world recently underwent a global pandemic, and many countries continue to struggle with the economic, social, and political fallout. Climate change remains an unwavering threat, which looms larger with each passing day.
Social media companies like Meta and X, formerly known as Facebook and Twitter (you’re not fooling us, fellas), used to bring the world together to bond or discuss key issues. However, machine learning and corporate greed fuel social media companies, as they work to sell their one and only product: you. Today, these platforms mainly create echo chambers and serve to further divide an already divided humanity.
History isn’t real. This is a bold statement, and one you may or may not have heard before. The victor shapes and rewrites history through their perspective, and, frankly, everyone’s perspectives could use some changing.
I’ve been lucky enough to travel the world during the past few years. I’ve learned a lot about culture, from Europe to Asia to Australia, and I know there’s still so much to learn. Prior to these experiences, I served one combat tour in Afghanistan, which humbled me in different ways.
First and foremost, this public journal will serve as a way for me to share my past life experiences, along with the ensuing personal growth. We’ll laugh together. We’ll cry together. Just do me a favor and make sure you do each at the appropriate time, so it’s less awkward for the both of us.
Secondly, considering my love of learning and quest for wisdom, I will also use this journal as a platform to share what I’ve learned and continue to learn over the years. My friends and supervisors often tell me I explain complex ideas in easy-to-understand ways, so I hope this skill translates well to the written page.
Last, and hopefully not least, I will share my opinions on the world we live in, as well as my recommendations for the advancement of human society. Some of these opinions will come in the form of a book review, while others will leverage an editorial format. One might say these writings will rival the best, award-winning entries from The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, but one would likely be wrong. That being said, I will do my best, which is all we ever can do.
Without further ado, welcome to my own public journal. I’m excited to share this journey with you.