Matthew // Normal Happenings2 Comments

Babble | Re: Inkling

Based on: Babble | Daily Inkling.
Feel free to join in with your own response!

We all have words we can’t seem to properly say. List the words you just can’t spit out, and then write a story with them.

In many ways, I am not a normal person – perhaps a surprising revelation considering I run a blog called Normal Happenings. Honestly, I remind myself of a robot sometimes, especially when it comes to the concept of words.

Words are particularly special to me. Sometimes I view them as living things. They always have been, in many ways, my greatest ally in moving beyond my own nature and becoming something greater than myself — well, excepting one word in particular. Continue reading “Babble | Re: Inkling” →

Matthew // Normal Happenings8 Comments

The Normal Happenings Starry-Eyed Discord!

Welcome back amazing readers! Today we’re so happy to announce the launch of our very own Normal Happenings Starry Eyed Discord!

If you’re not too familiar with Discord, it’s this top-notch communication platform ideal for the organization of large groups! So far, we’ve been using Twitter messages for internal communication, updated, collaboration planning, and socializing. It’s impossible to do that all of one thread, so everything is about to change!

Discord is arranged by channels, and with these 16 avenues for communication we’ll be able to rule the world! Or, at least, become an alliance of bloggers and content creators working together to constant improve our work. Let’s go over all the channels!

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We think STARSTORM is the most important channel, so it sits at the very top. The premise is super simple. WordPress lives and dies based on how many stars a piece gets. The more stars, the more likely it is to show up in the reader. So let us bombard you with stars! Continue reading “The Normal Happenings Starry-Eyed Discord!” →

Matthew // Normal Happenings4 Comments

TV Shows, Video Games, and Movies, Oh My! Real Life Follows Culture

We are here because an avalanche of inspiration hit me all at once.

One of the very large boulders in that rock slide was A Geeky Gal’s 30-Day Video Game Challenge. In it, Megan challenged herself to spend every day in a month writing brief posts based on answers to a series of 30 questions. “I wanna do it,” I remember thinking, causing a swarm of blogging nostalgia to come rushing back. Continue reading “TV Shows, Video Games, and Movies, Oh My! Real Life Follows Culture” →

Matthew // Normal Happenings12 Comments

Three Ways We Can All Stop Jumping to Conclusions

I’ll bet you’ve already assumed from the title that I feel negatively about the idea of jumping to conclusions. If so, you’d be right, and this is one of the very few instances where you jumping to a conclusion actually turned out okay.

I live life with a short list of overall objectives. These are just things that seem right, moral, and loving. One item on that list is that I give everyone the benefit of the doubt, which releases them from any judgement they may not be able to defend against. I will never judge someone based on how another person or group of people views his or her life. Jumping to conclusions about a person, attacking them consciously and avoid their influence in your life, is really an ineffective strategy for showing love, which is of particular importance to me. And while it may be natural to annihilate any influence that may run counter to your worldview, I feel it really only shown an underlying lack of confidence in your own paradigm. Continue reading “Three Ways We Can All Stop Jumping to Conclusions” →