Josh Plovanic's Writings and Thoughts

"An unforgivable tragedy. The answer isn't where you think you'd find it. Prepare yourself for the reckoning. For when your world seems to crumble again."      -Disturbed: "The Light" "Listen, Epps, these (African Americans) are human beings. If they are allowed to climb no higher than brute animals, you and men like you will have to answer for it. There is an ill, Mr. Epps. A fearful ill resting upon this nation. And there will be a day of reckoning yet."   -Samuel Bass, Canadian Abolitionist If everyone knew with certainty the consequence of sins and evil and saw and felt the depth and suffering the wrath these things can and will summon, you'd never have another sinner or wicked man again. Because of the uncertainty of the world, it is easy to be blinded to such consequences. In fact, the fog of doubt and uncertainty are so great in this world that you can deny the existence of any sort of eternal retribution or reward that comes from our ac

I've been working on some guided meditations that I've been developing over the past couple months. They are from my own mind, and I have found that they are quite powerful and mind altering/expanding. I haven't completely honed them and polished them up to a standard yet, but the times I have really focused on them and walked through them, they have put me in kind of a trance, a quite euphoric altered state of mind. I do all three in succession and walk myself through them out loud. The first one is called "The Conquest of the Void." In it, you start the meditation by getting as relaxed as you can, focusing on your breathing and getting really comfortable, either laying down or sitting very comfortably. You first begin by imagining all of existence, the entirety of the universe, as being completely, utterly empty. No planets. No stars. No galaxies. No world. No people. Just complete emptiness. You focus on this emptiness and really let it sink in for a few minute

It's ok. Breathe, and just know how loved you are. How valued you are. How blessed you are It's ok. It's ok to be sad. Sadness is a symptom of caring and love. If the world doesn't bring you sorrow, you really don't have a heart. It's ok.  It's ok to be angry. Things are a little off here, and anger is often a very justifyable response to that offness. Just know that nothing and no one escapes justice, and nothing and no one is beyond repair. It's ok.  It's ok to be alone, because you are never really alone. God and His angels are always with you, and they are just a prayer away. It's ok It's ok to be you, and to be loved by those who love you for you. Those who don't love you don't really matter. They are their own people with their own lives. Let them be them and let you be you. It's ok. It's ok to be a beautifully broken person, because some of the most beautiful things are rebuilt from shattered shards and mended with gold

"And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:32) -Unofficial motto of the Central Intelligence Agency If there was absolute certainty of the nature, depth, scope, and knowledge of the whole of existence, where the darkness of uncertainty didn't exist anymore and all of humanity became aware of this absolute understanding, then deception would become completely impossible and all currently active and believed lies would unravel at their core and lose their power. A lie has to be believed in order to have power over someone's mind. If they fall on deaf ears and unconvinced people, then they are as empty as the wind. The philosophy of deception is different than the psychology of deception in that it does not deal with the empirical, scientific analysis of deception and it's psychological, physical symptoms or attributes. It deals with the deeper nature of deception in the whole of the world or existence and how it operates more on the lev

The mind is a fascinating thing. Without consciousness, I don't think reality would even be able to exist. Does something really exist if there is no awareness to be aware of it? In fact, that is probably THE definite trait of a mind; awareness. Even greater than thought or imagination, though this very much can be debated. Awareness "makes" reality. Thought and imagination are kind of useless if neither you or anyone else has awareness of them. The mind is probably the most abstract thing in existence, and because of it's abstractness it is one of the most mysterious things in existence. We don't entirely understand it. Not even close. Even in medicine and philosophy, the problems and mysteries of the mind are some of the most difficult to study and difficult to remedy in all these fields. Everyone who is alive, alert, and aware of something has a mind. The mind is the core of a human's being. Without it, we are empty shells, not much above a base animal. The

A gaze that pierces through the mind It sees such different thoughts and fears His eyes green as the lushest grass you'll find They glow through his ferocious tears Like precious jewels, the gates to schools A boundless mind no home to fools A fearless grin, breaks bonds again A war that he could never lose A sinner's hope A soldier's shield An all expansive battlefield His emerald eyes See all the skies And undercut the devil's lies His sword so wide Can turn the tide To make as if we never died A hope this strong Endures all wrong No longer to be slaves for long The eyes so green Have only seen The hopes of neverending dreams A gloried right Conquers all night The general always wins the fight For us to see We'll always be In liberty Eternally

Every once in a while, I see through the air I see through the veil  This world pulled over my eyes When I see through I see you Your wings and your smile Your emerald eyes Every once in a while I see you in your armor Ready to go toe to toe With any threat Or any foe My hero, my brother Every once in awhile I need to see you I need to know that you Are always there Just on the other side of the veil On the other side of the air My guardian, my sword, and my shield Every once in awhile I see how you are always in the field This war that you fight Has occasionally spilled Into my dreams  And into my life You are the champion of my mind The guardian of my spirit The guide when I'm lost The joyful one when I'm found again My dearest friend and brother Every once in awhile  I see you I feel you I hear you I know that you Are always at my side Ready to lay the sword To any darkness I may find Every once in awhile I remind myself how lucky I am that God assigned you to me I'll lo

 In the old comics, Superman was occasionally referred to as "the Champion of the weak," or the "Champion of the oppressed." Conceptually, he was the strongest of all superheroes, the most dominant fighting force on earth. With many strengths and few weaknesses, he was the ideal protector. The posterman of heroism.       The most important part of this title is his relentless defense of the helpless, the sick, and the disadvantaged. He knew that if you were strong, using that strength to oppress others and dominate those weaker and less fortunate than you was more cowardice than heroism. It doesn't take much strength (and no courage) to dominate or oppress the weak. Strength is required when you are challenged by other strength, and courage is required when you have to face an enemy stronger than you. Any true hero would know that weakness isn't permanent. There is no disadvantage that can't be turned into something positive or useful, and there is no we

Existence is an endless education. It is the platform God uses to teach us everything and anything we can possibly imagine. If existence is infinite, we will never run out of things to learn, things to do, relationships to have, and games to play. That's the glory of eternity and infinity. It is endless experience and endless opportunity. We are eternal students. We are here to learn, to grow, and to simply "be." I believe that the process of learning never ceases even after this life ends. Existence is a school unlike any school or university in society.  On earth, knowledge is limited. We only have a finite amount of knowledge and a limited breadth of understanding. As a whole our species is pretty young and still in the "milk" phase of understanding existence even with our impressive set of advancements over the last few centuries. We haven't quite reached "steak dinner" level when it comes to the sheer scope and glory of what else exists. In th

The flowers bloom in forest hills The mountains pierce the opal sky As broken people seek their thrills A sorrowed, somber angel flies Underneath the countless stars Upon the roads and in the streams The world can barely hide it's scars Or shattered lives and broken dreams The sicknesses and sadnesses Of worldly people with worldly things Expose hopelessness and madnesses As this angel slowly bats his wings He's leaving now. He's had enough We scared the poor thing away It must be said, he had it rough All he wanted was a role to play. They shredded him, they treaded him He wanted so much to belong He gave his all, even with his fall He didn't mean to go so wrong Though love prevails, sometimes it fails To grant a peace so safe and free War gasps a breath of hate and death spills crimson blood on fertile trees "So goes the world" this angel cried As he lifted higher in the sky To heaven's freedom and endless stars He left a fallen world to die