Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Hello There!

Welcome all  to my blog!

Though I'm somewhat of an internet junkie, a blog is something that hadn't dawned on me as a real idea until recently. However, I absolutely LOVE the idea, and  I'm excited to get started. 

The title of the blog, "Know Thyself!" is a reference to the ancient Greek Oracle of Delphi. It is said that the saying was inscribed over the entrance, to remind people upon entering that they are no more than human. Not that I'm claiming to be an oracle, or that I want people to hold their tongues about my posts. Quite the opposite in fact; I love respectful discussion about almost any topic, and will always encourage readers to give their two cents. However, I do demand that people be respectful, both to me and others, when expressing themselves. So the name comes in handy. Also, my life has been changing almost nonstop lately, and some of these changes may very well be documented here. So, as I learn to "know myself" better, maybe someone else will identify with me on something and get to know themselves a little bit better too :)

Though some of you reading this may already know me, either in real life or on Pinterest or Facebook (where I'll do the majority of my advertising for this blog), I figured I might as well introduce myself and tell a little bit about myself as a starter:

My name is Alexandra, but I go by Ali (pronounced Allie). I am eighteen years old and a rising sophomore at Christopher Newport University. I've lived in Virginia my whole life, born and raised in Manassas and now residing in Newport News for college.

My major at CNU is Organismal Biology. I eventually want to be a veterinarian, though I'm not sure what kind yet. I'm thinking either a zoo vet or an SPCA vet that helps care for injured and abused animals. I've ALWAYS been an "animal person", and animal rights are really important to me. I've been a vegetarian for going on three years because I would feel bad saving animals during the day and then going home and eating them.

I grew up in a staunch Republican, conservative Christian family, but I honestly couldn't be more different from them; I am for the most part liberal (though I like to call myself middle-of-the-road for fairness' sake), I'm what some might call a tree-hugging hippie, and I consider myself a Pantheist. It's a materialism-centered worldview, one that I'll inevitably post about here one day. I also am heavily influenced in this area by Buddhist practices, and I sometimes attend a Unitarian Universalist church. That's about as close as I get to actually belonging to a religion.

That said, religion is without a doubt the most fascinating human phenomenon to study. My minor at CNU is Religious Studies. I enjoy talking with people of all religions and learning as much as I can, because to me, there's something to be taken from all of them, for they all seek to grasp the same truth and explain the same things in different ways. I also love the combination of religion and science in my classes. I enjoy bringing together two subjects that many people think can't mix, and which tend to be opposing forces.

I know that most blogs have themes, and I tried really really hard to come up with one (religious debates? political/social commentary? fashion? pointless opinions no one asked for?), but I just couldn't. So, I finally decided that this blog simply won't have one; it will instead be my sociopolitical/religious/nerdy/fashion-oriented brain vomit of the day. 

I guess that's enough rambling about myself, but now you guys have some background knowledge for when you read my posts. Why not comment and tell me a little about yourselves?!

Looking forward to posting again soon!
<3, Ali

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