Hey everybody! It's ya boy, Joe Van, comin' back at ya with another piece, but this one's different from the rest. In this piece I wanted to recommend some YouTube channels to you guys. These channels are ones I've come across over years of binge-watching YouTuber content. So, they'll come in no particular order, but… Continue reading Joe Van Recommends
At my elementary school, when you rose to grade five, you were inducted to the fictional island of Foo. You learned their language and pastime sports, and near the end of the year you would compete with your peers to claim victory in each category. That was the first and only time I truly learned… Continue reading Language
In episode twenty-eight of Thoughts, I talk about the follies of consciousness and what we do with our understanding of them. Enjoy!
When you first saw Halo, were you blinded by its majesty? Before I jump into the video game that I'm actually referring to, let's cover the other uses of the word. A halo is a disk or circle of light shown surrounding or above the head of a saint or holy person to represent their… Continue reading Halo
Welcome to episode 57 of Joe Van's Secret Podcast! Today I have another 2nd time returning guest come back from the top of the year to discuss their experience during Canada's quarantine time. We talk about Black Lives Matters protests, films to watch, Jay-walking, what the odds are that we live in a simulated reality,… Continue reading Simulated Frights
In milestone episode twenty-five of Thoughts, I discuss the pursuit of happiness and how to live a generally good life. Enjoy!
What constitutes living a good life? While individual happiness is particular to each person, general well being is quantifiable. A good life includes a healthy diet, or healthy enough for you to still enjoy what you're eating, a moderate fitness regiment, an open dialogue with your inner circle of loved ones, and having a life… Continue reading The Good Life
How does someone find themselves at the receiving end of a destructive habit? No one plans to live a life of degradation. It's something that happens slowly, like a frog in boiling water. One doesn't notice that certain actions have a predictive outcome of addiction until they reach that point down the line. It can… Continue reading Substance Abuse
We perch ourselves, as little people in little heads. We operate little bodies, made up of little cells. We roam between little sheets, covering a little planet. We soar on a little planet, chasing a brilliant star. Little seats make for grand sights, if so we choose. The brilliant stars dance, and we are alive.… Continue reading Little Seats
Allow me to take you on a retrospective journey... thinking back to who I was at the turn of my second decade. God, I'm still so stupid. No, I shouldn't use that word. I'm learning and will learn for the rest of my life, there's nothing wrong with that. I was just so lazy and… Continue reading Back
Leaves rustle with the wind, and we are blown. Nature breathes in, we are exhaled. Oceans churn, and we are born. Life out is life in. One side of a coin does not exist without the other.
Feeling a fleeting, fringe, fraction of fire ignite your soul is reason enough to chase a ghost for the rest of your life. Freeing frantic midnight fights from your soul is reason enough... enough to let a ghost go.
Folding and pelting, greasing and gassing, holding and passing. Letting up a tad to see it spin out, grabbing on tight and trying not to shout. Bingeing on the hard stuff, dying just to last. Crying with cuffed hands now, hell has come and passed.
Imagine that every person had inside them a blob. This blob would move about throughout their larger life-force, dark and destructive. It would give them sensations to run, or to fight. It would make them see red, or give them tunnel vision. The blob would do its best to create downward spirals. It was all… Continue reading Imagine
Love, liberty, longevity, peace, play, pursuit of happiness, ponder, pretend, crease, create, craft, craze, cause, dig, drive, desire, daze, dim, somber, soft, sensible, shared, swell, sweet, savour, reflect, remiss. Live.
Enjoy episode eleven of the secret podcast! In this interview I talk to the youngest guest yet.
Enjoy episode ten of the secret podcast! In this episode I interview an American for the first time.
Enjoy episode nine of the secret podcast! She is short spoken, but always passionate.
Enjoy episode eight of the secret podcast! I interview a man, a legend, a dream. Enough said.
Enjoy episode seven of the secret podcast! In this episode I interview the woman that saved me from a spongy death.
Enjoy episode six of the secret podcast! Here I interview a woman I haven't known as long as the others but holds just as much weight in her character.
Enjoy episode five of the secret podcast! In this episode I interview the first guy.
Enjoy episode four of the secret podcast! In this episode I interview two guests at once.
Enjoy episode three of the secret podcast! This woman needs no introduction. She may be short in her approach but she is a force to be reckoned with.
Like mirrors in every way, they hold up ourselves. Crashing or calm, to low or high. We are life, so they. Be.
She opens me up like the warmth of spring to a tulip. It had taken a long time to start crying again; since almost dying in the snow. I melt. It feels so good when it happens, and we make love. We sweat and squeeze. Taste each other. Feel the other’s curves with our hands… Continue reading Open
Certainty is an issue with some people. They say that the more you know, the less certain you become about things. Once your perspective broadens from information; academically or otherwise, on whatever subject, the more open-minded you might become. Certainty is something innate. You are either into something, or you're not. And there are many… Continue reading Being In It
This will be a hot button topic unlike any of the other topics I've written about so far, I feel. What people find important or not important vary radically depending on the individual. Some people find many-a-thing important and therefore sensitive or sacred, while others care so little they couldn't be bothered to know it… Continue reading Importance
I race this high, and I don't know why. It feels good, anonymity of a hood. My loved ones shan't know, like discovery of a cove. Darkness shrouds it, as the feeling clouds it. Peace will not hide, what the high surly finds. It must have an end, to this high I defend. One day… Continue reading Up
What would you say is the deepest sensation? An orgasm? True happiness? Peace? You might say 'sleep' sarcastically, but no. It is purpose. It is the absolute and ultimate drive of intelligent life. It is what lies behind our every action and reaction. Every want, every need is predicated by our life purpose. It is… Continue reading Longevity
Here is an excerpt from my first novel: Deviance. You can find a link to its Amazon page 'Here'. * V took a seat. She looked a little bewildered. “You feeling anything?” asked Nathan. “I don’t know… maybe? I think I feel something.” He took a seat next to her. “It’ll probably take a while… Continue reading A Slice of Deviance
Perspective is in my opinion one of the most incredible assets any person can have. It gives the ability to fully actualize yourself in whatever way you see fit. And the thing about this claim, is that having perspective gives you your way of seeing. So you can’t even be in a situation… Continue reading Perspective
I have to start this by making sure everyone knows as a basic fact that we are all alone, at every moment, inside our heads. Now, with that being said I will begin with a question. When you imagine being alone, are you sad? Or are you relieved? As an evolutionary fact we humans are… Continue reading Being Alone
There's a hidden magic in people. It comes out like fire as a child. Like a smile on an old face, or the fury in a friend seeing you get beat up as they come to help. There need not be any enemies. A kid can make friends with a rock but two old friends… Continue reading Hidden Magic
We all know there are certainties about the human race. We were built to survive. To know the enemy, and strike them down. We yearn to live not only in the short term, but honestly to the majority of people, forever. Religions give so many people the hope. But in that context however, many troubles… Continue reading If We Could Live Forever
When did the sun leave me? The dark is so sudden. It shocks by contrast of a stark blue glow. The glow clicks and rattles quietly so as not to disturb those sleeping. Global communities soothe away the edges. It feels nice to hurt a little, be it a sting behind the eyes or a… Continue reading Soothing Edges
Vancouver is a nice place I hear. I’ve never been, is what I’m inferring. Though I’ve lived in this country of Canada for 25 years now, I’ve never traveled west of Ontario. However, there is a connection Vancouver now has with the city I was born and raised in: Burlington, and it is for what… Continue reading Circle K Rounded Up Mac’s Milk!
There are always two sides to things. There is this and that. There is me and them. There is will and won't, is and isn't. Here and there. Right and wrong. Will they, won't they. How and haven't. Why and why not. Two extremes; light and dark. Dimorphism. Males and females split things rather cohesively,… Continue reading Duality
I spend nights alone. I spend days with friends, only sometimes. Days pass. Nights crawl. My hobbies lie, and parents spy. Who’s that? A face. A name. A friend. She’s cute, but no way, taken. Her name is Hope, Forsaken. I see trouble, no, prosperity from lonely. We develop, like film. Feel the screen. Hear… Continue reading Budding Romance
There was once a naive wish that was lost. The wish, was that we lived in a world where it was easier for everyone to express themselves without fear of holding back, instead of the world we live in now where we tow the line. The social psychology of humanity today is the same as… Continue reading Intentions
A small child watches the sun set. They feel amazing, alive; filled with a visceral sense of awe. In that moment, everything is beautiful. The outline of the sun becomes visible in its dying descent. It is a waving sphere of burning glory, stretching across the universe and back. The child looks on for as… Continue reading Grandeur
