What is The Rocket Surgery?

The Mission:

The goal of this site is, ultimately, to try and make the world a better place.

I believe that if more people took just a little more time to think about life, to reflect on how crazy and beautiful this mess of existence is, they’d be more inclined to be more ‘intentional’ with their actions; that thoughtful minds, breed thoughtful deeds.

To do so I want to create a space where others can access different perspectives on life than those emphasised by mainstream thought; to create a dialogue on topics that affect us all, but that are either shrouded in taboo or dismissed as ‘common sense’.

But my words and my ideas offer only one perspective. So, to encourage a truly dynamic and unrestrained dialogue, I want to build a community– to invite artists and thinkers from all perspectives to contribute their unique responses to the topics at hand.

How We Do It:

Each month, everyone who wants to be involved – writers, artists, everyday Janes and Joes with questions and suggestions – pool their ideas and creations together to give their two cents towards a topic central to our lives, suggested and chosen by you, such as: death, sex, happiness, anxiety, time, money, fame, the meaning of life… anything we think is worth thinking about more deeply.

What to Expect:

    • Monthly ‘destination’ (topic) suggested and voted for by you.
    • Regular blog content on the current topic from my own writing, and relevant contributions of any kind from anyone who wants to give input.
    • Weekly Newsletter filled with quips and bits to keep you inspired and intrigued, to encourage a little reflection and mindfulness and keep you up to date with the blog – Subscribe! 
    • A Way to Contribute for Everyone interested in contributing to the project; whether you just want to read and share, to discuss in comments, to offer questions and suggestions, to submit your own art… the aim is to be accessible for everyone.
    • and more to come! This is is still very much early days, and I will always be looking for new ways to reward everyone that shows their support; I already offer postcards and art on my Ko-Fi page, but I hope to do things like artist commissions for sale in the long-run.

Supporting the Project is Easy!

While I’m doing my all to make this project worthwhile, you decide its potential.
Finding the answers to the deeper questions in our lives (and even finding the questions themselves) cannot be done alone. The pursuit of wisdom – Philosophy – needs a community to bring their unique perspectives together, in order to paint a more honest picture.


In Approximate Order of Difficulty & Value:

    1. Subscribe.
      Simply signing up shows me I’m not crazy, and helps build a community.
    2. Buy Me a Cup of Tea!
       I’ve removed every pay-wall I can, and include no advertisements – but running the site costs money and a lot of time.
    3. Share Stuff on Social Media.
      Without advertising, I need all the help I can get…
    4. Send Me Your Thoughts/Questions/Suggestions.
      The world doesn’t need another blog– it needs positive growth through communication.
    5.  Contribute Your Art/Thoughts Directly.
      This is the big one! Anonymous or not, sharing any kind of response to the current topic is how we take this ship to the stars!

 

Contribute!

The Author

Saving you the sob story, in short, I come from a background of difficult family life and mental health issues– i.e., normal life. Yet I discovered young that the act of trying to ‘learn life’ helped me not just cope with my difficult experiences, but to outgrow them and to form a lasting understanding that even manages to prove insightful to others in difficult circumstances. This habit of ‘learning life’ is, precisely, Philosophy, in that it is the process of using our minds (rationally and emotionally) to form a model of reality that helps us to understand our existence better.
Because of this, I believe that in this chaotic age of information overload, of anxiety and isolation, if more people recognised the power and importance of the kind of self-reflection that philosophy originally aimed to nurture, the world would be a much better place. And, moreover, that neither education, background, nor money should ever be an obstacle to it, for the more people that participate in it, the more we all benefit.
But my version of Philosophy might not be what most people would expect, because to me, learning life and making the most of our existence, means embracing all parts of it; intellectual, emotional, physical, spiritual, adventurous, mundane, childish, erotic, upsetting, rewarding, artistic, mathematical…So I guess if you’re looking to know a bit about ‘who I am’, that sort of covers it– an idealistic dreamer interested in anything and everything that expresses this crazy cosmic tango. As long as it’s some kind of genuine and non-contrived (‘authentic’, as the existentialists might pretentiously claim) expression of this wild and miraculous existence, colour me intrigued.
That said, I particularly like tea. And gaming. And all things Zen, like Sumi-e painting and meditation. I also love food, and cinema, and physics (I studied Physics and Philosophy together at university, and plan on continuing Physics once I’m published), and Sci-Fi, and climbing and hiking and kayaking and running, and, you’re bored now. I’m always happy to talk life with strangers so, well, “don’t be a stranger”! Send me a message here (below), on Ko-fi.com/kjk, or to kingston@therocketsurgery.org.