Final Reflection

          Overall, this class has been awesome. It has opened my mind to so many ideas and taught me to be open minded. There are always two sides of a story and not necessarily does that mean that those are the only two sides or that either of them are correct. Questions need to be asked, and argumentative thoughts need to be made before jumping to a conclusion. I feel like this class has made me a much better writer because I feel like it's the first class I have been in that has actually let me write down my personal thoughts and feelings. I didn't have to write research papers, or informative papers I got to write about my own thoughts which was a great change. I got to be creative and had the freedom to create whatever I wanted. I think it is a helpful class, although a little wierd. It made me a critical thinker and allowed me to learn about myself more and form opinions about worldwide topics.

          This class has taught me so much. First off i had no clue how to make a blog, and I acutally have kind of enjoyed typing out my feelings. I wish I could have talked more about what I wanted to talk about but some topics that we discussed were really fun. I loved the nature section that we discussed and wrote about because it is such a huge issue. It's something that means something to me also which made it interesting. I love hiking and being outdoors so it's important to me that the environment is perserved. My favorite section by far was the love section. I have an amazing boyfriend that makes me feel in love every day and so it's something I could relate to. It gave me insite on why I love him and how great he takes care of me. The main thing that I learned from the love section though is that love can make you think irrational. It is such a strong emotion that needs to be controlled or else it will lead to heart break. Love is hard, it is not easy no matter how strong in love you think you are. It takes work and communication to be a forever love.
        

Reflection #8 - Gender

        This section I found almost irrevlevant to me. I think that gender doesn't matter now near as much as it used too. Men and women are almost considered equal and are especially considered equal in the work place. I hardly no a mom now a days that does not have a job and a good one at that. I actually no a few women who make more than there husbands do. I think it was important for me to read these passages because it opened up my eyes to how unequal things used to be but it was hard for me to relate to. I grew up watching my parents have an amazing relationship where if anything my mom had more power than my dad. I am grateful to be a woman and extremely grateful for amazing women in the past that have changed the way the world looks at us. I feel blessed to have my independence, and respect that many women in the past did not have. I think men are great but it was unfair for them to think that they were better than us. Women are amazing and need to continually be appreciated. Gender should never determine anyone's worth or status.

Media Portrayals of Men and Masculinity - Media Awareness Network

         I absolutely found this intrigueing. I never really thought about how the media affects guys before, usually there are only articles on women and the media. This I feel made me understand men more and the pressure they feel to fill stereotypes. They have to be tough, they have to be a provider, they usually are expected to be funny and not emotional. I never realized how hard it must be for some men to actually be that way. I know a lot of guys that in heart are big baby's. They are scared of pain but yet in front of their girlfriends or crushes they never let that fear show. They know they would get judged by people if they didn't act like super heros. I also have realized how scary being a provider is. I am graduating in one week and have realized how scared to death I am that i won't be able to make it on my. Gladly i don't have to move out anytime real soon, but if I did I would be screwed. Guys have to worry about that a lot more than girls because even with women and men becoming more equal, it is still mens job to provide for the family while women have the babies.
          This article made me appreciate men a lot more than before. I understand that they have problems too even though they don't P.M.S. It made me understand why they act the inconsiderate ways that they do sometimes. It is what they have been taught to do their entire lifes by the media. They are protrayed as horny pigs in the media and so try to act like those men in real life sometimes. Men are amazing and deserve more credit than they get sometimes. They shouldn't have to be tough all the time.

Looking For My Prince Charming - Shalali Pal

            This story was hilarous to me. Who knew that height mattered so much to some people? It's funny that mother's lie about there sons height thinking that is going to get them a date. Women don't care about height too much as long as they still feel feminine around there man. The man perferrable should be a few inches taller but women look for much more than height in a future partner. Like the girl in this story we look for a personal connection, some physical attraction, stability, and a balanced personality.

The Male Privilege Checklist - Peggy McIntosh

• "Taught to see racism only in individual acts of meanness, not in invisible systems conferring dominance on my group." (pg. 536) - The first thing I think of when i hear the word racism is acts of meaness & violence not ineqaulity or segregation so I agree with this statment.
• "Pointing out that men are privileged in no way denies that bad things happen to men." (pg. 536) - There are pros and cons to everything in life. Every gender, race, career, family situation, ect.
• "In the end, however, it is men and not women who make the most money; men and not women who dominate the government and the corporate boards; men and not women who dominate virtually all of the most powerful positions of society." (pg. 536) - This comment is definitely 100% false. It made me mad when I read it but I realized that it was written in a different time period than I live in. Back in older times it was true that men had more dominance over women. Now the tables have turned though and woman are completely equal to men and usually make just as much money.

Male Privilege Checklist

• "I am far less likely to face sexual harassment at work than my female co-workers are." (pg. 536) - I agree with this completely. Statistics can prove that women are more prone to sexual abuse/harrassment than men.
• "If I do the same task as a woman, and if the measurement is at all subjective, chances are people will think I did a better job." (pg. 536) - I disagree 100%. I do not believe that gender decides your talents.
• "Even if I sleep with a lot of women, there is no chance that I will be seriously labeled a "slut," nor is there any male counterpart to "slut-bashing."" (pg. 537) - AGREED!! It is unfair that guys get away with sleeping around. I don't think that sleeping around should be accepted among any gender but it is extremely unfair that men can get away with it and women can't. Almost girl at my school is considered a "slut" but not one guy is.
• "I can be loud with no fear of being called a shrew. I can be aggressive with no fear of being called a bitch." (pg. 537) - I disagree. I feel that in general most guys have huge egos and so they think that when they are loud and aggressive that no one gets upset or judges them for it. Guys have a talent of thinking that everyone loves them.

Reflection #7 - Racism/Segregation

         Thinking about what to say for this reflection has been hard for me. I don't know what to say except that racism makes me sad. I am glad that things are starting to change now and that in state terms blacks and whites are equal. We still have a lot of work to do though because in some people's hearts I'm not sure that they really believe that blacks and whites are equal. My own mother the other day said to me as we were talking about my best friend who is half black that she thinks the reason my friend doesn't have a lot of other friends is because she is ethnic. My mother is not racist at all but thinks that because she is ethnic she has a different personality and different communication skills than whites. That is supposively why she doesn't have many friends. I thought what my mother said was ridiculous because the reason she doesn't have a ton of friends is because she just moved here 1 year ago and didn't get to go to junior high or half of high school with all of the people that I did. I took into consideration what my mother said though because it made me realize that racism is not yet a battle won. By time my generation is grown-up and the ones in control I feel like racism will be a dead thing, but until then it will stay around because our older generation has not moved on yet. They grew up differently than my generation and still in their hearts believe that whites are superior in some ways to blacks. I honestly in my heart do believe that white and blacks are equal. We are all people and although different are still people. We all have the right to love and acceptance. I honestly hope one day soon that things become like this, the way they are in my heart.

Graduation - Maya Angelou

          Last night at 7:00 pm I had my seminary graduation ceremony. To be honest, I was not very excited about sitting for an hour and a half especially for something that I didn’t think was all that important. I would much rather have stayed home and had them mail me my certificate. As the ceremony started and finished, I noticed that during it my attitude changed. The speakers that spoke were very uplifting and made me fill proud of myself. They talked about all that seminary had taught us in the last 4 years and how much more we can learn moving forward. There was an amazing musical number and it ended up being a great night; I was happy I went and was proud of myself for sticking through seminary all 4 years.

           My experience last night reminded me of this story Graduation by Maya Angelou. It made me realize how hard it would be to want to go anywhere in life and accomplish/achieve any goals I had in my life. Without my parents, friends, family, church leaders, and seminary teachers pushing me to graduate, I know for a fact that I wouldn’t have. I would have stopped showing up to class or turning in make-up work. It made me think about how excited this little girl was of herself that she had graduated 8^th grade. She deserved to be proud of herself and to that have so brutally taken away from her even for a minute is extremely wrong.

            My experience last night made me slightly understand some of the trials that African Americans had to go through. You can hear about it all you want but it takes experience to understand the pain and suffering they actually endured.  Although it was small, and honestly not that relevant it made me appreciate African Americans and their heritage/culture/strength.

Shocking Story - William Bradfor Huie

          This story absolutely broke my heart. I read some of the comments after it and really liked the one by Walter Tate. It is very true that if a white boy acted the same way as BoBo Till did nothing but a casual warning if that would have been done. I agree that it was inappropriate of him but not worth death; he is normal teenage boy. Worse things happen to me on a day to day basis by perfectly fine white boys that have grown up rich and respected by their Country. It makes me sick to know that a boy was just being himself, doing nothing to deserve death, but died because he was a Negro. I find it hard to believe that first he was killed, but that also his murderers were never condemned. They may not have had enough evidence to put them in jail but with enough witnesses you think something could have been done. I am proud of William Bradford Huie for writing this piece of work to let people know of what happened. I agree that what has happened, happened and that there is nothing we can do about it now to bring BoBo back but I also agree that I great lesson needs to be learned from this incident. This tragedy should have taught us equality, controlling tempers, humility, the true meaning of justice and respect for one another. I loved this story and it has inspired me to always be fair and honest in everything I do. I’m not sure how but it made me want to be a better person and treat people how I know they should be treated because it is no one’s place to judge and no one’s right to know when someone loved will be taken from this earth.

R.I.P – Emmett Till a.k.a BoBo

Selected Poems - Langston Hughes

My favorite poem out of all these poems is definitely I, Too. I love that he brings up the point that he is American too; white or black skin doesn’t determine who is American. He brings pride to his race in this poem I think by sticking up for himself and showing that he believes in himself enough to say he deserves being able to represent America. This poem also brings hope when he says “Tomorrow, I’ll be at the table when company comes. Nobody’ll dare say to me, eat in the kitchen, then.” He brings hope for a day when segregation and racism won’t be around anymore. It made me think about how great a day like that would be. I have many friends who are darker skinned, always have, and for some reason some people still to this day are not okay with it. I find it ridiculous. They are great people and are born with amazing culture engrained with in them that I have always seemed to be drawn to. I would love for a day to come when my friends are completely treated as equal as I am; they deserve it.

 I also wanted to add in this response how much I loved a comment that Mitch Bagley made. He said something along the lines of how racism is only around because people let it be around and talk about it. I agree with that completely. It happened in the past and because it’s talked about some people still let it happen today; they are afraid of change. I think almost forgetting about slavery might be helpful so that as a country and world we can move on from it and better ourselves. The huge issues with racism are diminishing and now I think moving on is the best solution.

Cultural Activity #3

Grease

1.      I went to the musical Grease put on by Murray City. It was held at the Murray outdoor amphitheater which is located right by Parkside Elementary (5025 South State Street)

2.      This play was a reenactment of the movie Grease. It’s a love story between Danny Zuko and Sandy Olsson. They meet over the summer in Australia and fall in love. They believe that when they say good-bye on the beach sharing their last kiss that they won’t ever see each other again. To their surprise Sandy and her parents end up moving to America and she ends up being enrolled at the same exact school as Danny. They can’t decide if they should stay together because Danny is very different at school. He is the leader the T-birds (black –jacket greasers) and it would be uncool for him to date a goody good like Sandy. They end up working it out and both change a little so that they can be together.

3.      This performance technicality wise was great. They costumes were amazing because they looked just like the ones from the movie. All the girls wore mid-length, pink, girly dresses while the guys had slicked back hair with jeans, black leather jackets, and white undershirts. I love that style on guys so I really liked the costumes, I think it’s sexy. Another thing that made it great is that was outside which made lighting not such a distraction. They didn’t have to have huge spotlights all over the place following the main person distracting you from the background actors. Some people like crazy lighting, but I don’t so I enjoyed the simplicity of the lighting in this play. I thought the quality was average. It was not professionally done which hurt it but it made it more relatable. A lot of the actors in this production I actually personally knew. Jenna Lewis one of my best friends from church was in it and so were her two sisters. Also my old teacher in elementary school was in it which was fun to watch. Having this a semi-professional performance caused some mistakes to occur but like I said made it more relatable and interesting because I knew some people that were in it since they live in my community. When I come to think about it really the only mistakes I can think of that happened were singing mistakes. You could tell that the people asked to do solos were not professionally trained singers. They did their best of course but it was pitchy and kind of all over the place.

4.      The main issues in this play that were brought up were social issues. It brings up all the stupid high school drama that you would see at school which was relatable to me. The issue was cliques. Sandy is from one clique at school, the pink pretty ladies and Danny is from the T-birds aka the greasers. This issue is huge to them because each different clique is so different from all the others cliques. People put so much value on what clique you are in and they honestly think that, that determines your personality. Danny and Sandy thought that their relationship would never in a million years work because of their different friends and interests. Sandy doesn’t like how different Danny is with his friends then he was with her back in Australia on the beach. They reached the conclusion that they love each other and so they decided to make it work. Danny would ditch his friends and hang with Sandy sometimes so that she knew he cared. Sandy tried to be more daring and spontaneous so that her and Danny could have fun together. It ended up working great and they kind of brought both of their friend groups together and ended up working great more in love than ever.

5.      The music from this play influenced its effectiveness at bringing out the emotions displayed in this play to the audience. Sometimes it was hard to tell how Sandy was feeling exactly because she is quiet and reserved so the music/solos helped you to know what in her head she was thinking. Also Danny, not really the quiet type but not one to talk about his emotions because that wasn’t the cool thing to do, the music helped you know how they were both feelings. I loved the song Summer Nights because it was absolutely hilarious first of all and secondly helped you understand how their relationship was back in Australia before the stress of high school and friends screwed with it. I think if the music in this play was randomly played in a specific order without any actors talking kind of like an opera that it would tell its own beautiful stories. It explains sadness, excitement, longing, etc.

6.      The only thing that I knew about this play before I saw it was watching bits and pieces of the movie on TV. After reading about it some on the web I found out that the musical was set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School. It followed ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of love, cars, and drive-ins. The score attempts to recreate the sounds of early rock and roll.  It was meant to show the raunchy, raw, aggressive, and vulgar side of high school. The show tackles social issues like teenage pregnancy and gang violence; its themes include love, friendship, teenage rebellion, sexual exploration during adolescence, and, to some extent, class consciousness/class conflict.

7.      I would not recommend this play to others because it was kind of offensive. It definitely did show the raw and vulgar side of high school. I know that that’s what they were trying to portray and that, that was the point of the production of the movie in the first place but I didn’t expect that in this family setting that they would show such graphic things. I felt like the entire play consisted of aggressive making out and profanities. I went with my family for family night and I left feeling awkward because I had younger siblings with me that I didn’t think should be exposed to PG 13 material at 8 and 9. I also didn’t like that they had such young kids starring in the play. They had many siblings of the main characters that were no older than 7 that were also being exposed to adult behavior.

8.      My personal reaction to this production was entertained but offended. It was great at making me laugh and bringing out a lot of emotions in me but I didn’t like how vulgar it was. I love the story line of this play because I am in a similar relationship so definitely relate. I was excited to see the ending of the play to find out if they ended up together since I had never watched the whole movie. So I guess overall I had a negative reaction to this specific production in itself but I loved the story that was portrayed.

Reflection # 6 - Love

         This section on love absolutely by far was my favorite. The in class discussions were amazing and I learned a lot about love and maybe why we love the way that we do. I 100% am a hopless romantic which is fun and all but this section opened my eyes to realistic love. It is unrealistc to think that there is only one person in the world out there for you considering there are 7 billion people on earth. Stories like Tristan though made me realize that true love is when you feel like your love is the only one on the earth for you. Love is definitely a chemical thing with in us. It is a physical instinct we have and I honestly think we have no control over it. Love is physical but i believe that i can become more than that. Emotions get involved and it becomes about more than pheromones, physical attraction, chemisty or anything like that. It becomes longing, respect, bettering oneself, and a forever happiness. This section made me extremely excited to find that kind of love. I decided I will listen to my head but then follow my heart.

Tristan/Isolde

          Honor vs. Love? This story hit home for me because I honestly feel like it’s my life as we speak. I have been dating a guy for four years now and until the last two months my parents, friends, and family all hated him and thought he was not good enough for me and that I could do so much better. It was really hard at times because I wanted to be with him over anyone else but with all the negative pressure it made dating him hard. There were a few times in the past that I ended it because I started letting everyone else’s opinions get to me. We have always ended up back together because we really do love each other. My parents recently have let his looks and past go and really got to know him so now they adore him and realize how happy he makes me. Picking honor over love was a hard decision. As much as people say they don’t care what other people think, it’s human to care about others thoughts about you and so dating him was a battle between my head and heart. Now that it’s all over I am so glad that I fought for love, whether it’s forever love or not, I am glad I chose my feelings over being liked. Tristan eventually gave into his feelings as well as let his heart have what he truly desired; Isolde. Love is always more important that honor. Love is what gets you through the days and your reason for living. Honor can be lost or gained quickly and means something to different people, trying to fight for honor is like trying to catch the rain. Love is the reason for life; it’s what brings true and lasting happiness.

To His Coy Mistress - Andrew Marvell

           Although this man wishes he had all the time in the world to prove and show his love to his mistress, life and youth do not last forever. He says that he wishes he could take two hundred life times’ just to adore each breast and another hundred years to praise her eyes and her forehead gaze. He understands that soon he won’t want her like he does now because she will grow old. Her youthful hue that sits on her skin like morning dew will transpire. He proposes that they should take all of their passion and instead of slowly letting it grow like he wishes that they bundle it up into one ball and tear there pleasure with rough strife. This poem reminds me a lot of the famous movie The Notebook. I feel that, that couple had so much passion and in one nights time gave into each other and let their love grow not slowly by spending tons and tons of time together, but by giving everything to the other in that one night of youthful hood.

Art, Symptoms and Sonnet

Art of Courtly Love

By: Andreas Capellanus

            I absolutely loved this piece of work. It talks all about love as a game with rules and deceit; I loved that because in the subconscious mind, I believe that is how love really works sometimes, at least untrue love. The first quote I really like from this passage was when it talked about the effect of love. “Love makes an ugly and rude person shine with all beauty . . . it can even lead humility to the proud; he who loves is accustomed humbly to serve others. Oh, what a marvelous thing is love, which makes a man shine with so many virtues and which teaches everyone to abound in good customs . . .” (pg. 299) I loved this quote because it shows how love is kind of mask. Love can change a person for a short period of time because it’s such a powerful emotion but the mask always fades away and true colors shine through. The second part of this passage that I absolutely loved and majorly connected to was the second rule of love: “He who is not jealous cannot love.” (pg. 301) I have a boyfriend who is crazy jealous. He has toned it down quite a bit because I used to get so mad at him and I guess this helped me see where he is coming from. Ya him getting jealous is extremely annoying, but it comes because he loves me and cares about me so much which is adorable.

                                           Symptoms of Love

By: Robert Graves

            Robert Graves is explaining love as almost a curse I think. He states “Could you endure such grief at any hand but hers?” (pg. 318) This to me means, could you endure the negative emotions that come from love like jealousy, hurt, longing, etc. from anyone else but your true love? She is the one making him feel those bad emotions, she is trapping him with the good and bad sides of love, but she is also the one making those emotions worth it. Love is painful and hard so you need to find someone who makes you happy enough to endure it; he/she has to be worth the pain and longing.

                                    Sonnet: Love Is Not All

By: Edna St. Vincent Millay

            Love cannot work miracles. “Love cannot fill the thickened lung with breath nor clean the blood, nor set the fractured bone.” (pg. 320) This poem is about how men are willing die without love even though love is not what would keep them alive. I agree that it is foolish to think that love is needed to survive, because that is physically and scientifically able to be proved false, but still even with that knowledge I would choose to die before living a life without love.

The Symposium - Plato

          The general argument/point made by Plato in his work The Symposium is that love is immortal and eternal. More specifically, Plato argues/suggests that love is nothing like it is thought to be. It is carried on through one, people’s and animal’s desire to procreate and two because of man’s curiosity and infatuation with finding true beauty. He writes, “The contemplation of beauty absolute; a beauty which if you once beheld, you would see not to be after the measure of gold, and garments, and fair boys and youths, whose presence now entrances you.” (pg. 289) In this passage, Plato is suggesting that love is really man’s desire to find true beauty; it is where it stems from. It’s not love in the sense that we think of it as two people loving each other for unselfish reasons, it that desire to find the absolute beauty. In conclusion, it is Plato’s belief that love has many secret meanings and stems from many different people but from main desire of finding true beauty which may never actually be able to be understood or obtained.

            In my view, Plato is wrong because love might start out as a desire to possess something of beauty, but it turns into something more when soul is involved. For example, arranged marriages sometimes start out as only physical attraction for what a person has; their material possessions, physical attributes, or what that person/marriage could bring. But arranged marriages usually turn into a deeper kind of love/appreciation when the two souls of those people meet and become familiar. It strays away from possessing something beautiful, and turns into possessing something that makes you happy. Although, Plato might object that love is not all about obtaining, I maintain that love is a deep connection among two souls. Therefore, I conclude that although Plato brought about many thoughts and possible truths, love is much deeper and selfless than the possession of true beauty.

The Art Of Love - Ovid

[Every Lover’s On Active Service]:

           This poem intrigued me because it made me think about what love was like back in times of war. Love would’ve had to be so much stronger; it was the only thing soldiers had to look forward to. I thought it was cute their lovers became such inspiration for them to deal with cold winds, storms, and being in the night evading enemies. It connected love and war by saying “Love, like war, is a toss-up. The defeated can recover, while some you might think invincible collapse; so if you’ve got love written off as an easy option you’d better think twice. Love call for guts and initiative.” (pg. 295) That statement is amazing and so extremely true. When you lose in the game called love you feel like you want to die, but you eventually recover with time. Love is hard, that’s why so many couples end in divorce but like Ovid mentions earlier in the poem, it is worth it because nothing inspires you more.

[A Second Batch of Verses by That Naughty Provincial Poet]:

          This batch of verses was amazing because it was ironically true. Men all the time think that by showing off their muscles, nice things, or money that they will win a girls heart when in reality soft words are that is needed. “Soft words remove harsh door-chains. There’s magic in poetry, its power can pull down the bloody moon, turn back the sun, make serpents burst asunder or rivers flow upstream.” (pg. 295) I loved these verses because it talks about how cold and shut down women can be with all their emotions and self-confidence issues but how simple it is to break down their walls with warm words and true emotion.

Song of Songs - Hebrew Bible

      “On my bed, at night, I sought him whom my heart loves. I sought but did not find him. So I will rise and go through the City; in the streets and the squares I will seek him whom my heart loves.” (pg. 282)
        I absolutely loved this verse from chapter 3 when I came upon it. It reminded me of so many nights that I have felt heart broken and just lost. It amazed me when after I read this verse because it got me thinking about how strong an emotion love is. It over powers your mind and honestly becomes the only thing that you can physically care about, think about, and feel. The girl in this story I know for a fact would of searched forever for the “him whom her heart loves” because once you love someone, you can’t be happy anymore being without them. As cheesy as it is they become your better half and after being a whole, being the boring old half again just doesn’t cut it.
        As I was reading this I kept thinking of the Titanic because in that story/movie their love is so passionate and strong. Also the guy in the movie is a romantic poet and when I read this verse from chapter 4 it made me think of him and how smooth/romantic poetry made him sound; “You ravish my heart, my sister, my bride, you ravish my heart with a single one of you glances, with one single pearl of your necklace. What spells lie in your love, my sister, my bride! How delicious is your love, more delicious than wine! How fragrant than all other spices! Your lips, my promised one, distill wild honey. Honey and milk are under your tongue; and the scent of your garments I like the scent of Lebanon (home).”(pg. 283)
           This whole Song of Solomon made me feel in love. It made me want to find a guy that says cute things to me and cherishes me like he seems to cherish this woman. It brought out a very true side of love to me; one that isn’t based on anything but physical and emotional connection. I thought it was absolutely beautiful.

What Is Love? - Helen Fisher

          The general argument/point made by Helen Fisher in her work What is Love? is that love is an instinct obtained through years and year of evolution controlled by chemicals in our brains. More specifically, Helen is saying that love came from the animal need to reproduce and evolved stronger as time as went by until that human need has turned into love; lust, romantic attraction, and attachment. She writes “The primitive brain system for animal attraction evolved into human romantic love.” In this passage Fisher is suggesting that love is a need just like food is because when we see someone physically attractive or feel attached to someone it releases chemicals into our brain such as dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and vasopressin that make us happy. In conclusion, it is Fisher’s belief that love evolved from animal instincts to reproduce and care for young into human romantic love, a chemical need.

             In my view, Fisher is right because I don’t know anyone who would want to live life without finding that one special person to spend it with. For example, a kid I went to school with back in junior high killed himself one night because his girlfriend broke up with him and his mother had passed away a few months before that. He felt like in that moment he had no one to love and no one to love him back and that desire for love overpowered his desire to live and so he took his own life.  Although Fisher might object me saying that I don’t believe that love is all chemical, I believe soul is included into it I maintain that love is a chemical need in the brain and although it might start out as just that, it evolves into something much more than an evolved animal instinct. Therefore, I conclude that Fisher is right when she states that love is a chemical need in humans that probably came from animal’s instinct to reproduce but it is not just that, it becomes much more.

           

Nature Issue Argument Paper

Aristotle argued, “Moderation in all things.” Several of the authors in the Nature themed section we have been reading would agree too that moderation in all things is key in successfully living to the fullest. Henry D. Thoreau and Edward Abbey are two authors that stood out to me while reading this section because I could feel their passion and emotions strongly through their writing. They both agree that by simplification and moderation in all things, everyone can be happy; nature and man.

 For example, Edward Abbey in his work Polemic: Industrial Tourism and the National Park states, “Although wilderness is a fine thing, certain adjustments and compromises are necessary in order to meet the demand for outdoor recreation” (pg. 387). This statement was a statement made after Abbey strongly explained his feelings against nature being used for modern recreation. Abbey believes that nature, specifically national parks, is being corrupted by roads, electricity lines, outlets, trash, etc. His biggest wish is that nature would be left alone by tourism and luxury and be left for those that really use nature in the correct way by re- connecting themselves to something bigger. Abbey stating that compromises and adjustments need to be made for modern recreation is his way of having moderation in all things. He realizes that his wishes are extreme and not really possible with the viewpoints of everyone in this world and so agrees to compromise and have moderation so that everyone can enjoy nature.

            Another example besides Abbey’s I would like to use to prove that moderation in all things is the way to successful living is that of Henry D. Thoreau. In his work Selections from WALDEN he states, men . . .  so occupied by factitious cares and coarse labors of life . . . cannot pluck its finer fruits (pg. 350).” By this statement he was trying to open men’s eyes up to the fact that they are not living in moderation and suffering because of it. Thoreau knows that working is part of life; people need money to survive. But he is trying to make people realize that working too much or playing too much is distracting the mind of what really matters. The finer fruits like family, relaxation, challenging the mind, love, etc. all come from simplifying life and engaging in Aristotle’s idea of moderation.

            In class a few weeks ago, power point presentations were given discussing some of the world’s biggest nature issues. Emily’s issue about using recycled materials to build houses is one that stood out to me. She gave great ideas and statistics that proved how successful and helpful using recycled materials for building products could be. The only thing bad about her presentation was that along with the pros of using recycled materials to make a house, there were many cons. All the cons and pros got me thinking of maybe a happy medium that could be used and I thought of maybe not making a whole house out of recycled products but maybe building certain parts in recycled materials to help cut down on the cons of recycled houses. It would be cool to have the new fad be houses made out of bamboo instead of wood. It grows extremely fast and is easy to build with because it is flexible. I think that would be a good economic decision that includes Aristotle’s idea of moderation.

           Moderation is hard concept for many to grab upon because it is hard to achieve. Controlling the human minds wants and needs takes energy and strength so many people are against moderation. They feel divulging in every craving and want that pops into their head is the right thing to do because at that moment it makes them happy. I can agree that, that sounds amazing; I would love to have everything I want in as much quantity as I want. I realize though that over using or underusing in life causes consequences. Too much food makes you fat, not enough makes you malnutritioned.  Spending a lot of money gives you great material gifts, but it corrupts your life and leaving always unsatisfied, but spending no money at all would leave your needs unfulfilled and put you in a bad situation.

           In conclusion I agree fully with Aristotle’s quote “Moderation in all things.” Although it would be nice to engage in every want that I have, it feels even nicer in the long run to live in moderation and balance. Moderation is key to personal happiness and the wellness/happiness of everyone on earth. With moderation comes a clear mind, real lasting happiness, and a strong grasp upon what is most important in this life.

             

Cultural Activity #2 - Mamma Mia

1.      I attended the musical Mamma Mia. It was performed in the capital theatre downtown performed I’m pretty sure by a Broadway group that travels around.

2.      This play is about a young woman and her mother who lives on a small island and run a hotel/inn. The young woman gets engaged and decides that she wants to invite her father to the wedding; the only problem is that neither she nor her mother knew who her father was. In the mothers journal there were three possible fathers that were named and so she started off with those and sent them invitations to her wedding because she believed that when she saw the man that was her father, she would know. She did this behind her mother’s back so it ends up being really funny when they all show up to her wedding and her mom has no idea they are there and freaks out when she sees all her old boyfriends again in her hotel/inn. The young woman ends up never finding out who her dad is because unlike she thought, she couldn’t tell who it was. Her mom ends up marrying one of her old boyfriends and so he kind of becomes the woman’s father and she finally feels complete and happily gets married.

3.      I would definitely say that this was a high quality performance. The singers had absolutely amazing voices, made me feel like they were really the characters they were playing, their costumes we colorful and fun, it followed the story line well but had a couple of twists different from the movie that surprised me, had a good mix of fast and slow songs, had a great meaning, and then the lighting and look of the whole thing was fantastic too. I left the building feeling uplifted, hyper, and in a singing mood. Mistakes wise I think they still did a great job, I think in one of the songs the girl was off pitch but it actually made it better in my mind because it reminded me that these are real people who make mistakes. It made it relatable in a way and made me grateful for how hard they do work not to have more mistakes. I loved the performance and have thought about going to see it again in another location many times.

4.       It was hard to find any information on the artists, composers, or others connected with this performance because like I mentioned earlier me and my parents are not really sure what company performed. We went to this musical a little over a year ago and so I remember details about the plot of the play and how much I liked it but I have no way of knowing anything about the company that put on the production. You said it was okay to use a musical we went to in the past and so that’s why I don’t have those specific details that you want.

5.      My reaction to this performance was pure joy. I left leaving the best mood and feeling uplifted and inspired. The music in this musical I think is what mainly did it to me. The music was really fun and brought the characters together. All the music from this performance was old songs from the singing group ABBA; Honey Honey, Dancing Queen, Take a Chance on Me, and Does Your Mother Know. These songs are very uplifting and full of energy. Another reason I really liked this musical is because I feel they didn’t drag it out two and three hours long. It was a nice hour and half-length performance which made me want more when it ended. I was actually quite sad when it ended and wanted them to come out and have a secret ending or something but I think that’s honestly what has made me want to go back. They didn’t drag it out to the point I was bored and not wanting to see the musical ever again, they gave me enough to be excited I came but still made me want to go back and get a little bit more. It was very tasteful and entertained me.

6.      I would definitely recommend this performance to other people to go see because of all the reasons I have already mentioned. The acting and singing was phenomenal, the musical itself was spiced up with special details left out in the move, the costumes caught your eye, the songs were upbeat and fun for the most part but It also had some slow songs that made you feel some real emotion, and it was the perfect length. I feel like most people hate musicals in general because they are so long. They like them for the first hour or so but then get bored of them and leave with a negative attitude. Anyone would have liked this performance because it was short and to the point but still detailed enough to give you your money’s worth.

7.      I would thoroughly enjoy seeing that exact performance/musical again or another production put on by the same company of actors. I would like to see what other kind of stuff they could do and see if they had enough talent to mix up the actors and put them in different character roles to bring our other individuals talents. This musical saved me from hating musicals all around. It made me want to go see more musicals or plays because finding one that you really like are worth sitting through a couple bad ones. I thoroughly enjoyed this performance and have gained a love and respect for musicals and the performers that are in them.

Reflection #5- Religion/Ways of Life

          This last week while reading about Taoism, Buddism and the Holy Qu'ran my mind opened up to a lot of new ideas and inspiration. I loved learning about these three religions because it made me realize how sheltered I am by only knowing about my religion and a few other popular ones. I definitely believe my religion is true but it still wouldn't hurt to get to a better understanding of others beliefs and religions. I loved comparing and contrasting my beliefs to those of the Bhudda. The Bhudda story and the Tao piece of work both inspired me to gain a better control of myself. It made me want to exercise more, eat better, and learn as much in this life as I possibly can. I love how it talks about a balance in all things. I believe that with balance, true contentment and happiness will come.

The Holy Qu-ran - Muhammad

1.      “It is He Who hath created for you all things that are on earth; Moreover His design comprehended the heavens, for He gave order and perfection to the seven firmaments; and of all things He hath perfect knowledge.” (pg. 232 #29)

            I liked this verse because it goes along with my beliefs well. It surprised me how much Christian and Jewish religions are like Qur’An because before reading this entry I thought they were going to be completely different. They call Christ Allah instead of Christ but still believe he created all things and knows all things.

             2.      “When it is said to them: “Follow what Allah hath revealed:” They say: “Nay! We shall follow the ways of our fathers.” What! Even though their fathers were void of wisdom and guidance?” (pg. 237 #170)

I loved this verse from the Qur’An chapters because it made me laugh. It kind of mocks people of all different religions who do not believe in a divine being like Allah and believe in the words of men. It is saying how ironic it is to believe in something that has no more wisdom or knowledge than you yourself. It is calling people foolish which I find funny because I agree.

Reading Questions:

1.      What does the work say about the fundamental relationship between man and Allah? What is mankind’s responsibility to Allah?

The relationship Allah and man share is an intimate one, more intimate than any other earthly relationship. He knows all things whether they are revealed to him by you or not. It is said he thinks of you as a mother thinks of his child because he is the creator so he loves you (his creation). Mankind’s responsibility to Allah is to implement his desires among earth.

2.      Compare and contrast the views of god and morality described in the Koran with those found in the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament.

Compare: all these religions believe in a god that has perfect knowledge and created all things including man. They believe this divine being knows them better than they know themselves and is their savior because he gives out guidance and direction that they are expected to follow.

Contrast: in the Koran religion I believe they think of Allah as more of a god and someone to worship and be in awe of than they do a father. In Christian and Jewish beliefs, Christ is their redeemer, brother, savior and friend; it just more personal.

           

Dhammapada - Bhudda

“The mind, hard to control,

            Flighty – alighting where it wishes

One does well to tame.

            The disciplined mind brings happiness.”

This verse from the Dhamma stood out to me because it is something I just went through. Coming back from spring break was extremely hard for my mind to wrap around. I felt discouraged and slightly depressed when thinking about school again and the hard work that it brings. The morning before school, I almost faked sick to avoid it one more day but decided to go anyways. It ended up being one of the happiest days of my life because my mind was enthralled to be engaged in control, organization, and deeper thoughts. Disciplining my mind did bring me happiness.

           

Buddha's Path To Enlightenment - Thanissaro Bhikku & Nanamoli Bhikku

Siddhartha Gautama, a wealthy ruler of principality in the foothills of the Himalayas was born to be a great teacher and leader; his father received a prophecy of it. One day after deeply contemplating his lifestyle, he decided that being rich, free from suffering and illness was not okay with him and he decided to leave his home and family to live the life of a monk.

           While being a monk Siddhartha engaged in many experiments testing the limits of his mind. He was trying to be awakened from birth. He first learned while with his fellow monks to fully concentrate, to the point of pain. He stopped breathing and clenched his teeth. Next his thoughts turned to food. He wanted to have control over his body and thought by not eating that would happen but all he realized from starving was that his body had no energy to do any physical or mental activities. So instead he tried the opposite and ate very well. This brought him to his best senses; rapture, pleasure, seclusion, direct thoughts, and evaluation. His new body made him alert and mindful. Thoughts came to his mind about his reincarnations (past lives) and about birth and death. At this time his mind was pliable, he realized ignorance to the world was key. Ignorance arose to knowledge and darkness arose to light.
          After part way finding himself and becoming an inspiration, Siddhartha (Buddha) went to Deer Park in Isipatana to a group of 5 monks to teach them his ways of the Dhamma. Practicing and instructing them they became and remained in the supreme goal of the holy life. The monks struggled with seeing why this meditation and ways of the Dhamma was helpful. They asked what superior human state he had reached by living luxuriously, straying from exertion, and backsliding into abundance. He pointed out to them how different he was from whiles ago. They then believed his strange ways and reached the aging-less, illness less, deathless, sorrow-less unexcelled rest from the their yoke (birth).
           After the 5 monks had learned like him, Siddhartha thoughts about pleasures and cravings.  He believed that craving only led to self-torment, too much devotion and pain which is no good. The middle way discovered by him “The Perfect One” avoided this extreme; it gave vision, knowledge, and peace to direct nirvana with one’s self. Suffering became no problem for Buddha. He had officially reached three out of the four noble truths. At his point the monks taught his perfect way to others and that’s how it became the main religion/life style in china and in Asian cultures.
           After reading the life of the Buddha, I felt inspired to become one with myself and take control of my mind and body. I feel Siddhartha Gautama was a hero in his days for reaching such a state of perfection. He truly did take a hero’s journey by leaving his home, conquering many obstacles, and bettering himself through them. While reading this I thought of my own religion and how different it is from the way of the Dhamma but how similar it is in the way of bettering one’s self. I try every day to be better than the day before and Buddha was definitely trying to reach that state of pure bliss and perfection.

Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu

           Taoism is different than Buddhism because it is about complete balance in all things. Over eating is extremely bad for your body but so is under eating. Overpraising someone can lead to pride, but under praising a person’s talents can make them feel unappreciated. Opposition is key to understanding; we know beauty because there is ugly. Everything has to have a counterpart like fast and slow to understand what both fast and slow truly mean. Taoism is living in complete balance. Don’t create what you won’t use, don’t desire something and then fill that craving excessively, and don’t say what doesn’t need to be said; the wise are heard through their silence. Live in balance, yin and yang.
          “Overpraising the gifted leads to contentiousness. Overvaluing the precious invites stealing. Craving the desirable loses contentment.”

          “We chisel doors and windows to construct a room, yet it’s the inner space that makes it livable. Thus do we create what is to use what is not?”
           I like both of these verses from Taoism because I feel like we are a wasteful people who always want and want and want. The teachings from Taoism teach to not over do or over use things. Too much of a good thing leads to a bad thing is what these versus are saying and I totally agree. Under doing or under using something is bad too but in the world now a days I feel like over consumption is more of the problem. Taoism teaches pure and true balance which is the best route.

Creation Myth

Easter Island?

          Radisson, the god of wind, looked down from the sky upon where the one thing he truly loved most once was. This love was an absolutely stunning, breath-taking, and uplifting sight to all who once looked upon her. Radisson’s love for her you could say was so strong and intense that it was a love indescribable, a love that had the power to destroy a God.
         
           Many years ago, Radisson was helping his father Radizio create a world unlike any other worlds. This world had no Gods, it was a mortal earth for mortals to roam and prove their strengths, talents, and goodness to all of the Gods hopefully giving them reason to not destroy mankind. As this world was created and put into motion, the Gods saw nothing but evil in the world. After a short time, the Gods were fed up with the attitudes of the human race. “They really don’t believe we exist, and think they are more powerful than us don’t they?” Radisson once asked his father. His father upon hearing and realizing this was extremely upset and felt forced by his anger to destroy the world he created not so long ago. Volcanoes, tsunamis, floods and storms of every kind fell upon Radizio’s creation. Everything in the power of the God’s path was being destroyed; all the evil, selfishness, egos, anger, and pride of mankind were being destroyed until one moment Radisson saw one specific maiden about to be destroyed by an incoming tsunami who he could see not an ounce of evil in. She was doing everything she could for the people of Adak Island and was willing to sacrifice herself for the good of her people. At this moment Radisson, without a second thought sent down a tornado to carry her and her people to a deserted Island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean near Chile. Radizio angered with his sons actions but impressed with this beautiful woman created with so much good inside of her, stopped the volcanoes, tsunamis, floods and storms of every kind saving the world unlike any others.

          Easter Island was what Radisson called this deserted Island he sent the lovely lady and her people to. It was his personal sanctuary upon earth where he went to get away from his Godly duties. The love he had gained for this maiden in those short moments of terror, were like everyone says they were; indescribable. Sacrificing his one get away from everything bad, was nothing compared to what he wanted to give to her. He wanted so badly to be with her and take care of her every day for the rest of her life upon his father’s almost broken world but knew that, that was impossible. A God’s number one rule is that they cannot live on mortal territory; they are two opposite powers which clash and can’t survive in the same area. Radisson heartbroken but glad his maiden was at least safe, provided for her and her people for all the days of her life. Easter Island flourished; that was until the day his precious maiden died. At that time, Radisson kind of quit living. Gods can’t physically die, but Radisson died emotionally. All his inspiration for creation was gone, without that a God was nothing. He stopped caring about anyone or anything so Easter Island slowly perished without the constant resources provided by Radisson’s selflessness and power. All that his maiden was, was soon gone from his sight but would definitely never leave his heart.

           The world that Radizio created went back to the way it was. Mostly evil with some sparks of good. The only difference with life on that world unlike no others after its proposed destruction was the constant wind storms that struck different parts of it. The humans on that world didn’t understand where these wind storms came from, and probably never would unless one day they finally started believing in the divine, unreal powers and sacrifices of the Gods.