Final Project

My final project is a reflection on how I have grown more self confidence over the course of the year. English has always been a class where I was nervous about sharing my writing and my opinions. This year I did not really have an option whether or not I wanted to share my work with others, I needed to through my blog. I feel like I have grown into a stronger person as well as student. It sounds weird to say this but I would always tell my teachers that I have learned from them, but I think that it is something inside that kind of clicks eventually, and you can't rush that. This term I felt that click. It didn't take me the usual hour and a half to sit and write a paragraph, or the really long and tedious hours to read a book. This year english was more enjoyable and was more of something I looked forward to coming to rather than a class with assigned projects. My Project is going to be two sheets of paper and one of symbols of me from the beginning of the year and one at the end of the term of the more confident me.

On Religion

I wouldn't consider myself a very religious person, but I am tied to my religion socially. Growing up I went to a Jewish preschool, hebrew school, sunday school and more. After my Bat Mitzvah I thought I was going to be done with temple and was pumped. After that I realized that there was a deeper meaning then just scribbles that looked like doodles on paper. I had a community that was completley different than my school community and sports community. We all had one thing in common and that was being Jewish. I feel a sense of comfort knowing that there is a place like my temple where I can always have someone who is there if I ever need help. I feel differently approaching my peers there then I do in some other places. Being involved in a religious community is not for everyone, but I know that it has helped me grow more of an understanding for other religions, ad how to approach certain things that I have been faced with. Unlike a lot of people who go to temple and pray, I don't believe in G-D, therefore I don't believe that there is someone or something that can solve problems and issues. But religious venues are there to give guidance to those who seek it.

On Beauty

Beauty is viewed in different ways. The mind quickly thinks of inner and outer beauty. The eye is drawn to make assumptions of the outer beauty, and this normally means that we are judgmental. In the Prophet beauty is talked about not being a need, but bringing happiness. To me this is sort of confusing, because a lot of people today believe that to be happy, being beautiful is very helpful. One of my favorite quotes from this section is "It is not a mouth thirsting nor an empty hand stretched forth, but rather a heart inflamed and a soul enchanted". This talks about how beauty is more for the inner soul and yourself rather than to please others and less about the physical sense of beauty. I think a lot of people worry and have self esteem issues with beauty, and if society can let go of this more people will view beauty in a different way, shape, or form.

On Time

I feel that the topic of time is so weird to think about. During the day I just think about time as how much time we have left of class, or how much time till lunch, I cant wait till 5:30 till practice is over. But in the long scheme of things, life evolves over time and we don't normally think about it in that sense. Once the day is over it is old news and we only dream of the next day, and the days to come. Time just keeps going and going and no one stops to take in the present and what is going on. We read about history in school, and I think very little of the population thinks about how generations ahead could be learning about us. Which is strange to think that there is life after us. But time doesn't stop and take a pause when we want it to. It will continue on whether or not we like/ want it to.

On Friendship

Friends mean the world to me, and I rely on them so much. This chapter touches on the different ways a friend has impacts on ones life. "Friends are your needs answered", this quote shows that friends fill the empty space of what you need/want and are there to help guide you towards the path of being filled. A friend is also a feeling, you don't need to have them right at your side every minute of every day to be able to feel the comfort of a friend. You can feel a friend through spirits as well states the Prophet. Although friends are there for support, they cannot fill the emptiness that one feels, they can help with needs, but not what is missing from ones life. I know personally I go to my friends for support with everything and I hope that they have my back with things when I am in a time of need. Reading this passage makes me think back to what I look to my friends for, and if some of the things that I assume they help me with are okay for me to look to them for.

On Teaching

In most of society we learn from going to school and from what our teachers teach us. They feed us their knowledge of the subject and we are told to memorize that and take what we are given and run with it. In the Prophet, the teacher says that you cannot be given understanding you have to learn from your own knowledge of topics. All your knowledge is already in your head, just asleep. I thought that this was a cool way about thinking about minds and the information that we know. Except when I reread these couple lines, it made me think that if I am not so smart in a certain topic, that I am unable to understand information that is not already known. There is so much out in the world that I do not know about, but someday hope to learn. The teachings that everyone else can teach me and I can learn from seems to go a little bit against the Prophet, but my vision of knowledge can be different then my peers, family, and friends.

Yoga Practice 11/5/10

The second time that we practiced yoga was more enjoyable than the first time. The first time was filled with laughter and confusion and just took some getting use to. My body normally isn't use to the movements that yoga forces my body to do. This time I was able to hold the poses better and have more balance. I liked the poses where we had one knee in front of us bent, and the other leg stretched out behind us. Normally, during meditation I get somewhat antsy and find it rather difficult to drop in and let my mind have no thoughts, but after yoga it was very easy. I was able to sit still and barely think of anything. This was a breath of fresh air and gave me the confidence that it is not impossible to sit and meditate.

On Pain

I think pain is hard to write about because pain feels differently for each individual. The line "Much of your pain is self-chosen", is very true. You can make any situation into a negative one, and it is the way you let it overcome your body and your emotions. There is an interesting twist when it talks about a physician being able to heal your pain, when in reality I believe that no one else can heal your pain except for yourself. Although, if the pain you have can relate to the physician they can use their personal experiences to help guide you with their sacred tears. Pain is a very personal thing that everybody takes differently, it hits some people and throws them a curveball and it affects everything around them. Some people are strong enough to fight pain like its no big deal and keep living life without putting anything on hold. This chapter I think relates to everyones pain no matter which level you are feeling.

On Reason and Passion

In my mind, passion always comes before reasoning. If I show passion in something it is nearly impossible to have my mind sway my decisions. This chapter uses the metaphor of a sailboat with a rudder and sails as what directs your passion, and how it can be untamable if let loose. You should use reasoning to direct your passion on a guided path, but sometimes this is not possible. It is a battle in yourself to fight each side, to realize which one should take priority. For example on a sports field, you need to use both reason and passion. My passion for the game drives me to want to win and shows a competitive side of me, but you have to use your mind and reasoning to not be selfish and use the rest of your team to achieve your personal goal of a victory. This is a time when I am able to use both reason and passion on a balanced level.

On Joy and Sorrow

I love the way that this section opens up when it says "Joy is your sorrow unmasked". This is an interesting way of viewing the two emotions together. I personally feel that the two are not really linked, because during the times of sorrow I find no joy anywhere near me. I think that when someone is upset, nothing else seems like it can dig you out of that dark whole and as if joy is far far away, not just sleeping directly next to you. In my life there is either one or the other it is hard to be in the middle of joy and sorrow. I am confused how the Prophet keeps saying that they are inseparable, because obviously you get different feelings from both emotions and learn different things. It takes a lot to switch over your mood to make one hold a greater weight than the other.

Things To Do Before I Die.

Road trip across the country.

Make a difference in someones life.

On Giving

Giving is part of everyday life. Some people give without being told and some give with hesitancy. People believe it is the same wether you have been told or not, but in the big picture it makes a big difference. It says "those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward. And there are those who give with pain, and that pain is their baptism". Giving isn't going to have the same feeling of satisfaction if you aren't happy with what you have done. Every person is deserving of something, and to not give because you believe that they don't need to be helped is selfish. In the Judaism we have mitzvah, and you normally know that it is the right thing to do, and give without being told. You feel such a sense of empowerment by helping others wether they are in need or not.

On Children

To be honest, I really didn't understand the first part of this chapter. "Your children are not your children", to me this doesn't make sense because we are our parents children. I do think this gives us an interesting twist on how our parents house our bodies but not our souls, because we decide who we as individuals want to be. In society I think that we have a mapped out path that our parents envision us taking, but we have to power and the reins on life to decide which turn to make and which decision to make. Some parents struggle to recognize that they cannot make the decision for their children because they want to be there every step of the way and holding their hands. I think that there are different ways of interpreting different parts of this passage, and it will mean something different to each different reader.

On Marriage

Everyday of being married there is something new to learn. You have to give and take from the marriage otherwise it is like you are living one life as two people. You have to take what knowledge your spouse knows and use it in your own life and vice versa. Marriage is thought to be this bond that should never be broken, and once married the couple should never leave the other spouses side. Part of being married says the prophet is to give that space, but not too much space. How much space I believe is the question that everyone asks. "Till death do us part", is the known phrase that the newly weds always say, but here it says once dead you shall still be together. You want to make sure not to overstep boundaries and cross into the shadow of your loved one.

On Love

The first chapter of The Prophet goes in depth about a topic that many people only dream about. Being in love always seems like it is impossible to obtain. Being in love you hear about in fairy tales and to me it seems like it is far into the future. The part in the first section where it reads "But if in your fear you would seek only loves peace and loves pleasure, then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of loves threshing-floor" I believe is what a lot of society today believes being in love is really about. All the sappiness and mushy gushy is what I think love is truly about, but I think that there is hardships that until you are fortunate to be "in love" you really wont know the lowest lows that come from love.

I think that this chapter is a nice way to end east meets west. This seems like a guideline to life in 60 pages, which you don't really see very often, because most people are scared to touch on the topics where people get emotional.