Journal #29 - When Nature Was In Charge

Nature is a wonderous thing. Unfortunately, sometimes it decided that it is going to try and ruin our fragile fragile lives. Sometimes I think that I have a transcendentalist mindset, seeing as though I think so highly of nature and everything about it. Its so beautiful and power, especially storms. Many times, storms dictate the world around us. Oh, you had marching band practice after school? Well too bad! THERES A TORNADO OUTSIDE. Oh, your track practice was supposed to be outside? Well too bad! There is currently three feet of snow on the ground! Nature is very often in control of our lives. That, however, does not mean that it ruins our lives. I, for one believe it makes everything much more interesting. I love going outside at night whilst a lightning storm is going on. I take my blanket out onto the wooden bench on my porch and entertain myself for about an hour with the bright flashes and the rain. It is truly amazing. You see, I could have been watching television that night. I could have been lazy, staring at a computer screen as I did not admire the beauty of the world around us. But no. I took the initiative and let nature teach me wonderous things. Nature controls so many aspects of the world. A perfectly nice day can be turned into a thunderstorm. A windless day can become a fierce tornado. The gentle waves of the ocean on your nearby beach can become a frenzy as a hurricane sweeps through. The possibilities of nature are endless. Every day, something new is going on. The sky could be purple, or green, or orange, or pink, or even just plain old blue, but it is all so varied that one could spend forever trying to experience everything and yet fail. Nature, controlled by God, dictates the world around us and lets us experience every thing the world has to offer. That is how nature is in control. It always is.

Journal #28 - Different Social Status or Culture

There are three main places I have been in my life where I have just absolutely not fit in. This one time, my family decided that it would be a great idea to go to Amish Country. So, me, being insanely interested in the Amish/non-technological world, jumped at the chance to go. However, I have a deep appreciation for all of the technological advancements of this time period... phones, iPods, pc's, laptops, etc... We drove over to Arthur, a popular Amish area. It was very neat! They had animals and corn everywhere. I could have been in the 1800s. Only, not, seeing as though there were people everywhere taking pictures of stuff with their cameras and iPhones galore. I slowly looked down at my hand. I was one of them. I was taking a picture of these poor Amish folk's goat. Backing away, I came to a realization. I am not Amish. None of these people were! Okay, some were - but I felt really out of my element. I had a great time that day, but I could feel the stares of all of the Amish folk. They liked the visitors, but they must have thought we were extremely weird. I find the Amish people very interesting, but in the end, I will never be Amish. The second time I felt out of my element was when I was at this fancy dinner party with my parents. I am not a fancy individual. If I try....REALLY hard I can pull off a higher middle or lower higher class, but not often. I'm just not like that. I felt extremely awkward then. Lastly, I felt out of place at school. I have always been in the sort of "weird" group of kids. Its not that we are weird, necessarily, but we definitely look at life differently. I have never ever seen this as a bad thing. However, the weirdness my friends and I have provokes negative thought in those of the... "more popular" groups. This has gone down immensely since middle school - everyone minds their own business now for the most part - but it had been bad. Whenever we would have group projects with assigned partner, getting put with a different social class student was pretty much the worst thing ever. Unfortunately, since the weirder groups tend to be lower on the food chain, such an occurrence was not enjoyable for me. Those are pretty much the only places where I have felt like I didn't fit in. For any situation similar to those, I tend to assert my position as being an awesome individual, so I do not notice any negative feelings of displacement.

Journal #27 - Defending My Country

I can imagine that the experience of fighting for your country, miles and miles away from home, is a terrifying one. Maybe you are hotheaded. Maybe you like to fight. Maybe you are so devoted to protecting those you love that you do not even notice the hardships you are experiencing on the inside. What ever the case may be, I imagine that there is always at least some amount of homesickness in the soldiers' hearts. If I was fighting for my country, far away, not knowing if I would live or die, I would be scared. I would most likely not back down, but that does not mean that I would not be upset. To be honest, I give so many props to the soldiers who fight every day for this country. They are sacrificing so much of their time and their lives to make sure that the rest of us can live happily and peacefully. Being so far away would be awful, especially for those soldiers with families. Whenever I look on the TV around Veteran's Day, they occasionally show commercials about fathers who are soldiers. They always have those really adorable clips of them coming home in their army uniforms and finding their loved ones waiting at the airport for them. The little girl runs up to him (I'm crying at this point in the commercial) (only not) and then the mother slowly walks up with the baby that - of course - was borning during his time in the war. Sorry about the little seque there. What I am trying to say is that soldiers are amazing. They risk their lives everyday and have to live apart from their loved ones with only letters, email, and skype to bring them together. It would be awful. In the end, I believe I would hate fighting for my country because of all of the bad extra aspects of it. However, that just gives me an even stronger respect for those who everyday are out risking everything for our country.

Journal #26 - Something Particular to This Area?

Immediately, when the question said "this area", I thought "...Springfield." You see, we live in quite a boring city if you really think about it. All we have going for us is the constant presence of corn and Lincoln related trinkets. What is the pride of our actual city? Our Lincoln Library and Museum. Sure, its really nice! I love going there! Its a very nice, interesting experience that teaches us a lot about Civil War history! And, might I add, who doesn't want to learn about Civil War history? I can actually think of a few people. Then, there's New Salem, and that is pretty interesting. Nonetheless, I digress. In addition to everything Lincoln about our city/town/area/region/thing, one other thing is very prevalent. Corn. Ah, yes, corn. I have been very bored at certain points in my lifetime, so every so often, I walk outside to admire the beauty of our flat, flat land. More often than not, I am greeted by the lovely sight of corn - whether it be flourishing and green, or dead and brown. Despite my allergy to corn pollen, I love the corn around us. Always changing. It also - not that I forget - reminds be of what time of year it is. Obviously, if it is tall and green, it is summertime. Seeing the healthy stalks all around me fills me with warmth and joy! You know, only slightly. Then, as I walk out of my house in early fall, I see the once life-filled stalks slowly browning, indicating that they are ready to be harvested. Watching the corn gets me through the year, in a way. I appreciate it. I have met so many people who absolutely hate the plainness of our corn fields, but I find it fascinating. So, between the corn and all of our Lincoln themed places,  I find that Springfield, where very uneventful, is one of my favorite places to live. Not that I have lived anywhere else.

Journal #25 - Giving

Giving is a wondrous thing. Having just gone through the Christmas season, we all should have at least a little bit of an understanding about what giving is. Giving is willingly handing something over to someone, often for their benefit and not your own. They say the Christmas season is all about giving, and it makes sense because of how many of us celebrate it. We spend the season giving gifts, big and small, to our friends and family. And for what do we do this for? It may be because its tradition, because you do not want to be that person who did not put in the effort to give someone a Christmas gift. That could be the reason for a lot of gift giving. However, I like to see giving differently. When you hand your friend or family member that gift that you put so much effort into getting, you anxiously await the moment that they open it. That anxiousness comes from the fact that you really want to see their reaction. Obviously, you want the person to like their gift, seeing as you got it for them.When they open it up and they love it, you are immediately filled with warmth and happiness. "They like it!", you think, rejoicing. Apparently, you have received something from this gift as well. In most cases, I can refer to giving being in and of itself a benefit to both the giver and the receiver. It is a gift that keeps on giving. You have given that person a gift, and they loved it. Then, you are extremely satisfied with yourself and then are bent on always getting that reaction from your gift giving skills. Because of that, you continue to give more to more people, hoping for similar reactions. Also, the receiver of your gift now wants to give you something in return. You will probably really love the gift, so your original receiver will love the feeling they got from your happiness. It is an endless cycle of love! That is why giving is such a terrific thing, and more people should make a habit of doing so.

Journal #22 - Snow

Write about snow, you say? More like the lack-thereof. I have been wishing for snow since fall first started. I know snow is not supposed to come until Wintertime- it usually does not come until January or February - but I love snow way too much to wait. I do not know what is so great about it, but it is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. It is peaceful, and silent, and all around gorgeous. In addition to that, it also has the ability to get us teenagers out of school! Alas, I digress. Every time it snows, I am overwhelmed with happiness. It forms a soft blanket over the ground, all of the imperfections of the grass, streets, buildings, and tress being erased with a thick white layer. The air is crisp with the below freezing temperatures, but of course, you have a nice warm coat and scarf to hide behind. Snow makes memories as well. As I child, the only memories of being outside in winter I can remember are those of me making snow forts and having snowball fights. Unfortunately, the only snow we have been getting in recent years stays for about a day before getting all mushy and gray or melting away. People have been saying that this year will have a lot of snow. Well, it is December 7th and the only snow we have gotten is about a  millimeter of it on one slightly colder than normal night about a week ago. Oh well, the amazingness of the snowy season will come eventually. Maybe then I will have more to say about it.

On another note - a more english-class-like answer - snow is a very symbolic thing. It often represents death or sadness, but it also could represent rebirth and beauty. It is such a broad part of nature that it could be taken in any way: sad or happy, cold or dark, you name it. Snow is just an beautiful thing.

Journal #21 - Emerson's Self Reliance Quote Reaction

"There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till."

-Emerson

It seems to me that this quote is trying to show its readers that one's experiences through life all influence each other. Every part of your life is another step in your grand staircase. I got that especially from the quote about how a kernel of corn can not come to a person unless he first decides to till it. I also get from that part of the quote that we, as humans, cannot go forward in life without thinking about the past and what it has done to us and our society. We all came from somewhere. Something had to start our existence so that we could live our lives. This also shows us that we should work hard for our dreams. We cannot expect that they will just come to us out of the blue. Obviously, we have to put some effort in. We have to choose to make those first steps towards our goals. Doctors do not become doctors over night. They have to work through years and years of medical school and other training, and before that, they had to maintain good GPA's in their schools. That works for almost any profession. As for the first part of this quote, it seems to be explaining how everyone experiences a moment where they realize that they have so much to live for. "Envy is ignorance; imitation is suicide". We have to be ourselves and achieve our own goals. We can not live in the shadow of others. We have to be our own people and be great without anyone else to lean on. 

I really like this quote, it is all about self reliance and how you cannot depend on others for everything. Obviously, that being the title of his essay, he was trying to explain self reliance, but I really can understand it from this specific quote. I am all about getting help from others. However, I also understand that there are extents to the help you can get. You have to eventually step up and do something for yourself. If you do not, you will not be able to achieve all that you could have, had you tried. Once you know that you are able to depend on yourself, then life will become so much better and easier. This quote spoke a lot about how people should live their lives.