Journal #32 - Revolution

When I think of the word "revolutionize", I think of changing the mind set of a lot of people. Hopefully, the new mindset is one that is better than the previous, leading to a better world. I imagine that it is incredible to experience a revolution. Everything around you is changing, and you can take that as a good thing or a bad thing. However, I can also imagine the hardships that one would have to go through in order to revolutionize something. It would be pretty tough to change the mindset of so many people. Everything would have to be organized in a way that works for everyone, or that the people can deal with. When I think of a revolution, I think of the American Revolution. I also think of the sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Legend of Korra, but that is another story. The American Revolution took a lot of thought and dedication. In order for it to take place, many people had to get involved and show equal amounts of dedication and devotion to the cause. That is what makes such revolutions work. Some revolutions can also be bad, in which normally only a few people are involved. In that case, I imagine that the task of revolutionizing the way people think or do things would be pretty tough. Now that I think about it, since we're talking about poetry through Emily Dickinson, It could be pretty easy to get your thoughts and ideas across. Emily Dickinson, where a lonely woman who spent her life in solitude, got her ideas across through her numerous poems. The poems spread to the people of the world and through her descriptions of her thoughts and ideas, the readers were able to see the world in a whole new way... Dickinson's way. In a way, this was a revolution, because it took a large group of people and made them think in a different way. That is quite a revolution.

Journal #30 - Civil Rights

As we make our way into February (its already the sixth), we can see that it is currently black history month. It is quite an interesting month if I do say so myself. However, when I look at the past, I can only think of all the trouble racism has caused in the past. Why do we have this black history month? Because so many brave African Americans fought for the right to be equal. A fight that they never should have had to fight. I am a strong believer in civil rights, especially to those of a different color. What makes them different to us as people? Nothing. The only difference is our color, and that should not even matter. We are not in control of how we look in that sense. If every African American went Michael Jackson on themselves and dyed themselves white, they would be no different than if they were black. Having a prejudice toward African Americans because of such a small fact seems foolish. Its okay to think that whites are different from blacks, but it is not okay to think any one better than the other. In the end, we are all human, and that is all that should matter. Not to preach, but God made all of us in the same form of a human, and whether the skin is darkened by the sun, or lightened by the moon, has absolutely no say in who we are as people. We all have thoughts and ideas that can be the same or different. We all think with the same kind of brain and move with the same kind of feet. People say that a blind person would be the best person to love because they cannot judge on looks, only on character. I do not wish that everyone was blind, but I understand why someone would say that. If an African American and a Caucasian person were both to speak, besides the difference between female and male voices and the different dialects, the two people would be indistinguishable as better or worse. Its sad to think that people were and still are so judgmental about people.

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.