The Titanic and Forgiveness

I can see water surrounding me steadily. I'm laying in my bed, wondering how this trip could have gone so wrong. I feel the painful ice-cold water surrounding my feet. I can't help but think of how this could be prevented; how could this be true? I accept my fate. I'm only a poor woman that was reaching too high for her arms to reach, I wanted to pretend like I was something more than nothing; is that why my chest is being engulfed with merciless ocean water? Maybe no one will miss me, but I will die knowing that whoever has caused this will suffer greater than I. I will not be blamed for such a disaster, but he will. As I take my last breath, I wonder if I should forgive the mistaken... or die like the others: heartbroken, angry, and lost. Considering that's exactly what I feel, I don't think I have much of a choice, do I?

Self-forgiveness

The whole central point of The Sunflower is to portray the endless "possibilities and limits of forgiveness"-- basically, whether or not one has the right to be forgiven by others. However, the dying Nazi soldier includes a whole new aspect of forgiveness: forgiving oneself. "Those Jews died quickly, they did not suffer as I do-- though they were not as guilty as I am," (Wiesenthal, Pg. 52). He implies that his injuries, the horrific things he's seen, are much worse than a simple death; he continues on to say that the Jews were not guilty as him. He believes that he deserves the pain and suffering he's been through because of the pain and suffering he caused for innocent human beings. Though he cannot forgive himself, though he cannot move past the terrible things he has done, he desires and begs for the forgiveness of Simon; he needs resolution, even if it cannot come from his own self. He truly wants to be told that everything will be okay. When we as humans do terrible things to others, sometimes it does not matter whether or not they can forgive us, but instead if we can forgive ourselves. Until a person can look his faults in the face and decide that his mistakes do not define him, that person cannot possibly move on. One can beg and grasp for forgiveness all he wants, but until he can come to terms with what he has done himself, he will not be able to pursue his future, and heal. 

When

There comes a time
in everyone's life
when want becomes need,
when a house becomes a street,
a field becomes a moutain.

But there's also another time,
when a recieving hand
must become a giving one,
when a gift must become a present.
when learning must become teaching.

When sympathy must become empathy.

Wasted Ambitions

     In the middle of the Depression, having big hopes and dreams was a hard. Curley's wife in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck understood this statement; she was rejected countless times. Although at the beginning of the novella, she seemed simplistic and shallow, Curley's wife became more complex. She had dreams of being in movies, but her motivation was actually quite simple; she wanted independence and respect.
     The workers of the ranch tried to tell her that Curley's hand had been broken by a machine, but she had not been fooled; "What you think you're sellin' me?" she had accused. Curley's wife seems dim, but in actuality she is intelligent when situations boiled down to logic. She doesn't want to be seen as a dainty and fragile house wife, because she feels like she has a much greater capacity for purpose than just cooking and cleaning.
     Though Curley's wife is a beautiful woman, she puts herself on display because she wants to be admired. She continually mixes respect and attention. Because of the time period she lives in, the idea of her being treated like a person, instead of an object, seems impossible to aqcuire. Curley's wife does not want to be a "tramp," or a "tart," but she "ain't wanted anywhere else." She doesn't feel content, because she is always being passed around, whether it be from man to man, or from place to place.
     Everything this woman has ever strived towards seems to slip through her fingers. Though Curley's wife "don' like Curley," she married him in the hopes that he would take her someplace. At first, she believed he had bigger ambitions than he actually turned out to have. Instead of walking down the red carpet, she got stuck at his father's ranch, seemingly at the end of her road.
     Although Curley's wife has had dreams of "bein' somebody," she also has the true desire to just be seen. She wants to be seen as a woman, but as a real person, also. She wants to gain enough respect so that she doesn't have to depend on anyone else but herself. Her future always depended on someone else, and she became tired of it. She felt lost in the idea that she would never have the admiration that she wanted from others, and through that came her own self-descruction.

Vintage Couture

     I walk down the Main Street of Batesville, and I look through the windows of shady video game stores, homely clothing shops, and abandoned businesses of years past. As I step on the same sidewalks of our entrepreneur ancestors, I can see the history of our town in every sign and every window. Glancing up, I see the neatly-made sign of a fairly new boutique: Impulse; I smile. I smile because this makes me feel as though we haven't given up on our history- our roots. On the contrary, it is being promoted with newly painted buildings, and the bustling of the young and old. Main Street has not been forgotten. No, in fact it has taken the unique culture of our generation by the hand, and is charging into the future.

9/11 Paragraph

     Though the attack on the twin towers was extremely traumatizing to not only the USA, but to the whole western world, one thing that stands out to me the most is the patriotism that came afterwords. What I mean by this is that we, as a nation, came together; "we responded with the best of America." The "deliberate and deadly terrorist acts" could not tear our strong country apart. In fact, people from all over the nation came to "help in any way they could," because like President Bush said in his speech, we "reunite in our resolve for justice and peace." 9/11 will never fade from our hearts, but we will use it to push forward into a better future, together- one nation, under God.

I Am...

I am beautiful and set free.
I wonder if I will ever fill my purpose.
I hear a whisper in the wind.
I see with faith.
I want to live life fully and deeply.
I am beautiful and set free.

I pretend that I don't need anyone.
I feel love surrounding me.
I touch the wonderful creations around me.
I worry that I'll have regrets.
I cry because others have hurt.
I am beautiful and set free.

I understand that I can't fix everything or anyone.
I say, Love is Real.
I dream that I will help the world.
I try to always move on.
I hope that I give others hope.
I am beautiful and set free.