Dreams are usually random events that occur whenever we are sleeping or are entering the unconscious part of our minds. Sometimes, these random dreams represent significant messages that tells us what we are feeling or what we must do in order overcome a current obstacle that we are facing in the real world (the conscious). Usually, I remember dreams when I take hourly naps around the late morning, early night, or anytime in the afternoon. There was one dream that I remembered yesterday (Friday, November 18 between 1-3 pm) and I wanted to talk about this dream because this was recent and this was the one I remembered the best.
On that day, I decided to take a nap because I was feeling tired that day since that was the last day before Thanksgiving break. I had a weird but memorable dream that I was with one of my friends named Jack in the movie theater. There was no one but me and him in the dark theater. We were watching a horror movie with mummies and zombies armed with swords, staffs, and bows. Suddenly, they started to come out of the picture to attack me and my friend. Just when one of the mummies swung its sword to attack me, I suddenly woke up in a dark gray room with nothing, no doors, windows, just plain nothing other than dark gray walls. I walk around for a few minutes and heard Jack call my name, even though I did not see him with me. As I heard his voice get louder, I immediately woke up again, this time I was in a small helicopter around a thousand feet in the air with my family members. The scary part was, the doors were open and we were not wearing any seatbelts nor were we wearing ANYTHING that prevented us from falling. I was scared and ready to cry because I was afraid of falling and looking down. As soon as I looked down, I felt myself falling and suddenly, I woke up in a hotel room. This time I was sleeping in a soft gray couch and was getting up. As soon as I got up, I felt my vision getting messed up as I saw only the lights, the walls of the hotel room and a piece of the gray couch on the bottom right side of my vision. They NEVER moved one centimeter out of my eye and this image stayed exactly the same, no matter how much I tried to look away, run, and open my eyes as wide as possible (when I was inside the dream). I was afraid that I was going to be trapped in here forever and was hoping that this was all a dream. Suddenly, my vision started to fade black and I woke up back in my room (in the conscious world), hoping that this is all no longer a dream. Minutes after waking up, I finally felt relieved that I was no longer trapped in my dream.
Although this dream contained random and unusual events, I thought this dream played an important role to how I lived my life. One part that was significant was when I was in the empty dark gray room and at that time, I was afraid and usually whenever I am in the dark, I feel fear since I often think about ghosts or anything trying to haunt me. Another event in my dream that was significant was when I was in the helicopter with the doors open. This shows how much I am afraid of heights. I do enjoy riding roller coasters and thrill rides but when I do not have any seat belt or anything to prevent me from falling, I end up getting extremely nervous and scared. Overall, this whole dream resembles the fears and anxieties that I was and am continuing to face in the conscious world.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Blog #9 - My Camus
(Response to Question #7):
When it comes to the public identity, each and every one of us must be aware of it by taking responsibility for the decisions that we make, whether it is related to politics or the work environment in general. Doing this can be extremely difficult since we are often busy with our own personal lives at home or at school. For example, from my experience, I am usually not aware with what is going on in our state or country since I have been heavily focusing on my schoolwork. After most Election Days, some of my friends, acquaintances, and random strangers would ask me who or what I voted for. I would either tell them, "I did not vote" or "I do not know what that law or proposition was". I would usually feel uncomfortable whenever I told them these words because I figured that they would give me bad reactions as to what I said. They would tend to get somewhat angry with me due to my lack of commitment and would then question me as to why I did not vote or know about that law or proposition.
My mind is mostly disconnected with the public because I am used to focusing on the things that "I" want, rather than what everyone else wants. It is not good to disconnect myself with the public since doing that will make me not prepare in future consequences. These serious consequences may include losing my education or having more difficulty in finding jobs without any backup plan due to my self-centered and apathetic behavior.
Another reason why we make little to no effort in participating in political elections is that we are not informed well enough. The media is not enough to remind us about political elections and other issues that are going on in our state and our country since we often ignore watching the news on television and do not read the newspapers. For me, I usually do not vote because I do not want to vote for something that I do not know about and may end up making a wrong vote.
At times, we tend to think that our vote would not be that significant. For example, if I were to vote, I would ONLY make the number of "YES" votes go from 40,000 to 40,001 and that it would make VERY little difference in the voting system. If I were to tell my friends, acquaintances, and random strangers this reason as to why I never vote, they may believe in my wrong words and would end up losing commitment in voting. We should learn to not think this way because every little vote counts. Each person, including myself, is usually affected by the outcome of the votes, regardless of whether we voted or not.
People may be publicly inactive and do not go out to participate in political elections due to their fear of facing the public themselves. Some people stay home for a majority of their time because they are perhaps afraid of the violence that is occurring outside of their home. There is a pretty high crime rate here in the United States compared to other countries, which means that violence and other crimes can take place anywhere. This is the one factor that people fear about since they are afraid of being victims of horrible crimes. So they end up staying home and go on the internet to interact with their family members and friends because they think this is the safest way to avoid violence.
No matter how aware or disconnected we are with the public, we will be facing serious consequences, whether they are good ones or bad ones. Even though we face these consequences, we should learn to not ignore the public by focusing only on our education, family, and other personal factors. It is best to prepare ourselves to face these consequences by paying attention to the media and listening to the things that are going on outside of our personal lives. When we are showing public awareness, we can also spread the word about political elections and other significant events to our friends, family members, and acquaintances so that they too will not be publicly inactive and will be able to help maintain the stability of our society. When we are active, not only will we be able to help ourselves and our significant others, but we will be able to help those that are outside of our personal lives as well.
When it comes to the public identity, each and every one of us must be aware of it by taking responsibility for the decisions that we make, whether it is related to politics or the work environment in general. Doing this can be extremely difficult since we are often busy with our own personal lives at home or at school. For example, from my experience, I am usually not aware with what is going on in our state or country since I have been heavily focusing on my schoolwork. After most Election Days, some of my friends, acquaintances, and random strangers would ask me who or what I voted for. I would either tell them, "I did not vote" or "I do not know what that law or proposition was". I would usually feel uncomfortable whenever I told them these words because I figured that they would give me bad reactions as to what I said. They would tend to get somewhat angry with me due to my lack of commitment and would then question me as to why I did not vote or know about that law or proposition.
My mind is mostly disconnected with the public because I am used to focusing on the things that "I" want, rather than what everyone else wants. It is not good to disconnect myself with the public since doing that will make me not prepare in future consequences. These serious consequences may include losing my education or having more difficulty in finding jobs without any backup plan due to my self-centered and apathetic behavior.
Another reason why we make little to no effort in participating in political elections is that we are not informed well enough. The media is not enough to remind us about political elections and other issues that are going on in our state and our country since we often ignore watching the news on television and do not read the newspapers. For me, I usually do not vote because I do not want to vote for something that I do not know about and may end up making a wrong vote.
At times, we tend to think that our vote would not be that significant. For example, if I were to vote, I would ONLY make the number of "YES" votes go from 40,000 to 40,001 and that it would make VERY little difference in the voting system. If I were to tell my friends, acquaintances, and random strangers this reason as to why I never vote, they may believe in my wrong words and would end up losing commitment in voting. We should learn to not think this way because every little vote counts. Each person, including myself, is usually affected by the outcome of the votes, regardless of whether we voted or not.
People may be publicly inactive and do not go out to participate in political elections due to their fear of facing the public themselves. Some people stay home for a majority of their time because they are perhaps afraid of the violence that is occurring outside of their home. There is a pretty high crime rate here in the United States compared to other countries, which means that violence and other crimes can take place anywhere. This is the one factor that people fear about since they are afraid of being victims of horrible crimes. So they end up staying home and go on the internet to interact with their family members and friends because they think this is the safest way to avoid violence.
No matter how aware or disconnected we are with the public, we will be facing serious consequences, whether they are good ones or bad ones. Even though we face these consequences, we should learn to not ignore the public by focusing only on our education, family, and other personal factors. It is best to prepare ourselves to face these consequences by paying attention to the media and listening to the things that are going on outside of our personal lives. When we are showing public awareness, we can also spread the word about political elections and other significant events to our friends, family members, and acquaintances so that they too will not be publicly inactive and will be able to help maintain the stability of our society. When we are active, not only will we be able to help ourselves and our significant others, but we will be able to help those that are outside of our personal lives as well.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Blog #7 - Daru's Loyalty and Respect
Daru is one of the most significant characters in this story because he is the one person who is against hatred, disrespect, and separation. Daru is against these three things because he believes that these do harm and no justice between others. Daru is for peace and love and he shows these feelings when he helps the prisoner by treating him with respect and treating him as if he were a friend, rather than an enemy. It is between extremely difficult and impossible for someone like Daru to stay loyal on both sides. Although Daru is faced with this dilemma, he maintains trust and loyalty within himself. This is similar to Fromm's point saying that objectivity must start from the self so that one can express that objectivity to others. Despite being a solitary man, Daru holds repsect and loyalty for himself and expresses these same positive virtues as best as possible to the Arab prisoner, Balducci, the children, and everyone else.
Maintaining neutrality and equal respect for both sides is difficult not only for Daru but for myself, as well as each and every one of us. The story tells us that regardless of how much respect and loyalty we have for both sides, in the end, we are forced to make a decision by choosing a side. There are serious consequences to choosing one of the sides and there will be regrets along the way. But the one thing that we must do is maintain loyalty and respect for ourselves the same way that Daru maintains those positive virtues for himself.
Maintaining neutrality and equal respect for both sides is difficult not only for Daru but for myself, as well as each and every one of us. The story tells us that regardless of how much respect and loyalty we have for both sides, in the end, we are forced to make a decision by choosing a side. There are serious consequences to choosing one of the sides and there will be regrets along the way. But the one thing that we must do is maintain loyalty and respect for ourselves the same way that Daru maintains those positive virtues for himself.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Blog #7 Objectivity - The Key To Living Life
Usually, one must express objectivity to their closest family members and friends because those are the people that he or she cares, trusts, and relies on throughout their lives. This is not always the case because strangers and acquaintances do serve as important figures to how one lives their life and how they treat their closest family members and friends. For me, whether I express my objectivity or not to a certain stranger or acquaintance depends on who that person is, what personality he or she has, and where he or she is coming from. In other words, expressing my objectivity to a stranger/acquaintance is sometimes be easy if that person has the qualities of patience and shows me respects and it is sometimes difficult if that person is not respectful and is short tempered.
One acquaintance whom I expressed my objectivity to would be Tom, who was one person I met in one of my Chemistry classes last semester and was the person that I study with. (Note: I'm not going to share the real name of my friend so I will just use the name Tom as I use him as my example for this blog). When I first met him, he came up to me and asked me if he was in the right class. I told him yes, and moments later, I introduced myself to him. Afterward, I then told him that if he needed any help during with the class, I would help him out. I wanted to tell him that my help was always available so that he would not only understand the material better but he would be able give me back respect and kindness. I continued to help him out through each class day, which showed how I was being productive by having an open mind and expressing my care for him. My mind was in the present moment and was aware of the work that he did in class. I was not thinking too heavily upon myself nor was I thinking about getting a good grade and "trying" to be smarter than others since my mind was focused in helping him out. This was similar to the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you", I must give my new friend respect, happiness, and help so that I would be able to gain back that same respect and happiness back. He would be able to help me during times when I would get stuck with the material or needed any type of assistance. I always know not to be self-centered by caring only about myself by leaving him hanging and if I were to do that, strangers, or worse, my closest family members and friends, would do the same thing back to me by leaving me hanging helplessly on my own.
As I continued to demonstrate productivity and objectivity to my first new friend in Chemistry class, I was able to improve upon my expression of objectivity by being more aware of other people that I did not know in the class. During labs, whenever I would see someone lost or come up and ask me a question, I would do the same thing that I did for Tom by lending my hand to them with a smile, regardless of whether I knew them or not. I usually expressed my happiness when I help others so that they would feel comfortable and not feel frustration nor would they grow any hatred for Chemistry. I want them to know that I was there for them because I want to see them succeed in the class as well.
Helping Tom, as well as my other classmates in Chemistry class, allowed me to exercise my humility, care, and awareness for my mother, the person who was and has been the closest to me while growing up. As I continued to stay aware and open to others, I would then come home to my mother and giving her that happiness that I carried while interacting with my classmates. Whenever she saw me come home with a positive attitude, she would always feel excited and proud that I was enjoying my life outside of home and that I was treating her with respect and care.
As I've said earlier, practicing objectivity depends on who I encounter and it would be difficult if that person were to not have the ability control his emotions. At times, when I see a short tempered stranger, classmate, or acquaintance in a bad mood, my first instinct would be to yell back. I would do this because during those times of conflict, I tend to think that yelling back with anger and hitting random inanimate objects was the best way to defend myself. But this was never a good thing to do since yelling back would only create conflict and do harm to not only that person, but to myself and perhaps others around us, such as his friends or any other stranger involved with our conflicts. In addition to that, staying angry at that same person would cause me to spread those negative feelings to my mother and other significant people and from there, I would create conflict and separation between us. I will admit that I do tend to have a short temper and little patience when I am in certain situations but as I live my life, I continue to work on controlling my anger and frustration, and realize the mistakes that I have done so that strangers, acquaintances, and my close family members and friends will be objective and productive to me as well.
One acquaintance whom I expressed my objectivity to would be Tom, who was one person I met in one of my Chemistry classes last semester and was the person that I study with. (Note: I'm not going to share the real name of my friend so I will just use the name Tom as I use him as my example for this blog). When I first met him, he came up to me and asked me if he was in the right class. I told him yes, and moments later, I introduced myself to him. Afterward, I then told him that if he needed any help during with the class, I would help him out. I wanted to tell him that my help was always available so that he would not only understand the material better but he would be able give me back respect and kindness. I continued to help him out through each class day, which showed how I was being productive by having an open mind and expressing my care for him. My mind was in the present moment and was aware of the work that he did in class. I was not thinking too heavily upon myself nor was I thinking about getting a good grade and "trying" to be smarter than others since my mind was focused in helping him out. This was similar to the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you", I must give my new friend respect, happiness, and help so that I would be able to gain back that same respect and happiness back. He would be able to help me during times when I would get stuck with the material or needed any type of assistance. I always know not to be self-centered by caring only about myself by leaving him hanging and if I were to do that, strangers, or worse, my closest family members and friends, would do the same thing back to me by leaving me hanging helplessly on my own.
As I continued to demonstrate productivity and objectivity to my first new friend in Chemistry class, I was able to improve upon my expression of objectivity by being more aware of other people that I did not know in the class. During labs, whenever I would see someone lost or come up and ask me a question, I would do the same thing that I did for Tom by lending my hand to them with a smile, regardless of whether I knew them or not. I usually expressed my happiness when I help others so that they would feel comfortable and not feel frustration nor would they grow any hatred for Chemistry. I want them to know that I was there for them because I want to see them succeed in the class as well.
Helping Tom, as well as my other classmates in Chemistry class, allowed me to exercise my humility, care, and awareness for my mother, the person who was and has been the closest to me while growing up. As I continued to stay aware and open to others, I would then come home to my mother and giving her that happiness that I carried while interacting with my classmates. Whenever she saw me come home with a positive attitude, she would always feel excited and proud that I was enjoying my life outside of home and that I was treating her with respect and care.
As I've said earlier, practicing objectivity depends on who I encounter and it would be difficult if that person were to not have the ability control his emotions. At times, when I see a short tempered stranger, classmate, or acquaintance in a bad mood, my first instinct would be to yell back. I would do this because during those times of conflict, I tend to think that yelling back with anger and hitting random inanimate objects was the best way to defend myself. But this was never a good thing to do since yelling back would only create conflict and do harm to not only that person, but to myself and perhaps others around us, such as his friends or any other stranger involved with our conflicts. In addition to that, staying angry at that same person would cause me to spread those negative feelings to my mother and other significant people and from there, I would create conflict and separation between us. I will admit that I do tend to have a short temper and little patience when I am in certain situations but as I live my life, I continue to work on controlling my anger and frustration, and realize the mistakes that I have done so that strangers, acquaintances, and my close family members and friends will be objective and productive to me as well.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Blog #6 The Way I Live My Life Through Trance Music
Music is something that keeps my spirit alive and allows me to express myself through sound. I have grown up listening and appreciating various genres, such as hip hop, jazz, soul, or alternative. There are a lot of songs and artists that I enjoy listening to and it is impossible for me to choose which is my favorite because they each have their own style and emotion and they are unique in their own ways. But the one genre that has continued to uplift my spirit and allow me to express my emotions is trance music.
There are two worlds, reality and fantasy. Reality is what I consider a stressful world where I have to follow the expectations and rules of others, like parents, teachers, or bosses, and I have to do this in order to gain knowledge and be able to achieve success. At times, doing work can bring stress upon myself and when I feel this anxiety, my blood stops flowing and my heart pumps faster to the point where keeping up with the rhythm of the workload becomes extremely difficult. Failing to meet expectations is just like music notes falling into the wrong order.
So in order to ease my anxieties, I have to escape from reality and go into another world, my own world of fantasy and to do this, I will put my earphones and play trance music to soothe my soul. Trance is an electronic mid-tempo dance music that allows me to be free from my responsibilities in the reality world and be in another world, a world that follows what I feel and what I want in it. There are an ample amount of trance songs and artists that I enjoy so I will just pick the one instrumental that I enjoy listening to at this moment, which is called "Look Ahead" by Thomas Bronzwaer. I chose an instrumental because the tone of the beats and the flow of them are what speaks to me the best. There are two parts to this trance instrumental, the slow part and the upbeat part. During the slow part at around 35 seconds, the music is nearly quiet and calm and this is what allows me to clear my mind from all of my frustration. At one minute, the music quiets down and then builds up emotion as more beats come into the instrumental. As soon as the music becomes fully upbeat, I start to dance and feel the rhythm in my own world as if no one or nothing is stopping me from breaking my rhythm. This instrumental does repeat the same notes for a majority of the time and it is done that way so that the music sticks into my mind as if I can never forget them since each note is catchy and has unique tones to them. It is similar to how my life in the reality world works, my day is nearly identical to each other, I come to school, take notes, learn things, go home, study, and then sleep. The cycle continues but after each day, I am learning new and more difficult materials and my mind builds up more knowledge as I continue learning new things and creating new ways to overcome each obstacle.
But I wish that I can maintain the flow of my life responsibilities the same way that I maintain the flow of trance music without any thought of stress streaming into my mind. When I listen to trance music, I do not think about just the end note of the instrumental, rather, I think about the starting point, the slow down, the emotional buildup, and then the upbeat rhythm part of the music. There cannot be a trance song if there is only the end note because there needs to be a path that leads to that end note. Relating to my life responsibilities, the "end note" of my life is to become a doctor. In order to follow that path, I must think about the present moment and the things that I must do so that I can reach my goal. My life is a buildup where I have to go from elementary to middle to high school to college and so on. Without one of them, the entire rhythm is broken, just like how one note that is absent or out of place can make the whole song fall apart. There will be times when I will face difficult tasks that will lower my sanity and throw me out of my rhythm but I do know that I should trust myself and learn to breathe after each moment of stress so that I can get back on my feet and finish my current tasks. I have to learn to appreciate and cherish every class that I take and every work that I do just like how I appreciate every note that is being played in trance music. Each path that I go through helps me to become stronger, more disciplined, and bring me closer to reaching my end note.
As for my image, I choose a picture of a forest at night with neon lights surrounding the sky since this is what represents trance music as a whole. The darkness in the night sky resembles a clear mind while the neon lights resemble the rhythm and beat of the music. I picture these lights moving around and surrounding the darkness of the night sky in my world as the melody plays. These lights are my freedom and my guide to helping me create my fantasy world.
I do not need drugs or anything to help release me from my frustration, I need the sound of trance music to help me do it because it speaks to me more clearly than drugs do.
Related Tags: Thomas Bronzwaer Look Ahead State of Trance Music Emotion Love Music Life Pathway Freedom Escape Consciousness Unconsciousness Reality Fantasy
Look Ahead - Thomas Bronzwaer:
Link to the music (in case embed doesn't work):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TodV0stNoQk&ob=av3e
There are two worlds, reality and fantasy. Reality is what I consider a stressful world where I have to follow the expectations and rules of others, like parents, teachers, or bosses, and I have to do this in order to gain knowledge and be able to achieve success. At times, doing work can bring stress upon myself and when I feel this anxiety, my blood stops flowing and my heart pumps faster to the point where keeping up with the rhythm of the workload becomes extremely difficult. Failing to meet expectations is just like music notes falling into the wrong order.
So in order to ease my anxieties, I have to escape from reality and go into another world, my own world of fantasy and to do this, I will put my earphones and play trance music to soothe my soul. Trance is an electronic mid-tempo dance music that allows me to be free from my responsibilities in the reality world and be in another world, a world that follows what I feel and what I want in it. There are an ample amount of trance songs and artists that I enjoy so I will just pick the one instrumental that I enjoy listening to at this moment, which is called "Look Ahead" by Thomas Bronzwaer. I chose an instrumental because the tone of the beats and the flow of them are what speaks to me the best. There are two parts to this trance instrumental, the slow part and the upbeat part. During the slow part at around 35 seconds, the music is nearly quiet and calm and this is what allows me to clear my mind from all of my frustration. At one minute, the music quiets down and then builds up emotion as more beats come into the instrumental. As soon as the music becomes fully upbeat, I start to dance and feel the rhythm in my own world as if no one or nothing is stopping me from breaking my rhythm. This instrumental does repeat the same notes for a majority of the time and it is done that way so that the music sticks into my mind as if I can never forget them since each note is catchy and has unique tones to them. It is similar to how my life in the reality world works, my day is nearly identical to each other, I come to school, take notes, learn things, go home, study, and then sleep. The cycle continues but after each day, I am learning new and more difficult materials and my mind builds up more knowledge as I continue learning new things and creating new ways to overcome each obstacle.
But I wish that I can maintain the flow of my life responsibilities the same way that I maintain the flow of trance music without any thought of stress streaming into my mind. When I listen to trance music, I do not think about just the end note of the instrumental, rather, I think about the starting point, the slow down, the emotional buildup, and then the upbeat rhythm part of the music. There cannot be a trance song if there is only the end note because there needs to be a path that leads to that end note. Relating to my life responsibilities, the "end note" of my life is to become a doctor. In order to follow that path, I must think about the present moment and the things that I must do so that I can reach my goal. My life is a buildup where I have to go from elementary to middle to high school to college and so on. Without one of them, the entire rhythm is broken, just like how one note that is absent or out of place can make the whole song fall apart. There will be times when I will face difficult tasks that will lower my sanity and throw me out of my rhythm but I do know that I should trust myself and learn to breathe after each moment of stress so that I can get back on my feet and finish my current tasks. I have to learn to appreciate and cherish every class that I take and every work that I do just like how I appreciate every note that is being played in trance music. Each path that I go through helps me to become stronger, more disciplined, and bring me closer to reaching my end note.
As for my image, I choose a picture of a forest at night with neon lights surrounding the sky since this is what represents trance music as a whole. The darkness in the night sky resembles a clear mind while the neon lights resemble the rhythm and beat of the music. I picture these lights moving around and surrounding the darkness of the night sky in my world as the melody plays. These lights are my freedom and my guide to helping me create my fantasy world.
I do not need drugs or anything to help release me from my frustration, I need the sound of trance music to help me do it because it speaks to me more clearly than drugs do.
Related Tags: Thomas Bronzwaer Look Ahead State of Trance Music Emotion Love Music Life Pathway Freedom Escape Consciousness Unconsciousness Reality Fantasy
Look Ahead - Thomas Bronzwaer:
Link to the music (in case embed doesn't work):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TodV0stNoQk&ob=av3e
Friday, September 24, 2010
Blog #5: DJ Shadow: Building Steam With a Grain of Salt
DJ Shadow is a very talented musician his style of music is similar to what I like to listen to since I enjoy instrumental music. One song that stands out to me the most in his album, "Entroducing", is called, "Building Steam With a Grain of Salt" because this song represents the difficult times that I go through in my life.
I like how the music starts with piano notes, which constantly plays throughout a majority of the song. At around 20 seconds into the song, there is a piano chord that hits hard during the piano notes. The powerful chord represents the anger that is building up. Every time I hear those piano notes and the heavy chord hit, I think about the bad times, such as the times when I had failed or had been bullied back in my middle school years. As the drums come and continue throughout the song, this is when I am ready to let my "steam" come out. I let my steam out either through martial arts or kickboxing since those are the two things that lets any feeling, anger, hatred, pain, and/or sadness, out of my body and heart. At around 4 minutes and 20 seconds into the song, my favorite part comes out, which is when the beat hits faster as if someone is playing a drum solo. I like to call this the "let everything out of me in these 20 seconds of the song" part since the beats are intense and fast. I feel like throwing my hardest set of punches and kicks to the punching bag so that I am going with the flow of the intense part of the song. When the music calms down, this is when my mind is clear of all the bad thoughts and chattering as if I am free from my anxieties.
If I were to give this song one word, I would call it freedom because it allows me to reflect upon my life and let my feelings out through working out, like what I mentioned, or playing instruments. After that, I feel relieved, better about myself, and allow myself to move forward in life.
Extra Note: Also, this song played during one of the cutscenes of a videogame called, Splinter Cell: Conviction. Though I did not play the game nor do I know much of the storyline, I will only describe just this particular cutscene. Sam Fisher, the main character, finds out that one of his best friends, Lambert, lied to him about Sam's daughter's death. As Sam is hearing this terrible news, the song plays and we can see the anger that builds within Sam's face as he hits the inanimate objects around him and afterwards, kills whichever enemy comes in his way so that he can let his steam come out. For Sam Fisher, violence is his way of freeing his mind from the pain that he is carrying.
Link to the cutscene:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6S2Qvutvr4Y&feature=related
I like how the music starts with piano notes, which constantly plays throughout a majority of the song. At around 20 seconds into the song, there is a piano chord that hits hard during the piano notes. The powerful chord represents the anger that is building up. Every time I hear those piano notes and the heavy chord hit, I think about the bad times, such as the times when I had failed or had been bullied back in my middle school years. As the drums come and continue throughout the song, this is when I am ready to let my "steam" come out. I let my steam out either through martial arts or kickboxing since those are the two things that lets any feeling, anger, hatred, pain, and/or sadness, out of my body and heart. At around 4 minutes and 20 seconds into the song, my favorite part comes out, which is when the beat hits faster as if someone is playing a drum solo. I like to call this the "let everything out of me in these 20 seconds of the song" part since the beats are intense and fast. I feel like throwing my hardest set of punches and kicks to the punching bag so that I am going with the flow of the intense part of the song. When the music calms down, this is when my mind is clear of all the bad thoughts and chattering as if I am free from my anxieties.
If I were to give this song one word, I would call it freedom because it allows me to reflect upon my life and let my feelings out through working out, like what I mentioned, or playing instruments. After that, I feel relieved, better about myself, and allow myself to move forward in life.
Extra Note: Also, this song played during one of the cutscenes of a videogame called, Splinter Cell: Conviction. Though I did not play the game nor do I know much of the storyline, I will only describe just this particular cutscene. Sam Fisher, the main character, finds out that one of his best friends, Lambert, lied to him about Sam's daughter's death. As Sam is hearing this terrible news, the song plays and we can see the anger that builds within Sam's face as he hits the inanimate objects around him and afterwards, kills whichever enemy comes in his way so that he can let his steam come out. For Sam Fisher, violence is his way of freeing his mind from the pain that he is carrying.
Link to the cutscene:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6S2Qvutvr4Y&feature=related
Friday, September 10, 2010
Blog #3 9/9/10 -- Groundhog Day and the Cave
(In response to the prompt, "It seems Phil takes years, maybe even more than a decade, to escape Groundhog Day. Considering all the phases he goes through, what does this say about release from the cave?")
Phil Connors has been trapped in Groundhog day for about a decade and has been struggling to get himself out of the day. He has gone through several changes, mostly his personality, through the times he has been on that day. His change from an egocentric man to a kind-hearted person resembles his slow progress in the cave. While being inside that cave, he began to realize and understand that he is not the only one who is important and that there are other people out there who are as important as he is.
One important factor in the film was music and music was like his flashlight that guided him inside the cave. Music was something that diminished a majority of his negative feelings, such as his anger and selfishness, and this made him open himself up more to the people around him. One scene that I liked was when he ran into Ned, whom at the beginning, Phil thought he was annoying and this was before he started to like music and other types of art. But after the times he started learning music, as well as art sculpture, Phil thought that instead of being angry, he should show his love and kindness. After watching this scene, I noticed that music and art had calmed him down and it made him realize that anger was something that he shouldn't carry since anger was a negative feeling that had been bringing him down and preventing him from escaping the cave.
Another example that shows change was his times with the homeless man. In the beginning, he never really noticed the man next to him and thought he wasn't significant since he had been passing him by. As he continued to relive the same day, he began to show concern for the man to the point when he became determined to keep him alive. In the scene when he was trying to save the man, the classical piano music was playing in the background and this showed that music was something that opened up his soft and caring side. But as he made several trials and errors in trying to save the man, he noticed that he couldn't save him, no matter how hard he tried. He learned that death is something that isn't a part of darkness or negativity, rather, it is a part of living life. In other words, there are moments when it is time for people to die and Phil realized that he couldn't alter the fate of others' lives. This was one of the moments that showed his progress inside his cave because he realized that he was not a "God" who could make any change he wanted and save EVERY person's life. Even if he had an infinite number of attempts, he could never reach the level of perfection since he is a human being that makes mistakes in life.
One aspect that was symbolic throughout the entire movie was the weather. During Groundhog Day, it had mostly been foggy and the fog had been preventing the sun from showing its light. The fog resembled the shadows that trapped Phil within the cave. When he found out that Groundhog Day ended, he saw sunlight coming out and this not only signified his escape out of the cave but this resembled his progress in changing who he was and gain more understanding of what life is all about.
Phil Connors has been trapped in Groundhog day for about a decade and has been struggling to get himself out of the day. He has gone through several changes, mostly his personality, through the times he has been on that day. His change from an egocentric man to a kind-hearted person resembles his slow progress in the cave. While being inside that cave, he began to realize and understand that he is not the only one who is important and that there are other people out there who are as important as he is.
One important factor in the film was music and music was like his flashlight that guided him inside the cave. Music was something that diminished a majority of his negative feelings, such as his anger and selfishness, and this made him open himself up more to the people around him. One scene that I liked was when he ran into Ned, whom at the beginning, Phil thought he was annoying and this was before he started to like music and other types of art. But after the times he started learning music, as well as art sculpture, Phil thought that instead of being angry, he should show his love and kindness. After watching this scene, I noticed that music and art had calmed him down and it made him realize that anger was something that he shouldn't carry since anger was a negative feeling that had been bringing him down and preventing him from escaping the cave.
Another example that shows change was his times with the homeless man. In the beginning, he never really noticed the man next to him and thought he wasn't significant since he had been passing him by. As he continued to relive the same day, he began to show concern for the man to the point when he became determined to keep him alive. In the scene when he was trying to save the man, the classical piano music was playing in the background and this showed that music was something that opened up his soft and caring side. But as he made several trials and errors in trying to save the man, he noticed that he couldn't save him, no matter how hard he tried. He learned that death is something that isn't a part of darkness or negativity, rather, it is a part of living life. In other words, there are moments when it is time for people to die and Phil realized that he couldn't alter the fate of others' lives. This was one of the moments that showed his progress inside his cave because he realized that he was not a "God" who could make any change he wanted and save EVERY person's life. Even if he had an infinite number of attempts, he could never reach the level of perfection since he is a human being that makes mistakes in life.
One aspect that was symbolic throughout the entire movie was the weather. During Groundhog Day, it had mostly been foggy and the fog had been preventing the sun from showing its light. The fog resembled the shadows that trapped Phil within the cave. When he found out that Groundhog Day ended, he saw sunlight coming out and this not only signified his escape out of the cave but this resembled his progress in changing who he was and gain more understanding of what life is all about.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
How my grandfather's experience relates to Plato's Allegory of the Cave
Each and every one of us goes through moments of struggle and hardship in order to obtain our desires and goals. Plato’s allegory of the cave tells us how people have to live through darkness in order to find that light of truth. The darkness represents the trials and errors we make as well as the limitations that prevent us from seeing the light. I want to share an experience that my mother told me about regarding her father’s (my maternal grandfather) times in World War II as well as the times after that event.
My maternal grandfather had spent parts of his life fighting in this horrible war. War represents negative feelings, such as anger, hatred and sadness, and my grandfather had carried these feelings during his rough times. This war was between Philippines and Japan and my grandfather expressed great hatred towards Japanese people during and after this war. He had been through death marches where he had to walk with chains around his hands and his legs while having barely any food in his stomach. Although it looked nearly impossible to stay alive, he had managed to survive with his strong will and combating skills. In the end, he was able to make it out of the war and escape from all of the hell that he had to go through.
Even though he was out of the war, he still carried negative feelings within him, especially during the times when he married my grandmother and gave birth to my mother, my two aunts, and my uncle. While my mother and her siblings were growing up, my grandfather would not show signs of love since he would hit them with hard inanimate objects if they did ONE LITTLE THING wrong (such as if they made one drop of mess on the floor, if they came home late or got grades that were less than A’s in school). It was tough for the whole family to live happy lives since my grandfather had been so strict and harsh to them. Although my mother and her siblings had been carried these same negative feelings, my grandmother was able to give them comfort by showing her love to them and telling them to understand the pain that my grandfather had been through.
Somewhere around my grandfather’s fifties, he became seriously ill (I am not sure what illness or disease he had gotten) and was on the verge of dying. During his time of illness my mother and her siblings would come to his deathbed and comfort him. As his last few days of his life had gone by, my grandfather began to feel love within his heart for the first time in his life as he became closer to them. He realized and understood that he had been cruel to his own family and his hatred for the Japanese people and others around him has made him a bitter person. Although he had passed away, he was able to free himself from the shadows and find the light that he had been missing throughout his life. He passed away with feelings of happiness, joy, and enlightenment and was able to bring the entire family closer together.
My maternal grandfather had spent parts of his life fighting in this horrible war. War represents negative feelings, such as anger, hatred and sadness, and my grandfather had carried these feelings during his rough times. This war was between Philippines and Japan and my grandfather expressed great hatred towards Japanese people during and after this war. He had been through death marches where he had to walk with chains around his hands and his legs while having barely any food in his stomach. Although it looked nearly impossible to stay alive, he had managed to survive with his strong will and combating skills. In the end, he was able to make it out of the war and escape from all of the hell that he had to go through.
Even though he was out of the war, he still carried negative feelings within him, especially during the times when he married my grandmother and gave birth to my mother, my two aunts, and my uncle. While my mother and her siblings were growing up, my grandfather would not show signs of love since he would hit them with hard inanimate objects if they did ONE LITTLE THING wrong (such as if they made one drop of mess on the floor, if they came home late or got grades that were less than A’s in school). It was tough for the whole family to live happy lives since my grandfather had been so strict and harsh to them. Although my mother and her siblings had been carried these same negative feelings, my grandmother was able to give them comfort by showing her love to them and telling them to understand the pain that my grandfather had been through.
Somewhere around my grandfather’s fifties, he became seriously ill (I am not sure what illness or disease he had gotten) and was on the verge of dying. During his time of illness my mother and her siblings would come to his deathbed and comfort him. As his last few days of his life had gone by, my grandfather began to feel love within his heart for the first time in his life as he became closer to them. He realized and understood that he had been cruel to his own family and his hatred for the Japanese people and others around him has made him a bitter person. Although he had passed away, he was able to free himself from the shadows and find the light that he had been missing throughout his life. He passed away with feelings of happiness, joy, and enlightenment and was able to bring the entire family closer together.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
My Experience With Truth
What is truth? I define truth as something that can never be altered or changed. Truth is like the light of everything where as falsehood or anything that is the polar opposite of truth is the darkness that blinds us from this truth. Our minds may think of falsehood as something that we are used to thinking and that this false belief has been embedded within us. People, like me, sometimes hide the truth from others because we are carry this fear of how others will react to or if others will perceive us as "terrible" people after telling them the truth.
One of the quotes that relates to my personal life is Mark Twain's quote saying that,
"Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't" -- Mark Twain
Fiction is something that is not real and that there are several possibilities and definitions as to what fiction really is. Fiction and censorships are the things that again, represents darkness and our minds are used to believing that fiction is true. One example I want to use would be my experience with learning about history. During my history class in elementary school, my teacher told me that Christopher Columbus was a hero who discovered America. When I got to high school, I read Howard Zinn's book "A People's History of the United States", which said that Columbus and his Spaniard armies were murders that committed genocide in eliminating the people that once lived in America. It was hard for me to accept that Columbus was a villain and not a hero and I thought that it was awkward and "strange" when I found out his true colors since I never thought of him as a wrongdoer. However, as I learned more about him, I began to accept this truth more and more to the point where my mind was used to believing that he was a villain.
Although censorship is a dark aspect that prevents young ones from seeing the truth, people, such as those who are running the media, believe it is needed because they do not want the young ones to grow up carrying negativity and are unable to understand the truth.
Another saying that relates to this is another one of Mark Twain's quote which is,
"If you tell the truth, you won't have to remember anything." -- Mark Twain
Telling the truth is painful to go through because we often think of consequences, mostly the negative ones, of what may happen when others find out about this truth. I sometimes lie to my parents, mostly about my grades and other things regarding school, because I do not want to get yelled at or disappoint them. One example that I want to bring up was the time when I was on the verge of failing one of my physics classes here at SFSU. Whenever my mother asked me how I was doing in ALL of my classes, I would lie by saying that I was doing good and that I was handling everything well. After telling her this, I started to have anxiety and was having difficult times staying focused with my studies because I feared about how she would react if she found out I did not pass ONE class. Finally, I told her the truth that I was REALLY failing my physics class and although she was somewhat disappointed, she accepted the truth and told me to do my best and that I cannot be afraid of failure. I felt more at ease for studying for my finals since I was able to let go of my stress and I did not have to think about all of the mistakes I have made in the past and the things that may happen in the future. In the end, I was able to miraculously pass all of my classes (including my Physics class).
One of the quotes that relates to my personal life is Mark Twain's quote saying that,
"Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't" -- Mark Twain
Fiction is something that is not real and that there are several possibilities and definitions as to what fiction really is. Fiction and censorships are the things that again, represents darkness and our minds are used to believing that fiction is true. One example I want to use would be my experience with learning about history. During my history class in elementary school, my teacher told me that Christopher Columbus was a hero who discovered America. When I got to high school, I read Howard Zinn's book "A People's History of the United States", which said that Columbus and his Spaniard armies were murders that committed genocide in eliminating the people that once lived in America. It was hard for me to accept that Columbus was a villain and not a hero and I thought that it was awkward and "strange" when I found out his true colors since I never thought of him as a wrongdoer. However, as I learned more about him, I began to accept this truth more and more to the point where my mind was used to believing that he was a villain.
Although censorship is a dark aspect that prevents young ones from seeing the truth, people, such as those who are running the media, believe it is needed because they do not want the young ones to grow up carrying negativity and are unable to understand the truth.
Another saying that relates to this is another one of Mark Twain's quote which is,
"If you tell the truth, you won't have to remember anything." -- Mark Twain
Telling the truth is painful to go through because we often think of consequences, mostly the negative ones, of what may happen when others find out about this truth. I sometimes lie to my parents, mostly about my grades and other things regarding school, because I do not want to get yelled at or disappoint them. One example that I want to bring up was the time when I was on the verge of failing one of my physics classes here at SFSU. Whenever my mother asked me how I was doing in ALL of my classes, I would lie by saying that I was doing good and that I was handling everything well. After telling her this, I started to have anxiety and was having difficult times staying focused with my studies because I feared about how she would react if she found out I did not pass ONE class. Finally, I told her the truth that I was REALLY failing my physics class and although she was somewhat disappointed, she accepted the truth and told me to do my best and that I cannot be afraid of failure. I felt more at ease for studying for my finals since I was able to let go of my stress and I did not have to think about all of the mistakes I have made in the past and the things that may happen in the future. In the end, I was able to miraculously pass all of my classes (including my Physics class).
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