Blog Seventeen

Throughout my life I always feel the need to help the people I love in every way possible. It’s weird in a way that right now is when we’ve begun talking about this monomyth because I’m dealing with the biggest issue I ever have with someone in need of help. An ex boyfriend who remains to be my best friend called me at two am in tears. Coming from a guy who has a hard time showing emotion my stomach immediately went to knots. One of the main reasons our relationship fell apart had been lack of communication which had been the result of him smoking too much marijuana. Over two years together I know him better than anyone else. My view of his lifestyle had been accepted thinking it had just been a phase. But it had slowly taken over his life.  As he cried and told me how alone he felt and that he realized he was wasting away everything in his life. This literally broke my heart. Being four hours away and helpless all I could do was listening to his thoughts and worries with his life. Asking for help to change his ways is something I am willing to do but stuck not knowing exactly how to help. I’ve never left his side and never will. I believe in all the things I love about him, and know the potential he holds. I will be there as he gets back the life he deserves and should live.

Blog Sixteen

Switching gender roles for just a day would make the world have a better understanding for one another. Realizing what exactly goes through one another’s mind would give us the capability to understand the opposite sex’s point of view and mind set in all situations. What really goes through a guys mind is beyond me, but with an opportunity such as this I’d be able to appreciate their outlook on everything. The process in which men make decisions is completely different then the process of a woman. I just feel that a better understanding would come from the switch whether man or woman it would be beneficial. To relate to the refusal of the return could be when the switch is made, either male or female wouldn’t want to switch back to their proper gender. Or in a complete opposite look, a women for example would refuse to even see a males stand point because of the way she along with many women have been treated for all these years. For me personally I would like to take the plunge and make the switch for the day but until then the opposite sex will remain a mystery.

Poem Twenty – ABC

A day where I wear the shoes of a man, would be quite a day

B efore I speak to soon let’s hope this never occurs

C ursing at women as they walk by

D emeaning them and diminishing their self esteem

E very girl deserves respect

F uck the men that don’t give it

letter

October 20, 2009

Dear Marlen Harrison,

            Through out my life I have gone through obstacles that all just seemed like events in the moment. Taking this course, it made me think more in depth to my own personal journey. I have always thought about how everything happens for a reason. Having you as a teacher has broadened my thoughts about everything. This class has been challenging but all at the same time, it has been rewarding. A really big accomplishment of mine had been the paper we just completed a few days ago. After receiving your comment and reading“YAY!!! “A”, it really made all the work worthwhile. You’ve been an inspiration towards not only me, but the entire class. You have challenged us all of different ideas and beliefs and have pushed us to think further then we have before. One of my goals academically in this class is to pass it with an A. besides doing well in the class based upon my grade; I have already gotten so much out of being in this class. I have a higher respect for people that in normal classrooms, I’d never take notice to really understand them to the core. Reading other peoples blogs really showed their personality and personal thoughts that you never get from the exterior of anyone. Even though when I first joined your class it was overwhelming, I wouldn’t have ever changed my decision to stay and work through the workload. This class had me thinking more than just in the classroom; but in my life.

Thank you for everything,

Michelle Lockard

Blog Fifteen

Each and every one of these women had been feminist writers throughout history. They had written short stories, poems, and novels relating towards the struggle of women in society. These women had all affected the way we look at feminism today because they had been the foundation built upon throughout all these years. I hadn’t really known a whole lot about feminism before this class and now I had done a little research into exactly what it is. The risks feminist actually have to take being judged and looked down upon really shocked me. Women don’t have the same respect as men do for the most part. We’ve come a long way from the past where these writers voiced themselves to the world. Though unfortunately we are still not at the equality level we all expect and deserve to happen one day. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jO9p6e4SWLM I had found this video online when searching feminism. It had really interested me in the sheer fact that I had no idea that men could be feminists as well. It took a whole different look as to what feminism really is, and what it can mean to different people.

Paper

            “Some people, we say, have “soul.”  They have loved, they have suffered, they have a deep sense of life’s meaning.  Perhaps most important, they know who they are.”  Some people in this world have seemed to forget exactly who they are.  Everyone’s life is a journey towards self discovering, and figuring out just who you are.  Their life from the outside may seem perfect, but inside there’s a constant struggle with themselves.  In every person there’s a journey to embark on, and a quest to succeed and find ones true self.

            Age eighteen with nothing to lose I embarked on my journey to a new beginning.  A journey of finding myself.  Applying to college I didn’t really have a sense of anything I was just happy to be accepted somewhere.  Traveling to a place unfamiliar, where the people were all so new and different I had begun my journey.  I felt myself become extremely overwhelmed.  After years of comfort and having the feeling of familiarity, here I was somewhere so new.  The need to be accepted made me feel the need to hold back and put restrictions on my own self.

            Throughout our journey we’re guided by our inner selves that can be categorized as archetypes.  According to “Awakening the Hero’s”, there are twelve inner guides who include: the innocent, the orphan, the warrior, the caregiver, the seeker, the destroyer, the lover, the creator, the ruler, the magician, the sage, and the fool.  Through every journey you may become any of those archetypes based upon what your situation is.  After taking the archetype test, I had found my result to be prominently strong in the lover category.

 

            I really feel that it’s a real refection to what I am.  As your journey goes there are different obstacles you must face.  “Without love, the soul does not engage itself with life.” Going through life you need to learn how to accept everything, and love everything for what it is. Love is a gift to be given and received.  When it is shared it is the best gift in the world.

            Coming from a small town where there was never anything new to do, college was amazing to me.  Every person I met had been so exciting and new I couldn’t have been happier.  The anxiety that I once had, slipped away so quickly.  I had people in my life for just a short amount of time that felt as though they’ve been there forever.  There was no one from my home that attended IUP, and in that aspect there was an emptiness that couldn’t be filled with the missing essence of home.  I missed the people that meant the world to me.  The memories that no one else shared were kept to me because everyone just wouldn’t understand.

            Every moment in your life is influenced by others.  No matter if it is a personal or group journey there are always influences that affect you.  To me, I feel that there is never a time where you’re not going through a journey.  You are always constantly discovering different things about yourself based upon the actions you make every day.  Every day is a new beginning.  As cliché as it sounds, everyday could be your last and you need to live it up to the highest potential.  To me I don’t ever way to look back a regret not doing something.  I just don’t believe the future is where you should put your best days.  Today is the day to live it up.

            I had to begin to realize that what goes on now, is something to build my self.  The memories from before where what had made me, me.  Life is constantly an addition to what you once had; it is also something that is constantly changing.  College is a time where saying goodbye to close friends who’ve change through their own journeys, while saying hello when meeting new ones is something that happens every day.  Through this class I have realized that I’m definitely not the only person that goes through these changes.  I am definitely not the only person that goes through hardships or struggle.  There are actually a lot of worse scenarios then my own.  I’ve felt selfish towards the way I viewed my life until I came here and lived on my own.  Pleasing others has always been a constant thought I strive to accomplish with the people I care about.  Though after losing my grandmother while being away has really made me appreciate everything there is I have good in my life.  I had been able to relate this to “Into the Woods” when the baker’s wife had died.  It wasn’t until after her death that the baker had truly realized how much she really meant to him.  How much he had taken her for granted all this time.  When I had received the news about my grandmother, there was nothing I could do. Feeling helpless and alone it was the first time in my life where I didn’t have an answer to my problem.  There wasn’t anything said or done that could make it better.  That day, I became a warrior.  The five hour trip home seemed an eternity that I had to travel alone.  I kept on an act until the moment I arrived home, only to crack and break down to all the ones that really understood.  My family.  At this point in time I transferred from being a courageous warrior to a seeker.  My only goal in mind was to find the good in my situation and build a stronger me.

            The whole situation of building a new outlook on my life and overcoming my struggle had reminded me of Watership down.  The first real hardship the rabbits had to encounter was crossing the river.  At first it felt as though the river was impossible to cross but with help of them all together and the encouragement of each other they accomplished the impossible.  After every accomplishment or journey ends, another one begins.

            The next stage of my monomythic journey had felt a lot like the belly of the whale.  After overcoming the loss of my grand mom, I could only hope there were brighter days ahead. Unfortunately, things kept falling apart.  As the weather began to change from fall to winter my health took a plummet as well.  I drained myself to the point of exhaustion and by the time a month had past I was suffering from both bronchitis and pneumonia.  The state of my well being had been so bad I was hospitalized for an entire week and had been forced to go home on sick leave from school for two additional weeks.  In all honesty, I really thought there was no way I’d make it through my first semester of college.  I began to second guess everything and wondered if I could even pursue it all once I had gotten back to health.  Fortunately, things began to turn around for me.  With the help of my friends and family my enthusiasm rose again.  With the help of all my professors, I was able to accomplish my work and submit the assignments through email.  There was hope, and I overcame my belly in the whale moment with people who really cared.

            Throughout my journey through my first year of college, there were many temptations to lead me off my path.  As many do, I fell into the typical college atmosphere where friends and parties came before the school work.  Essentially, college is the stepping stone to what you want to do for the rest of your life.  To me, it was more about living in the moment and going from there.  At this point in time, I had found myself to be the fool.  Freedom was something never given to me as a child.  So living on my own had been a whole new world of excitement.  I would do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted to do it, and there was never anyone there to tell me no.  It was my life now and I was the one calling the shots.  Looking back now, there are things I wouldn’t relive.  But that’s exactly how we live and learn.  Everyone needs to be the fool sometimes.

            I’m now a sophomore here at IUP; I survived my first year as a college student.  I have successfully found the balance between friends, family, and school.  I became the sage while finding myself and the skills I had learned throughout the year.  I am also currently living in the dorms once again and have two of my best friends from last year living with me along with a new girl who’s a freshman, Danielle.  Although we may have been overwhelming at first, I feel that all three of us bring a lot to the table in being able to guide Danielle towards an easier path. You could basically call us her caregiver.  Taking care of her in every way we wished someone would have when we were first here.  It’s important to have people surrounding you that really care for you.  That is a feeling that will always be cherished to me.

            I’ve gone through a lot of hardships in my life, but there is nothing I would change.  What has happened has made me who I am; and this is only the beginning.  As time goes on, everything will and does change.  People you love will be lost.  Friendships you think will last forever, will fall apart.  Unexpected relations will blossom.  And the people that mean the most to you, will never fade away.

 

works cited:

Pearson, Carol S. Awakening The Heroes Within Twelve Archetypes to Help Us Find    Ourselves and Transform Our World. [San Francisco]: Harper San Francisco, 1991.

Adams, Richard. Watership Down. New York: Perennial, 2001.

Blog Nine

Watching into the Woods this week had been a nice visual to all the archetypes and monomyths we’ve been learning about this semester. All of the characters had to overcome different journeys and obstacles throughout the musical. Into the Woods is also a lot like the belly of the whale metaphor. When they had begun their quest through the woods the most difficult challenges arose for all of the characters. One of the characters for me that had personally jumped out and screamed archetype had been the baker. He had been sent out by the witch to retrieve certain objects to have a child. I feel that his archetype had been the seeker. Alongside his journey of finding the different things, his father had guided and helped him along the way as a guardian. The baker had not realized the importance of his wife until the moment he found out she had died by the giant. Even though this is his downfall in the story, he continues to prevail this down set and plans his revenge for his wife. After the giant is killed, he continues to live his life the best he can in memory of his beloved wife. Lessons are learned everyday and I feel that Into the Woods had demonstrated many life lessons that are easily found throughout the story. For one, it teaches you to realize the good in everything you have. Once things are gone, they’re gone. So you must live everyday to the fullest with the thankfulness for what you have. Another example had definitely been when you feel you’re in a bump in the road you have to keep going. Overcoming obstacles is something everyone deals with at some point in their lives. And when the going gets tuff, you just have to go harder. Everything takes time to heal; you just have to overcome your challenges everyday to get to the next. I had really enjoyed this musical not only for the plots and different fairytales but the music that they had to go along with different scenarios. Although many of the stories were so different, they had a lot of similarities that had been shown through the songs. Especially when sung in unison with a different story at the same time. It was easy to connect the stories and their emotions. Overall I thought the musical was great and it really kept me interested throughout the entire thing.