Friends, we cannot survive without them. I'm someone who is quiet and rather shy, but I never seem to have trouble meeting new people. I've had friends that I've kept in touch with for years and others whom I recently met. Friends are a necessity in life who we can share experiences, feelings, and laughs with. I'm grateful for the friends that I have and the experiences that I've had with them.
However, using a new tactic with my friends,ithin the last week, I tried to become an Emersonian friend. One thing in his essay that I tried was to take my friendship slow with someone and try to get to know that person more before we become friends. Even though its the beginning of our friendship, I think it will be more fulfilling and long lasting. Another thing I did was that I let out some of my innermost feelings. I told someone about a family crisis that I'm going through right now and how it has affected me. He then told me about a crisis he was having and we learned a lot about each other in that conversation.
Living a day as an Emersonian friend was a challenge on so many levels, but I found it fulfilling and worth doing because I found out more about the people who are around me and how I can relate to them.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Nature Experiment
On Saturday morning, I went surfing in North County. I remember being drowsy from waking up early then feeling surprised when my feet hit the frigid water. Walking towards the spot, I remember the rocks that were sprinkled on the cold sand and how i had to dodge each one. Watching each surfer ride each wave with such glee, I couldn't wait to get out there. As I sit out there, there's a little fog coming over the cliff and hiding the beach from the lineup. I see planes pass by, and birds fly by. They hover ever so gently along the water looking for food. A pod of dolphins swim by, 4 of them, diving down and going up, diving down and going up. I paddle for a wave on my green quad and catch a wave all the way in jumping out the back. I'm exhausted. I paddle out with my shoulders and arms burning yelling at me to stop moving them. But I had other plans, I paddled for another wave and repeated the process. As I kept moving, I became warmer. This is what I recall from Saturday Morning.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Self-Reliance
Self Reliance
The quote that struck me the most in this essay was “Speak your latent conviction, and it shall be the universal sense.” What I thought this quote meant was to speak your own mind and never let anyone tell you different. And after a while of doing this, people will begin to catch on to what your saying and follow you. In some sense, this can pertain to many different people. However, in a personal way, it pertains to artists especially musicians.
In all forms of music, it is a way to express yourself and how you feel. For most musicians and artists, it takes a long time, even years for them to get known for their work. Artists that I have immense respect for have stayed with their unique sound for years before and after they became well-known. Other artists change their whole style just to get famous because that is what people like. However, I find that the most successful artists through the years have kept their style and have come out with multiple albums instead of one hit wonders. This all has to do with speaking your mind and not letting anyone else tell you different because sooner or later, people will begin to follow you and what you are trying to say.
In all, entire quote was the most significant to me for many reasons. It was especially something I could relate to being a musician. I feel that I should stick to my own style of music even though how many people don’t like it because sooner or later, people will finally understand what I’m trying to say with it.
The quote that struck me the most in this essay was “Speak your latent conviction, and it shall be the universal sense.” What I thought this quote meant was to speak your own mind and never let anyone tell you different. And after a while of doing this, people will begin to catch on to what your saying and follow you. In some sense, this can pertain to many different people. However, in a personal way, it pertains to artists especially musicians.
In all forms of music, it is a way to express yourself and how you feel. For most musicians and artists, it takes a long time, even years for them to get known for their work. Artists that I have immense respect for have stayed with their unique sound for years before and after they became well-known. Other artists change their whole style just to get famous because that is what people like. However, I find that the most successful artists through the years have kept their style and have come out with multiple albums instead of one hit wonders. This all has to do with speaking your mind and not letting anyone else tell you different because sooner or later, people will begin to follow you and what you are trying to say.
In all, entire quote was the most significant to me for many reasons. It was especially something I could relate to being a musician. I feel that I should stick to my own style of music even though how many people don’t like it because sooner or later, people will finally understand what I’m trying to say with it.
Emerson's Gift
Gifts
This is an interesting chapter by Emerson. He questions the necessity of giving and receiving gifts . The author questions how they should be given and received. How when we give gifts, we sometimes ask for a gift in return or when we receive gifts how we feel obligated to return the favor. He discusses how gifts that we give don't usually represent the person whom we are giving it to or how we feel about that person. How we put minimal effort into buying an expensive gift for someone that doesn't even have any significant meaning.
Sometimes, the most modest gifts are the ones that mean the most to others and how you feel about that person. For example, my dad once made me a surf board because he knew that I loved to surf. He could have just gone to Surfride and boughten me one, but since he knew what kind of board I wanted and all the demensions, he went ahead and made one for me. This was a very cool gift to receive because its not everyday to say that you your dad made you the surfboard that your riding one.
Another example of this is my grandfather giving me one of his saxophones to learn how to play. I had already been learning the clarinet at the time, but had aspirations to play the sax. I thought it was a meaningful gift because he knew how much music meant to me as much as it did for him when he played professionally.
In all gifts should be given as a representation as to how well you know the person who your giving the gift to. They shouldn't be given without expecting something in return nor should they be received feeling obligated to return the favor.
Another example of this is my grandfather giving me one of his saxophones to learn how to play. I had already been learning the clarinet at the time, but had aspirations to play the sax. I thought it was a meaningful gift because he knew how much music meant to me as much as it did for him when he played professionally.
In all gifts should be given as a representation as to how well you know the person who your giving the gift to. They shouldn't be given without expecting something in return nor should they be received feeling obligated to return the favor.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
