Part of Something

Last semester I was writing for a nonfiction class, I posted a couple stories on here, A Walk, for example. In the final version of the piece that was from I wrote about various levels of being a part of something (family, country, church).

The other day I went to a concert (usually not my forte, but yeah). It was planned around scientific discovery and space exploration. It made me want to be a part of something bigger then myself. Something that matters, something more than a student. But is anthropology really something where I can find that kind of meaningful involvement?

Rock Art

So because I didn't post last week. Opps. So that's why you get two this week. Lucky you.

The reason why I didn't post last week is because I was on vacation in Southern Utah. It was fun, we went on a short hike where we wandered through standing rocks and looked at the rock art there. It was one of those cool places that has a trail and a fence but not overly blocked off. Available but not inaccessible. That's how I like it.

Virtue

A few days ago I heard someone talking about virtue. Virtue, as in integrity not chastity. The idea was that virtue is something you are. All the time. It cannot change or be variable. It means that you stand up for the same thing whether your family is watching, your friends are watching or no one is watching. The example that was given was about a man that was offered a hundred dollars to do something unethical, he said no, but when he was offered a thousand dollars he thought about it but still said no. But because he had to think about it, it wasn't virtue. Yes, and no, I thought. I suppose that virtue is steady and immovable, but that seems so incredibly out of reach. At least for me in some situations.

Somewhere in the depths of the Anne of Green Gables series by L M Montgomery Anne says something to the effect of wanting to marry a boy that is not dully good, but a man who could be bad, but isn't. I probably butchered that, but I would interpret it as wanting to marry someone (or being yourself) who does not just do good blindly but chooses it, even if they choose it because they have made bad/dumb decisions in the past and they know better now. Not only choosing consistently but also choosing because you know/understand the reasoning seems a more approachable virtue.

Hopefully this made at least a little bit of sense.

Story Building

For one of my classes I have to write a fictional short story. I have been looking forward to it, but somehow it is still so easy to procrastinate. I have worked on it though. Which ironically doesn't mean I've actually written any of it, but I have planned parts out and bounced ideas and plots off of people. And that is what I was going to write about. It's absolutely amazing how many things go into creating a story. The motives, cultures, clothes, time line, rooms, and of course the characters. Last semester I was writing nonfiction. There are still a lot of things involved but it doesn't seem like as much because I know so much about it already. I lived it after all. Anyway it has been an interesting journey, and I haven't even started yet. Perhaps down the road when it's been written and rewritten and I'm entirely sick of it, I'll post it so other people can get sick of it too. Why do I like writing?