My sister often talks about transitions being diffiuclt for children. She says that they are more likely to scream or punch each other as they are getting ready to go somewhere then when they are playing normally and as they prepare for a move or major vacation they are more likely to act up.
I've decided that kids aren't the only ones that have a tough time with transition. I'm both between semesters and between vacation and school right now. Plus, I finished typing in my second novel so I'm also between fun projects right now. And I have been having a horrid time being productive.... which also means I've had a hard time staying positive. I'm not looking forward to school starting tomorrow but I'm hoping that the normalness will help.
Just because we grow up and may manifest stress differently it doesn't mean we have outgrown the basic patterns.
Sunday, January 8, 2017
Sunday, December 18, 2016
Why Do You Do That?
I just rewatched one of my favorite movies, North and South, based on the book by Elizabeth Gaskell. The plot is basically Pride and Predjudice but with a subplot of the Newsies (aka labor unions). This subplot is so powerful because arguably the three most important characters are on three different sides of the issue. John Thorton is a mill owner, and master. Nicholas Higgins is a mill worker and a "committee man" or a union leader. Finally, Margaret Hale, is an upperclass woman and a ministers daughter who has been transplanted suddenly into the culture of the industrial revolution. Throughout the story they argue different sides. Finally, near the end Margaret, friends with both men convinces them to see the good in each other and because they do they are able to unite and bring out the best in each side, helping each other and getting that much closer to make both mens goals come to fruition.
A few months ago I had a church leader who would do and say things that I didn't think were good or useful. I asked him about them and he explained himself and I still didn't neccessarily agree but I could respect why he did what he did.
It is far too easy to think someone else is crazy. "Why in the world would anyone ever do that?"
But really it is no surprise, because I'm not them and I don't think like them.... but then when they explain why, even though I still might not agree, it is at least understandable. Maybe that question above should be used more frequently... but instead of asking someone that agrees with us we should ask the individual who's sanity we are questioning.
A few months ago I had a church leader who would do and say things that I didn't think were good or useful. I asked him about them and he explained himself and I still didn't neccessarily agree but I could respect why he did what he did.
It is far too easy to think someone else is crazy. "Why in the world would anyone ever do that?"
But really it is no surprise, because I'm not them and I don't think like them.... but then when they explain why, even though I still might not agree, it is at least understandable. Maybe that question above should be used more frequently... but instead of asking someone that agrees with us we should ask the individual who's sanity we are questioning.
Sunday, December 11, 2016
Study Habits
The end of the semester is upon us and I have been noticing how I apparently have different study habits then other people.
Unless I have one project that is way higher on my list of priorities than everything else I usually try to break up my studying. I like to do something for 20 minutes, 30 minutes or sometimes an hour and then do something else for a similar amount of time. I have talked to several other people who say if they don't have at least an hour to work on something it's not worth it because it will take them that long to switch gears.
I also have three and a half days to study for one final. I will probably go crazy because I just get so bored of studying for the same thing for so long. One of my peers said "I only have a week to study for my test." ONLY!
Sorry this is so boring.
Unless I have one project that is way higher on my list of priorities than everything else I usually try to break up my studying. I like to do something for 20 minutes, 30 minutes or sometimes an hour and then do something else for a similar amount of time. I have talked to several other people who say if they don't have at least an hour to work on something it's not worth it because it will take them that long to switch gears.
I also have three and a half days to study for one final. I will probably go crazy because I just get so bored of studying for the same thing for so long. One of my peers said "I only have a week to study for my test." ONLY!
Sorry this is so boring.
Sunday, November 27, 2016
Becoming Adequate is Enough
That title makes this sound far worse than it really is...
Several years ago I played solitary on the computer frequently. The version I used didn't have just one version of the game. I really enjoyed picking a version and trying to figure it out as I played. I even made a list of them (I can probably delete that draft in my emails now...).
Escalator -- can't win
First Law -- brainless but long
Fortress -- can't win
Fortunes -- can't figure out
Forty Thieves -- can't win
Freecell -- ok
Gaps -- annoying
Giant
Glenwood
Gold Mine -- annoying
Golf
Gypsy -- tough
Hopscotch -- annoying
Isabel -- a bigger Jamestown
Jamestown -- brainless
Jumbo -- fun
Kansas -- ok
King Albert -- fun
Klondike
Labyrinth
Lady Jane -- ok
Maze --can't figure out
Monte Carlo -- ok
Napoleon's Tomb -- can't figure out
Neighbor
Odessa
Osmosis -- fun
Peek -- same as Osmosis
Pileon -- interesting
Plait -- ok
Poker -- can't figure out
Quatorze -- ok
I think what I liked best was trying t figure it out, not so much the actual game. Just the other day while talking to my brother I began to wonder if that is what I like about school too... or at least switching majors. Not only that, I told someone the other day that I have gone sking once, and enjoyed it but I wonder if after I got decent at it if I would really enjoy continuing... I'm not sure. But it makes me curious and wonder if I'm flaky (not truly flighty because I do like to finish what I start but still).
First Law -- brainless but long
Fortress -- can't win
Fortunes -- can't figure out
Forty Thieves -- can't win
Freecell -- ok
Gaps -- annoying
Giant
Glenwood
Gold Mine -- annoying
Golf
Gypsy -- tough
Hopscotch -- annoying
Isabel -- a bigger Jamestown
Jamestown -- brainless
Jumbo -- fun
Kansas -- ok
King Albert -- fun
Klondike
Labyrinth
Lady Jane -- ok
Maze --can't figure out
Monte Carlo -- ok
Napoleon's Tomb -- can't figure out
Neighbor
Odessa
Osmosis -- fun
Peek -- same as Osmosis
Pileon -- interesting
Plait -- ok
Poker -- can't figure out
Quatorze -- ok
I think what I liked best was trying t figure it out, not so much the actual game. Just the other day while talking to my brother I began to wonder if that is what I like about school too... or at least switching majors. Not only that, I told someone the other day that I have gone sking once, and enjoyed it but I wonder if after I got decent at it if I would really enjoy continuing... I'm not sure. But it makes me curious and wonder if I'm flaky (not truly flighty because I do like to finish what I start but still).
Sunday, November 20, 2016
Being Brave
I remember playing in the church parking lot when I was a kid while waiting for my parents. There was a storm drain there and I usually avoided it but occasionally I would walk on it and it would give me a little thrill of fear or excitement or whatever.
Now I am not one to scare myself or seek thrills but the other day I went to a frozen lake with some people and there was a rope swing and we were swinging out over the lake and it was a lot of fun. One of the people said something along the line of me being brave. What was interesting is that to me that wasn't a big deal. Instead, the part that I was initially hesitant about was going in the first place to hang out with people (some I didn't know very well) for a day and a half. Although, it didn't give me the same thrill of fear or excitement, but it was a similar experience. This summer when I wrote about subbing for my professor that was an experience I was not ready for but I enjoyed and before hand I felt an almost giddy nervousness that was much the same as walking on storm drains (you might fall in!).
I'm not exactly sure what I want to say about all this, but perhaps something about growth (I can walk over storm drains without fear now), or stepping outside our comfort zones and how it can be exciting.
Now I am not one to scare myself or seek thrills but the other day I went to a frozen lake with some people and there was a rope swing and we were swinging out over the lake and it was a lot of fun. One of the people said something along the line of me being brave. What was interesting is that to me that wasn't a big deal. Instead, the part that I was initially hesitant about was going in the first place to hang out with people (some I didn't know very well) for a day and a half. Although, it didn't give me the same thrill of fear or excitement, but it was a similar experience. This summer when I wrote about subbing for my professor that was an experience I was not ready for but I enjoyed and before hand I felt an almost giddy nervousness that was much the same as walking on storm drains (you might fall in!).
Sunday, November 13, 2016
Religious Freedom
A couple of weeks ago I saw an advertisement for an art/slogan/paragraph contest about--you guessed it--religious freedom. I like doing creative things once and awhile, and it is always nice to have a reason to do it, and I think religious freedom is important so I decided to participate.
My first thought was how religious freedom is something that previous generations havre really sacrificed for. The Pilgrims who came over on the Mayflower were persecuted for their religious beliefs and thus came to America. Anne Hutchinson was an early American (1630s) who was banished from her home in the Massachusetts Bay Colony because she believed differently from the other Puritans who lived there. They sacrificed for their own religious freedom, but they didn't really encourage religious freedom in others. (Pennsylvania's beginning is probably a better example of true religious freedom but I don't know as much about it and I don't have ancestors from there).
Later, Mormon pioneers crossed the American plains in order to find religious freedom for themselves. Although, I'm not convinced religious freedom has been done well in America it has been a significant theme.
However, this idea wasn't working for me (maybe because I know too much history...) so I tried another line of thought. I remember once in highschool my history teacher asked if we thought politicians, judges, etc. should keep their religious views seperate from their political policies. In one of my unguarded moments I think I replied that that was stupid and impossible. I stick to that statement. If someone is truly religious they have internalized the precepts of their faith and those precepts will then affect the decisions they make and the way they look at their world. Which is not to say that everyone who belongs to one religion or even one religious sect are going to think about political issues the same way. I chose to do my picture more along these lines. Here is my current version.
My first thought was how religious freedom is something that previous generations havre really sacrificed for. The Pilgrims who came over on the Mayflower were persecuted for their religious beliefs and thus came to America. Anne Hutchinson was an early American (1630s) who was banished from her home in the Massachusetts Bay Colony because she believed differently from the other Puritans who lived there. They sacrificed for their own religious freedom, but they didn't really encourage religious freedom in others. (Pennsylvania's beginning is probably a better example of true religious freedom but I don't know as much about it and I don't have ancestors from there).
Later, Mormon pioneers crossed the American plains in order to find religious freedom for themselves. Although, I'm not convinced religious freedom has been done well in America it has been a significant theme.
However, this idea wasn't working for me (maybe because I know too much history...) so I tried another line of thought. I remember once in highschool my history teacher asked if we thought politicians, judges, etc. should keep their religious views seperate from their political policies. In one of my unguarded moments I think I replied that that was stupid and impossible. I stick to that statement. If someone is truly religious they have internalized the precepts of their faith and those precepts will then affect the decisions they make and the way they look at their world. Which is not to say that everyone who belongs to one religion or even one religious sect are going to think about political issues the same way. I chose to do my picture more along these lines. Here is my current version.
Here is the finished version.
Religious Freedom
A couple of weeks ago I saw an advertisement for an art/slogan/paragraph contest about--you guessed it--religious freedom. I like doing creative things once and awhile, and it is always nice to have a reason to do it, and I think religious freedom is important so I decided to participate.
My first thought was how religious freedom is something that previous generations havre really sacrificed for. The Pilgrims who came over on the Mayflower were persecuted for their religious beliefs and thus came to America. Anne Hutchinson was an early American (1630s) who was banished from her home in the Massachusetts Bay Colony because she believed differently from the other Puritans who lived there. They sacrificed for their own religious freedom, but they didn't really encourage religious freedom in others. (Pennsylvania's beginning is probably a better example of true religious freedom but I don't know as much about it and I don't have ancestors from there).
Later, Mormon pioneers crossed the American plains in order to find religious freedom for themselves. Although, I'm not convinced religious freedom has been done well in America it has been a significant theme.
However, this idea wasn't working for me (maybe because I know too much history...) so I tried another line of thought. I remember once in highschool my history teacher asked if we thought politicians, judges, etc. should keep their religious views seperate from their political policies. In one of my unguarded moments I think I replied that that was stupid and impossible. I stick to that statement. If someone is truly religious they have internalized the precepts of their faith and those precepts will then affect the decisions they make and the way they look at their world. Which is not to say that everyone who belongs to one religion or even one religious sect are going to think about political issues the same way. I chose to do my picture more along these lines. Here is my current version.
My first thought was how religious freedom is something that previous generations havre really sacrificed for. The Pilgrims who came over on the Mayflower were persecuted for their religious beliefs and thus came to America. Anne Hutchinson was an early American (1630s) who was banished from her home in the Massachusetts Bay Colony because she believed differently from the other Puritans who lived there. They sacrificed for their own religious freedom, but they didn't really encourage religious freedom in others. (Pennsylvania's beginning is probably a better example of true religious freedom but I don't know as much about it and I don't have ancestors from there).
Later, Mormon pioneers crossed the American plains in order to find religious freedom for themselves. Although, I'm not convinced religious freedom has been done well in America it has been a significant theme.
However, this idea wasn't working for me (maybe because I know too much history...) so I tried another line of thought. I remember once in highschool my history teacher asked if we thought politicians, judges, etc. should keep their religious views seperate from their political policies. In one of my unguarded moments I think I replied that that was stupid and impossible. I stick to that statement. If someone is truly religious they have internalized the precepts of their faith and those precepts will then affect the decisions they make and the way they look at their world. Which is not to say that everyone who belongs to one religion or even one religious sect are going to think about political issues the same way. I chose to do my picture more along these lines. Here is my current version.
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