Comments I made on others' blogs:
Elizabeth: I like how you focused on one particular aspect of illness and dying. I had always noticed that too - the way people seem to forget about someone's flaws when they're gone (I wrote my ten minute play about that topic last year). I liked the way you said it:
"It seems to me that when a loved one dies, their flaws die with them."
I notice this a lot when I'm around my father's side of my family. Him and his sisters will always talk about their parents, and joke about all the quirky things they did, but they won't say anything they didn't like about them. They don't even really talk about their personalities; it's as if they're afraid to touch they subject.
Another part I liked about your post was the next line:
"But what bothers me the most, is that they all wait until the person has passed to express their affection for them."
However, I thought you were going to go into more detail, but I guess it's okay that you didn't since this was supposed to be a pretty short post.
P.S. Also, this all seems to apply to Looking for Alaska.
Jasper:
I liked that you out got all your ideas about illness and dying. I also liked how you connected this unit to the food unit, by saying that people should focus more on preventative medicine:
"The way we eat is very unhealthy and this can lead obesity and also lead to diseases such as heart disease and diabetes which are the cause for many deaths. If we can eat better and live better we can have less health problems."
I thought this was important too. I remember a while ago Obama said something about wanting to focus his health care plan more on preventative care (eating healthy, getting exercise), so maybe that is something that could happen one day.
Comments on my blog:
Elizabeth: I think that you definitely came away from this unit with some strong insight.
Your best part was applying what you had learned to your own understanding, "I came to the conclusion that when people think about the fact that they are going to die someday, they want to do more and live more". I think it showed great growth from the beginning of the unit where you would respond to the text much more personally than general.
For example I went back to your first Tuesdays With Morrie Homework, and I found this in your response, "I couldn't imagine waking up and reading the paper and drinking coffee like normal if I knew I was going to die". Your analysis has grown and I'm actually realizing that my Homework 32 may not have grown out of a superficial nature compared to my earlier homework assignments.
That was a LOT of praise right there, but there's that cliche saying, "there's always room for improvement". For this post, I felt that you could have gotten a little more personal with the reader of your blog. Bold titles and sectioning work is great for projects or thorough research. Because you had a lot to say, but few words to say it in, I feel as though the bold titles removed the reader from exactly what you were trying to say and gave TOO general of a summary.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
HW 32 - Thoughts following illness & dying unit
Health Care - I was talking to a friend a few days previous to watching Sicko, and she was telling me about how her father didn't get health insurance for her family through his job, and because of this, he had to pay for it himself. He works for the New York State department of health.
Spiritual aspect of dying / living a good life - This was a theme in Tuesdays With Morrie, and it came up in class a few times. We were asked how alive we felt, and when we felt like we were alive. In my culminating project, I asked people how they would feel about dying, what they would do if they had 24 hours left to live. Most people, like Morrie, talked about spending time with friends and family, and doing things to help others. I came to the conclusion that when people think about the fact that they are going to die someday, they want to do more and live more. However, people don't tend to think about the fact that they are going to die one day.
The last few years of life / dying alone in a hospital- A lot of money is spent on people in their last years of life, trying to keep them alive for longer. They end up dying while attached to machines. It seems like a better solution would simply be to try to keep them as comfortable as possible for as long as possible. People also shouldn't be isolated in nursing homes - they should be around family and people of different ages.
Spiritual aspect of dying / living a good life - This was a theme in Tuesdays With Morrie, and it came up in class a few times. We were asked how alive we felt, and when we felt like we were alive. In my culminating project, I asked people how they would feel about dying, what they would do if they had 24 hours left to live. Most people, like Morrie, talked about spending time with friends and family, and doing things to help others. I came to the conclusion that when people think about the fact that they are going to die someday, they want to do more and live more. However, people don't tend to think about the fact that they are going to die one day.
The last few years of life / dying alone in a hospital- A lot of money is spent on people in their last years of life, trying to keep them alive for longer. They end up dying while attached to machines. It seems like a better solution would simply be to try to keep them as comfortable as possible for as long as possible. People also shouldn't be isolated in nursing homes - they should be around family and people of different ages.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
HW 31 - Comments 3
My comments on others' blogs:
Elizabeth:
My first impression of your post was that it was REALLY thorough (showed depth/insight). You explained every detail of your thinking, and what led you to your conclusion that people have tried to make the word die have less of a bad meaning.
Overall, I thought you were going to go further with it (for instance, asking people what they thought illness and dying meant), but the research you did was really interesting.
Jasper:
I really liked your post. Your research was very thorough, and you explained your reactions to it clearly. I also liked how you explained how your research led you to doing the interview (your account of the interview was good too). All in all, it was really good.
Eloise:
I was looking forward to reading your post after you gave your elevator speech. It was way more then I expected! I like how you did so much research, and the way you told the different stories.
My favorite part was your description of how hospitals isolate people and put them in a bubble, and how you brought up the idea that there should be more art related stuff in hospitals, along with better food and care, to make patients feel more comfortable.
Amber:
I really liked this part of your post:
"While taking a part of this interesting project I learned a number of things. Our society is very gullible; we trust individuals without making any attempt to learn much about them. Our society is too busy with unnecessary worries; we forget about making an attempt to learn about serious risk factors that may harm one later on. In this specific case people are willing to take a risk to put them self our a loved one in an institution with strangers who they have no clue where they come from and how big of a threat they may be. Some of the articles I read discussed that many of these residents fear of exposing these horrified accounts. It is usually their loved ones that make them do so. Not only does our society fear about exposing the idea of illness and death to the public, but we also have a fear of showing imperfection."
I thought this summed up your point well - that people don't really know what goes on in nursing homes, and that they don't bother to check. It was also a good comment on how people tend to act. I didn't know a lot about neglect and abuse in nursing homes before reading your post, and before you gave your speech I hadn't even thought about it, so this really opened my eyes.
Comments on my blog:
Elizabeth:
I think that you chose an interesting topic to work off of. I really liked the question and response section, but when it came down to explaining them I was a bit disappointed. Not necessarily with your analysis, but with the way it was formatted. I kind of forgot previous answers and had to re read them a few times. I felt that you could have given some insight after each quote to keep the reader thinking.
Also, the Author of Staring at the Sun: Overcoming the Fear of Death is Irvin Yalom, not Irving Yalon.
Jasper:
This was one of my favorites. I thought this topic was related to our unit and brought up a lot in Tuesday's with Morrie. I found the answers very interesting. My favorite part was : "After reading Tuesdays With Morrie, I formed the opinion that people are motivated by possessions more then anything. However, after doing the survey and reading the dozens of answers that talked about family and friends, I realized that this isn't necessarily true." I completely agree with this, I also noticed this in the book. I think maybe on a day to day basis all people may value is material things but if you ask people to look at their life as a whole they can see things that actually matter more.. Niiiiice post
Evan:
I noticed that only Liz commented, so to help out I am commenting here as well. You picked quite a deep and complex question to answer! I really like your analysis of the texts at the start, BUT- when you recite answers such as "go to the pyramids" or "save a life" it begs for an explanation of why these answers contradict Morrie's answers. I think only if you explained the difference of age and circumstance, you'd really be on to something incredibly deep.
Looking at the interviews I must say you asked great and significant questions and in turn got (mostly) meaningful and insightful answers. I just wish that after each quote or section of quotes, you would talk a little about the mentality or the dominant social view which leads to such answers.
Elizabeth:
My first impression of your post was that it was REALLY thorough (showed depth/insight). You explained every detail of your thinking, and what led you to your conclusion that people have tried to make the word die have less of a bad meaning.
Overall, I thought you were going to go further with it (for instance, asking people what they thought illness and dying meant), but the research you did was really interesting.
Jasper:
I really liked your post. Your research was very thorough, and you explained your reactions to it clearly. I also liked how you explained how your research led you to doing the interview (your account of the interview was good too). All in all, it was really good.
Eloise:
I was looking forward to reading your post after you gave your elevator speech. It was way more then I expected! I like how you did so much research, and the way you told the different stories.
My favorite part was your description of how hospitals isolate people and put them in a bubble, and how you brought up the idea that there should be more art related stuff in hospitals, along with better food and care, to make patients feel more comfortable.
Amber:
I really liked this part of your post:
"While taking a part of this interesting project I learned a number of things. Our society is very gullible; we trust individuals without making any attempt to learn much about them. Our society is too busy with unnecessary worries; we forget about making an attempt to learn about serious risk factors that may harm one later on. In this specific case people are willing to take a risk to put them self our a loved one in an institution with strangers who they have no clue where they come from and how big of a threat they may be. Some of the articles I read discussed that many of these residents fear of exposing these horrified accounts. It is usually their loved ones that make them do so. Not only does our society fear about exposing the idea of illness and death to the public, but we also have a fear of showing imperfection."
I thought this summed up your point well - that people don't really know what goes on in nursing homes, and that they don't bother to check. It was also a good comment on how people tend to act. I didn't know a lot about neglect and abuse in nursing homes before reading your post, and before you gave your speech I hadn't even thought about it, so this really opened my eyes.
Comments on my blog:
Elizabeth:
I think that you chose an interesting topic to work off of. I really liked the question and response section, but when it came down to explaining them I was a bit disappointed. Not necessarily with your analysis, but with the way it was formatted. I kind of forgot previous answers and had to re read them a few times. I felt that you could have given some insight after each quote to keep the reader thinking.
Also, the Author of Staring at the Sun: Overcoming the Fear of Death is Irvin Yalom, not Irving Yalon.
Jasper:
This was one of my favorites. I thought this topic was related to our unit and brought up a lot in Tuesday's with Morrie. I found the answers very interesting. My favorite part was : "After reading Tuesdays With Morrie, I formed the opinion that people are motivated by possessions more then anything. However, after doing the survey and reading the dozens of answers that talked about family and friends, I realized that this isn't necessarily true." I completely agree with this, I also noticed this in the book. I think maybe on a day to day basis all people may value is material things but if you ask people to look at their life as a whole they can see things that actually matter more.. Niiiiice post
Evan:
I noticed that only Liz commented, so to help out I am commenting here as well. You picked quite a deep and complex question to answer! I really like your analysis of the texts at the start, BUT- when you recite answers such as "go to the pyramids" or "save a life" it begs for an explanation of why these answers contradict Morrie's answers. I think only if you explained the difference of age and circumstance, you'd really be on to something incredibly deep.
Looking at the interviews I must say you asked great and significant questions and in turn got (mostly) meaningful and insightful answers. I just wish that after each quote or section of quotes, you would talk a little about the mentality or the dominant social view which leads to such answers.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
HW 30 - Illness & Dying - Culminating Experiential Project
The aspect of the dominant social practices surrounding illness and dying that I decided to explore was: What makes a fulfilled life? This doesn't directly relate to illness and dying, but it seemed to be a theme that came up throughout the unit.
In Staring at the Sun, the author brings up one of Nietzsche's ideas: "What if you were to live the identical life again and again throughout eternity - how would that change you? (Yalon 98)" and then reflects upon it: ".....the idea of living your identical life over and over again can be kind of jarring, a sort of petite existential shock therapy. It often serves as a sobering thought experiment, leading you to consider seriously how you are really living (Yalon 100)." The idea presented here is that upon asking themselves this, someone would probably decide there was something about their life that they had to change in order to be happier.
In Tuesdays With Morrie, there was a part where Mitch asks Morrie what he would do if he had 24 hours of perfect health. Morrie says he would eat good food and go dancing and swimming. Mitch is then surprised that it would be something so normal, and then realizes that that is the point - most people would want to do something extraordinary, but Morrie just wants to have a good day, one that most people would take for granted.
I did internet research on Thus Spake Zarathustra, the book in which Nietzsche posed the question of identical life. I found some excerpts of it here. I also did research on Nietzsche himself: "Nietzsche's whole philosophy can be seen as an attempt to answer this one question: How do we live in a world without something (a God) that guarantees that life has meaning? In 1882 Nietzsche finally conceded that God is dead, and so began his long philosophical quest to find a non-religious answer to the "meaning of life" and to escape the feelings of despair that followed his loss of faith in Christianity (Turnbull 140)."
I wanted to see what people would actually say when posed with these questions. These are some of the questions I asked, and some answers people gave (Online survey). For the full list of questions and answers, see HW 30 - Interviews.
If you had to live your life over and over again, for eternity, would you be happy?
"The same life lived over and over would quickly become a complete nightmare."
"oh heck yes, because I could remember ALL the mistakes/regrets from the first time around, and change those the second time, and so on and so forth. I could literally build my perfect life. Eventually though, once I felt I got it "right" and had a life I felt I could not possibly make better, I'd be done."
"Only if I knew what would happen ahead of time so I can make any changes ahead of time as dictated by necessity. If I can make changes to my past, then my future should be altered accordingly. But, I really do think that's asking for the impossible."
If you had one day of your life that you had to live over and over again forever, what day would it be?
"The time when I won a singing competition-- however my drive for variety would have to be deprogrammed from my mind."
"The time me and my late mother went to the fair, I was eight, she died when I was 13."
"I think it would be one of those Saturdays when I visited my parents, and we sat at the kitchen table eating cookies and drinking coffee, looking at the newspaper and just talking. They're gone now, and I miss them very much."
What do you want to do before you die?
"Go to the pyramids, go to Japan, and go visit my best friend in Egypt."
"Live to at least make something useful out of myself. Whether it's to help another person or group of people."
"Save a life."
It seemed that the only reason people would want to live their life over and over again would be to improve on it. I don't think anyone came to the realization that one would hope for when asking this question - the realization that they were happy or unhappy with their life, that they were not doing what they wanted, etc. However, when people were asked what day they would want to live over and over (this question was sort of a combination of Nietzsche's and Mitch's), the answers were more sentimental - Morrie would have appreciated them, as they had everything to do with happiness and being with people you love.
I asked people what they wanted to do before they died simply to see what people found important to accomplish in life - something else discussed in Tuesdays With Morrie. This was another area where people's answers seemed to clash with the book's expectation of what they would say - most people mentioned something about wanting to make a difference, whereas Morrie seemed to imply people are solely motivated by the acquisition of material possessions.
From doing this survey, I learned that opinions presented in books about dominant social practices surrounding illness and dying aren't always true. After reading Tuesdays With Morrie, I formed the opinion that people are motivated by possessions more then anything. However, after doing the survey and reading the dozens of answers that talked about family and friends, I realized that this isn't necessarily true.
Works Cited:
Yalon, Irving D. Staring at the Sun: Overcoming the Fear of Death. Jossey - Bass. San Francisco. 2008.
Albom, Mitch. Tuesdays With Morrie. Doubleday. New York. 1997.
Turnbull, Neil. Get a Grip on Philosophy. Time Life Books. 1998.
http://praxeology.net/zara.htm
In Staring at the Sun, the author brings up one of Nietzsche's ideas: "What if you were to live the identical life again and again throughout eternity - how would that change you? (Yalon 98)" and then reflects upon it: ".....the idea of living your identical life over and over again can be kind of jarring, a sort of petite existential shock therapy. It often serves as a sobering thought experiment, leading you to consider seriously how you are really living (Yalon 100)." The idea presented here is that upon asking themselves this, someone would probably decide there was something about their life that they had to change in order to be happier.
In Tuesdays With Morrie, there was a part where Mitch asks Morrie what he would do if he had 24 hours of perfect health. Morrie says he would eat good food and go dancing and swimming. Mitch is then surprised that it would be something so normal, and then realizes that that is the point - most people would want to do something extraordinary, but Morrie just wants to have a good day, one that most people would take for granted.
I did internet research on Thus Spake Zarathustra, the book in which Nietzsche posed the question of identical life. I found some excerpts of it here. I also did research on Nietzsche himself: "Nietzsche's whole philosophy can be seen as an attempt to answer this one question: How do we live in a world without something (a God) that guarantees that life has meaning? In 1882 Nietzsche finally conceded that God is dead, and so began his long philosophical quest to find a non-religious answer to the "meaning of life" and to escape the feelings of despair that followed his loss of faith in Christianity (Turnbull 140)."
I wanted to see what people would actually say when posed with these questions. These are some of the questions I asked, and some answers people gave (Online survey). For the full list of questions and answers, see HW 30 - Interviews.
If you had to live your life over and over again, for eternity, would you be happy?
"The same life lived over and over would quickly become a complete nightmare."
"oh heck yes, because I could remember ALL the mistakes/regrets from the first time around, and change those the second time, and so on and so forth. I could literally build my perfect life. Eventually though, once I felt I got it "right" and had a life I felt I could not possibly make better, I'd be done."
"Only if I knew what would happen ahead of time so I can make any changes ahead of time as dictated by necessity. If I can make changes to my past, then my future should be altered accordingly. But, I really do think that's asking for the impossible."
If you had one day of your life that you had to live over and over again forever, what day would it be?
"The time when I won a singing competition-- however my drive for variety would have to be deprogrammed from my mind."
"The time me and my late mother went to the fair, I was eight, she died when I was 13."
"I think it would be one of those Saturdays when I visited my parents, and we sat at the kitchen table eating cookies and drinking coffee, looking at the newspaper and just talking. They're gone now, and I miss them very much."
What do you want to do before you die?
"Go to the pyramids, go to Japan, and go visit my best friend in Egypt."
"Live to at least make something useful out of myself. Whether it's to help another person or group of people."
"Save a life."
It seemed that the only reason people would want to live their life over and over again would be to improve on it. I don't think anyone came to the realization that one would hope for when asking this question - the realization that they were happy or unhappy with their life, that they were not doing what they wanted, etc. However, when people were asked what day they would want to live over and over (this question was sort of a combination of Nietzsche's and Mitch's), the answers were more sentimental - Morrie would have appreciated them, as they had everything to do with happiness and being with people you love.
I asked people what they wanted to do before they died simply to see what people found important to accomplish in life - something else discussed in Tuesdays With Morrie. This was another area where people's answers seemed to clash with the book's expectation of what they would say - most people mentioned something about wanting to make a difference, whereas Morrie seemed to imply people are solely motivated by the acquisition of material possessions.
From doing this survey, I learned that opinions presented in books about dominant social practices surrounding illness and dying aren't always true. After reading Tuesdays With Morrie, I formed the opinion that people are motivated by possessions more then anything. However, after doing the survey and reading the dozens of answers that talked about family and friends, I realized that this isn't necessarily true.
Works Cited:
Yalon, Irving D. Staring at the Sun: Overcoming the Fear of Death. Jossey - Bass. San Francisco. 2008.
Albom, Mitch. Tuesdays With Morrie. Doubleday. New York. 1997.
Turnbull, Neil. Get a Grip on Philosophy. Time Life Books. 1998.
http://praxeology.net/zara.htm
Saturday, January 15, 2011
HW 30 - Interviews
For HW 30 (See above) I did an online survey using Yahoo answers (you post questions and people answer them). All questions and answers are as follows. For more on question 5, look here or here.
If you had one day (24 hours) left to live, what would you do?
“Take a nap.”
“I would go on a shopping spree and spend all the money I COULD I WOULD ALSO EAT UP ALL THE FOOD I COULD THAT ALSO INCLUDES DRINK TOO!”
“Put on my fave song, grab a martini and wait for the sunrise over the sea.
I’d def want to be alone. I have already told everything I need to tell to my friends and family.”
I’d def want to be alone. I have already told everything I need to tell to my friends and family.”
“I would make it very public to this world, what I really think of it.”
“Wait for Christmas.”
“I will give away all my belongings to everybody. I also let know some one I love about my feelings.”
“The same thing I do now.
Meditate on God.
Stay focused on serving God and all he has created,
every thing I do I offer to God.”
Meditate on God.
Stay focused on serving God and all he has created,
every thing I do I offer to God.”
“Probably go kiss my best guy friend cause I like him, write out a short story to have published, paint a picture very beautifully, watch the sunset, listen to all my favorite songs, read at least one of the many books I need to read, go drive around one last time, write a song, make my family the most spectacular dinner ever, watch a couple episodes of two and a half men, go buy a bunch of flowers and give one flower to each person who was important to me in my life and keep one for myself, play with my dog for one last time, go visit my friends grave one last time, drink some Crown Royal reserved(Even though I cant drink legally yet), write a letter to the president telling him he a screwed up s.o.b, go out and shoot my gun for one last time, watch The Princess Bride(one of my most favorite movies), finish my star collage, get a hot warm bath, wear my pretty black and white dress one last time around town, ride my four-wheeler, go out to dance, go to Starbucks and buy everything on the menu, probably bake some cookies, and lay under a clear night with millions of stars out on top of the mountains near where I live and watch the sky before I die.”
“I do only have one day to live; I'm spending it drinking myself stupid.”
If you had to live your life over and over again, for eternity, would you be happy?
“Some of the time I guess...”
“I think it would be cool to see how the world changes but when it’s you time to go, its just time and living that long would be exhausting .”
“The same life lived over and over would quickly become a complete nightmare.”
“If I had to live my life over and over again, I would not know it. Because a baby could not hold everything from his/her's previous life in their brain. Who knows, we might be going through and endless loop.”
“Only if I knew what would happen ahead of time so I can make any changes ahead of time as dictated by necessity. If I can make changes to my past, then my future should be altered accordingly. But, I really do think that's asking for the impossible.”
“Yes, i will be very happy because everytime i live, i will improve what was wrong on the previous life.
The happiness comes from me to know that everytime things are done better.”
The happiness comes from me to know that everytime things are done better.”
“Depends on how your current status is,physical,financial,marital,social,spi… would wish to die the next minute, while others would like to live forever...but anyway depends also on why would you like to live forever. (I’m a theologian and a philosopher)”
“Why not? I bet that the whole world will say the same, YES... But can you imagine how bad life is? The world would be over crowded now and that causes more suffering (famine to be exact). Sure, I would be very happy if Mother Nature will do the same. Lol, if that applies to everyone, that means both my parents (passed away sometime ago) will come back to life again and again and there will be no more sorrows?
Edit: Let's keep on dreaming. But the sad part is, it will never happen...”
Edit: Let's keep on dreaming. But the sad part is, it will never happen...”
“I saw a circus once when i was 12 Years old.
I do not like reruns.
I like new snow and running streams.”
I do not like reruns.
I like new snow and running streams.”
“Oh heck yes, because I could remember ALL the mistakes/regrets from the first time around, and change those the second time, and so on and so forth. I could literally build my perfect life. Eventually though, once I felt I got it "right" and had a life I felt I could not possibly make better, I'd be done lol”
“i like my life, but no, i wouldn’t want to relive it again. There are some things in my life that i wish i could really change, but i cant. That’s why i don’t want to relive it”
If you had one day of your life that you had to live over and over again forever, which would it be?What did you do on that day? What happened to you?
“The time when I won a singing competition-- however my drive for variety would have to be deprogrammed from my mind.”
The time me and my late mother went to the fair, I was eight, she died when I was 13.
“It was the day that I was sitting up next to my ex mother in laws house in the hills of Chehalis Washington. We were living with her and it was great, she was great. The sky was blue, with white clouds drifting by the horizon was mountainous, with Mount Rainier and Mount Saint Helen all snow capped, the sun wasn't too warm a soft cool breeze was blowing the buzz of the wilderness animals was humming around me, and the cathedral wind chimes I had bought her were sounding. Her whole hilltop garden looked like paradise on earth, flowers everywhere, wild and garden variety. I could hear her and my kids somewhere off in the forty acre woods clearing the forest of underbrush. It was one of the most eternal moments of peace and quietude I had ever had, and It was also the moment I decided to leave and do what I felt God was calling me to do. Experiential nothing can compare to that moment, except the new heavens and earth I hope for. But I'd walk away from paradise if God was calling me to go to Gehenna. You have to make your choices based on your priorities. My priority is not to live in one divine moment but to obey God no matter the cost.
I will never forget that moment, and the complete peace there was in it. One sunny day in my life.”
I will never forget that moment, and the complete peace there was in it. One sunny day in my life.”
“The last day of my life.
I'm not afraid to die,
I just don't want to be there when it happens.”
I'm not afraid to die,
I just don't want to be there when it happens.”
“I woke up, went to a rally for the homeless, walked around for hours with a 20 ft tall puppet head on top of me (with two friends operating the arms and legs) sang "lost in the stars" like Elvis Presley (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYLA0Jm8xaQ) at the open mike and scared away the fundamentalist (who were using the mike to say homelessness was a curse from God on sinners) and then had a great vegetarian meal served to and BY the homeless, and we all loaded into a microbus and drove home. I hit the bed exhausted at 9PM after twelve of the best hours of my life.
I'd do that again and again forever."
“The day I drove out of a big urban assault jungle and made my home in rural America. It was like leaving Hell and arriving in Heaven.”
“Groundhog Day because my name is Bill Murray.”
“I don't know if it would necessarily be the exact same songs, clothes, etc....but the first time I played for and taught some of my songs to what would be my future band mates.”
“It would be that Sunday, that summer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oHiljdik…
She will go nameless here, but not in my heart. Oh, so very many bad times, so much trouble, so many the harsh and hateful words from her far too-oft bitter and vitriolic tongue. Sometimes it is hard to remember us ever having a good hour together, much less a full day. But I remember one day that was perfect from start to finish. She wore a bright, canary yellow tube top and a skirt to match with an unbuttoned, diaphanous, flowered short-sleeved top over everything else, tan sandals on her feet. John Bryan State Park was in its full glory, birds were singing, the sun was shining, a light breeze was blowing and only puffs of clouds in a beautiful, deep blue sky. The picnic lunch was perfect and for once no yellow jackets to fend off, no meandering ants to brush away, the kids were laughing and playing. Her eyes seemed to sparkle when she looked my way and her auburn hair sparkled in the sun. The moment was magical and in a most pleasant way burned into my memory. My love for her never seemed so real as it did then, and forgetting for a while how quickly she could turn a smile into a glare of what seemed to be seething hate, I thought my love would last for eternity.
But eternity ended much too quickly and far too quickly my kids’ laughter turned into quiet cries of emotional turmoil that you can hear only by looking into their still-troubled eyes. She could not make up for all the harm she has done, all the heartbreak she put me through and most especially she could not undo the harm to the kids that her lies have caused, even if she had an eternity to do so. But even though my love finally breathed its last, and now I only remember being in love with her and find myself wondering why I ever fell for her, I still have tears flowing down my cheeks as I fondly remember that day. And now, even after all she has put us all through, if I could make one day last an eternity
It would be that Sunday, that summer.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oHiljdik…
She will go nameless here, but not in my heart. Oh, so very many bad times, so much trouble, so many the harsh and hateful words from her far too-oft bitter and vitriolic tongue. Sometimes it is hard to remember us ever having a good hour together, much less a full day. But I remember one day that was perfect from start to finish. She wore a bright, canary yellow tube top and a skirt to match with an unbuttoned, diaphanous, flowered short-sleeved top over everything else, tan sandals on her feet. John Bryan State Park was in its full glory, birds were singing, the sun was shining, a light breeze was blowing and only puffs of clouds in a beautiful, deep blue sky. The picnic lunch was perfect and for once no yellow jackets to fend off, no meandering ants to brush away, the kids were laughing and playing. Her eyes seemed to sparkle when she looked my way and her auburn hair sparkled in the sun. The moment was magical and in a most pleasant way burned into my memory. My love for her never seemed so real as it did then, and forgetting for a while how quickly she could turn a smile into a glare of what seemed to be seething hate, I thought my love would last for eternity.
But eternity ended much too quickly and far too quickly my kids’ laughter turned into quiet cries of emotional turmoil that you can hear only by looking into their still-troubled eyes. She could not make up for all the harm she has done, all the heartbreak she put me through and most especially she could not undo the harm to the kids that her lies have caused, even if she had an eternity to do so. But even though my love finally breathed its last, and now I only remember being in love with her and find myself wondering why I ever fell for her, I still have tears flowing down my cheeks as I fondly remember that day. And now, even after all she has put us all through, if I could make one day last an eternity
It would be that Sunday, that summer.”
“I think it would be one of those Saturdays when I visited my parents, and we sat at the kitchen table eating cookies and drinking coffee, looking at the newspaper and just talking.
They're gone now, and I miss them very much.”
They're gone now, and I miss them very much.”
“Today-because today is a gift. THAT is why we call it the present.”
“yesterday - enjoyed every moment, best day of the new year!”
If you could do whatever you wanted to in life, what would you do?
“I would want to travel the world with my family. Learn about new cultures and different ways of living.”
“A rock star...so I can rock on..”
“Sex offenders would be exterminated. Free mental health service for all people. No homeless or hungry in USA.”
“My name would be famous, I would be an international influence for good, I would be married to the man of my dreams, I would be rich and spend most of it on other people, and I would wake up everyday, being productive and feeling content.”
What do you want to do before you die?
“Everything.”
“Nothing great, just my work at right time......”
“I think everyone has been given a different task from God. I want to fully understand what that is for myself and accomplish it.”
“To be "Spiritually Born Again"{to be converted back into the IMAGE in that God created of spirits before Adam and Eve created sin} IS my destiny. This shall occur during the time span and events of the 1st of the 7 hidden seals.”
“To save a life”
“Many things. I suppose I could summarize the ultimate aims though...
I ultimately want to find multiple passions I would be willing to die for, make a lot of money as an upshot of those passions, learn as much about everything as possible, have a solid circle of trusted friends and a good partner.”
“sleep soundly...”
“Live for 100 years more.”
“Keep living”
“Travel around the world
Meet new people
be happy
Meet up with friends/family
Hopefully die old :)”
Meet new people
be happy
Meet up with friends/family
Hopefully die old :)”
“Go to the pyramids, go to Japan and go visit my best friend in Egypt.”
“Live to at least make something useful out of myself. Whether it's to help another person or group of people.”
“Be Sucessful,Visit all the Continents including the antartica/artic ;D[ as well the north/south poles aren’t really wanted but hey if i had the chance.......,Know of another kind of civilization on other planets[if there is any]....................”
Friday, January 7, 2011
HW 29 - Reading and noting basic materials
Hospitalization
Our guest speaker, Beth, chose to have her husband stay at home when he was dying. He died in his home, with his family, as opposed to in a hospital, all alone. However, many people have a different experience. As depicted in the film Near Death, many people die in a hospital, where many decisions have to be made about what the best way is to help them. Sometimes, a patient will have to choose the treatment that is best for them - the film showed a nurse trying to explain different treatment options to an elderly man. Other times, their family will have to choose what they think is best, most often choosing the thing that will keep them alive the longest, even if that isn't what the doctors recommend (although doctors are sometimes wrong too).
Paying for medical care and political structures
In the documentary Sicko, Micheal Moore contrasts the health care system of the United States with that of Canada, France, and Cuba. The United States is the only country of these that doesn't have some sort of government subsidized health care. In these other countries, everyone contributes so that they can all have health insurance. In the United States, many people do not have health insurance, and those who do are oftentimes not covered for many necessities, because the health insurance companies benefit from denying people care. As discussed in Landmark, while the United States spends more (per person) on health care then any other industrialized nation does, this does not mean that better care is given (67). In fact, in many cases, someone in the United States will be much worse off then someone in another industrialized nation.
Facing Terminal Illness:
In the book Tuesdays With Morrie, the author discusses how Morrie (his old professor who has Lou Gehrig's disease) doesn't seem upset by the fact that he is dying - he sees it as a part of life, a natural occurrence and progression. This is a very different standpoint then most people would take. Whenever someone is shown dying on television or in movies, they and everyone around them is sad. However, Morrie said he wasn't sad, because he knew people would remember him.
Monday, January 3, 2011
HW 28 - Comments 2
My comments on T/W group member's blogs:
Elizabeth:
"I thought the best part of your post was the first paragraph - there was a lot of detail and depth to it. I also liked how you told part of the story, and then reflected on it, and then told the rest, and then reflected on it again.
I identified with the idea about people needing something to do. It reminded me of my grandfather, who has heart problems (so he can't do much without getting tired), but still tries to do things for himself.
This also goes back to the part in Tuesdays With Morrie, when Morrie decides that he doesn't want to feel bad that he needs help doing simple everyday tasks. He viewed it as a good thing, whereas most people are different - they like to be able to take care of themselves."
Elizabeth:
"I thought the best part of your post was the first paragraph - there was a lot of detail and depth to it. I also liked how you told part of the story, and then reflected on it, and then told the rest, and then reflected on it again.
I identified with the idea about people needing something to do. It reminded me of my grandfather, who has heart problems (so he can't do much without getting tired), but still tries to do things for himself.
This also goes back to the part in Tuesdays With Morrie, when Morrie decides that he doesn't want to feel bad that he needs help doing simple everyday tasks. He viewed it as a good thing, whereas most people are different - they like to be able to take care of themselves."
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