The movement of mind, waves of a buddhist.

"We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. when the mind is pure, Joy follows like a shadow that never leaves." "Buddha"

Andrew Johnson        

Essay 1 This I Believe

November 16^th, 2016

Mary Louise Hill:

English 200-02

The Movement of mind, waves of a Buddhist

 Buddhism has been a part of my soul everywhere I go. Practicing it and learning it has helped me even in creating songs of musical artwork. The lighting of incense and the beautiful colors of leaves on various trees, the sound of bells are all things that I have been able to incorporate through the process of writing music. I compared my life and my memoires to sheets of paper, always adding more notes and chords and lyrics to portray my life, leaving an emotional state of mind open.

            My belief and faith in this religion is much more than just something I practice. It is a form of self-expression and shows inner strength and outer beauty. It allows my body, soul, and mind to all come to a state of equal balance between all three. It allows me to clear my mind making it as calm as the ocean, or as gentle as the clouds moving across the sky. Everything slows down from the blood flow of my arteries, to my respiration, even my heartrate starts to slowly dissipate. Buddhism has led my life from being so stressful and hateful towards many individuals, has now opened my eyes to see a clearer perception on the world. The hate and pain that I endured for so long has finally vanished, it feels like chains that were originally holding my body down were now suddenly free.

            The ideas of Karma apply to this belief, stating that actions will always have a consequence no matter what the situation is whether it is good or bad the repercussion will outweigh the deed that was committed. Karma has been a huge role in this belief and in my own utopia. I realized why spend so much energy into hatred and rage, when I can spend it on more positive thoughts. My birth mother was a Buddhist and she was the reason I started to continue this practice. She always told me “no matter how angry or sad an event might be remember anger is a drug it will consume you from the inside out.” I instantly fell in love with the idea of learning more about this religion hearing those words from my mother opened my eyes to see how truly blind I was.

              Buddhism is a widely respected religion practiced around the world mostly popular in Asian countries. In times of stress, Mediation is the best cure it helps individuals to separate their thoughts and emotions and completely empty the mind. Monks who are very dedicated to their religion will shave their heads bald and go to actual Buddhist temples where they are able to control their chakras and auroras. This belief of Buddhism led me to believe that once I close my eyes I can see the light at the end of the darkness and I can continue moving forward.

             As the song that I write starts to come to an end, it never truly has an end but is just the start of a new beginning. Like with any great song it might be almost finished but there is always more to add the more closely you look. The most beautiful things in life can’t simple be seen but touched by the heart. Buddhism shows this as a piece of my religion, my faith, my personality, and the second half of who I am meant to be.

Emmanuel Mante

                   What is family? I personally believe the deepest meaning of family comes down to love and trust. I believe that family morals are the greatest foundation of respect and discipline. Respect and discipline teaches people to make the right choices in life and also to be very considerate about other people’s feelings. Family values are a pathway which family members strongly believe have worth, such as being respectful to everybody regardless their age, race or ethnic background.

               I have been blessed and fortunate enough to be raised in a happy, successful and very secure family with two outstandingly loving and supportive parents who have always stressed to me and my two other siblings about how strong our faith should be in God because without him none of this will be possible. The happiness and joyful moments that my family and I have shared have mostly come from God’s teachings; we as a family have been taught how to be loyal, loving, honest and unselfish.

             A loving family does not come alive by accident, God puts us into families in order for us to grow in faith, happiness and also learn how to love other people unconditionally. Growing up in a spiritual household taught me a whole lot, certain basic life lessons I wouldn’t b able to learn anywhere else. As a family we made it a tradition to travel a whole lot. By doing such activities it allowed us to grow stronger and get to know each other in so many different ways.

          My grandmother always said to u “don’t just see your brother and sister as your siblings but also see them as your best friends “  I never understood why she said that until I grew up. That statement will never leave me. She always said to us “ take care of each other as much as you can and your parents and God will do the rest” She also stressed on ‘Prayer” and how we should use that to fuel our lives day to day. My parents stressed us on faith and hard work. They said to me one time” God will never give you something somebody else is supposed to have” basically they implied whatever we have we have to be content with it to a certain extent and work hard towards making it better. The love and support I have received from my family I can never replace anywhere on this earth.

                 I personally strongly believe God’s church is there to help us as individuals and also as families to gain eternal blessings. I believe he most wonderful blessing God gives to us as human beings is the opportunity to return t him in heaven with our families and loved ones. Family is the most important thing to me on this earth, without family and loved ones I don’t know what I would do. I believe family should always come first to everyone because in all honesty when the going gets tough, nine out of ten times family will definitely be there to bail us out o the sticky situation we are in. I love my family to pieces and I believe family is everything

Letting Go

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Letting Go

            I believe in letting go. There is a time and a place to hold on in life, but not in mine. Letting go is difficult because of the strong associations I’ve formed with certain memories and experiences. Throughout my life I have never stayed in one place. Even as a child I was constantly moving due to a divorce, new job, or simply a new house. I never knew what it was like to stay in one place and establish a strong foundation.

            I kept thinking to myself, “I wonder when we will move next.” Or “What’s the point of making new friends, getting comfortable in this house, and creating a life for me if I just have to start over from the beginning in a couple years.” I teared up about the friends and people I would miss, kept feeling like I could never really move on. I held on to what had hindered me from creating a life that I needed. It took a while to learn how to let go, realizing that I wasn’t making the best of what I had at the time and not appreciating what was given to me.

Life is full of experiences and they’re not all pleasant. I let go of emotional pain through acceptance and expression. I learned to accept that sometimes ‘bad’ things happen, ‘tragedies’ occur, people come and go, but it’s not the end of my world. I am not my things. I get to keep the stories, the memories, and the transformation. My life is not a house I lived in, or the sidewalk I used to bike on. I’ve learned what matters is the family I have and the people I keep in touch with, not the school hallways I used to walk through. Leaving New York to move wasn’t easy, but leaving Pennsylvania was even harder. I have taken a great step forward and learned from all the experiences of moving from different states, towns, and school districts.

The feeling of letting go was exhilarating. I felt as if I didn’t have this heavy weight dragging behind me everywhere I went. I try to keep the positive memories that I can take with me as I leave everything behind. It got easier each time to adjust to a new home instead of a house. A house was just a building with four walls I would reside in. A home is where I felt I belonged. Home is where I feel comfortable and safe, with my family by my side. Making new neighbors and friends didn’t feel like such a burden anymore. Holding grudges against a town I had to leave and I city I had to move to wasn’t healthy.

I’ve begin to get to know the real me. That begins with letting go of the places and things I mistakenly believed brought me happiness. I’ve learned to love what's next, even if I have no idea of what it is. I believe letting go will no longer define my life by how I’ve been hurt. Instead I find compassion and understanding. Experiencing emotional pain is part of the human nature. It’s unavoidable, and how I handle it ultimately determines the quality of my personal experience.

I BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF GROWTH THROUGH EXPERIENCES

  

Adavia Fudge   

English 200

“This I Believe” Essay

9/21/16                                                                                 

                          I BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF GROWTH THROUGH EXPERIENCES

              In life, one may go through a variety of deterrents. While transitioning from a kid into a young adult, one will go through dramatic changes that have the power to affect them positively or negatively, rather it be dealing with the absents of a parent and having to take on more responsibility or getting through those hardships and looking past the bad to potentially look at the good things that have or will happen.

          I for one have had the experience of traveling at a young age. Moving from Syracuse, NY to Charlotte, NC also Cincinnati, OH with just myself, my mom and my little brother. This was a great deal of change to have to take on, considering the fact that at the time my mom was a single parent and I; myself had to take on the responsibility of taking care of me of my little brother while my mom was at work or away from home. This was an ultimate barrier that stood in between me and my mom’s relationship. This was hard for me to understand because I once had considered her, my mother as my best friend and someone I could absolutely trust with everything. At the age of 11 years old, I was juggling questions such as: why did my parents split? Why did I feel so alone? Also, why was I so angry with everyone? The responsibility of becoming a young adult became too much pressure and I began to act out. This was a hindrance to my grades and they began to slip and went from an A+ student to a D- insubordinate. At the time missed my friends and family terribly. I realized I was alone, afraid and confused.

    Having all these obstacles to get through, I turned to prayer because it seemed as if god was the only one who truly understood what I was going through and actually listen. Things eventually got better and I started looking at the glass as half full. I eventually moved back to Syracuse and attended some counseling classes. I realized that things weren’t as bad as they had once seemed but I did develop habits of being afraid of change and being over protective of my little brother. I also gained some positive aspects from this experience and I find that I’m very mature, some would say wise and respectful and independent.

      In all I believe anyone has the power to change what was once a negative into a positive outcome and these occurrences in my life pushed me to grow into the person I am today. Now looking back, I realize these trials and tribulations have helped me lay the foundation and start the path to finding myself and have motivated to always rise above and persevere. These characteristics have made me strong, yet conscious and wise; I find that the qualities I have gained from obstacles over time are now my strong suit. 

Dreams of a Student Athlete

Sports have always been significant in my life. I grew up watching my brother and sisters excel in their individual sports which fueled my love for them. Throughout my life, I’ve participated in dancing, horseback riding, lacrosse, roller hockey, ice hockey, field hockey, and softball. In high school, though, my focus remained on field hockey and softball. I loved each sport in their respective ways, but I believed field hockey was my calling. It was a dream of mine to prolong my involvement into college.

When it came to deciding on a college I was clueless. Like any teenager, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I began to narrow down colleges by this criterion: whether they had a field hockey team or not. I sent emails and game film to numerous coaches, but only heard back from a handful of them. I felt pressured to have the “college experience” that my fellow classmates spoke about so exuberantly (though I am still unsure of what that even means). Finally, I chose to attend SUNY Oneonta. Since I was not recruited, I knew it would be a challenge to make the field hockey team but I had confidence in myself and skills as a player.

               Since field hockey is a fall sport, preseason starts about a week before school. The first practice, that Monday, we started by running a timed mile. We had to run it in under 7:30. If not, we would run it again every Monday until we did. This was a seemingly impossible task, for the fastest mile I had ever run was well over 8 minutes. I ran and tried to keep up with the group. All I remember is coming around the last corner. I heard the coach counting… “7:20, 7:21, 7:22…” I sprinted as fast as I could and crossed the line at 7:29. Two more physically exhausting days of practice passed. The coach would make cuts by emailing a list of the official roster. Later that night, I opened it. My name did not appear on the list.

I refused to let this setback affect my time away at college. I attempted to get involved in a multitude of other things: rugby, computer art club, an acapella group, and residence life. Regardless how hard I tried, nothing worked out. Two weeks before school ended, I decided that SUNY Oneonta was not the school for me. I needed to go home, so I applied to Niagara County Community College. Field hockey was not offered at NCCC, so I resorted to my second choice: softball. I emailed the head softball coach there to see if he was looking for players. He was searching for a third baseman, my position. Suddenly, my dream of playing collegiate field hockey turned into a dream of playing collegiate softball. 

               I realize, through my experience, how much of a privilege it is to be a student athlete. Many children, like me, grow up with dreams of becoming collegiate athletes. Unfortunately, some never get to achieve that dream. Luckily, I get to live mine for an entire four years. Life is a journey. Part of that journey deals with finding yourself and your purpose. The other part involves striving to achieve that purpose. Always dream big. But, if that dream doesn’t work out, find another one. Adversity is inevitable, but life seems to have a funny way of working itself out for the better.

Dog (Poor Thing Response)

I believe that the animal in this story is a dog because how it's described indicates several features that a dog possess. I can understand why some of us can think it is a human but I disagree with that statement because if it were a human I wouldn't think they would have that person suffer outside the house for a week. Also, when they took the pet to the hospital and how everything was described and detailed it leaves me with no other choice than to think it is a dog and certainly not a human.

Joyce Carol Oates: Poor Thing

Joyce Carol Oates

Joyce Carol Oates is famous for writing grotesque, ambiguous stories that often pose chilling moral questions.  "Poor Thing" is no exception.   In this our first attempt to use this blog as a place of sharing, respond to any of the following questions in the comments section:

• Who and what is Pepe?  How do you determine that?
• Who and what is the narrator?  How do your feelings towards the narrator grow and change?
• How do you interpret the last line "And you, you damned hypocrites, what will you do with yours?"  
• Consider your "This I Believe" essay.  Does what you believe impact the way you interpret this story?  In what ways?

Or make any other comments you feel fit.