'The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena.'
'Why do we exist?' is a question that gets asked relentlessly, which serves as a testament to mankind's endless desire to know. Countless arguments and debates are a result of this inquiry. Rarely, however, do we take time to ponder upon other questions, all of equal obscurity. If we were asked where we exist, most would simply answer "Earth". Other people would reply with "the Universe", with the same duh-what-do-you-think voice that is used for the former. But the universe means so much more than two words and the breath it takes to utter them. The Universe is everything, anything, and nothing; all exists in it, all will exist in it, and all will cease to exist in it (including the universe itself). Compared to this vastness, the Earth holds little importance and mankind even less. In spite of this, we humans are still swimming in our own self-entitlement. Believing that we can take from the Earth as much as we please, forgetting that we our taking just as much of ourselves. Believing that we are its conquerors, though in reality, we are at its tightfisted mercy. Believing that each person in the world has a certain rank and label, as if we didn't all originate from the same minuscule, pale blue dot. Who are we to create such pretentious delusions? We think that we are the most superior race on earth, yet we still fail to remember one humbling fact; that we are unimportant. That we are merely dots on a dot, merely specs on a spec. So, what is the point of existing? However unimportant we are in this universe, however delusional we may think we are, our existence is what ever we make it to be. When we are surrounded by a vast desert of insignificance, and the universe deems us inconsequential, all we can really do is to give it our own definition. "The meaning of life is to give life meaning." -Ken Hudgins ~Jayson
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My eyes followed the beast as she sauntered across the room, mop dangling menacingly in her hand. She brandished the tool as if it were her weapon, killing dust and dirt in one fell swoop.
There was a time when I adored her might, and would look forward to her arrival in the evening. She protected us from germs and never hurt us... or so I thought. The traumatic experience she had given to me was engraved in my brain. A few months ago... "Tick, tick..." went the clock, purposely trying to annoy me. Ever since our little altercation a few days ago, he would try to bother whenever he had time in his hands. I didn't even do anything to him! Alright, maybe I did call him boring and time-consuming. I wasn't having a good day, alright. He's been real ticked off with me since (pardon the puns). Anyways, I was sitting there waiting for the custodian's arrival, and her mighty mop performance. However, she did not have her cleaning instrument today. Instead, she wielded a spray bottle in one hand and a cloth in the other. I had no clue what they were for until she gracefully walked over to me. Suddenly, I felt something wet pool on my surface. It felt quite nice, its coolness making my skin tingle. I felt it crawling down my forehead, and tried to close my eyes before it could get any further. I was too late. The liquid dripped into my eye, and I had to bite my cheek to refrain from crying out in pain. It felt as if a fire had been lit within me. Then, just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, the custodian started roughly scrubbing my skin. The cloth had the consistency of sandpaper, and replaced the cool tingle of before with a stinging sensation. From that day onward, I despised her and referred to her as 'the beast'. Present... Finally, the beast left and we were alone. I glared at her back as she walked away. Chatter started immediately among the desks. I closed my eyes, trying to block out Ray's (Raylene's desks) attempts at communicating to Caleb's desk in Mrs. While's room. She was very talkative and never listened, which on second thought, kind of mirrored her owner's personality. Speaking of owners, mine isn't all that perfect either. Do you even know the things he does to me? Sometimes, I just get so full of him. Literally. Have you seen how much junk he puts inside me. My desk ate my homework, he had once said. Such audacity he has, especially when he's the one at fault. He even left this laptop on me! So here I am, typing away on his website. I wonder how he'll react... Finally, I focused my mind and swam in my thoughts peacefully. A disembodies voice broke my trance. "Hey Bumblebee (that's me)!" A groan escaped my lips as I realized that it was Ray speaking. "Have you watched the new episode of The Walking Desks?" She droned on and on about a whirlwind of things, until I eventually ignored her entirely. I sighed. Just another day in the life of Bumblebee. ~Bumblebee "Will Peter be able to carry on or get better?"
My answer to this question is a mixture of yes and no. Peter clearly suffers from a form of depression (we can tell by his lack of response, his attempts at taking his own life, and his actions/attitude in general). Depression is a real mental disorder, and not just an emotion we feel. It can severely affect you mentally, physically, and emotionally. Every single day, you are in a heated battle with your most powerful enemy; yourself. Your brain suffers from a barrage of negative thoughts. I'm worthless. I'm nothing. I'm weak. I'm nothing.These thoughts bounce around in Peter's head, pushing him further into a pit of depression. Imagine if you completely flunked a test. You feel disappointed and possibly even stupid. Peter experiences this on an even higher level, and every day as well! So what caused Peter -- a normal, bright teen -- to be reduced to an empty mold of what he used to be? When Cole traumatized Peter (by bashing his head on the sidewalk repeatedly for "being a tattle-tale"), it triggered something in him. All of a sudden he thought he was was a worthless being, doing nothing but taking up air. The question is, how can he get better? He could just forget about and move on... right? It isn't that easy. Definitely not that easy. His physical wounds healed, albeit slowly, but they did. However his mental and emotional wounds will heal at a sluggish pace. But even when they do heal, if they do heal, it'll leave an everlasting battle scar, forever reminding him of that one traumatic event. I believe that visiting the island could make him feel better, and maybe even heal him. Peter might be able to realize that he is part of nature, and that every thing on the planet contains energy, life and value. He could even recognize the drastic change in Cole, and possibly be able to forgive him. The way I see it, Peter can't get rid of his depression and move on. He has to beat his mind first for his wounds to start healing. And on that note, we can come to one conclusion. Thoughts have hurt him far more than a fist ever could. ~Jayson This wasvery powerful, and definitely changed my perspective on cyber-bullying. It showed the challenges that Taylor faced after a rumor was made that she was a promiscuous lady and that she was pregnant. Of course, news spreads like wildfire and the entire school soon found out. This resulted in her getting called names, people starting to distance themselves from her, and just emotional pain.
It got so unbearable that she decided to commit suicide (but she fortunately failed). It got even worse when she found that her best friend was the one behind the rumors. My question is; why did her friend do that? What was the point? After seeing your best friend go through so much pain and anguish, you'd think that they would stop... right? But she didn't. In conclusion, I think that this movie was very powerful. It made me realize that something this serious can happen, and someone could actually die. I do, however, think that this was also her fault (not to seem insensitive). She kept talking to them online, making it worse. If she simply blocked them and stopped using her social media account, it might have been more bearable. Do you think that everybody who is present at the Circle has a sincere reason for being there? Do you think that there are people who don't want to be there?
Many of the people who attended the Circle do indeed have sincere reasons. The first few people to introduce themselves had respectable reasons in coming. One woman wanted to help Cole---and many other delinquents---heal and release the anger within them. She did this because she wants to keep her family safe in their own environment. These people most likely had a choice in coming. Why would anyone want to come to a meeting discussing the actions of a teenage delinquent? The people most likely came in the hopes of sincerely helping Cole and each other. The only people who did not want to attend (or were forced to) were Cole, his mother, and his father. Mr. and Mrs. Matthews are addicted to alcohol, perhaps to relieve stress or emotional pain. They were rarely sober enough to do much, let alone take care of a growing child. As a result, Cole Matthews grew up without a mother nor a father. To him, they were just drunks who gave no mind to his well-being. He believed that he was all alone in the world, and he coped with it by being angry. In his cold eyes, he saw a world that despised him. To him, he was just a shark in an aquarium for everyone to fear and laugh at. I do not blame him for feeling this way. After all, his father beat him often. His father blamed everything on Cole, and in turn, Cole blamed everything on the world. His mother, on the other hand, is weak. She let her (ex)husband inflict pain upon her child, sipping on alcohol as her son got beat. In conclusion, I think that the Circle could greatly benefit this broken family. Hopefully, they will learn to understand one another. Their relationship can be fixed. Piece by piece, step by step, spirit by spirit. When the word hero is heard, many of us think of beings with uncanny abilities, such as flight, invincibility, teleportation, super strength, etc. But we rarely think of the heroes like, Malala, or Greg, or Iqbal. No, they were not inhuman superheroes. They were quite the opposite. Heroes like them are extremely humane, able to feel so much sympathy and compassion for others. That in itself is a superpower, among many others.
Their eyes couldn't fire laser, but their eyes could see past skin colour, or gender, or race. They weren't able to lift cars or stop trains in full speed, but their inner strength and determination was rivaled by few. They couldn't morph into other organisms, but they transformed the lives of many. Greg Mortenson was a selfless man and was most definitely a hero. He altered the lives of countless boys and girls by granting each of them the power of knowledge and education. He was immensely brave, never giving up no matter what obstacles and dangers lay ahead. Even when money was scant, he still persevered and solved the problem. Not all heroes wear capes. Instead, Greg wore an optimistic smile, possessed a courageous hear, and carried the dreams of children on his shoulders. ~Jayson |
JaysonJust a normal guy with not-so-normal thoughts. Expect school assignments, random poetic outbursts, weird entries, and rants. Archives
March 2017
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