I learned something new today. I leaned what nouns, verbs, and adjectives are. A noun is a person, a place, or a thing. For example: I went to China. China would be the noun, because it is a place.
A verb is an action word. For example: I hit the ball. Hit is the verb, because that is the action in the sentence. Adjectives mean descriptive words. For example: She has beautiful blond hair. Beautiful is the adjective, because it describes her hair. A noun will often be the name for something we can touch like a lion, a cake, or a computer. Though sometimes a noun will be the name of something we cannot touch, like happiness. Mostly everything we talk about is a noun. This includes people like man, and woman, animals like dogs, and cats, places like towns, and streets, objects like vases, and lamps, substances like copper, and glass, qualities like heroism, and sorrow, actions like singing, and dancing and measures like inch, and ounce. Nouns are used in every sentence everyone say. Just like me. Sometime I say them by accident. Most people say them and don't know it. Ashleigh
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A Sentence starts with a capital letter, has proper punctuation, and has one subject. If it didn't it would be a sentence fragment. If a sentence didn't have a period and it just keeps going, it would be a run-on-sentence. A simple sentence would be an use. All people use sentence structures, sentence fragments, run-on-sentences, and independent clause.
We mostly use sentence structure. We do use the others to, but not as much. Though sometimes we say a sentence fragment by accident. We also say the others by accident too. It happens to everyone. A sentence structure contains both nouns and verbs. No matter what word you say, it will have a noun or a verb. So don't try it. I won't at least. Sentences should not have run-on- sentences. And it should definitely not have a sentence fragment. Independent clause is ok. Sentence structure is good. Ashleigh Tonight was the worst night ever! I left my bag at karate. When Daddy's class finished I could not keep my eye off someone else's baby. I just got my shoes on when we needed to go. I was so excited to finally go home, I forgot all about my bag.
I did not even notice I had forgotten it until I got home. This post is my punishment for not taking care of my bag. I needed to do my blog anyway, so it is not that bad. At least he did not take all of my toys away! Then I would have nothing to play with. My sister Brought my bag back for me, though. She is a very good sister! Ashleigh Editor's note: I never take all of her toys away as punishment. I do take her iPad on occasion, though. I just finished reading a post my dad recently wrote about teaching your children- while also teaching yourself. I liked it a lot because he's absolutely right- a lot of who I am is based off of who he is since he's the most influential person in my life. In fact, most of my personality surrounds how I've been raised and I wanted to take this post to bullet point the things that make me who I am- that I've inherited from my dad.
* My sense of humor. While my dad does tend to lean more on puns and movie lines than I do, the distorted reflection has left me with quoting Internet memes to amuse my friends and dry sarcasm paired with strong opinions. * Logic. Oh god, logic. Something I didn't fully grasp and still wouldn't say I've entirely grasped until recently, but a vital piece of my personality that my dad taught me. However, I am more emotional than my dad since if someone fails to see logic the first time; I get annoyed. * Peace over power. While primarily taught by karate, my dad has really instilled this little saying into me so that it is a part of who I am. As a martial artist you are taught to never start fights, only finish them- and I try to apply this mantra wherever I can in my life. * It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder... essentially, raise your words and not your voice. Volume will not win you any arguments, so it's better to avoid yelling altogether. While I'm still struggling a little with this; for the most part I'm level headed when it comes to arguing. * It's the little things that count. This needs no elaboration really... it is what it is. My dad has given me a deep appreciation for the small things in life, particularly in nature. * Noticing everything. I'm extremely observant, something I've learned from my dad over time. Going back to humor, most of my dad's revolves around noticing things going on around him and turning them into jokes. To understand his humor, I learned to be observant and it now aids me in my humor as well. * "Colorful" language... my dad mentioned this in his post, but my language is also inherited from him. Can't be from anywhere else really; everyone else in my family is against it! While I know there are far more ways I'm similar to my dad; these are some of the main ones. I've also inherited an awesome taste in music from my dad- something that didn't need to be on the bullet list, but that I definitely appreciate! It's nice to have a dad who enjoys heavy metal concerts as much as I do. Thank you dad- for everything. - maddie Guess what! I have a surprise for you. It's a snake! I saw a snake outside today and it made me scream! Daddy thinks it is either a milk snake, or a garder snake. I was not able to get a picture of it though, it happened too fast. It was very fast, but we scared each other and I ran away faster than a speeding bullet when I saw it. It was gray and black. Oh, and in case you are wondering, the picture above is of me and my TOY snake. Daddy won't let me touch a snake I find outside.
Ashleigh My mom has been passed for 3 years now... it's crazy to think that I was only 11 when everything happened so fast. Before my mom died, she taught me a lot about being a good person- and I've found she's taught me a lot more since her passing. This post isn't going to be long, or drawn out. It's simply going to be the wisdom I've learned from my mom. Enjoy... hopefully you can incorporate some of this into your own life.
Before Don't judge others based on appearance. Give people a chance and get to know them for who they are. Be kind and accepting. A nice word goes a long way and sometimes you'll never realize the impact you have on someone. Don't see every situation as being the worst. Try to find the good in everything, no matter how bad it may seem. Try your best at whatever you do. Treat others how you would want to be treated. Be honest. After... Don't ever take anything for granted. You never know when you can lose it. You don't know what you have until it's gone. Never hesitate in telling someone how you really feel about them because you DO NOT KNOW how long you have left to do so. Never go to bed angry with someone you care about. Don't waste your time foolishly. If you need help, don't be afraid to ask for it. However... no one can help you if you won't help yourself. Don't blame yourself for the mistakes of others. Choices you make now will affect your future whether you're conscious of it or not. In the end, love is all there is. "And once the storm is over, you won't remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won't even be sure if the storm is really over. But one thing is certain- when you come out of the storm, you won't be the same person that walked in. That's what this storm's all about." - maddie "“I think that the best thing we can do for our children is to allow them to do things for themselves, allow them to be strong, allow them to experience life on their own terms." That's a quote by C. Jo Bell. I think she is a self-published author, since I could not find out too much about her. In fact, when I looked her up, it said she was "best known for her love of cake, especially that of the red velvet nature." I guess if you are going to be known for something, that's as good as anything else.
At any rate, I liked her quote. It was a bit longer than what I show, but I drew the line at letting my kids ride the subway on their own. Maddie could likely do it... she is old enough, although I think she would be very uncomfortable doing it being she grew up in a rural setting. Ashleigh is just too small and young, though, and I would likely have a heart attack from worry if she was off on the subway on her own. I think the best thing we can do for our children is to teach them to think for themselves. While they are young, that entails teaching them how to think. Too many people nowadays don't seem to know how to think logically. Instead, they let their emotional response guide everything they say and do. To me, that isn't thinking. That is reacting. Reacting is good if you are in a life or death situation. You are crossing the street and a car comes speeding around the corner. You quickly run out of the way! That is a reaction. It is okay to react in a situation like that without thinking. In fact, you'd be crazy not to. But there are other situations where it is better to think first. And it is in these situations where we, as a nation, are failing our youth. Instead of teaching logic and critical thinking in our schools, we teach touchy-feely reactions. In fact, much of what passes for history nowadays is just a collection of dates and names, with a one-sided story of why it happened. The schools go out of their way to make sure everyone feels good about what happened. Heroes and villains are described in black and white. Never in the shades of grey that were actually closer to the truth. I am not just trying to pick on history classes here. I am just trying to point out that if we don't make an effort to teach our children to think critically, we should never expect them to be able to do it when they are an adult. If we really want to make the world a better place, then we need to start teaching our children to think critically and logically. Once they have a background in that type of thinking, then by all means allow them to do things for themselves and make their own choices. I try to give my girls freedom commensurate with their maturity level. Notice I did not say age. I know adults that I give less trust to than my 14-year-old daughter! Age does not make maturity. Logical thinking does. Teach your children to think logically, and then allow them some semblance of freedom and watch their lives blossom. "If you do not conquer self, you will be conquered by self." This is a quote by Napoleon Hill. Hill was one of the first self-help gurus and the author of "Think & Grow Rich". I like the quote above because it is true.
One of our harshest critics is ourselves. There are so many reasons that people feel insecure. For some, it is their looks. For others, it may be their intelligence or how they think they are perceived. None of these things really matter though! What matters is what we think. If we think our looks are going to hold us back, then they will. We will make sure of it. If we think we are dumb, then inevitably we will do something to reinforce this feeling within ourselves. I believe, to be happy in life and be successful, no matter what your definition of success is, we need to first conquer our own self doubts. Self doubts can sabotage nearly anything that you want to do, even if the doubts you have are not directly tied to what it is you are trying to achieve! For example, let's say you want to start your own business. You may have a great idea for a business and all of the drive necessary to get it off the ground. Even so, you believe in your heart that people won't want to buy things from you because you are fat. Over time, you begin to focus so much about what people think about your weight, that you fail to focus on how to present your product. You begin to avoid instances where you need to be in front of a potential customer. Eventually, your business fails and you say to yourself, see I told you that you were too fat. Try to lose some weight first next time! So yes, the business failed. Unfortunately, it had nothing to do with you being overweight. Instead it had everything to do with how you acted because of your beliefs. The example I used above is a little far fetched. And yet, it isn't really. Now picture the above scenario and instead replace the "too fat to be successful" example with your own fear. How would your fear impact the result? I hate to speak to people because they will think I am stupid. I don't want to go out and ask people what they think unless my friends are with me because I am too shy. I don't want to help that customer with their problem because I may not be smart enough to give them what they need. As I said, replace the example with your own internal fear. What would happen? How would you react? Does your internal voice stop you from making rational decisions or from taking decisive actions? If so, then you need to conquer yourself first! Remember, that no one is perfect. Robin Williams, a comic that made thousands of people laugh and was well liked by millions, constantly fought depression. Many other Hollywood stars or rock musicians also battled depression. They could not see their own self worth, or what others valued in them. My wife had a similar problem. She constantly battled her inner demons. Because she set such a high standard on her looks, she battled two eating disorders. When they strains from the disorders got too great, she would drink to self medicate. The constant alcohol use took a toll on both her mind and her body. Three years ago, she drank herself to death. The best way to fight your inner demons is to recognize your inner fear, and then do what needs to be done anyway. If someone won't buy from me because they think I am fat, and yet they need the product I have anyway, then that is them not being rational, not me! If I say something, to help someone make a decision and they think I am weird, then so be it! None of those things are going to kill me! How I react to those things, may kill me though. Before you go to conquer the world, first be sure to conquer your own self doubts. It is likely the hardest battle that any of us will ever have to face alone. "To know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom." That's a quote by Charles Spurgeon. Spurgeon lived in the mid 1800's and was known as the "Prince of Preachers". He was a reformed Baptists, and many of his sermons are still around today.
A lot of people nowadays mistake knowledge for wisdom. They are really two different things... as Spurgeon is alluding to. Dictionary. com defines knowledge as: acquaintance with facts, truths or principles. Meanwhile, their definition of wisdom is: the quality or state of being wise. knowledge of what is true or right, coupled with just judgement and insight. Well, there is the catch... To have wisdom, you need insight and judgement. Have you ever met someone who is just book smart? They have a lot of knowledge, but no idea how to put it to good use! There are a lot of people like that in my profession. They have CFAs or MBA, sometimes both. Yet they can't pick a decent stock to save their life! There is one guy I know, that I would say is one of my wisest friends. The funny thing is he is not very knowledgeable in any given subject. Don't get me wrong, he has an Ivy league education... Harvard to be exact. He just doesn't have a lot of knowledge about any particular subject. What he does have is wisdom. He surrounds himself with knowledgeable people, and then fires off extremely insightful questions. He then takes the knowledge that he hears and puts it into action. He proves day in and day out that it is not what you know but who you know. I have never seen him treat anyone badly, and he makes everyone he meets feel smart by the questions he asks. He doesn't just ask questions about things he wants to know. No, he asks questions to see what you know. That way, if he ever needs your expertise, he has another person he can talk to. As you can guess, this man has lots of friends. They are friends with him because not only will he ask questions of them, but he will introduce them to others who have similar backgrounds to you. That way you make new smarter connections as well. He is a networking genius... and that, my friend, is a sign of wisdom in action. I have met a lot of people with specific knowledge in one field who try to make you feel stupid for not knowing what they know. This is the exact opposite of my friend. These people usually don't last long. They have specific knowledge, but they aren't interested in sharing it and building on it. Since that is the case, no one goes out of their way to share ideas with them either. To me, to have wisdom, you need to be open to new information (knowledge) and at the same time be happy to share the knowledge you already have. Human progress is a visual history of shared knowledge. Wisdom, or knowledge... which would you rather have? Being an analyst, I can tell you, knowledge is always available. You may have to dig deep to find it, but if there is a will there is a way. Meanwhile, wisdom comes with experience. It is easy to gather knowledge. But it takes time to see how to best put it to work. Oftentimes, people have knowledge. They just don't know what to do with it. That is where being wise really helps. Be like my friend. Be wise! “Imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality.” This is a quote from Alice In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. If you haven't read the book, you really should. Carroll wrote the story for a little girl, and while most of the story is whimsical, he hid pearls of wisdom throughout the story to help teach the child life lessons while she read. Many of the lines are memorable in themselves and no real explanations are necessary. I have put three examples below.
Alice: “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?" "That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat. "I don’t much care where--" said Alice. "Then it doesn’t matter which way you go," said the Cat. "--so long as I get SOMEWHERE," Alice added as an explanation. "Oh, you’re sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough.” In this small exchange between Alice and the Cheshire Cat, Carroll has hidden an important life lesson. Without some idea of what you want to accomplish, you will only drift your way through life. While Carroll used a cross road to set up this exchange, It is easy to see how he could be warning the girl to think about what she wants out of life before she goes running off chasing rabbits. To set out without a destination in mind can easily lead to nowhere. And, if you stop to get directions you must have some idea of where you want to go or what you want to accomplish for any response to be meaningful to you. In the story, Alice speaks to the cat, who doesn't really care where she goes. In real life though, a child may speak to someone who has an agenda for them. This could be the child's parents, or a friend, or just a stranger with an agenda. Instead, the cat is blunt and tells it like it is. If you don't know where you want to go, then it really doesn't matter what direction you take. “Begin at the beginning," the King said, very gravely, "and go on till you come to the end: then stop.” Here again is a good piece of advice for a child hidden among the ramblings within a story. Oftentimes, young children wish to convey information to an adult, but don't really know where to begin. Many times they will just stand there and stammer and not make any sense at all. In this quote, Carroll has the king explain to Alice how to best make herself understood by everyone. The advice is simple, and to the point, and a great lesson for a young child to learn... if they are astute enough to pick up on it! Carroll dropped many pearls of wisdom throughout the story, and while it's likely that a child will not pick up on all of them, they would still likely be able to pick up on some of them. “I don't think..." then you shouldn't talk, said the Hatter.” Here is another one! Direct and to the point. Think before you speak. This advice, I find, is designed to keep everyone out of trouble. No further discussion is necessary for this one. Think before you speak. And if you are going to say something negative... then think twice! What wonderful advice for an adult, let alone a child. Now back to the first quote I mentioned: “Imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality.” Alice In Wonderland is in itself a perfect example for this quote! Carroll used his imagination to teach life lessons that he hid among the text in his whimsical story. And his lessons have endured for more than a century. Given the popularity of Alice In Wonderland, it's likely that his lessons will be ready for many more years to come as well. Although Alice has become part of the popular culture, and the movies and games do not have all of the pearls of wisdom on display, the movies introduce Carroll's world to a new generation. At least some of these viewers will likely want to see more, and eventually find the book to read. The reality here is that fewer and fewer people are reading books nowadays. Attention spans are getting shorter, and many people seem to like to read only short snippets and prefer to get their "culture" through videos and television. For those who want more, Alice In Wonderland is a great book to escape into and allow your imagination to run free. Hard lessons can be learned easily with the use of a little imagination. I think Carroll would agree with that thought. "The person you will spend the most time with in your life is yourself, so you better make yourself as interesting as possible!" There was no name attributed to this quote. It seems that it was really popular on Twitter a while ago, but no one took credit for it. Which is kind of good in a way.
As for the quote, it's interesting in its own sort of way if you think about it. I mean it's true that you can never really escape yourself, but at the same time, I am sure many people find the things they do in their spare time interesting. If they don't, then why do them? Secondly, although I may find the things I do interesting, that may not hold true for other people. In fact, I am quite certain that many people would find my life boring. The things I like to do, are usually not considered interesting by most people. For instance, one year I decided to do 100 push ups a day, just to see if I could do it (I could). In fact, it got to the point that I did more than 100 push ups a day, just because I got bored with only doing 100 and because I would go to my karate class, and we usually did push ups there as well. Other things I have done for fun is to read at least one book a week every week. There too, I ended up reading more than a book a week. Most years, I would end up reading seventy to one hundred books. I love to learn, and I love to stay busy! Nowadays, writing takes up a lot of my time as well. I write for a living, and I likely write about 250 reports a year professionally. On top of that, I also write posts for this blog five days a week. That adds about another 260 posts to the 250 I already write. I also write other things when the whim hits me, so I likely write nearly 600 pages a year. Like I said, I think most people would find me boring. I work from home and usually only venture out to go to the dojo or to take my daughters out to do something fun. So do I find myself interesting? That in itself is an interesting question. I guess I'd say that I find the things that I read, write and do interesting, but I think mainly most people would find what I do boring. Hopefully, you find my writing interesting. If not, then how the heck did you make it this far into my blog post? No grand revelations tonight. Just an interesting quote that no one was willing to take credit for, that got me thinking about how I perceive myself... and then how others may perceive me. I have done a lot in my life. I have done some traveling. Enough to know that I have found where I want to be. And, if some day I find that I am not where I want to be, I have no qualms about moving. One thing I do miss on occasion, is a good conversation with someone I don't know well. I used to get these at work. Now, I have interesting conversations with my daughters, my Mom or my sister, but that's about it. At karate, I have a tendency to focus on what we are doing, so many of my conversations there are short and cordial. On occasion, I'd love to get into a long and weird conversation. If any of you like to talk about weird things, shoot me an email with an odd topic and maybe we can trade some emails. Since I don't know who reads these posts... other than my daughters and my sister, it could make for an amusing time. Send them here. Given I do not know how many of you will respond to that request, I will only say that if you send me an email, I will try to reply within the week. Naturally, the less that come in, the quicker I will be able to reply. This quote is possibly one of the best I have come across in a long while... and recently; I've come to find more appreciation for it. As I've been slowly getting older (odd to be hearing from a 14 year old, but hey, we age too) I've been finding more and more reasons why silence is better than talking, and that isolation can sometimes be a lot better than being social. For one, my house is constantly noisy due to my little sister being young; so any moment of pure silence and relaxation is much appreciated. My house in general is loud- my family do not hesitate to make noise; be it with loud music, cooking, cleaning, yelling, talking, phone calls, or anything else.
-side note- The quietest times for me are often in the very early morning, before anyone else is awake. I usually make myself a cup of tea and watch the sun rise; before doing a little work and then resting on the couch. - In any case; that was NOT the point of this post! What I'd like to point out is the fact that too many people open their mouth to spread hate, negativity, and worry nowadays. I hear it and see it almost everywhere; online and in reality, and it sucks. In my opinion, life is too short and life after death isn't guaranteed. We were all placed on this one planet to get along and coincide; and instead, we go to war with each other. We're so desperate to learn about the life on other planets; when we can't even accept those of our own kind who are slightly different. It's ridiculous how hateful we, as humans, can be towards each other and it's really un-necessary. This being said, I think all of us can do with a bit of silence for once. We become so angry, so willing to antagonize others in the heat of the moment, and it's awful. So I have a challenge for my readers; as a way to calm down and be happier. This challenge may be a bit big, but I want you to try and at the end of next week, leave me a comment telling me about your experience. Here goes! I wants you to: - take at least one relaxing, long bath. - make yourself a cup of green tea every morning. - find 30 minutes every day to sit and meditate. - take at least 15 minutes every day outside in a secluded area, enjoying nature. - refrain from saying negative things to others. - if angered, take deep breaths until calm. - don't speak unless what you are about to say has some sense of positivity in it. There's too much hate in the world. Let's beat it back a little. Good luck, good night, and treasure the silence. - Maddie "No one saves us but ourselves. No one can, and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path." This is a quote from one of my favorites...Buddha. There is not much I can say about Buddha, other than he was a very wise man. Oddly enough, there are no known writings of Buddha. Everything we know about him was written down after his death. In fact, it was about 400 years before anyone had put anything to paper. Given that's the case, I think many of his sayings could be made by his acolytes as well and then just attributed to Buddha. At any rate, it is very hard to tell. What can be told is that he is the spiritual leader of his own religion.
To get back to the quote, the first line really stands out to me. I have seen this one in action both in regards to me, and my wife, among others. No one can save you unless you want to be saved. When I first met my wife, we dated for about two weeks before she told me she was an alcoholic. At that point, she asked me for help in stopping. The problem was, she didn't really want to stop. She was using the alcohol to self medicate herself from some of her other anxieties and addictions. My wife had addictive personality disorder. She struggled with anorexia, binge eating, compulsive buying, hoarding, jealousy, gambling and other behaviors. It was both sad and scary. We did not know that all of these behaviors were tied together. We tried to battle the alcoholism and the anorexia, and I always found it a good sign when she ate heartily (it wasn't). It oftentimes led to binge eating when I wasn't around, and eventually to depression as she gained weight. This inevitably led back to drinking as she tried to regulate her mood or her appetite with the booze. I could not save her... although I naively tried. I didn't know the extent of her problems and I did not know or believe that she had to do it on her own. I swept the house for bottles, took her to doctors and psychologists, social workers and AA meetings. Nothing worked. I was often told that she had to hit bottom to be helped. That is a large crock of bull. The bottom for my wife was when she died. By that time she had lost her husband, her family, and her happiness. No one saves us but ourselves... it is so true. But don't be afraid to be there for someone and to bring them to people and places where they may be able to learn how to save themselves. It is one thing to have to save yourself... but it might be impossible to do if you are never given hints on how to do it. When my wife (then my girlfriend) asked me to help her to stop drinking back in August of 1999, she helped me to save myself. You see, I too was an active alcoholic at that time. I was functional, and more of a heavy binge drinker (weekends mainly), but I had been drinking fairly regularly since my preteens and I put myself into AA when I was nineteen while in college. I was sober on my 21st birthday, but eventually went back to drinking because I felt my social life was suffering without the drinking. I was bored with drinking by the time I was 33, but doing it anyway. I was looking for a reason to stop, and Sharon inadvertently gave me that reason. I have not had a drop of alcohol in nearly seventeen years. And with God's help, I will not have any for the rest of my life. In the end, although I could not save my wife, I ended up saving myself by trying to help her. Sadly, I feel that back then I did not care enough about myself to save myself, but because I cared so much for her, I saved myself to help make it easier to save her. I didn't realize back then that that is what I was doing. I don't think Sharon ever realized it. Since, as Buddha says, "No one can save us but ourselves", maybe it is a good idea if we are having trouble saving ourselves to find something or someone we value more than ourselves to save... as long as in saving it/them we have to save ourselves as well. I know it sounds odd. But it seems to have saved me seventeen years ago. Possibly, if I had suggested that idea to my wife back then, it might have saved her as well. I don't know. And I don't think I ever will know. All I can say is that I am here now. I somehow saved myself way back then. And with the grace of God I will continue to do so... One day at a time. I really believe this quote is truthful. I agree with it 100%. Whatever stresses you out the most (or matters the most to you, I guess) is the defining bit of your life that shows what will trigger your emotions; whether happy, sad, anxious, whatever. And if you observe people long enough... you can figure out what it is that consumes their mind and makes their lives either a misery or a peaceful calm. For myself? I'd have to say that I spend a lot of time thinking about my friends and how to help them. That's how I am; I am very empathetic and I like helping others because in a way, it brings down my stress levels too.
But enough about me. Let's examine YOU, reader. When you get happy, what is often the cause of it? Are those around you happy? Did you just receive a new item? Did you just take a long walk and see a gorgeous sight? Did you get promoted at work? Did you hear your favorite song on the radio? What was it? Was it something little, or something big? Something that can happen every day; or something that takes time to come around? How we value what makes us happy ultimately defines how happy we will be; and while we can talk the talk and say we appreciate the little things... we need to sit back and see if we actually do. Now forget about the happiness, let's talk about anger. What pisses you off? When something doesn't go your way? When your car breaks down? When a bad song comes on the radio? When you're behind on work? When those around you are in negative moods? What. Is. It? Because the same thing that applied to happiness... applies to anger, too. These questions can be re-applied, in fact, to any emotion in your range. I find that they really help reveal what your mind centers on. Give it a try. Find yourself. I dare you. - Maddie I have 4 blog posts to write tonight so... bare with me if a few seem a little odd. Today, I got to thinking about how everyone likes songs for different reasons. Some people like songs for their beats, and some people like songs for their lyrics or simply because they find the voice of the singer to be soothing. But with each of these differences; comes so many other differences... favorite instrument, and the varying meanings to songs. I'd like to give an example of a song with lyrics that have multiple meanings- not just to me but to others and just in general. That song was one given to me by my dad; and it is Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd. Here are the lyrics - "Wish You Were Here" So, so you think you can tell Heaven from Hell, blue skies from pain. Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail? A smile from a veil? Do you think you can tell? Did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts? Hot ashes for trees? Hot air for a cool breeze? Cold comfort for change? Did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? How I wish, how I wish you were here. We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year, Running over the same old ground. What have we found? The same old fears. Wish you were here. Now, I have NO idea what kind of message my dad gets from this song... to me; it is a song about confusion and living in a constant shade of grey. It isn't something I relate too much to. My life is either black or white, happy or sad, good or bad. There is never just grey. And I think the song is about getting stuck in the cycle of life to the extreme that you no longer distinguish between good and bad and just... exist; not live. I can only imagine that living in constant grey must be awful. For others; maybe the song is just a metaphor for missing someone so greatly that you lose yourself. Maybe people enjoy the haunting beat of the song; or the guitar-work. Maybe others still take the song as the title is. I have no idea... I can't read minds. All I can do is give my own opinion. And in my opinion; music that stays popular for many generations is popular because it can be related to so many different situations. People love relatable music; and I find it remarkable when a song can be so deep as to have 3 or more meanings. What is your opinion of Wish You Were Here? Do you have any other deep songs to talk about? By all means; leave me a comment. I'd love to read your thoughts. - maddie The quote above comes from Marcus Aurelius; but I just used it due to a situation I was dragged into over the past few days. The actual topic I'd like to discuss in this blog post is the meaning of my karate school's bow; which is an open hand over a fist. The meaning of this bow (a traditional kenpo bow) is peace over power. Peace over power is also the motto of our school. Now, while this motto is definitely to be kept while in the dojo... it is also a great way to live life outside of the dojo. Below is a list of a few key points that are important to following the 'peace over power' code:
But yeah... essentially; I wanted to share that with readers today because I learned an invaluable lesson from my dad about this today; and that is the realization that it can be used in all aspects of life; not just in the dojo. Naturally; I knew this before my dad's help but I just wasn't applying it properly to the situation I was in. It's sometimes better to use neither peace nor power; but simply walk away from an issue to gain peace that you deserve. That's all I'll say. - Maddie (Thank you dad) Now normally, I'm not one for putting schoolwork up as a blog post.. but this week in sociology we were discussing racism and different social situation in which race and ethnicity come into play, and I'd like to share at least some of it with you.
Define race and ethnicity. What is the difference between the two? Race was socially constructed by humans to categorize large groups of people based on their culture, appearance, and economy. Race isn’t biological due to the fact that different societies have different races (or ways of defining them) than us. Ethnicity is often confused with race and used interchangeably; when they have different meanings almost entirely. Where race judges and places you in a category based on appearance and the society you were raised in; ethnicity categorizes you based on your heritage. This includes country of nationality; ancestry; language; and religion. Race is used to bring out biological differences/similarities, while ethnicity is more focused on different cultures. Do you think that racism still exists in society? Why or why not? Racism definitely exists today; just not to the extent that it did years ago. While racism was defined by discrimination; laws; and slavery in the past... it has now taken a lesser (but still just as offensive) form. Racism now exists in the form of online videos, memes, and insults tossed about by people trying to be funny. Just because you label something as a joke; doesn’t make it any less insulting. List one stereotype that you have heard. Where did you hear this? Do you think it is a common stereotype in society? How might this stereotype be damaging to the group involved? I often hear stereotypes about my own religion; as I was raised in a Catholic church. I may not love the religion I was brought up in... but some of the things people associate it with are horrible. I’ve heard all sorts of stereotypes about it but I feel that the worst one is that people label Catholics as being snobby and/or intrusive; feeling the need to cram their religion down people’s throat. Now while I have met Catholics like that; I’ve met more who are respectful of other religions and mind their own business. I’ve heard it so many times online and a few times from people who live in my area; but since it’s online I’d assume that it’s a pretty common stereotype. This is damaging due to the fact that if people find out you were raised Catholic (or still attend a Catholic church); you may be discriminated against and people may be less likely to approach you. It affects the group as a whole as well, since less and less people want to be a part of that religion. It is actually estimated that atheism is the dominant “religion” in the U.S. currently. - If anyone would like to add to this, they can feel free to. Leave me a comment! - Maddie I love this quote so much because I see the effect of it all over. Too often, people set large goals and only look at the goal... not the steps that it takes to get there. This leads to discouragement because the goal is usually too large to achieve in a short period of time and in only one step. Then, they give up on their goals and let everything slide and it becomes pointless to them. One of the most important parts of achieving goals... is what you learn and gain along the way to that goal. To achieve most goals, you have to make some form of self-improvement and all in all, that is what is most important... not the goal itself.
The same can be said of life. Too many people rush through life looking for simplicity and happiness, and they rush so fast to grow up that they forget to live and enjoy life. Between the ages of 22-25, our cells start dying. From that age on, we are progressively DYING. Let that sink in. Life isn't as long as it may seem and the older you get, the quicker the years go by. Before you know it, all your time has run out and you never stopped and enjoyed life for what it was. You never took time to smell the roses. On people's deathbeds... no one is thinking of what they could have done more of. That last vacuumed floor, that last report written... no. People regret not having enough time doing what they loved with the ones they loved. And we all need to learn that. To end this post... I'd like to insert a poem I found online earlier. It suits this post well. So many people walk this earth with purpose in their eyes, But in their heart of hearts they know, what they're living is a lie, the alarm goed off at 6am, like every other day, so they can walk into a job they hate, because they need the pay, all time does is take from them, but it never seems to give, always waiting for the day to come, when they finally start to live, I'm all too scared that one day soon, I'll become just like the rest, Only walking with the crowd, Because my dreams have been oppressed, that one day I'll look back on life, at the opportunities that I missed, And realise I never truly lived, All I did was just exist. (author unknown) - Maddie Today, I learned about planets. There are 8 planets in our solar system and a dwarf
planet. The inner planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. The outer planets are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. The one furthest from the sun is Neptune. Pluto, is a dwarf planet out further than Neptune. It also orbits the sun. Our planet is earth. It is third closest to the sun. Ashleigh This week I started to learn science with my Daddy. We started to read about the planets.
The four closest planets to the sun are Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. Neptune is the farthest planet in our solar system. Pluto is further out, but it is no longer considered a planet. Finally I learned that a planet's path around the sun is called an orbit. Ashleigh |
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