The Imagination Of A 6 Year Old

It's funny how much changes in your life as you grow up. When I was younger, all I would do was run around and play with dolls. I was so full of life and everything was exciting to me. I had such a vivid imagination growing up and such a thirst for exploration. When I was around the age of 6, my life basically consisted of naps and playing with my Barbie dolls. I would have little tea parties with them, give them make overs and pretend that they were actually real people. When I'd play with my dolls, I'd pretend they had this "hidden life" of their own. My imagination would completely take over to the point where I'd think the dolls would come alive when I wasn't around. It sounds crazy, I know, but at the age of 6 it was completely normal to imagine or pretend your dolls or toys had a life of their own. It seems like as we grow older, we tend to lose this capability of imagining such things as when we were kids. As we grow up, we learn that our imagination consists of only the things we want to come true in our life to make it more interesting. We learn to face reality and soon get distracted by our teenage years. All of a sudden we become too old to play with barbie dolls and other toys, and become more focused on school, friends and relationships. Growing apart from these toys from our childhood also makes us grow apart from our imagination and wonder that we used to have.

St. Gregory of Nyssa once said, "Concepts create idols, only wonder knows." I think this means that we are unable to truly know or imagine anything without wonder. My imagination as a kid created this wonder for bringing these dolls to life. I find this quote to very true. This wonder ultimately made me think of more possibilities for the doll other than it's main purpose. I think that it is important for everyone to keep this imagination that they had as a kid, because without wonder, we will never be able to grasp anything in life.

"This is Water" by David Foster Wallace

            Throughout my entire life, most of the important choices I’ve had to face have been decided for me, such as what school to go to, what subjects I should take, what sports I should play, and so on. When we are younger, the majority of our choices aren’t made by us because we are not at the age where we can make the “right” choice. This meaning, we learn to make good choices by the way we are raised, right from wrong and also through experience. Sometimes these choices made for us are beneficial and we don’t realize it until later in life. For example, all throughout elementary and middle school I was horrible in math. I struggled every year and was behind everyone in my class. My mother chose to send me to tutoring for a couple of years to improve my math skills. To this day, math is now my strongest subject in school. At that time, I may not have agreed with her choice or want to go to tutoring, but it ultimately helped me in my future.

        

         Choices are essentially one of the key elements to freedom. We make choices every day whether they are good or bad. In Wallace’s speech, he talks about the fundamental choices that affect our future. I completely agree with this idea because we know ourselves better than anyone. We all know our desires and make certain choices in order to fulfill those desires. Although we don’t always make the best choices, we learn from experiences and take from them to make better ones. Like I said before, from an early age we are all taught right from wrong to help make better choices in our lives. We cannot learn to make the right choices without making wrong ones along the way. These choices do in fact allow us to engage in the world differently than others. Our experiences are essential to our growth and development as a human being. The choices we make ultimately affect our lives severely which is why it is important we make the best choices all of the time.

         Throughout Wallace’s speech, he talks about how he believes that he is the center of the world and only his desires are important.  In my opinion, this was an interesting idea. We all believe that our desires and needs in life are more important than others. For example, if a friend of mine wants something and doesn’t get it, I’m not as likely to get upset about it as he or she might be; whereas if I don’t get something I desire, I will be unhappy and I will expect others to feel the same. This shows how “socially repulsive” as he would say, that we are. We ignore the feelings and situations of others that may have a worst reality than us. We chose to think this way and we choose to believe that our immediate needs determine the world’s priority, which was a very valid point that Wallace made in his speech.

        

         In Wallace’s speech, the audience applauded and laughed at things you’d usually just sit there and think about. Although it may have seemed that Wallace was insulting the audience, I believe he was only being honest. Wallace’s speech about liberal arts was very informative and was full of examples of the way we think. I believed the audience laughed in some of these moments because they realized what Wallace was saying was true, whether they have experienced it themselves before or realize that some of these things could happen to them. Some of the people in the audience may laugh simply because they are showing their ignorance of the information being presented to them.

         David Foster Wallace’s “This is Water” was a very insightful speech. It made me think more about my choices in life and to think them more through, especially this year as a senior applying to colleges. I only want to make the best choices for myself and have the best future possible. I expect happiness out of the decisions I make in my life and refuse to live a life of regret and disappointment. Hopefully by doing this, I can motivate others to make better choices to improve their future as well. 

Caligula

For this weeks assignment, I was given a play to read called "Caligula" by Albert Camus. I was told to read the first act of this play and answer a couple of questions. For the past two classes, we have been discussing the 4 Truths of the "I" which are: I did not make myself, we have limited abilities, we have unlimited desires, and we all want to be happy. When reading this play, these four truths of the human person could relate to the character Caligula.

Camus demonstrates Caligula's heart through his unlimited desires. In the play, Caligula returns to the palace where he tells one of the patricians, Helicon, his desire for the moon. He continuously explains how "this world of ours, the scheme of things as they call it, is quite intolerable. That's why I want the moon, or happiness, or eternal life." Caligula feels that he needs these things in order to "live by the light of truth." This meaning, he wants to live a life of fulfillment and desires the things that are viewed as being impossible.

The Patricians viewed Caligula's "heart" to be crazy. They didn't understand the meaning behind his "heart" and desires that Caligula had come to understand. It was only Helicon who tried to understand his desire for the moon. On the last page of Act 1, Helicon asks, "In what way can I help you?" and Caligula replies "In the way of. . . the impossible." Here we see that Helicon is making an effort to understand this "want" of his and help Caligula achieve the impossible. I also agree with Helicon and would try to figure out what it is that Caligula believes will bring fulfillment to his life. I agree with this because I believe that Caligula has a point when he says, "Men die; and they are not happy." If we do not find happiness and reach for the impossible in our life, we will not be happy and not live by the truth.

The Importance of a Household Item

There are several items a person uses throughout their daily life that he or she may feel is a major necessity. For my third assignment on my blog, my religion teacher told the class to find a particular item in our household that we feel is important and use daily and to state all of that items factors. The item that I chose for this assignment is my computer. I've had my MacBook Pro since my freshman year of high school and can honestly say I've never gone a whole 24 hours without using it or someone else's MacBook. Whether I'm at home, at a friends house, or even at work with my mom, my computer travels with me in the majority of the places I go. It's a huge necessity in my life for multiple reasons:

1. During the school year, I have tons of assignments that need to be typed and turned in for completion. 
2. I use the Internet everyday, whether it is for school, social networks, or to simply google a question I'd like an answer to. 
3. I can take pictures and make videos on my computer when I'm bored or need ways to occupy my time.
4. I can play games.
5. I can Skype or ooVoo my friends when I am away from them.
6. Most importantly, for this year I've needed my computer mostly to look up colleges, find out the information I need about certain Universities, register for tours and open houses, look at virtual tours, and even use Common Application to start my college application process.
7. I am able to watch movies on my computer if I am traveling in the car or on the plane for hours and need something to entertain myself. 
8. My computer is also another form of how I organize things. I can fill out my calendar to make sure I remember certain events that are coming up, keep all of the papers I've written throughout my high school career in one file and even keep notes together for school.
9. It is light weight so if I travel or carry it around with me, it's light enough for me to do so.
10. And lastly, since I don't watch TV as much as I used to or read the newspaper, it becomes a little harder to keep up with daily news occurring in the world. Anything I need to know can be found on the Internet with only a few clicks of a button. 

My MacBook Pro serves many purposes to me. It can be used for business or pleasure. Without my computer, I most likely wouldn't be as organized, education or prepared as I am today. 

What Makes Me Happy? :)

Everyone in this world seeks for happiness in his or her lives. We all have things in particular that make us happy, such as certain people or even hobbies. Activities such as drawing, painting, playing a sport, being an active member in community service or even being around animals are things that make people happy in their life. Personally, the things that make me most happy in life are surrounding myself with positive people, such as my friends and family, playing lacrosse, praying, making others happy and simply waking up in the morning.

My friends are definitely people that make me happy and most comfortable in life. I love hanging out with my friends just because they give me a safe feeling when I’m around them. They’re a group of people I know I can count on to make me laugh, smile, and trust. Knowing that I have people like this in my life makes me happy and complete. My family is another great example of people I love to be around. One family member in particular that I always love being around is my grandmother. She’s one of the funniest and most down to earth people I have ever met in my life. My grandmother is always there when I need her and even when I don’t. She’s someone I can come to for anything at all and I can talk to about anything without being judged. She, of all people, is the most valuable person in my life and I cherish every moment I’m honored to spend with her.

Playing lacrosse is a great activity that I enjoy playing. Ever since my sophomore year in high school, I’ve loved playing lacrosse. Learning how to play a new sport was exciting and enjoyable. The practices would sometimes get very intense, but establishing new relationships with my coaches and teammates gave me a fulfilling feeling. There’s never a dull moment when I’m with my team. Being around such positive people makes it impossible to ever be unhappy. I love my team for all the support and motivation they give me, on and off of the field.

Prayer is another major necessity to contribute to my happiness. Every morning, afternoon and night before I go to sleep, I take the time to talk to God. I mostly thank Him for all that he has blessed with me with and pray for others as well as myself. I pray for the people who mean the most to me and even my enemies. I’ve talked to God every day since I learned how to pray and it has become essential in my daily life.

Making others happy is something I love to do, not only because I’m putting them in a better mood, but because I’m making myself happy as well. It is the little things we do such as smile at someone or pay them a compliment that can simply uplift their spirits. Knowing that I can make someone’s day better just by doing a small task is rewarding to me.

Lastly, the privilege of waking up in the morning is without a doubt the main thing that makes me happy. Most people don’t wake up in the morning or are guaranteed only a few minutes, hours or days left to live. When God wakes me up in the morning, I know that it’s for a purpose only He knows. I’m blessed to have seen these past 16 (almost 17) years of my life and am thankful for every second I am alive. These are the things in life that truly will always make me happy.

Hello World!

Hey there world! My name is Kira and I am currently enrolled in my senior year at Bishop McNamara High School. I never really know what to say when I am asked a question like "Who are you?" or "What makes you who you are?" Usually I would reply with a list of activities that I partake in that describes the types of things I enjoy doing in my free time, but that doesn't exactly describe me, only the things I do. I believe the things that make you who you are revolve around your goals and the things and people who are most valuable in your life.

There are quite a few things that I consider most valuable in my life including my family, my well being, my friends, my relationship with others and most importantly my relationship with God. My family, just as well as anyone else, is a major part of my life. They are truly my backbone and the reason for my existence. Having a strong and healthy relationship with my family is extremely important because those are the only people who genuinely love me and will stand by my side no matter what (besides God). My well being is another important thing in my life. In my opinion, a stable emotional, mental and physical health is essential to a good life. My friends are another huge part of my life. My friends and family are my support system and having people in my life to motivate and believe in me means a lot. Knowing that there are people here to stand by me through everything is something everyone needs in their lives. It's important that I have a good relationship with the people I'm surrounded by, such as my friends and family, in order to build a form of trust and loyalty. Lastly, my relationship with God is one of the big rocks in my life. God is the reason for everything that exists. Without a healthy relationship with God, you cannot truly be happy in life. He is the one that made me and has a plan for me in this life that I eventually will discover when the time is right. Being baptized as Catholic, my relationship with God has been a crucial part of my life. It is important for me to maintain this relationship with God to be happy and have a better understanding of life. 

As for my ethnic background, I am mixed with black, white, Cuban and creole. Being a minority is important to me for a couple of reasons. The first reason is because it makes me feel different from the rest of the world knowing that I have a little bit of everything mixed within me. The other reason why i feel it is so important to have such a cultural background is because I can trace back to all or most of my ancestors to see all the majority of the places that I come from. The things I look for in life are happiness, success, acceptance, and fulfillment. Hopefully within my lifetime I will achieve these four things, but until then I need to keep working on the important things that will eventually get me there. Thank you so much for taking your time to read my first blog post! I look forward to sharing more with you!