Invictus
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
William Ernest Henley
I'm not sure what took me so long to ever read this poem. Maybe I have but the meaning wasn't probably the same for me back then or maybe I just didn't read it loud enough. You see, this poem serves great meaning to me today. Why? Because I am in a bit of a pickle. My degree is being tested every Thursday when I sit in the back of classrooms at Mineola H.S. The battle with myself is constantly at the highest peak of war and i ( the doubtful side) is winning against I.
I wish I could say that I have not "winced nor cried aloud" but indeed, i have. You will not find me unafraid, the truth is that i am. I fight everyday just like everyone else who fights every day. We fight because of who we are, because of what we look like, how we smell, what we wear, how we speak...everyone is fighting. Sometimes though,i believe we are mainly fighting ourselves for letting our souls become victims.
The word invisible usually has a negative connotation but right now, to me it means that my soul is so unconquerable that you just can't see it.
You can't see it because I am the captain of my being.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
Sophia peered her eyes up, slowly browsing around the classroom. Everyone wrote furiously, some people stopping to shake cramps out of their hands. She looked back down at her exam:
You want to cut a recipe for cookies by one third (that is, you want to make only 2/3 of a full batch of cookies). Your measuring cup is marked with fourths of a cup and also milliliters. The recipe calls for 4 cups of flour. How many milliliters of flour are required for your reduced recipe?
A) 237
B) 632
C) 1264
D) 1896
Crap, now I'm hungry. Alright, focus Sophia, focus. I've got cups and milliliters. Wait, how much is a milliliter again? 100? oh no, it's definitely .10. But it's gotta be a high number if there are such big numbered options..., Sophia's mind began to race. She tried to open every file cabinet in her brain, bring back every memory of her sitting in math class and staring at the bored. Her palms began to sweat and her stomach growled once more. This was only the Math A Regents and she only had to pass...
You want to cut a recipe for cookies by one third (that is, you want to make only 2/3 of a full batch of cookies). Your measuring cup is marked with fourths of a cup and also milliliters. The recipe calls for 4 cups of flour. How many milliliters of flour are required for your reduced recipe?
A) 237
B) 632
C) 1264
D) 1896
Crap, now I'm hungry. Alright, focus Sophia, focus. I've got cups and milliliters. Wait, how much is a milliliter again? 100? oh no, it's definitely .10. But it's gotta be a high number if there are such big numbered options..., Sophia's mind began to race. She tried to open every file cabinet in her brain, bring back every memory of her sitting in math class and staring at the bored. Her palms began to sweat and her stomach growled once more. This was only the Math A Regents and she only had to pass...
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Regret.
I always wondered that when I reached the ripe age of 95, will I have any regrets in my life? Being only 22, I can think of at least one that I have:
When I was about 10, my mother enrolled me in a dance class at an Indian dance studio. I had a huge passion for dance and I was really good at it, so I thought, why not take classes? The first few weeks of the class was easy and mundane. Then one day in class, my dance teacher turned on music and dared one of us to dance in front of everyone. He wanted to see who would be brave enough to do it. I was so nervous and scared that I just stood there, swearing to myself that I’d never go back if he would continue to put us on the spot, and so I never went back.
I later enrolled in hip-hop and tap classes, which I enjoyed immensely. Yet, whenever I heard Indian music or watched people perform Indian dances, a part of me yearns to be on stage dancing. In fact, I know I have a certain look on my face whenever I see Indian dancing. It’s this look of complete awe and sometimes it’s a little bit of regret in the thought that it could have been me dancing.
Looking at where I am now, I’m proud of how far I’ve come in everything I’ve achieved thus far, but when I’m alone in my room, turn on Indian music, and really dance, that regret dances with me too. I am a firm believer in the “it’s never too late” motto and I would enroll into dance classes but I don’t have the money or the time right now. I can’t wait until I do though, that way I can bring that part of my heart alive with dance. I don’t want to live with the regret that I stopped doing one of the things that made me feel alive, living now without it hurts me enough.
When I was about 10, my mother enrolled me in a dance class at an Indian dance studio. I had a huge passion for dance and I was really good at it, so I thought, why not take classes? The first few weeks of the class was easy and mundane. Then one day in class, my dance teacher turned on music and dared one of us to dance in front of everyone. He wanted to see who would be brave enough to do it. I was so nervous and scared that I just stood there, swearing to myself that I’d never go back if he would continue to put us on the spot, and so I never went back.
I later enrolled in hip-hop and tap classes, which I enjoyed immensely. Yet, whenever I heard Indian music or watched people perform Indian dances, a part of me yearns to be on stage dancing. In fact, I know I have a certain look on my face whenever I see Indian dancing. It’s this look of complete awe and sometimes it’s a little bit of regret in the thought that it could have been me dancing.
Looking at where I am now, I’m proud of how far I’ve come in everything I’ve achieved thus far, but when I’m alone in my room, turn on Indian music, and really dance, that regret dances with me too. I am a firm believer in the “it’s never too late” motto and I would enroll into dance classes but I don’t have the money or the time right now. I can’t wait until I do though, that way I can bring that part of my heart alive with dance. I don’t want to live with the regret that I stopped doing one of the things that made me feel alive, living now without it hurts me enough.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Draft #2
“…although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming it.”—Helen Keller,Optimism 1903
Helen Keller once wrote in her book, Optimism (1903), “ …although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming it.” In other words, people everyday come face to face with challenges that make them feel like there is no future or light in their path. However, this does not mean that the world will remain dark; it also means that there are many people who have suffered but overcame their suffering.Change: However,....it also means that there are many people who overcome their suffering. Two novels that prove this quote true are The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brian and Sold by Patricia Mccormick.
Firstly, in Tim O’Brian’s The Things They Carried, every soldier’s story that the narrator tells is one of internal suffering. Change: internal conflict. Many of the men simply want to go back to their homes but instead must also suffer in the worst conditions, for a war they may or may not support, while missing those they love and long for at home. Change: Tim O'Brian wants to go back home but instead must fight in a war he does not support, in the worst conditions. Soldiers, if they haven’t been killed, are sent home to overcome their suffering but not many overcome it. The author writes Change: Tim O'Brian writes his story to share with others like him who did suffer. The telling of his story is his form of overcoming his suffering.
Secondly, the women and young girls in Sold, bare a different type of suffering than the characters in O’Brian’s novel, but it is suffering all the same. Being devalued as a woman, as a human, being monetarily valued, are all the types of suffering that may not look like one can overcome. Lakshmi’s value for her life decreases every day and she must hold on to every little hope she can, which eventually influences her to free herself from her oppression.
What is interesting about both novels is that both the main characters, O’Brian and Lakshmi, had to motivate themselves to overcome their suffering. In other words, although their suffering was completely different but extreme, they could no longer live within themselves if they did not save themselves out of their oppression. Although O’Brian could not immediately leave the war, when he did finally return home, a huge part of him was still there. In order to cope with all that he saw and experienced, he had to overcome it by writing. His audience, soldiers who fought in the war like him, can use his novel as a way to overcome their experience too. As for Lakshmi, it was only until she learned to value her life to be more than forty rupees, that she was able to yell out her name to the man she hoped came to rescue her.
Finally, in agreement to Helen Keller’s quote, I believe that as people, we may feel like we suffer alone but it is only when we motivate ourselves to overcome our hardships, do we see that there are many others like us who have fought the oppression. Tim O’Brian and Lakshmi are two of many characters who have found motivation within themselves and their surroundings to overcome their plight.
Helen Keller once wrote in her book, Optimism (1903), “ …although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming it.” In other words, people everyday come face to face with challenges that make them feel like there is no future or light in their path. However, this does not mean that the world will remain dark; it also means that there are many people who have suffered but overcame their suffering.Change: However,....it also means that there are many people who overcome their suffering. Two novels that prove this quote true are The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brian and Sold by Patricia Mccormick.
Firstly, in Tim O’Brian’s The Things They Carried, every soldier’s story that the narrator tells is one of internal suffering. Change: internal conflict. Many of the men simply want to go back to their homes but instead must also suffer in the worst conditions, for a war they may or may not support, while missing those they love and long for at home. Change: Tim O'Brian wants to go back home but instead must fight in a war he does not support, in the worst conditions. Soldiers, if they haven’t been killed, are sent home to overcome their suffering but not many overcome it. The author writes Change: Tim O'Brian writes his story to share with others like him who did suffer. The telling of his story is his form of overcoming his suffering.
Secondly, the women and young girls in Sold, bare a different type of suffering than the characters in O’Brian’s novel, but it is suffering all the same. Being devalued as a woman, as a human, being monetarily valued, are all the types of suffering that may not look like one can overcome. Lakshmi’s value for her life decreases every day and she must hold on to every little hope she can, which eventually influences her to free herself from her oppression.
What is interesting about both novels is that both the main characters, O’Brian and Lakshmi, had to motivate themselves to overcome their suffering. In other words, although their suffering was completely different but extreme, they could no longer live within themselves if they did not save themselves out of their oppression. Although O’Brian could not immediately leave the war, when he did finally return home, a huge part of him was still there. In order to cope with all that he saw and experienced, he had to overcome it by writing. His audience, soldiers who fought in the war like him, can use his novel as a way to overcome their experience too. As for Lakshmi, it was only until she learned to value her life to be more than forty rupees, that she was able to yell out her name to the man she hoped came to rescue her.
Finally, in agreement to Helen Keller’s quote, I believe that as people, we may feel like we suffer alone but it is only when we motivate ourselves to overcome our hardships, do we see that there are many others like us who have fought the oppression. Tim O’Brian and Lakshmi are two of many characters who have found motivation within themselves and their surroundings to overcome their plight.
Monday, October 3, 2011
“…although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming it.”—Helen Keller, Optimism 1903
To begin with, Helen Keller once wrote in her book, Optimism (1903), “ …although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming it.” In other words, people everyday come face to face with challenges that make them feel like there is no future or light in their path. However, this does not mean that the world will remain dark; it also means that there are many people who have suffered but overcame their suffering. Two novels that prove this quote true are, The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brian and Sold, by Patricia Mccormick.
Firstly, in Tim O’Brian’s, The Things They Carried, every soldier’s story that the narrator tells is one of internal suffering. Many of the men simply want to go back to their homes but instead must also suffer in the worst conditions, for a war they may or may not support, while missing those they love and long for at home. Soldiers, if they haven’t been killed, are sent home to overcome their suffering but not many overcome it. The author writes his story to share with others like him who did suffer. The telling of his story is his form of overcoming his suffering.
Secondly, the women and young girls in Sold, bare a different type of suffering than the characters in O’Brian’s novel, but it is suffering all the same. Being devalued as a woman, as a human, being monetarily valued, are all the types of suffering that may not look like one can overcome. Lakshmi’s value for her life decreases every day and she must hold on to every little hope she can, which eventually influences her to free herself from her oppression.
What is interesting about both novels is that both the main characters, O’Brian and Lakshmi, had to motivate themselves to overcome their suffering. In other words, although their suffering was completely different but extreme, they could no longer live within themselves if they did not save themselves out of their oppression. Although O’Brian could not immediately leave the war, when he did finally return home, a huge part of him was still there. In order to cope with all that he saw and experienced, he had to overcome it by writing. His audience, soldiers who fought in the war like him, can use his novel as a way to overcome their experience too. As for Lakshmi, it was only until she learned to value her life to be more than forty rupees, that she was able to yell out her name to the man she hoped came to rescue her.
Finally, in agreement to Helen Keller’s quote, I believe that as people, we may feel like we suffer alone but it is only when we motivate ourselves to overcome our hardships, do we see that there are many others like us who have fought the oppression. Tim O’Brian and Lakshmi are two of many characters who have found motivation within themselves and their surroundings to overcome their plight.
To begin with, Helen Keller once wrote in her book, Optimism (1903), “ …although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming it.” In other words, people everyday come face to face with challenges that make them feel like there is no future or light in their path. However, this does not mean that the world will remain dark; it also means that there are many people who have suffered but overcame their suffering. Two novels that prove this quote true are, The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brian and Sold, by Patricia Mccormick.
Firstly, in Tim O’Brian’s, The Things They Carried, every soldier’s story that the narrator tells is one of internal suffering. Many of the men simply want to go back to their homes but instead must also suffer in the worst conditions, for a war they may or may not support, while missing those they love and long for at home. Soldiers, if they haven’t been killed, are sent home to overcome their suffering but not many overcome it. The author writes his story to share with others like him who did suffer. The telling of his story is his form of overcoming his suffering.
Secondly, the women and young girls in Sold, bare a different type of suffering than the characters in O’Brian’s novel, but it is suffering all the same. Being devalued as a woman, as a human, being monetarily valued, are all the types of suffering that may not look like one can overcome. Lakshmi’s value for her life decreases every day and she must hold on to every little hope she can, which eventually influences her to free herself from her oppression.
What is interesting about both novels is that both the main characters, O’Brian and Lakshmi, had to motivate themselves to overcome their suffering. In other words, although their suffering was completely different but extreme, they could no longer live within themselves if they did not save themselves out of their oppression. Although O’Brian could not immediately leave the war, when he did finally return home, a huge part of him was still there. In order to cope with all that he saw and experienced, he had to overcome it by writing. His audience, soldiers who fought in the war like him, can use his novel as a way to overcome their experience too. As for Lakshmi, it was only until she learned to value her life to be more than forty rupees, that she was able to yell out her name to the man she hoped came to rescue her.
Finally, in agreement to Helen Keller’s quote, I believe that as people, we may feel like we suffer alone but it is only when we motivate ourselves to overcome our hardships, do we see that there are many others like us who have fought the oppression. Tim O’Brian and Lakshmi are two of many characters who have found motivation within themselves and their surroundings to overcome their plight.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)