Writing in Progress
Biggest Nightmare
The nightmare that stuck with me the most was motion sickness. This truly is a nightmare for me because it happens so frequently whenever I am not the driver of the car. This means I have to drive myself all the time or risk getting car sick from someone else’s driving. It also leads to uncomfortable situations because sometimes we need to stop driving so I can feel less sick. I also live very close to Chicago in my hometown so oftentimes we just a short train ride to get there but even the short train ride can ruin my time.
Be Your Own Detective
Explore Thoughts
Can you tell me about a moment when a person’s kindness made a difference in your life?
I work as a bartender/waitress to be able to pay for my college, rent and life expenses. This means I rely heavily on tips in order to survive essentially. Unfortunately, some people do not tip or treat their servers well. One particular night I was having a terrible shift. Customers were just being rude to me and it was just a never ending night. Last minute a table came in and sat with me. I was already a little agitated because I had a terrible night from the start, then, they sat with me 20 minutes before close. They were very polite to me the entire time which made me happy on its own. When they left they tipped me $100 on a $25 tab. It was the nicest thing because my rent was due and I really needed the money. It made my whole night better and changed my mood for the rest of my work shifts that weekend because it was just so kind.
What are the most important lessons you’ve learned in life?
One important lesson I have learned is that sometimes life isn’t fair. I think this was difficult for me to wrap my head around because it is just a sucky concept all around but it's true. Some people do not have to work as hard for things while others work twice as hard. Some people will have so many more opportunities that make things like, for example, college easier for them. Another lesson I have recently learned is to not take anything for granted in life. I realized there are so many things in my life that I used to take for granted, like my family and my health. I have recently become very sick, along with many others during this pandemic, and it made me realize I never really appreciated being a young healthy adult. I now try to appreciate the good in my life because it is important to realize there are good things in my life that might not last forever.
If you could talk to a younger version of yourself, what would you say?
If I could talk to a younger version of myself I would say not to stress about anything at such a young age because all of the things I stressed myself out over weren’t even important. I also would tell myself to choose my major earlier so I did not have an extra year of college.
Joy
The word joy immediately makes me think of family. The two words are connected in my mind. I think of all the happy moments I have shared with my sister or family members. It also is the word that comes to mind when I see my family for the first time in a long time. Joy directly means happiness but indirectly means family for me.
Values
Values can be viewed very differently person to person because they are so personal. I think that values are something that really makes a person, you can tell so much by what a person values. It is a way to make connections with people on a deeper level, someone who has the same values as me would make that person more significant to me.
Happiness
Happiness has always been a goal to me in my mind. I think that happiness is something we all strive for in our life, we are working to try and create a happy life for ourselves. Sometimes however, I forget that while working for this happy life you have to stop and be happy in the moment as well. I don’t know if other people view happiness the way I do, it just has always been a goal for me rather than a feeling.
3-2-1
3 Big Ideas
Joy has so many different meanings for each person. Immediately realized this when I was filling out the chart because for me, joy meant family. I would never use the word to describe anything else in another context, but for other people joy doesn’t mean that at all. It is interesting the personal connections we as individuals make with certain words.
I thought it was interesting that she was able to decide joy was a tangible item, something with bright colors possibly. After watching the video I was scrolling through my instagram feed and saw a photo of a bright color item and I thought about the word joy when that would’ve never come to my mind prior to watching the video. Sharing other perspectives on words and ideas can imprint in each other's mind and create new connections.
I absolutely loved the fact that she pointed out some of the most vulnerable people in our world are in the least joyful places. It is something I never noticed but it is so true. Hospitals, schools, offices, housing projects and nursing homes are places that need the most joy. I think it was interesting she pointed out this is because adults are afraid of being vulnerable. I never would’ve pegged that as the reason for these dull buildings. It is an interesting theory to consider though because I have first hand heard people calling adults who like colorful decorations or clothing “childish”.
Another takeaway I had from this video was the comparison she made with human evolution and abundance. I think this was an interesting point to make because very few people consider this while studying human behavior. Humans evolved over this lifetime but in the beginning, humans had to hunt for food and live a minimal stressful life. Abundance is what made humans feel safe throughout our evolution whether that be abundance of food, water and it today's day in age money. Abundance creates a feeling of safety within our brains, we were programmed to feel this way. Human evolution also plays a role in the way our brains react to angular objects, because they are often a threat within nature. I just thought it was interesting how our human evolution plays such a significant role in the way our brains react to things but it isn’t something that is talked about too often.
2 Questions
How can we break these stereotypes of youthful vs joyful? How can we create joy while still being taken seriously and respected as an adult?
How can we figure out exactly what joy is to others? She describes joy as colorful curricular objects but I think there are so many other things joy can mean for everyone.
1 Brainstorm
I am going to pay attention throughout my days this week to see what exactly brings me happiness, joy, and curiosity. I think there are so many things in our day to day lives that spark these feelings in us and we just overlook them. I want to figure out what exactly joy is for me in my day to day life.
SE2R FEEDBACK
What We Keep
Heyworth Students
Lacy
Lacy, I think you did an excellent job explaining the background behind these objects that made them so significant to you and Ashlee. The images you included in your challenge to a good job of connecting the object chosen and that story behind them.
The history behind your objects was well explained within both of your writings. You set up a nice background story for your objects to be introduced. There is little explanation on where the items are located today. This could be if they are worn, kept on display or put away somewhere. Adding this information to your pieces creates the final connection between the background of these objects and their current significance. You could also describe the clock necklace’s appearance and reflect on what about it made you choose that specific as opposed to all clocks there were.
After you’ve given some time to consider some of these thoughts you can add them into your writing challenge. Overall your challenge looked great! :)
Brenna
Brenna, you did an amazing job creating a space to display your story. The quotes you chose to highlight did a good job explaining the significance of these items. There was a thoughtful explanation of the significance of the items you chose to write about.
You did a good job explaining how important your object was to you, as in you were not able to be without it. I did not see the background information as to why this object was so important to you overall. I believe adding a little bit more background information about your object will create the story we are trying to tell with this challenge. This could be going into the background of how important yours and your mothers relationship is, or if you received the blanket for a birthday or special event possibly. You then could make the connection between the important background behind this object that made it truly significant to you. Similar to how you described Laura and her grandma’s relationship.
You can spend some time reflecting on the experiences and thoughts that made this blanket so significant to you and add that to your writing to create the overall thoughtfulness of your writing. After you have thought about it, you can add the stories to your project.