My Recipe for a Meaningful Life

 

 

 

    Be Positive.

Often times everything seems to be going wrong, but we all have to remember to stay positive. When you think in a positive way you overcome obstacles more easily. Life is hard it is not easy.  Therefore, we all need to remember to see the beauty of life, and not concentrate on the bad things. A positive person is a happy person.

  

Be yourself

A lot of times, people change who they are in order to “fit in.” The thing is that no matter how much you change, people will always find something wrong with you. This is why, we should all be ourselves, and love ourselves. As it says in the song “Live your Life” by T.I, “Never mind what haters say, ignore them 'til they fade away.”  As T.I said, ignore the haters, and just be you! Remember, that it’s better to be unique than to be a copy.

                 

Enjoy your life

One of the simplest things we can do is enjoy life. Enjoy the small and big moments in life because life is too short. A lot of times we get stuck with work or school, and we forget to have fun. So take a moment to spend time with your friends, or do something you enjoy doing.  It is also important to fallow your dreams. Never give up on you dreams, Always fight for them! In all, I’d like to end this post with an introduction message that T.I sings in his song “Live your Life.” Its a beautiful, empowering message.

 

“Life is an interesting journey,
You never know where it'll take you.
Peaks and valleys, twists and turns,
You can get the surprise of your life.
Sometimes on the way to where your going,
You may think 'this is the worst time of my life',
But you know what?
At the end of the road, through all the adversity,
You get where ever you wanted to be, you remember,
Whatever don't kill you, make you stronger.
And all the adversity was worth it…”

-T.I

 

 

 

 

 

Success

 

What is success?  What defines success? Recently I found the answer to that question in an essay called “Measuring Success” by Rennée Loth. Loth said, “I found the definitions of success are mutable, shifting along with our changing values.” (272) I agree, the definition of success changes throughout our life time because our values change. In other words, success does not have a definite definition. For example, when I was in high school I defined success as being rich and happy. Today, I no longer consider having a lot of money as part of being successful. I definitely think there is more to success than being rich. Success is being happy, and content with what you have accomplished. As I said, success does not have a definite definition because success is many things. Ultimately, everyone has their own idea of what success means. So, what does success mean to you?

 

Morrie Blog Post

In the story, Tuesday with Morrie, Morrie teaches Mitch many life learning lessons. One of those lessons that Morrie talks to Mitch about is living each day fully. Morrie tells Mitch, “We really don’t experience the world fully, because we’re half asleep, doing things we automatically think we have to do.” (83) People often walk around like zombies they do not appreciate life. People tend to get stuck with their working routine, and never live past that. As Morrie says we do things “automatically” like robots. Often times we forget that we only have one life to live. People have to learn how to take chances, and appreciate everything that life has to offer. There is more to life than just working, or going to school. Life is about building relationships, doing the things we love, and stopping by to smell the roses. In the end, when you live life fully you will be more happy than if you do not.

 

"Of Love and Other Demons" Book Review

I read an interesting book called, Of Love and Other Demons written by the talented author, Gabriel Garcia Marquez. This book was originally published by the company Mondadori in 1994, and after it got translated into English it was published by the Alfred A. Knopf Inc. in 1995. This is a magical realism story that takes place in Santa Maria la Antigua in Darien during the time where women wore ball gowns, and people rode in carriages. The main character is Sierva Maria de Todos Los Angles who is a young, talented teenage girl who can sing and dance. The second main character is Father Cayetano Delura who is in his thirties. The story begins on the day Sierva Maria turns twelve and is bitten by a dog. After several weeks after been bitten, Sierva Maria starts to get sick, and her father thinks she has rabies. Her father then changes his mind, and believes the Sierva Maria does not have rabies rather is possessed by demons. Therefore, Sierva Maria is sent to convent where she is to get exorcised in order to free her form her demons. It is at the convent that Sierva Maria meets Father Delura and both their lives are never the same. In this story there is this idea of a recurring dream that both the Sierva Maria and Father Delura have. “..Having lost her will to endure any more, she dreamed again of the window looking out on a snow-covered field from which Cayetano Delura was absent...” (147). This is a dream that repeats itself in the story and has a big significance in the story.

 

In all, I thought this was a good book. The author has a unique way of engaging readers by writing in poetic kind of way. I personally liked the book because one of the main themes in story was love, and I am big fan of love stories. The message of the story is that you don’t always pick who you fall in love with because love is a natural feeling you can’t control. In the same way, the theme teaches you to always fight for your love, and to never give up on love. Like Sierva Maria fought for her love till the end. In the story when “The warder who came in to prepare her for her sixth session of exorcism found her dead of love in her bed…” (147).Sierva Maria always guarded the love she felt for  Father Delura, and never lost hope of one day being happy with him.  Furthermore, this book reminded me of two other books I have read. One of them is the classical story of Romeo and Juliet since Romeo’s love for Juliet was forbidden just like the love Father Delura felt for Sierva Maria. This book also reminded me of the popular book, Twilight, since Bella’s and Edward’s love is also forbidden. In the end, I liked this book, and I like the message this story teaches.  I definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading love stories. Like I said, the author makes the story interesting, and has a unique way of writing stories.

 

 

Unique Identity

“Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armor yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.” (George R.R. Martin).

This is a beautiful quote that talks about loving your persona or identity. In life one of the most important things a person develops is an identity.  Identity is a set of characteristics that define a person and make them unique. An identity develops mostly as we grow up; everything we see or hear influences our character. In other words, what we learn as we grow up influences our values, beliefs, and interests which in the end creates that individuality.  Our characters are definitely all unique, and we should all learn to love ourselves for who we are.

 

One important aspect that makes us unique is our beliefs. Everyone has different beliefs in life, and whether you believe in god, ghosts or aliens. Your beliefs make up your identity.  I believe in god, and I believe in aliens it’s these two beliefs that make part of my identity.

 

 

 

A second quality that makes us all unique is our values because everyone values something different in life. There are people who value friendship others who value money. I value my family, and this quality makes me unique.

 

 

 

 

A third quality that makes up our character is our interests. Everyone enjoys doing different things in their spare time. I enjoy reading books, and listening to music, and watching movies.

 

 

 

 

In the end, these are three aspects that make each identity unique. These are my beliefs, interests, and values that make me stand out from everybody else.

 

 

Spring Found Poem

 

 

It’s the first day of spring!

Every leaf silent,

Hardly looses a breath of

Perfume.

 

It’s the first day of spring!

The wind stirs the springing grass.

As colorful, colored, clouds

Play over high hill tops. 

 

It’s the first day of spring!

 The sun  like a blanket

Wraps around the meadow with its warmth.

 

It’s the First day of spring!

The air is a soft whisper.

Across yards of

colorful embroidered, fabric flowers.

It’s the first day of spring!

Ad Analysis

Based on the two ads which lipstick would you consider buying?

 

The first ad uses Nicki Minaj as the hook. It targets mostly young women between the ages of twenty and early thirty’s. It sells you the lipstick,but as bonus you get three extra values! One value that is included with this lipstick is happiness. The bright colors and Nicki’s expression promise you happiness. A second value that comes with the lipstick is beauty. If you buy this lipstick you will look as pretty as Nicki Minaj. Finally, look at the way Nicki is posing in picture and look how it sells you sex appeal, and all you have to do is buy the lip stick!

 

Or Will you be persuaded to buy Jane Iredale’s lipstick? This ad centers you’re attention towards a young, beautiful looking model. It targets women between the ages of twenty and thirty. It sells you the lipstick, and also comes with three extra values! One value that comes with this lipstick is youth. If you want to look as young as the model then you have to buy this lipstick! It also sells you happiness. You will for sure be happy when you wear this lipstick just look at the way the model’s smiling. One last extra value that comes with this lipstick is beauty. If you want to be as beautiful as the model then buying this lipstick is a must!

So, in the end which lipstick will you buy?