January 11

Lit Exploration

Prompt

What is your opinion of the idea that an individual’s life can be altered by a particular experience?

 

     Experiences

 

Every individual goes through particular experiences in life that have some extent of an impact on them. The impact of some experiences can just be meager, like winning a high school basketball game and being joyous for only a few days. On the other hand, some experiences have the power to create significant changes in one’s life, such as the death of a loved one, leading someone to be depressed or disconnected their whole life. Nonetheless, all experiences have the potential to create some sort of change. At times, experiences can spark a certain passion or ability. Particular experiences can lead to significant changes in one’s life, ultimately resulting in the development of new passions.

 

This is clearly evident in the film A River Runs Through It, as a particular experience leads to a powerful change in a family. For the Maclean family, things are normal and smooth for a while. There have been experiences in their lives that have been significant but the one experience that has the highest magnitude to create change is the death of a certain family member. Their family consists of a married couple with two sons, Paul and Norman. Paul is a character known for his rebelliousness and ability to often get in trouble. As youngsters, the two sons would often get in fights and have live their lives as daredevils. As they got older, the older son Norman became more mature but Paul, on the other hand, stayed a risk-taking troublemaker. As an adult, Paul got involved in some dangerous business in a gambling bar, which eventually leads to his death as he gets into a fight. This experience has a devastating impact on the family immediately, especially on his brother Norman. The whole family becomes despondent, they feel as if a piece of them has been removed forever. Norman develops a completely new outlook on life, in which he recognizes the need and responsibility of loved ones. Not only that, this experience leads him to develop a passion that he was meant for, writing and storytelling. Years after the death of Paul, Norman began writing about his life and was able to create a brilliant novel, which was also made into a film. The film ends off with Norman as an old man, narrating his story and explaining how the death of his brother leads him to realize that one should truly try to understand their loved ones. Life can be altered easily, especially by a devastating event such as the death of a loved one. It can lead to individuals to create new thoughts and ideas that can be either negative or positive. Often, events like those can cause people to see the world from a completely new set of eyes.

 

This theme is conveyed in an excerpt called Rock and Roll Jihad, in which an individual changes his life and develops a new passion by just going to a concert. The author of the excerpt narrates himself going to a Led Zeppelin concert. The concert is chaotic, like any other, with loud music blaring and people going wild. The author then goes on to say that unlike the others, he felt a different connection to the music. “ I felt fully awake despite the fact that everyone else around me was swimming in the depths of dizziness.” He ends off by saying. “I saw a vision for my future crystallize. I wanted to play music for the rest of my life….I had found my passion and I wanted to connect with it, share it, and change the world with it.” One simple experience such as going to a concert, was able to completely change the author’s life, leading him to even develop this new passion for music. Attending this concert was able to clear up a path for him mentally, in which, he could now clearly see, how his life was going to turn out. A strong passion in which he wants to impact the whole world. The power of some experiences can be amazing, it can be beyond our imagination at how effectively these experiences are able to affect us. 

 

There was also an experience in my life that sparked a light within me and helped me to find a new passion, a passion that I have even today. This occurred, during my first year of high school. Going into high school, due to suggestions of my family and some of my own interests, I wanted to become an engineer. Math was always a subject that I was naturally good at and was something that I found interesting which is why I had engineering in mind. At the high school, we had to take 3-4 elective classes as part of our curriculum. I decided to take legal studies because I thought it would be a very easy and simple class. I didn’t take it out of interest. I had my mind set on being an engineer but when I was in this class we did this mock trial, in which I was the prosecuting lawyer. As we did this trial and went through the process, I felt a special connection with being a lawyer. I felt as if I was complete as if this was what I was meant for. The whole time that I have been in high school, I have never put in as much effort in an elective class as I did in legal. By the end of the course, I had developed this new outlook on life, through which I looked at life as a lawyer. This too then became my passion as I realized through this experience that engineering is not what my passion is, being a lawyer is. This experience had pretty much changed my life, as I had changed my mind and developed a new dedication towards law. A passion that I still have today and will have for the rest of my life.

 

Particular experiences have the power to create an enormous amount of change in an individuals life. Throughout this essay there are examples of individuals going through experiences which lead them to develop a completely new outlook on life, resulting in the development of new passions and strengths. In A River Runs Through It, Norman changes his outlook on life after the death of his brother and starts storytelling, a passion he is meant for. In the excerpt, the author develops a passion for music by simply going to a concert and in my case, I changed my life and became dedicated to law by just going through one class. It leads to the assumption that maybe our lives are too fragile, that certain experiences can just completely alter our lives and lead to new dreams. Instead, it can also be said that maybe the power of experiences is too strong and that particular experinces have the power to create drastic change. 

Category: Hassan, Sept 2018 | LEAVE A COMMENT
January 11

Visual response

  Inequality

Life between citizens of third world countries and first world countries are very different. This occurs because of differentiating economic and political circumstances. Third world countries, not only have an unstable economy but also have a corrupted form of government. The quality of life in living in third world countries is lousy. Their lives are filled with continuous struggles. Even individuals that are innocent can be punished because of the heartlessness of others and the government. This is suggested in the visual, where two children are playing soccer on the street, are being monitored by a heavily armed police officer. It also seems like the officer is about to shoot as the gun is in his hand and his finger is on the trigger. In societies, where political and economic systems are corrupt, innocence can be heavily chastised by the ruthlessness of those in power, which creates this growing sense of inequality with those societies where behavior like this does not occur.

 

In the image, there is a pair of children that are playing soccer on the street. In the corner is a police officer who seems to be monitoring the children as they play. On top of that, it is possible that the cop is about to fire at the children as there is a gun in his hand and his finger is on the trigger. The soccer ball that the boys are playing with is completely white, symbolizing innocence. The boys do seem to be innocent as they are only playing a joyous sport together just like most children and do not pose a threat of any kind. Yet. they are still being watched an officer who is holding a large weapon, which symbolizes violence and bloodshed. This is a close representation of the situation that is going on in third world countries. Individuals that are innocent are being dragged into this world of violence and bloodshed. The political powers in these countries are heartless and do not care about the fact that they are murdering innocent civilians.

 

Since I live in Canada, which is a first world country, I have never had to face any type of problem like this. First of all, I have several soccer fields around me and so I don’t have to play on the streets. On top of that, I have never had a police officer or someone from the government monitor me while I play soccer with my friends. In fact, nothing of this sort has happened to anyone in Canada. There was this one time where two friends of mine got in a big argument while playing soccer. Things got intense and one of them called the cops. When the officers arrived, not only did they take care of everything gently, but also started playing soccer with us. This just shows the difference between the quality of lives of those that live in wealthy and poor countries. In those poor countries, children that are just being playful and are posing no threat are being heavily monitored by a cop, and children that live in first world countries are not only free to play soccer whenever but are also able to play with police officers.

 

Lives of those that live in poor countries, can be filled with struggles and violence even if they are completely innocent. The disparity between first world and third world countries is immense. life is much different for everyone in those corrupt countries.  We take for granted what we have, as we get freed education and health care while children in other countries dream about such things. Children that are playing soccer in the streets because they have nowhere else to play and are innocent are being dragged into violence and bloodshed while those that live in wealthy countries face no such behavior. We need to strive to create equality between all people in the world, so that ruthlessness does not triumph over innocence.

Category: Hassan, Sept 2018 | LEAVE A COMMENT
December 2

Sense Of Identity

Identity is a term used to describe how a person naturally is. A person’s identity is who they are as a person. Their personality, looks, religion, and culture are all factors that are a part of identity. Often in life, people struggle to accept their true identity to conform to others or due to other circumstances. A situation like this also occurred in my life, in which I had to conform to the norms of society by abandoning my own identity.

A few years ago, I went to visit the country that my parents are from, for the first time. The country that I went to visit was Pakistan. I was 14 years old at the time and had no clue how the people in Pakistan were. When I got there, instantly I noticed that everyone dressed, acted, and moved differently than Canadians. Right away, I started feeling like I didn’t belong there because of my Canadian identity. All of my cousins that I would hang out with would be asking me questions about why I was acting so strange. I was supposed to stay for 4-5 months longer and realized soon that I would not feel comfortable being that odd person out. So I decided to abandon my Canadian identity and to start acting like everyone that lived in Pakistan. I started dressing and acting like all my cousins. Not only that, I even stopped speaking English and began speaking Urdu all the time. I also began wearing the traditional clothes that most Pakistani’s wore all the time. Pretty much, I accustomed my self with the Pakistani culture as much as I could. In just about a month of me being there, I had changed my personality completely. My parents noticed this immediately and then they asked me why I was acting differently. I responded by saying that I am just trying to become a more Pakistani. After living there for a few more months, I came back to Canda. With me, I brought this completely different person.  My friends at school noticed that I was behaving much differently than before. I was acting like a Pakistani person and had also picked up a strong accent. They all asked me how Pakistan was and what happened there. That is when I realized, that I didn’t need that Pakistani identity anymore. It took me a while to gain back the Canadian identity that I lost in Pakistan. Just so that I could conform to society, I was able to abandon my own identity so that I could be considered, “Normal.”

“We live in a world full of people who are satisfied with pretending to be someone they are not.”

Tommy Tran

This quote is portraying a similar message to my personal anecdote. Individuals are so obsessed in this world with artificial things such as fame, reputation, and conformity to society that they would abandon their own identity. Just like the quote explains, they would pretend to be someone they are not. What they fail to realize is that true identity is what matters most. These are just some of the common struggles that individuals go through with their own identities. Struggles like these happen every day to everyone. Through my experiences and this quote, I have learned that people have a natural want to feel accepted and will even ditch their own identity to achieve this.

 

Category: Hassan, Sept 2018 | 5 Comments on Sense Of Identity
October 31

Stand Up For Your Beliefs

We all have certain beliefs and moral values that we cherish, rights and wrongs that we recognize, and it is our duty to stand up for these things In life. There are often situations where these ethical values of ours are tested, such as a workplace that is being racist, or a colleague that is being discriminated against, but no matter what happens we should always stand up for what we believe is right. At times this can lead you to stand up against your boss, friends, and sometimes even family, but in the end, its all worth it because at no expense should our morals and beliefs be compromised or ignored. They are the factors that shape who we are as a person, and when we see situations where our beliefs or morals are being acted against, we should take a stand. Our morals and beliefs define who we are and when we don’t stand up for them, it defeats our purpose in life as we are being untrue with ourselves.

Image result for stand up for your beliefs

http://soundofheart.org/galacticfreepress/content/standing-your-beliefs-group-opposition-what-changes-your-world

A few years ago, in grade eight there was an experience for me in which I had to stand up for my beliefs. I had this group of friends that I had met in grade six, which was the first year I joined this school. There were only five of us but in two years all of us had become close friends. We truly cared for each other and we believed that we would be good friends for a while, maybe even forever. As we got into grade eight, the rule in our school that we could not go off campus was lifted, and so at lunch, we were able to go to the places around our school such as Seven Eleven or Pizza Hut. For the first month of the school year, everything was fine, we would often go to Seven Eleven and buy food or drinks for each other. Then this one day, none of us brought any money, one of my friends suggested we still go to Seven Eleven just for fun. As we all got there, my friends and I were talking and the same friend that suggested for us to come to Seven Eleven, suggested that we should just steal. Right away, all my other friends agreed. Then they all looked at me to also approve but instead, I shook my head in disagreement. Stealing is something that I have always been morally against, I truly believe stealing is wrong and that one should be honest by buying their own stuff. They all asked me why I disagreed and I explained to them that it is wrong, but they all persisted that it didn’t matter. After arguing for a few minutes I finally exclaimed that if they did steal from there, I would stop talking to them. I still don’t know if they didn’t take me seriously or just didn’t care, but the four of them still went inside and came back out with pockets full of candy. Afterward, I completely ditched my friends, I stopped talking to them and started hanging out with a completely different group of people, those friends often tried to contact me and get me to hang out with them, but I ignored them because at this point I had realized that they were bad company.

 We can never be afraid to stand up for what is right, no matter what others may say. And sometimes, if that means taking a lonely road, if what we are standing for is true, then perhaps moonlight or sunshine will light our way and make it less lonely.

Pramila Jayapal

My anecdote shows that one must always stand up for what is right, even if it means ditching your best friends. This quote is also explaining a similar message, conveying that you should always stand up for your beliefs even if you are alone. Furthermore, it states that if whatever we are standing up for is true to ourselves then it won’t be as lonely as it seems. Nevertheless, standing up against the wrongs of others is essential, because when one person stands up, then often several others are motivated to stand up, creating a change towards something more ethical. Not only that, living a life in which you conform to the unethical actions of others, is a life not worth living. The act of always standing up for what you believe in may be defined as courage or just plain stupidity, but even If it is truly considered stupid, then maybe we all should be stupid.

Category: Hassan, Sept 2018 | 4 Comments on Stand Up For Your Beliefs
September 16

This I Believe: The importance of Spontaneity in life.

Spontaneity. It is defined as the ability to act on natural impulses. Impulses that every human gets once in a while, impulses to try something new, to take on a challenge, or to even take a risk. Being spontaneous can be as simple as waking up one morning and going skydiving just for the fun of it. They are those moments are not planned and are done out of instinct and desire. I believe in spontaneity, in that it is essential to life. I believe this life that we have, should not be wasted on repetition, or production, or perfection. I believe that each day should be different and that each day should be lived as if it’s your last. I believe that you only live once, so use this life wisely, and ironically I believe that living your life wisely does not mean being perfect or calm but instead is taking risks and living life on the edge. I believe in order to have a life worth living, you need to be spontaneous. At times I have this visual in my mind, where there are two different individuals. The first individual has a perfect life, he is rich beyond imagination and lives a life of luxury, but he isn’t spontaneous. He doesn’t take those risks in life and every day for him is the same. His life seems amazing and yet he isn’t happy. Then there’s the second individual, whose life has ups and downs and is much poorer, but he is spontaneous. He takes risks every single day and lives life on the edge. Even though his life is much less luxurious than the first individual, he is much happier. I think to myself all the time, which one would I want to be, and I always pick the second individual.

“The only trip you will regret is the one you don’t take.” – Author Unknown

 

For as long as I can remember, I have always been spontaneous. Every day, I would wake up thinking about what crazy thing I should do today. I was always a risktaker. I even did things such as ditching school, sneaking out of the house, and even fighting. Things that would often get me in trouble, but in the end, it was always worth it for me because I got to do something new. Being spontaneous was always in my life but it wasn’t a belief of mine until grade 5. At times, my father and I have chats about certain things. Usually, they are about school, education, and work. This one day, when I was in grade 5, my dad and I were talking. During this conversation, he told me something that formed this belief I have today. He told me, he regrets not being spontaneous when he was younger. His whole life, he had chances to take a risk and to be spontaneous, but he always turned it down because he wanted to be a good kid, then a teenager, and then an adult. He told me that he has now finally realized as a 45-year-old man, that he should have taken all those risks. He said that he should have tried to have fun and live his life on the edge. He told me he wishes that he could be young again, and take all those risks he wanted to in life because spontaneity is very important. These words that my dad told me, formed a belief of mine that day. Spontaneity is essential to life.

Spontaneity dies out in individuals as they get older. As we age, we become more mature and wiser. You wouldn’t expect a 30-year old man to go to parties and amusement parks as much as you would expect a teenager or a child. As we get older, we start to believe that spontaneity is dangerous or unintelligible. This is something that I won’t let happen to me. I want to be spontaneous my whole life, it doesn’t matter what age. I want to try new things as I get older, even when I am pushing 60 years of age. Things that I already know that I can do are skydiving, scuba diving, and bungee jumping. Obviously, I won’t be able to these events when I am in my 40s but I know that there will be several other spontaneous things for me to do even past 40. This belief and vision of mine, to always be spontaneous lead me to realize something, seven years later after what my dad had told me. I had finally come up with a response to our conversation. What I told my dad was that you shouldn’t associate age with spontaneity. You can always be spontaneous no matter how old you are. This time I had helped my dad form a new belief, a belief that neither of us will ever forget. Spontaneity is essential to life, no matter what age.

Category: Hassan, Sept 2018 | 4 Comments on This I Believe: The importance of Spontaneity in life.