Seeing the beauty of the world through the innocence and more rational reasons is how, Romanticists perceive literature, music, and other arts. They see life as being innocent, being full of feelings such as love, forgiveness, and passion. The poem The Chimney Sweeper (Songs of Innocence) by William Blake was not recognized for his views of the innocence of literature. He rather was seen as being mad for his irrational ways of thinking, allowing for the beauty of innocence to be portrayed through an orphan child. Straying away from the ideals of the Industrial Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment Blake’s work was not seen as irrational to the norm of classical ideologies. Rather than seeing beauty through math and symmetrical means Blake accepted the fact that true beauty was in reality and in the moment.
Another five years later Blake wrote another poem The Chimney Sweeper (Song of Experience) in this his view of beauty changed he no longer viewed beauty as a romanticist but rather through classicalism. Five years prior when writing the first Chimney Sweeper poem Blake devotedly fought against the ideals of classicalism, but as time went on and the influence of the Industrial Revolution he began to accept that times change. The pure beauty of innocence began to be explained now through perfection of symmetry and mathematical means. The angel that gave the boys hope of a better life, is no longer now that the reality that the young boys parents have left him behind.
Being optimistic in life like the boy in both poems gives him the sense of what there is in life and the joys beyond what may seem to be in his way. The angel and the relationship with God gave the boys hope of what is to come and that there was more than what may meet the eye. Pending on the reader Blake had given the idea that with faith the faith of God there is a better place. Yet when facing the world alone it is a much longer and lonelier path. There is always a reason for what happens, always an explanation to solve life’s problems.
William Blake faced the challenge of portraying two views on literature based on the same poem. Within the Age of Enlightenment, the views and story expressed is felt to what the reader believes in. As turning into a young woman I can see and understand both views of Classicalism and Romanticism. Yet I more associate with being and romanticist, I live in the moment appreciating the beauty of what God has in store for me and the purpose I have on earth. There is never a day that I don’t live to the fullest not knowing what is around the corner, accepting what reality of life puts in front of me. Even with living in the moment I still question why God created us and what is there for me when I die; is there really such a thing as heaven with eternal happiness? Staying on the dotted line between each philosophical view is not an easy path but staying true to who you are and what you believe in makes finding beauty and purpose all more clearer.
An Individuals self-concept is the core of his personality. It affects every aspect of human behaviour: the ability to learn, the capacity to grow and change. A strong positive self-image is the best possible preparation for success in life - Dr. Joyce Brothers
What makes us believe that people change and why? Personalities are always changing like a kaleidoscope, there never for a period of time when it is the same. This comes from the way we believe what is right and wrong and how we define our moralities. No matter where it may be no one person never acts the same. If society and people around the world acted all in the same way, what reasons are there for us to live, what fun is it to be defined as a robot? This is where I strive to find my personal light in life to become my own person and no be defined other wise.
I never really stopped to think at what the causes were for pretending to be someone you arent’. Growing up I took it to just be the fact of life and that if you want to hang out with the “cool” kids or to be accepted in society it was just a given to do anything to achieve this. Peer pressure is always and will always be a challenged presented in making “fitting in” that more difficult. But this mind set changed recently when my school attended the Dare to Care seminar. Our speaker Dwayne Peace made me realize that being more than one person and having to change constantly between groups of people was just wasted energy, and in the end, was it worth all that effort? Acting like this is only shows your true colours, it shows that you are insecure with yourself, unstable and afraid.
One of the main reasons why I act differently between my friends and the way I am at home is because of trust and the feeling of personal safety. The feeling of being vulnerable and being exposed scares me, I need a personal safety blanket, posing as an invisible wall allowing me to be resilient and shake off what may want to break me down. Being at home is the one place that I feel safe from the outside world, knowing that no matter what I am at peace.
What I need is to feel that I am safe is to have friends that I can trust knowing that they are there for me no matter what. In the same sense I am the same, there is no reason that people should have to survive high school or even life alone. Being able to stand up together. Unfortunately for one of my friends, Danielle and I our once strong friendship has now started to crumble. Because of the exact reasons for loosing the trust in people. Because my friend suffers with cerebral palsy she tends to put up a wall stopping the outside world from putting her down. She has one of the most strongest personalities I know and as a result it seems like I can’t get through to her like we used to. Now instead of giggling about boys or talking about fashion we now seem to only fight.
I never want to go through life knowing that I am alone only because of the way I present my self and the personality that I show. I realized with the help of Dwayne Peace that there is no reason to be someone you aren’t because there is no point. The reason people call you friends id because of who you are and not the person you are trying to be or hiding underneath.
Walking the beach in Australia I noticed on particular shiny little pebble in the sand that caught my eye. I started to wonder what the beach would be like if there were no pebbles at all. With out the pebbles on the beach I realized that without the pebbles there would be no reason to walk along the ocean and see the jaw dropping views. This is how I see my self and my out look on life, an important pebble in the world. If it weren’t for me and man kind on earth, there would be nothing. No place to call home, no one to call family, and no sence of belonging. Even though at times it may seem like I won’t make a worth while impression on the world, I remind my self that I’m an important piece to the bigger picture. Every decision and action I take changes my life and others around me for ever growing towards who I want to become in life.
Ever since I was a little girl I have wanted to travel the world and se as much of it as I can. I have been fortunate enough to do so, by traveling to nine countries over the years of my childhood. With this I have seen and expereinced life and cultures that my friends only dream aout. When I was thirteen I was able to backpack around Europe, the sights and experiences has made me become the person that I am today. Even though most of my memories of Europe are positive, some memories have stuck with me because of the impact that made me appreciate where I live today. For example when backpacking and staying at hostels, I saw parts of cities neglected and full of reality away from the glam and glitz of tourists. It has changed my out look on life and made me proud of the privileges and luxuries of everyday living in Canada. Im proud to live here and support the Canadian image around the world.
In Canada one of the many luxuries to the citizens is the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. With this Charter people immigrating to Canada are able to keep thier identity and still become a Canadian citizen. One example of a minority reputaion is the controversy over allowing Baltej Singh Dhillon, an malaysian immigrant, allowing to join the Canadian Royal Mounted Police. As being accepted into the training program he were to cut his hair and remove his turban allowing him to properly wear the stetson and completing the uniform. But with doing this it would go against his religious beliefs and show great disrespect to his religion. Because of the representation of Maylasian immigrants and the multicultural identity of Canada Dhillon was allowed after great controversy to continue wearing his turban as a new part of the uniform that previously remained unchanged since 1873.
Now as I’m older and growing into a young adult, I realize more to an extent how my decisions and judgements can affect my future and my impact on the world. As a toddler my life depended on my parents and the choices they made for me, and the way they taught me to act and behave in society. Now as a young adult I am able to show what I have learnt and make my own impression on the world. Over the years I have learnt to not judge people like a book and its cover. This is one habit that I am proud to over come and with this I am able to see people in a different light and see all the good in them rather than the bad. I am now starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Keeping social justice and peace in the world is not an easy task to accomplish alone, but it only takes one simple random act of kindness to start it all. Its like the domino effect once it starts there is nothing you can do to stop. I strive to be the person to step out from the crowd, not being afraid and doing what is right no matter what people say and think. All it takes is people coming togeather for a good cause. Like doing mission work in third world countries, and volunteering at cook houses for the homeless. Things like this show kindness in the world and keep people togeather. I can’t imagine life without cooperation and love from friends and family, I wouldn’t be the person I am today.
Peace, equality and social justice can not be achieved alone, it takes the cooperation of people around the world, coming together for a good cause. Going out of my way to help a stranger with their groceries or holding a door open for someone with their hands full is not a hard task. But is one good habit that I try everyday to get into. I’m so used to only thinking of my self that it shows in that people think that I am better than them. This is not who I am, through growing up I am discovering that I am a more caring person that people take for granted and that I am resilient to all life’s trials and tribulations. Making me Shustyn and no one else.
In order to motivate others, you must first become a source of motivation by yourself. It simply means that if you want to get anything done through others, you must first do it through yourself. – Hazrat llys Attar Qadri
Conflicts are always inevitable to occur sooner or later in life. For the last 5 months I have gone through conflicts and hardships. That have tested my faith in myself and my friends, it also has broken apart and made friendships that are much stronger than before . This is a part of life that I would of much rather skipped over. But with this experience I have grown as an individual allowing me to become stronger as a young adult, preparing me for the unknown of adulthood.
The conflict that arose between the Pharisees and Jesus only tested their beliefs, like the conflict of friendship between my friends and I. But with all hardships always comes something better and more out of life. For me I now have a stronger relationship with my one friend, but as a result my cousin and I no longer talk and trust each other. This is something that I am not proud of, is to have lost a great friendship with a family member. But with this I have discovered more of my self and has prepared me for the future that much more.
Jesus is that one person that I look up to, because he is not afraid to be different and to not judge people by the way they look, and by their different beliefs. He is the person creating the domino effect that changes the world, making a wave of equality. Judging people is one of my greatest life challenges and everyday I’m faced with the challenge to break that habit. I’m now learning to treat everyone equally and with the respect that they deserve.
God has ultimately brought us into this world making us our own unique person. All with a special purpose in life. We are his children and just like any parent he wants the best for us. Wanting us to keep to the beaten path and resist the temptations of life that go against his rules or the 10 commandments. All my life I have grown up believing in God and have followed his teachings. Knowing that God is always there for me when I need him most. And that he is the only person other than myself that can help me become the person that I want to be, finding the light in life.
We are all equal in Gods eyes, he is the shepherd and we are the sheep. Like any parent God wants us to follow our dreams and beliefs and the teachings of the Bible. To stand for what we believe in and to be resilient to life’s pressures and hardships. With God always being there for me I have become a person that I am happy to be. I have also found skills and talents that have allowed me to go further as a person, one of which is to no longer judge people on how they portray them selves. Over the years this has been one of my most difficult habits to over come, and now is one of my new learnt skills that I am proud to of accomplish. I no longer shut people out from conversations just because they portray a sense of they are better than me attitude. I now take the time to get to know them and see how they act towards me and my friends, giving a chance for them to prove them self before I judge.
With every mistake I make I don’t see it as a bad thing, but rather as a time to learn and grow. Learning what not to do in the future. I have learnt how to get the respect and trust from my elders, and to give the respect back. With this people trust me and no longer treat me with the typical teenager attitude. Everyday poses as a new challenge learning new skills allowing me to grow further into a young adult, and someone I’m proud to be. I face new challenges, that test my beliefs and my strength to stay true to who I am. My family and friends and God have the most effect of how I grow. But ultimately only God and I are able to decide my future and how I choose to take my path into the unknown of adulthood.
“All my life I had been looking for something, and everywhere I turned someone tried to tell me what it was. I accepted their answers too, though they were often in contradiction and even self-contradictory. I was naive. I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I, and only I, could answer. It took me a long time and much painful boomeranging of my expectations to achieve a realization everyone else appears to have been born with: that I am nobody but myself.” – Ralph Ellison
Becoming the person I want to become takes time and maturity, it doesn’t get defined over night or right from day one. Time can only tell with experiences in life, who I am and the person I’m going to become in the future. Over the years I have been given the opportunity to travel to many countries such as Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States of America. With these great opportunities I have been able to slowly discover who I am and my place in the world. Through traveling I have seen and experienced many cultures, allowing me to see a new way of life that some people only dream of. Even though I am 16 years old, I can only wish of the person I want to become.
My characteristics, of who I am are influenced from my family and friends and the ones I love the most. Their influence on me, allows me to become someone that I am proud to be of and not be ashamed. With their guidance I am able to learn from their mistakes and mine, further discovering who I am and who I want to be. When I was younger I used to judge people for the way they portrayed them selves. If they made themselves seem like they were better than everyone and popular, then I would not talk to them and try not to befriend them. As I got older I began to realize that people started to think of me this way as well. I then quickly realized then that its not right to judge a book by its cover.
Everyday I strive do things to the best of my ability, to become the person that everyone respects, and to become and individual person in society. Getting that respect from my peers and elders is one of my goals in life. One way that I gain respect from my elders is through being a role model to the younger dancers in my dance club. I love to work with them and see the smile on their face when they are having fun. I’m able to have fun with the younger kids and see the joy and respect I gain from their parents. As a child growing up I had many role models such as my mom and my “older sister” Riehlind and now that I am older myself, I strive to be a role model to younger kids. Passing on experiences and knowledge to them as they grow up.
Each day I am one step closer to defining and finding out who I am, and one more step to becoming an individual and not another robot” in society. When I was younger I heavily relied on the people around me for guidance to the right choices that I should make. Allowing me to take the easy route to growing up. But as a teenager I want to discover more things on my own and not rely on the choices and decisions that people made for me. I want to make my own mistakes, allowing me to grow and learn what to do and what not to do for the future. Often as a teenager I see clique groups of girls and guys that do everything the same just because they are afraid of rejection and or are too afraid to make their own decisions just because it might not be cool. I see these people as just being robots in society because they are not their own person but a person that was created through the peer pressures of society. I am not one of these people I like to be my own self and I’m recognized for that.
Every day I make an effort to become the person that I strive to be. Although I cannot predict the and for see my future, the choices and decisions that I make to day can only help me for what is to come. Learning from my mistakes and using what I have learnt from these few years of growing up can only help me for the better in my future. All working towards fining out who I am and reaching my goal of becoming the individual that I want to be.
When I was younger and growing up my favorite thing to do was dance. I remember when I was younger I watched my cousin on stage dancing as Cinderella, and from then on in all I wanted to do was dance around the house and dance in front of my family showing them what I can do. So as soon as I was old enough, my mother enrolled me in Ukrainian dance. That was 12 years ago and I am still dancing with the same enjoyment and enthusiasm. Dancing to me gives incentive to grow on my talents that I know always striving to achieve my best. The progress that I see myself achieve over 12 years is astonishing. This gives me the pride that I have done something good.
Over the years I believed in the saying “practice makes perfect” but now that I am older I realize that this is not the case. I now question what perfect really is and how i can achieve perfect through dancing. For over 12 years i average three to four hours a week of dancing, yet I am still not the perfect dancer in my eyes. But I am still making progress each week learning a new skill and learning from my mistakes. Allowing me to grow as a dancer and as a person finding out who I really am.
Just recently my dance group traveled up to Grand Prarie for a festival. This trip gave us the experience as technical dancers to adjust to new stages, and form of dancing that in the future can help us grow and become better for future festivals and competitions. But not only did this trip help us learn new technical skills but it allowed us to bond more as friends. One of the key aspects to a group doing well in dance is to have a good relationship with everyone in the group all getting along with one another. I can defiantly say that my group and I achieved this. The memories that we have made on this trip I will never forget and the new connection that we now have will better our skills on the dance floor. Allowing our group to achieve new heights and make ever lasting memories.
I can’t imagine what my life would be like if I never joined Ukrainian dancing. Not going through some of the experiences I have encountered over the years, and meeting my friends from all over Alberta would be sad. Although it doesn’t seem like it but from them I have learnt new techniques and skills that I can take with me for the future.
Narrator- What is the meaning of life? As we all grow up sooner or later we question this meaning. Adults also have difficulty understanding death and the reason for grief in life. Death is a complex concept and there is no simple way to explain death to a child. An elementary class project in school of raising butterflies shows students how important and precious life really is. A simple death like a butterfly to a third grade student for example, can be a moment that will always be remembered. This is what happens to a young third grade student named Sadie when her class project of raising caterpillars turn into the important life lesson of death. Learning how life is so presious and important in every aspect.
Sadie- ” Miss. Smith why did my caterpillar not turn into a beautiful butterfly?”
Teacher- “Well Sadie sometimes these things happen in life. Where God chooses who he wants to live and who is to stay in heaven with him. In this case he chose to keep your caterpillar with him and let all the others live here in earth with us.”
Sadie- But thats not fair I loved Romeo. Who is God to decide who stays with us or goes to heaven with him?
Miss Smith- ” God created this world and all who live on it… Do you remember what we learnt in religion class today?
Sadie- yeah.. so what.. I loved Romeo a lot and he was going to come live with me in my room when he turned into a beautiful butterfly. Why did God have to choose Romeo why didn’t he choose tommy’s, he is always a teachers pet and a suck up… his caterpillar must of been better than Romeo. Why didn’t God choose him?
Miss Smith- I’m not quite sure Sadie, and I don’t know all the answers but God takes the best of us and Romeo must of been the best caterpillar, out of all of them to have been taken to heaven, and you should be proud of that, Remember that he was specially chosen to stay in heaven by God, Now that is an honor and you should be proud of the way you handled this very difficult situation.
Sadie- Knowing that my caterpillar will never be a beautiful betterfly like Tommy’s is really sad…but knowing that God makes decisions for the better good and takes the best caterpillar away from us makes me feel like I raised a good caterpillar and he will always be a butterfly in my heart.
Narrator- Death is not an experience that anyone should go through, but it is a life lesson that needs to be learnt sooner or later. For Sadie it happened to be sooner with her pet caterpillar Romeo. But with this experience death can seem less of a hard experience to her. Knowing that the best of us are specially chosen to live with God forever.
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When I listen to music I think about what is important to me in life and, what I can do differently to impact my life for the better, and those around me. When I listen to the song The Dance by Garth Brooks I think about my ultimate wish to, change peoples lives for the better. To see the joy in their face when the weight of life is lifted off their shoulders, for those few minutes, this is the best gift I could ever receive. To go out of my way to do something little to help out is nothing to me, but when I see that people turn a blind eye to those that need help is hurtful that they could care less. So why is it so hard to lend a helping hand?
With the youth in society today there is an award called the Top 20 Under 20. This recognizes students around the world that are striving and making a difference in bettering societies worldwide. Although this is a great accomplishment to be awarded with this recognition, I believe in taking small steps and helping people individually. This way to me I see more accomplishment, and impact on my efforts. I have full respect for anyone who is recognized with this award. They are amongst the few that care about our planet and the conflicts between worldwide societies. Those who are awarded are the change needed for future generations, to keep people motivated to better the world in the future.
With every effort I make, I hope that someone will see and then in turn help someone in need, thus creating a domino effect. Its like the commercial for a Foundation for a Better Life, where someone waiting to hold a store door open for a complete stranger created a tidal effect of people helping out once they see someone doing something good. This is what I hope to accomplish everyday, to be the starting domino creating the wave. I don’t care about awards such as the Top 20 under 20, or the noble peace prize, what I care about is the little differences that I do to change society.
