Carry It Forward: Conscious Thinking

                Life can be incredibly overwhelming at times. With the constant buzzing of phones, loud noises from the television, and bright lights from computer screens, I begin to feel trapped by modern technology. Nicholas Carr would explain the power of new equipment as “the ‘frenzied-ness of technology threatens to ‘entrench itself everywhere’.” It begins to take over many of our lives forbidding any moments of self reflecting and being aware. Instead it allows us to roam around unconsciously. In Nicholas Carr’s book The Shallows, he explains how technology can make us unconscious, less creative and lazier.  

In The Shallows it says, “Our ability to engage in “meditative thinking,” which he saw as the very essence of our humanity, might become a victim if headlong progress. The tumultuous advance of technology could, like the arrival of the locomotive at the Concord station, drown out the refined perceptions, thoughts, and emotions that arise only through contemplation and reflection” (222). After reading this last part of the book, I understood how fast technology is advancing and how fast we become over-involved with new products. This passage also reminds me of when I was completely unaware while walking through the streets of an old city in Iran. I was constantly texting and looking at my phone instead of really enjoying the wonderful sites. After understanding this passage, I have decided to balance the amount of technology I use. Instead of going on Facebook or checking what’s new online, I’ll take a moment to reflect on my day and actually think about how I spent my day. Nicholas Carr has taught me to be more conscious of what is happening around me instead of being caught up in modern equipment.

Tony and Maria: The New Romeo and Juliet

Many of us know of Shakespeare’s famous love struck Romeo and Juliet. We know about their love at first sight, and their tragic ending, but do we truly understand the meaning behind this famous love story?

Romeo and Juliet was written as a play in the 1500’s and has been retold many times after. Many movies, songs, plays and books are based on this tragedy, trying to recreate the true love of Romeo and Juliet. In the 1950’s West Side Story was made. It was a popular musical based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. It was known as the modern day tragic love story written by Arthur Laurents. This musical was about the forbidden romance between a Puerto Rican girl named Maria and an American boy named Tony. Although the love between these two beings were real, it was impossible because of the gang rivalry between the Jets (Americans) and the Sharks (Puerto Ricans). West Side Story is a contemporary Romeo and Juliet allowing our generation to understand the difficulty that these characters went through. Many of us are unaware of the true hardships of what Montague and Capulet went through but when it is retold with the Jets versus Sharks it is understood. When reading, or even hearing, the original Romeo and Juliet, our age group becomes confused and caught up in trying to understand the primary language of the text instead of actually concentrating on the emotions and thoughts that are given by the characters. When the “new version” of this story is watched, the audience becomes happy when Maria realizes she is loved and is empathetic to her when her true love is dead.

West Side Story has always been one of my favorite movies. In my opinion it is an incredible story of the joys and tragedies of Maria. Although remakes are known to be worse than the original, that is not always true. Remakes can give a clearer image to newer generations and help the audience relive the same experiences of past spectators. I believe that remakes are good because they can be easier to understand and allow us to see the story in new perspective.

To learn more about West Side Story: http://www.filmsite.org/wests.html

Best of the Week: The Run ("Pearls Before Breakfast")

Ready, Set, GO!  Start running. Keep your head straight, look at nothing but the finish line and keep your legs moving. All that you think about is being number one and winning. This is what the most people’s days start like. They wake up in a rush to get to work, and school. Most human beings lives have become a never ending race. We have filled are lives with unnecessary obligations, tests and challenges that we must overcome. Most people live for their requirements and nothing else, but is this the real reason for human life? For the constant stresses and jobs that we have?  

Human beings today live life as if it was a competition. A competition about school, college then jobs. So when do we rest? We cannot take breaks to walk in a race because then well be behind. We go on everyday unnoticing the little treasures around us. We never seem to notice the beautiful plants that come to life in the spring or the street performers that sing their heartfelt songs. Life was meant to live not suffer through. While reading “Pearls before Breakfast” I was upset by how many of the men and women did not even stop to listen to Joshua Bell’s performance. In one part of this article, Gene Weingarten says, “if we can’t take the time out of lives to stay a moment and listen to one of the best musicians on Earth and play some of the best music ever written; if the surge of modern life so overpowers us that we are deaf and blind to something like that—then what else are we missing?” It is upsetting to think about how so many beautiful things in life go unnoticed. How we block out extra noises from performers and never notice the wonderful things around us. We become so overwhelmed with unimportant issues and things that we forget to look around and become aware. We fail to see performers like Joshua Bell.

Reading this article was somewhat of an awakening for me. I would hate to be thought of as an inconsiderate person who fails to notice the beauty of the world we live in. I know that I too am a person who ignores the street performers and the other artists on the streets, but after reading this article, I want to change that. “Pearls Before Breakfast” was an interesting article that completely changed my viewpoint on the artists that perform on streets.

The Real Seeker

When one thinks of perfect they think of something that is beyond amazement. They think of something so great that we cannot even imagine it. When many philosophers or religious people think of perfect they think of G-d. Descartes believed that G-d was and is perfect. He believes this because we are imperfect and if something or someone was to be ideal or amazing it would be “one a perfect entity,” G-d. Since he believes this he also believes that G-d must exist. He must be around us because he is perfect and to be this way he must be the incredible idea that we have of him. G-d would not let us down with the ideas that we are left to believe with.

When I read this in Jostein Gaardner’s novel Sophie’s World, I thought of how true this idea is. It made me think about Descartes idea of the existence of G-d and how it is impossible that G-d does not exist. Although I have been religious and a follower of G-d my whole life, I still had those short moments of doubt along the way. I remember at the age of five or six, I thought about the existence of myself. I had wondered if I was real or if I was just a dream. When I asked my mother this question, she quickly answered with, “of course you’re real.” That answer had not satisfied me though, which is why it led me to have some doubt about the world and G-d. After I read Descartes section, I got goose bumps because I was so taken aback. I was thankful to know that there was some idea that made sure I existed. It was comforting to know this.

I also especially liked his quote, “I think therefore I am.” This made me think of how we make our own beliefs. Although his meaning was about the existence of ourselves, I thought of how with thinking and believing, we do completely exist, and we can start to create other ideas and truths about life. When we find doubt in certain aspects about our lives and become incredibly curious, we become determined to find the answer. Descartes ideas were the most fascinating for me, and reading about his findings really made me have some doubt about my own life.

Sophie's World

Jostein Gaarder’s novel Sophie’s World has taught many of us about our own lives. We have learned about the many ideas that philosopher’s and scientists before us had. By reading this novel we are also thinking about ourselves. We actually think about why we are alive and what we have to live for. We start to create our own beliefs and understandings from the ideas of others.

One topic I found interesting in the novel were the contradicting ideas of Aristotle and Plato. Aristotle supported the idea that senses are more important than reasoning. He believed that we understand the world by how we feel about it. Plato believed that we understood our lives and the world by reason. In my opinion I support Aristotle and how we view the world from our senses and parts of Plato’s beliefs. I believe that senses are important and help us perceive the world a certain way. We first view the world by how we see and feel about it. Although I support Aristotle’s belief I understand Plato’s belief as well. Plato thought that we cannot trust our senses and we should think about the world. In many cases people say that we should not do anything based on our emotions, so does this mean that our emotions can deceive us? It might be depending on the situation. Both senses and reasons are important and they should both be used equally.

Enchanted by Taylor Swift

We all have emotions and thoughts that we keep within ourselves. We have our own secrets that we never tell. Many of these thoughts and emotions cannot be spoken of but instead sung about. Taylor Swift is an artist who sings what most people believe and think. She sings about the hardships of growing up, and love. Her self-written lyrics are ideas that everyone thinks about. In her song “Enchanted”, Taylor Swift sings about meeting the person you are meant to be with. She sings about the thoughts that people have when they meet their soul mate. This song begins with her serene feminine voice and the strumming of the guitar in the background. As she sings about the scene of two people meeting her voice becomes louder with beat of the drum. As this song continues the violin and wind instruments are added connecting with her voice. Whenever she describes the thoughts that one has when meeting someone she begins to sing louder almost creating the same confused and anxious reaction anyone can have. The addition of the instruments helps explain the inquiries that we all have. “This night is sparkling, don't you let it go, I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home, I'll spend forever wondering if you knew, I was enchanted to meet you,” are the repetitive lyrics that describe the constant emotion that swift has. The honest lyrics to this song tell about how most teenage girls feel. When I first heard this song I was moved by the emotional lyrics. The melody of her song allowed me to understand what she is going through during this encounter. The femininity in her voice adds to the sentimental value this song acquires. This song truly allows one to feel enchanted.

Change of Mind: Cities with Personality

Look out your window, open your eyes and what do you see? Do you see anything special, anything that catches your attention? When I look out my window, really observing what sits outside, I see plain suburban houses, a couple trees here and there. Once I close my eyes I imagine seeing some splash of color, a paint that is not beige, white, black or grey. I want to see something out of the ordinary, something that makes Glenview unique. But is that possible?

Glenview is exactly the kind of town that James Kunstler was describing. The town that has nothing really special to it, where every day you hope that something interesting happens to liven up your day. Everything is the same in our town. It contains big suburban houses and great landscaping. Although Glenview is a great safe town, it is very bland.  Every place you go to sends a message to the people so what kind of message does Glenview give? A very ordinary boring town. In  my opinion, towns like Evanston give a message of open mindedness. Even though Evanston is still a suburb, it has a city feel to it, they have pretty streets and personality. The students and people that live there add to the city’s qualities.

After watching James Kunstler’s TED talk, I thought about how dull some places are and how easily beautiful they could be if there were some changes. Whenever I go to downtown Chicago I love looking at the beautiful architecture, the history that each building contains. I enjoy sitting in grant park and looking at the sculptures and artwork that lies on the green grass. I would rather spend my day in a beautiful city than a simple town. I know that Glenview is pretty compared to most towns, but if we added more personality, art, things that really catch people’s attention, Glenview could and would be more enjoyable.  Turning a plain city into a colorful town is possible. At the end of his talk Kunstler mentions how we should stop calling ourselves consumers, and I agree with statement. I think we should all add to our city instead of just “taking” from it. If we did add our own ideas, art work, etc. we could all make our cities into pleasant towns, and a “town worth saving.”