"It Splits You Open and Softens Your Heart"

         I really enjoyed reading these article and learning more about the concept of physical distance.  I never really thought about the physical distance I place between myself and another object depending on my ability to relate to that particular object or not. This makes me consider ones bias, in a way I guess it works one in the same. One bias can determine how one arrives to a particular conclusion or decision. In the same sense, the physical distance because of your bias and can cause you to be less connect or influenced by that object, which is exactly what they meant when expressing in the article that, "the concept exists in the mind's eye of the individual and it is their subjective perception that uniquely determines "psychic distance".[2] By its very nature psychic distance is a humanistic reflection of individual acuity and not a collective, organizational or societal perspective". This is true in nearly all situations but is not often considered in the moments of decision making. 

I guess I can now consider this even as i pick out what i particularly enjoyed about in Writing Down the Bones which probably come from my own ability to connect to what the author is trying to express. 

My physical distance allowed me to enjoy how she continually expressed that the words you write down do not define you, they are an expression of you in that moment as she says, "Stay fluid behind those black and white words, they are not you. They are a great moment going through you. a moment you were awake enough to capture". This author is extremely poetic, I love her ability to grasp the magical world of writing as she says, "We can step through moons right into bears. You will take leaps naturally if you follow your thought because the mind spontaneously takes great leaps. you must let its expression be born in you and on paper. don't hold too tight, allow it to come out how it needs to rather than trying to control it.”

Writing can be powerful and fun and so very exciting. It can take you through worlds and gift you with images you didn’t even know existed. I love that she allows thoughts to move in and out and emphasizes on not trying too hard to keep the thoughts you loved in a moment so much as running with the new ones that are constantly presenting themselves to you every day. Anyways, the reading was very insightful and inspiring as I gained new perspective and better ways of expressing that perspective through these helpful readings. 

Auto Biography Analysis

Hellen Keller

I analyzed Helen Keller’s autobiography because I was interested in how she processed her sudden shift into darkness. How to see and hear one moment and then to have it disappear the next. Though she was young when I feel like it would cause a closeness in yourself to happen when you seem to be the only person you can speak to. In her autobiography she wrote great descriptions of the memories of her home growing up and seemed to have a positive outlook on life. I only read the one chapter and I suppose I was hoping for more of the “diary” experience instead of the carefully pronounced thoughts that were placed for an over all purpose. I wanted the honesty of the moment analysis (which I found to be extremely hard to find about anyone) but I suppose that the “in the moment” thoughts with Helen Keller would have been in possible. She did, however, describe so beautifully the moments before her illness of being the garden as she wrote, “What joy it was to lose myself in that garden of flowers, to wander happily from spot to spot, until, coming suddenly upon a beautiful vine, I recognized it by its leaves and blossoms, and knew it was the vine which covered the tumble-down summer-house at the farther end of the garden!” I really felt like I was able to imagine with so much detail the actually garden in which she herself was discovering. I also loved when she wrote,“The beginning of my life was simple and much like every other little life. I came, I saw, I conquered, as the first baby in the family always does.” I felt like this was very poetic and relatable. Her experiences were profound and and I find her to be extremely courageous for coming out on top and discovering how to discover the world again as she writes,“Then, in the dreary month of February, came the illness which closed my eyes and ears and plunged me into the unconsciousness of a new-born baby.”I couldn’t imagine this happening to be and I found her speaking on her experience to be so beautiful and poetic as she describes the moments leading up to her losing her site as her going “away from the once-loved light, which came to me dim and yet more dim each day.”And then to be left in that place in which you no longer can remember what it was like before this as she writes,“Gradually I got used to the silence and darkness that surrounded me and forgot that it had ever been different”. 

This experience to me is truly significant and was a very interesting read. I couldn’t imagine going through anything like this and find her to be extremely brave and exactly the line she wrote above, “she came she saw she conquered”

Tina Fey

I then decided to analyze Tina Feys autobiography to lighten the mood up a little bit. Tina Fey, a comedian/actress/writer. I absolutely loved the short chapter I was able to read online. She is HILARIOUS. You can just feel her personality come through this entire book which I found to be so interesting how writing, a flat combination of letters placed on paper, could in fact allow your personality to shine so beautifully.She made light of her scar that she has on her face and the fuss her friends and family made over it, giving her an “inflated sense of self”, later realizing that the attention was not because she was “beautiful” but because they felt “sorry” for her. I loved how funny Tina Fey made every honest situation and left me feeling inspired to “be myself” as she made the honestly look so beautiful and refreshing. Tina Fey went over awkward moments of her growing up and reading the whole first chapter made me want to but the entire book. I felt automatically like I could read it forever, which was very different from reading the Helen Keller autobiography (for obvious reasons) because it engaged me straight from the beginning. Helen Keller I think I approached it as this profound experience that I was going to gain some distant but useful insight on a matter I would never understand. Tina Fey was light and could easily, being a journey through her woman hood, relatable as I am a woman. Even though this was a published autobiography I felt like there was so much honesty in her writing that it made me love reading it!

Ozzy Osbourne

The next one I read was Ozzy Osbourne. This was was the best. I felt like again this showed so much honestly as though he was speaking through the story. He was really funny too as she talked about the first time he robbed a place. He said that he thought he was really coming up on some loot when in reality he grabbed some baby clothes. I just thought he was a funny only man who was going back on his young adolescent life when he thought he was so cool. I loved that he cussed through this book as though you were sitting next to him and he was telling you the story while having a beer or something. I also love the terms he uses like “quid” for money and so on. He talked about the first time he almost went to prison for stealing and how silly he was for wearing a “thumbless glove” that left perfect fingerprints all over the place for the cops to find. Then he talked about the town he grew up in and how there wasn’t much going on there. I liked that he started this book with how his dad said that he was “going to be somebody some day” and journeyed through his nothing times until his something times. 

Each of these analysis brought something new to the table, from serious to seriously funny, I found that each autobiography brought to life these characters that otherwise seemed so distant from the real world. I feel like I was able to actually see them in the rawness of their experiences. It helped to make them real for me. Each writer had different “moves” throughout their writing, whether it was to inspire and touch your heart or if it was to make light of situations through comedy. I found it enjoyable to ready each of these unique writings. Good laughs! 

The Happiness Project

        As I read the Happiness Project chapter 8 I began to understand more of Zacks reasons for not being in love with the book. It did, to me, seem a bit forced and lacked imagination as she said,"i wanted to put the happiness of others before my own happiness" feeling scripted and clique  like she read that somewhere and felt like it was what she was suppose to say. I felt like there could have been more authenticity to her in how she arrived at her conclusions. I guess most of the chapter left me asking myself, “have I  already read this somewhere?” and didn’t provide fresh air to any one perspective.  

There were, however, parts of the chapter that I did liked. I really appreciate the quote, "there are times in the lives of most of us, when we would have given all the world to be as we were but yesterday, when yesterday had passed over us unappreciated and not enjoyed.”I feel that so often we waste our time with pointless worriment that can neither change a single problem nor help us to arrive at a solution, but rather can keep us trapped inside that one particular situation for hours upon end. We are then just wasting time and forgetting to appreciate and cease the moments of here and now. I think that people can often stay in this state of mind their entire lives and not even realize it.  

Writing can, as she puts it, help"[capture] the floods of moments that passed practically unnoticed"and bring them alive again. For this reason, I also appreciated her idea of keeping a one sentence journal (though i know, I, on the other hand, would get lost in endless pages of thoughts). I like this idea of trying to tie everything, good or bad, into one perfect string of carefully chosen words, to express and capture the feeling of that moment. To me that sounds beautiful. That’s one reason why i love writing. You have the ability of slowing down time with the process of seeing, hearing, smelling, and tasting your surroundings as you place them on paper  to be seen and heard forever. It truly is a gift to savor the moments that made you once feel alive. 

I also had a love/hate relationship on the section of gratitude. Though I agreed of the importance of thankfulness and appreciating yourself and your surroundings, I didn’t like the way she arrived at this topic for I felt like it mirrored too similarly the same thought of the one sentence journal. It then came off redundant and forced. It felt, again, inauthentic.  

Personally, I would not be concerned with a moments happiness, for It comes and goes with every passing situation. Instead I would focus on learning to be “joyful” for joy can be found in all situations. Joy sees past the present “misfortune” and knows their is a light on the other side.  

Anyways, over all I appreciated her perspective for any internal thought can be food for the curious mind. 

Click the Happiness Project to read the chapter for yourself!

Writing Down the Bones

Natalie Goldberg, a writer, poet, and teacher describes so eloquently the intimacy of a writer and their craft in the introduction of “Writing Down the Bones”.

I can always spot a true writer when they emphasize the importance of choosing the right pen as Goldberg did in her short introduction. How your pen and paper meet is truly a magical experience and I believe that there is a perfect pen and paper out there for every writer. One that calls you to it every time you pick it up. I have had many friends give me many journals to encourage me in my writing and they have sat in my room collecting dust because they weren’t the right “fit” for me. Everything about it has to feel just right and say, “here you can be you”. I like when Goldberg described, “Learning to use your craft as your weapon” for I guess writing was mine once. When I was young it helped me get through my parents divorce. It seemed to be the only place I could turn to. I began, in those moments hovered over my journal, to grow to know myself better than I ever could have without it. I began to listen to the most distance of thoughts to better make sense of the chaos around me.  I connected with Goldberg’s phrase.. “Penetrating your life and becoming sane”. Writing caused me to go inside myself and find out what was wrong instead of reacting to emotions I hadn’t connected to yet. 

What I took away most from reading this article can be summed up in Goldberg’s quote, “Trust in what you love, continue to do it and it will take you wherever you need to go. And don't worry too much about security when you begin to do what you want” I love that. I feel too often people are frozen in their tracks as soon as they find something that is against the grain. People are not encouraged to pursue their dreams and are often told of what could go wrong and why not to do it. Not many people are encouraged to pursue their dreams. To reach for the stars and to not let anything stand against them.  

Well it is truly encouraging to hear from someone who didn’t let the world stop her. She pursued what she loved and I can now enjoy the thoughtful insight she gained in becoming a respected writer. 

i am holly 

  I am taking this writing course because I love to write and I want to learn how to be better at it. 

A little about me: 

I want to eat and breath and fall in love with the world in slow motion. Life was never meant to be rushed and your eyes were never meant to lose their wonder. 

I have a love for travel...  

It started in High School when I would travel back and forth to Mexico to work in an orphanage in Ensenada with my church. I have a love for children and am fascinated with the different ways people have of living life. When I finished high school I had no idea what to do next.  

I went to college because I thought thats what you were suppose to do but it wasn’t long until I decided that doing things because other people are doing them wasn’t a good enough reason. I took a break from school, I sold my furniture, I left my friends, my job, and everything I knew to find someone out there they call “Self”.It was Thailand that had called me first. There I discovered that there is a whole world out there that I wanted to be apart of as I road elephants and got ambushed by monkeys and finally felt what it meant to be free. I went to India next and then landed in Africa for the better half of a year. I knew a friend who was a principle at a school called City of Refuge, where they rescue orphans from the fishermen trade and provide them with a good education and a safe place to live. Since I had always wanted to be a teacher, teaching in this school sounded like the perfect fit for me. So I climbed the mountains, I embraced the bugs, I became one with the dirt, I laughed as the children laugh and I ate rice, rice and more rice. Teaching these little African children who have never seen a white woman before was not an easy task, mind you. They were either scared of the color of my skin or didn’t take me seriously. After the first week of teaching I questioned if I actually wanted to be a teacher, but I was committed to following out the term and so stuck it out. The day I finally got these children to walk in a straight line was truly a triumph! It was the day I discovered my deep passion for teaching and that I could be successful. My dream is to continue to travel the world and empower students to find in themselves the very change they so desire .There was a point in my teaching however, that I discovered that I still had a lot to learn, and I decided to come back to the States to continue my own education. But this time I am doing it for me. 

To the moments that make you feel Big