SHIZAM!

Ok, so first of all, I just wanted to say this was so much fun. I loved figuring out who was which clue and then finding out what object represented each medicine. Now for the deeper side…The strengths I saw in myself were Heart and compassion. These could help me on my journey with other people, being able to think and care for others along with looking at their perspective. Now for the medicines that I thought I would need for my journey to complete my person I chose humor, faith, perserverance, humility, patience, courage, selflessness, joy, discenment, and strength.

The first medicine I retreived was Courage. The reason I chose courage was because I think that it is necessary to take each step in our journies. It helps us more onto the future and not be afraid of what is to come. I feel like I needed this medicine, because there are many times that I will be afraid of taking the next step because I have no idea of what is to come. This medicine will help me overcome this fear. In order to get it I went over to Mr. Hick’s office, accompanied with a rather large crowd of other zero hour students, I guess the word “debate” in the clue really gave it away. I was a little confused at first at why it was a crayon but later Sra. Jackman (the guardian of humor) explaned that it was about the courage for coloring over the lines. This made a lot of sense in regards to the hero journey considering that it requires you to escape the world and the society. In order to do that we must have the courage to go beyond what society wants and do what we believe is to be right, such as coloring over the lines (something i must say I pretty much suck at because I am a little too OCD, so yayyy Mr. Hicks, thanks for the courage!)

After a few of my classes I now had break and with Alon being crazy excited for this scavenger hunt we decided to quickly eat our lunch and then look for all of the “gaurdians” as he put it. First we looked for patience. This is a quality that I admit I lack some of. Some people think I have a lot of patience in some things, but when something irritates me I loose all of it. Looking at the clue, I quickly thought of the admissions office, being the “invitation to new arrivals”. We quickly when there and had no trouble getting the medicine(along with some candy from the candy bowl). Here, patience represented a spool of thread, which Alon kept on referring to as a thimble resulting in several laughs and odd looks from the language office later on. This one was a little clearer to me of why it represented patience, having sewd once or twice in my life. And again, looking at my various sewing attempts it showed that I needed more patience considering that I either gave up or started sewing really badly just wanting to be done.

Following patience we walked down the hall to the Learning center. When I read the clue for humility, what made me think of the learning center was the part about different learning styles. When we got there they quickly gave us the medicine after having us read the clue. This medicine was inscence. This confused me more than the crayon. We asked Sra. Jackman, but she didn’t understand it either. In our first attempt to gain faith, we asked Ms. Haffley and she explained that it was because when you burn incense she thought of meditating requiring a fair amount of humility. Something I feel I definitely lack.

Finally we went up the stairs to get humor from Sra. Jackman who had told us to meet her in her office when we asked for it when we had seen her in the cafeteria. At first reading this clue I had thought it would be someone in the math office because it stated in the clue that humor is the “universal language”. However looking at the word translate on the second clue, and having had Sra. Jackman in class we thought we might as well ask. I felt humor was necessary on my journey to get past rough times. It is easy after all to have humor when things are going well, but once we are stressed and frustrated it is harder to look at things lightly.

After a few days, several people were waiting in the english office for faith. Trying over and over again to find the guardian, but she was rarely there. Ms. Haffley was helpful here by raiding Mrs. Hawkins desk and looking for where she put the faith. In this case it was a star. I am still not quite sure what the star represented though. I needed faith for this journey because I tend to loose faith both in people and in the world when times are rough or when people go against their word or what they believe to be true and I know that throughout life and my hero journey I am going to run into times where I loose my faith, so this medicine was very necessary for me.

With more days passing, me and Moriah found ourselves bored during 7s and decided to take an adventure! Really craving a lollypop, we went to the community service office, oh and also to retrieve Joy. We got the lollypop for our bags and then got one from the not-joy container which rocked! I got green apple. It was delicous. I think the reason that a lollypop was the representation of joy was because they’re so happy, well at least I’m happy whenever I have one…as long as its not bubble gum flavor….or cotton candy. Anyway, the reason I found this medicine necessary was because when on teh hero journey during rough times it is hard to look at the better side of things and be happy, like humor, joy will help me get through the hard times to the next part of my journey.

Next we went downstairs to the Science office to get selflessness from Mrs. Onae. She was not there, but again those sneaky teachers in her office knew where it was and got it out for us. It was represented by an eraser. I felt like I needed selflessness because it is in attribute which we all tend to lack. As humans it is hard for us to look past ourselves and think more of others.

Next we went down the hall to get perserverance in Mr. Browns office. He tested us by asking what his job has to do with perserverance. Moriah and I came up with about 7 things, hoping that one of hem was right. Then he told us the secret. The main reason his job has to do with perserverance is that most diversity directors are only at the school for one to two years and he has been there for 15 years, which pretty much definitely represents perserverance. The rock that he gave us was a good representation of perserverance because despite the wear that they udergo through time, they stay constant and strong.  And sometimes they’re fifty million years old.  which is cool.

Then we went to discernment, a word that i did not know the meaning of.  Padre was supposed to be the “guardian” of discernment, but he never seemed to have his medicines with him…so I got it from mr. Daly, who chuckled the entire way to his office…but it was okay, because the candy in his office, was delightful.  There he gave us a googly eye, which still made no sense because i didn’t know what discernment was.  So i asked moriah, cuz she seems of the clever sort, “hey, what’s discernment mean?” and she was like, “hey, i don’t really know, but padre told me for like twenty minutes last week.  and it’s basically, thinking things over and being aware of what’s going on around you so that you can react to it in a positive way.  I’m good at knowing things that are around me, but i’m not good at reacting to them in a positive way all the time.  And nobody can have too much discernment!  so yay me! 

As for strength…i knew where to find it…but ms. mccarthy scares me.  and she was never in her office. turns out she gets there at four thirty every morning and leaves at like twelve.  but it’s okay because i also got compassion, which was a cute little hand from mr. mensel.  although that was already one of my strengths.  Nobody can have too much compassion!  and it was a cute little hand! 

Tada!

So i don’t really know how to finish this reflection, but this was a super awesome activity, and i’m really glad that now i’m a full person as i’ve got all the medicines…and now i can complete the hero journey!  so bring it on!  yay me!

So while thinking of what to write this week all i could think about is how many march birthdays there are but i don’t think i would be able to write any more than a sentence about that. So instead…this is another story about a disaster of an adventure all because of my Garmin. This happened a little while ago but its still pretty ridiculous and makes me question if theres really any point of using my garmin. Ok so one sunday afternoon I was going to go with Alon to a pet store for his bio project. We decided to bring his little sister, she hadn’t eaten all day and wanted pancakes/waffles(this is crucial) so we were just going to stop by the Original Pancake house for some breakfast. We went to the one at 86th and ditch and we couldn’t find the door. It wasn’t underneath the sign, all that was there was a nail salon. After about 5 minutes of trying to figure it out we assumed that it had closed and that we could just go to another place that serves breakfast. Being brilliant, I thought we should look up where the closest ihop was on my garmin. We typed it in and went on our way. After about 15 minutes of driving we arrived. One problem- the ihop was completely closed, like boarded up. So maybe cafe patachou. Typed it in, and left, it was fairly far away but we didn’t care we were just ready to stop driving. My garmin told me to turn right and that i would then arrive at my final destination. I turned right. I looked around. It had taken us to a neighborhood. No Cafe patachou to be seen. I got frustrated and tried to think of another breakfast place. Le peep. perfect! I knew where it was and needed no Garmin. We showed up and we were too late, it had closed. As we were driving out of that strip mall getting ready for our next attempt at getting alon and his sister pancakes we passed our first destination, the original pancake house, and there was the door. On the corner. As frustrating as it was that we could have dodged this entire adventure of sorts, I was relieved that we finally found somewhere to eat, until i saw the door and the hours. It closes at 3:00 and it was 2:59. We ended up eating at Qdoba that day. Tortillas are kinda like pancakes, right?

So this week has been completely taken over by physics. Right now I am so happy that the project is done and over with, now I get to focus on all of the upcoming tests this week, yayyy! Anyway, let me tell you a little bit about our project, for those of you who were smart enough to not take physics this year. We had to build a machine, a “rube goldberg machine”(yes the ones you probably built in 5th grade that require no physics but a lot of qork and screwing around with marbles and cars), and it had to perform a specific task in a minimum of 10 steps. We decided to build one that poured water into a cup(more like dumped and splashed everywhere), patrick kaplan an aiza made a bowl of cereal, staszak made a sandwich and so on. Basically the main thing is it took forever, was incredibly frustrating, resulted in thrown and broken toys and even after all that work it was unlikely that it was going to work. So now that you understand how crazy this project was I thought I would share some videos that I found when we were trying to decide how to do everything of screwed up people who do this for fun and create an a million step thing that works perfectly. I can’t imagine how long it took them, I would’ve died.  Anyway I hope you enjoy them. actually i cant find a couple that i thought were tight but whatever here are two that are still pretty cool. Goal:Pour a drink

an old honda commercial with a rubegoldberg machine

So me and moriah were working on our Physics project. A requirement of the project is a theme. Well, me and moriah started off with a Snapple theme. Well then she came over and we had to figure our how to do the project and such. Well all we could figure out for each of the steps was toy related such as dominos or marbles. So we were like hey! it should be toy related(sorry if this makes little sense im kinda in that jumbled mood). Anyhow, we decided to go to target to get some ideas and some toys for the project. Not that we didn’t already know this, but its kind of ridiculous how excited we get by toys. And that excitement kind of turned in to expensiveness. We started off looking at the older kids toys, like hot wheels and such. SO COOL. one you pressed a button and it was crazy car drive everywhere, seriously go to target and you’ll see. SO we picked up lots of cars, like a pack of hotwheels, two packs of cars from the movie Cars action figures, and two thomas the tank engine cars which are magnetic cuz there trains, ya pretty much awesome. Next came the action figures, we had to limit those because they cant do much more than decoration in a project so we only got spiderman. Next stuffed animals, ages 3 and up. We got some of these cute outback animals just for ourselves cuz they were sooooo cute, useless…but thats ok they were only three…well four dollars. After picking up the other essentials such as twister and dominos we were set and just looked around for fun. We got to the 6months and up section and I was like I think this is where our fun stops we probably wont get as excited…no no. Theres moriah in teh corner pressing this one button cuz it makes a thing spin and pooh bear talks. Anyway, we finally came to our senses and eliminated a lot of toys assuming that we were not spending as much. Well even though we eliminated half, the total came to 50 dollars. Apparently toys are expensive, though awesome. Basically beware.

So I was trying to think about what to write this week and all I really happened that was eventful was the amount of snow and a whole lot of  it. I have learned something from this week though and that is that snow is ridiculous, and people freak out  when there is snow on the road. Oh and it was so sad this week because there is a cat family that like adopted my house a few months ago and right after the snowfall they disappeared. My mom, being obsessed with them, freaked out and we thought they had died or gotten trapped somewhere. Well today they showed up back in this little house my mom had gotten for them so yay! Anyway, I’m not sure what else to talk about this week since nothing happened while I was surrounded by snow, basically this week I’m just happy that my parents sold my old car and got me a car that has 4 wheel drive.

Ya, so today was interesting. As part of religion three, there are ten hours of community service required, and our first due date was this monday where we were supposed to have sheets signed by a supervisor saying we were going to work there. Me and Moriah had chosen Art with a Heart and figured that she would sleep over last night and in the morning we would just go over to their headquarters and get the thingy-majig signed. ya, good plan right? wrong! but we didnt know that. So first we naturally looked up their address and got directions from google maps(moriahs suggestion due to mapquests unreliability), we put in the directions and went on our way at 11:40 then we would be there around 12, so it was all good.  Then we were driving and it was like la la la la la we know where we’re going and there were fun hilly twisty roads and sure we almost made a wrong turn once or twice and got looks but we were still on the right way. Well once we finally turned onto the right street, it turned out that google maps had ignored the adress number(6001) but again that was ok, cuz we understand the street numbering system and just drove south. Then came the whole lotta mess. We ended up going too far south when we saw 58something something o a house adress so we naturally turned around and got another look, owell. Then we were driving and the first address we saw was 61something something on a church, so it had to be in between that random church and that house. Then we used our brains and were like hey, the even numbers are on teh right so it has to be o this side! ya, well in between the house and the church all there was was a power plant, a walgreens randomly numbered 1103 and a crazy creepy numberless place o and random hills. So we drove around there, we checked the creeper place, well moriah did. I stayed in teh car and locked the doors-nothing and still incredibly creepy. So we called 411, they said te address didnt exist. We checked my Garmin cuz it came back to life after being dead the last time i got lost with moriah. and it showed us a random empty lot as the correct address. I called my dad(well i also called like 10 other ppl but he picked up). We had the address wrong. It was 6002, he gave us the phone number too. We called them and headed across the street where all these crazy sports things were. They said they were located inside, finally. We walked in and the lady said we went through the wrong entrance and that it was the pposite side of the building. We opened teh door. CREEPY! dead silent, dark as hell, just plain old weird. Plus there were random treadmills that were like taped in a corner, I dont even know. We followed the signs that said art with a art and finally got to the office. Knocked on the door, tried to open it, ya they were closed. DEFEAT. so sad. By the way, by now the time was 1:00, we failed, all that for nothing. Anyway, that was how crazy my day was, o ya and on the way back my car hit not a pot hole but a frickin crater! Pretty much crazy beginning of a day.

So this weekend has been pretty much crazy. My parents had to go drive one of cars down to New Orleans for my brother since his car is pracitically dead. While they’ve been gone I’ve been running around from house to house, and then occaisionally coming back home to take care of the cats and newspapers and such since they won’t let me sleep here alone. Along with that my parents have been constantly checking to make sure I did all the stuff I’m supposed to, like theres much to remember, all i have to do is feed the animals, turn on lights and get the mail and newspaper, do I really seem that incompetant. Well, because of this whole shinanigan and like me constantly spending time with people, I am soo happy to finally have these last few hours alone, even if theyre spent doing all of my homework, I really needed it, and I’m someone who generally doesnt like being alone. Plus I can’t wait until I finally get to go to bed in my own bed, despite the fact that it won’t be for very long since school is tomorrow, ugh. Essentially this weekend has not been very relaxing, one of the nights i just sat there in the car as me and moriah drove to her house saying nothing because we were so dead tired. I am so not ready to go back to school especially since I just looked at my assignment notebook and when I saw all the tests, quizzes and papers due this week, I almost crapped myself, it was one of those moments where your just like, telling yourself you’ll get through it and just to take it one step at a time and then you’ll reach the beloved weekend. Maybe next weekend I will be able to finally acutally relax. Oh and funny side note, once my parents got the car to New Orleans, it died…ya classic. Well, I’m sorry about this frustrated rant, I’m just really tired and cant think of anything else to write about other than the cold weather last week which although ridiculous, its just not a very interesting topic, especially considering that like all classic forced converations start out with weather realated comments such as “what a nice day” or “wow have you seen the rain…pretty crazy” well, maybe thats in my mind. Ahhh sorry I’m now running around with random thoughts in my brain…haha funny image. Well Im gonna go, I have to go make the fam dinner. BYE! 

Something greater? Throughout my life I have always thought that I could not make a large impact, that I was limited to the standard life, so my first thought about the possibility of being called to do something greater is just hard to imagine. But when I really think about it, something greater does not necessarily mean something that changes the whole world, it could simply be something greater than the norm, more than the expected. When I think of it that way, I feel like I was meant to do something more, to help and affect people’s lives.

As for being called, currently I can’t think of a time or specific thing I’ve been called to do. I don’t feel as though I have at least. When I think of movies and books with the various calls to the characters to do something greater, it seems so obvious to us as the viewer, yet I’m not sure if I have gotten this call yet. I don’t feel like I have at least. For now, I just feel like I have to simply live my life and just be there for my friends whenever they need me. But for later on in my life, I feel like I will do something greater, at least I would like to. I’ve always wanted to do something more and make an impact on people’s lives. That thought has always been a goal of mine. I know that no one can live without impacting someone, but I would love to do something to improve people’s lives, even if its only one person.

As for whether or not I am a hero or will be, wow, well, I have to say I can’t see that right now, at least not in my definition of a hero which I have grown up with my whole life. Of course you have to wonder what exactly makes a hero a hero. We have grown up seeing knights slaying dragons and people giving up their life for a greater good as heroes, but is that really what a hero is? Most likely, actually with no doubt a hero is more, but it is still hard for me to determine what it is. Because of what has been drilled in my head of a hero is, someone impacting the whole world, I just can’t yet see myself as a hero, being in the spotlight, I’d much rather have impact behind the scenes, or at least within a smaller group. It’s difficult for me to see myself as possibly being a hero right now, but perhaps I might feel differently later in my life, maybe once I feel I have received a call.

Being called…to me being called means that you are meant to do more, make an impact on the world and open people’s eyes to something more, or even simply being called to change the direction of your life, even if it’s slight. Right now I’m not sure if I’m ready to be called, or if I’m simply looking for my call,  but I think I would like to be called later in my life, I feel like I need more experience and knowledge before I can d something greater, so I will not just be doing it because I was called to do it, but because I also truly understand why and what needs to be done.

1. Are you afraid to dream?

At first, I would say of course not, why should I have a problem with imagining of what could be and it actually being possible, seeing myself out there doing it almost as if its reality. But then I thought about it more. We all dream, fantasize about what could be, but don’t most all of ourselves look at our dreams in doubt or say that they could never be. So I feel like the answer to this question, is yes, I am afreaid to dream. No one, well at least not me, likes to fantasize or think of something extravagent only to let their hearts down if it does not happen. I am terrified of failure, not just grades but of failing at anything. So if I dream too big, it is just easier emotionally to doubt that it will happen and just brush it off, than actually dream it to be possible or true and then be hurt later when nothing comes of it.

              1a. Do you believe in the concept of a destiny? Hmmm…thats a tough question. When it comes to destiny, I really have to think. This is one idea that I have struggled with for most of my life. When I think about it, I don’t feel like everyone has a given destiny, where whatever they do will lead them to it. I feel as though anyone can have any destiny; however, it is what they do, how they act, and how they respond that leads them to their destiny. So it is just that it isnt something just given to you, it is something that you determine and create for yourself. You have been given life, it is up to you what you do with it.

              1b. Do you believe that you have been given life for a purpose? I believe that everyone has a purpose in life, but it frequently cannot fully be known unitil after you die. So yes, I believe that I have a purpose in life, what it is, how small or big it is, how long it will take me to get there, that I do not know, so I continue to live my life my way until I figure it out.

2. What would the benefts and costs be f “opening the envelope of destiny”? The benefits of opening the envelope could be relief in knowing what is to come, being mentally ready for what is to come, or just understanding what you have to do in life. The costs I think would be much more though, it could totally alter what you think, how you think, attempting to prevent your destiny, something that cannot be prevented, how you live your life, or how you see yourself, even changing who you truly are. Perhaps that opening of the envelope is what led to your destiny because knowing it changed you, so could it possibly be that depending on whether or not one opens the envelope they change their destiny.

              2a. Would you, in real life, discover your destiny if you had the chance? This is another question that I have thought about a lot in my life, I even remember discussing it with my parents, so I can honestly say I have thought about this a lot. I would not. The reason I don’t think I would is because i feel like I would then be going towards or expecting, waiting for something throughout my whole life instead of doing just what I should do, live my life. Another reason is in the pressure of the moment with the option in front of me, I might be scared to know the future, fearful or what is or isn’t to be and would much rather slowly discover it than just have it hit me hard right then and there.

3. My Haffley “Destiny” and my reaction towards it: You will lead a social revolution, but spend most of your life in prison.  Wow. um, honestly? my first reaction to this destiny was almost laughter. It just didn’t seem like me, I could never see myself doing that, I am not just afraid to dream about it, I simply can’t. When I thought about it as if it truly was my destiny, I was a little shocked, put off. I was not so sure if this was the destiny I wanted. It seemed so extreme and out there, especially for me, someone who rarely lets my opinions known, wanting to just other people’s viewpoints. But in the end, this destiny was kind of a fun one to have, it made me think about what could be, that although it might not be a social revolution, I still have the oppurtunity and possibility to make a difference even if it is small. So although it sounds cheezy especially to end on this, all anyone has to do is try and have a passion and some belief that they could succeed in their goal, otherwise if they don’t make even a single attempt, there is so chance that it could happen. So go ahead and not just dream but put those dreams into actions.

Being a chill and artistic kind of person, I really enjoyed this activity, although I must admit, the dispensing of the sand onto the paper with a straw was rather frustrating at times due to my constant perfectionism. However, once I got past that minor detail, it was quite relaxing. The things that I do frequently to “escape” my life or the problems I am having are through either art or horseback riding so this was very calming and a good way to clear my head and play. I was able to just not have any other cares and solely have fun creating this sand art almost like I was in kindergarten again.

Looking at my mandala, it primarily consists of greens, blues, and purples, and after looking at the meaning of the different colors, I saw some similarities to my mood and attitude I have while doing something relating to art. The blue represented several differing things, but the ones that related most to me were relaxed, serenity and peace, and calmness. These are all strong feelings that I have when I am focused on artwork. The green represented trusting, harmony with nature, and renewal, definite themes I was trying to convey through this sand drawing with my mountains and flowers trying to make everything more natural and flow-y. Lastly, the purple had meanings that I didn’t see as much in my mandala, such as royalty, however I can see some relation with the enchantment, spirituality and imagination, but I don’t think that they were as prominent of a part of the mandala.

In terms of the main shapes I used in the mandala, there were many petals or flowers along with spirals. The spirals can mean contact with the creative and deep levels of the psyche, which again surprisingly is another thing that I felt and my mood when I made this. The petals and flowers mean transitory nature of life and beauty, and renewal. When I was making this, I was in that mood, thinking of nature and beauty, so it would make sense that a main part of my reflection would deal with that.

This mandala was very fun, and really relaxing, but looking at the different meanings of the colors and shapes that I used, I realized how much more meaning and deeper things it can be full of, even without intention, showing my thoughts at the time through many symbols. This reflection was overall very relaxing, and I have to say truly confirmed to me that what you draw and create can truly reflect one’s mood and feelings at the moment.