Henry David Thoreau once said, "Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves."
First, agree or disagree?
Tell me a story that illustrates your view, and try to include relevant examples that show how you understand and conceptualize your idea(s).
“Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.” -Henry David Thoreau
ReplyDeleteI’m not sure how I feel about this quote. Just because I feel like it could go two ways.The first way you truly are lost. The lost when you go through complications in life, or everything you’ve grown accustomed to comes crashing down, or when you’re tested and don’t know anything anymore. But that in a way forces you to be more stronger and powerful. And magically it transforms you into the person you were destined to be. But I also feel like being lost- evidently can make you even more lost. For some it’s so hard to get out something you feel trapped in. And that can cause someone to deteriorate, make them just keep losing themselves more and more each day. So I feel like being lost can either make you find yourself or it can make you lose yourself even more. I also think it depends on the person. For instance I’ll use my sister, like I do for almost everything. She’s always gone through a lot. Her life at home was good, very very good. But her dad, my Uncle Vlad, my Ecuadorian Uncle was very pushy. He also has bipolar disorder which was passed onto Gigi. But he expected nothing but the best for all three of us, but especially Gigi since she was the oldest. He also always made us watch our weights, and would make nasty smoothies and proteins for us to drink, because it was good for us. He wanted us to be athletic, to workout and better ourselves in our sport all the time. But the thing was Gigi didn’t need to watch her weight. She was a double 0. She definitely got a lot put on her at home, and in school it was worse. She had crooked teeth, had braces, had the big head gear, she had a boyfriend Jay Slotterback, who then put her pictures on Myspace and humiliated her. I still remember that night and the cops came and I remember seeing her so devastated and saying she couldn’t go back to school. But after that whole incident it wasn’t as bad as she thought it was going to be. For a while Gigi was really really popular. She had a huge friend group. But then they switched on her. After her and her boyfriend Justin Mitchell broke up and he left, they did too. But on top of it these girls bullied her. Bullied her soo sooo soo bad there was so many times she didn’t want to live anymore. (It’s really crazy because the people who did this to her are people you would’ve never thought would bully someone.) After she lost all of them she found new friends. And a new boyfriend, Zach. And she got into shit. You already know what she got in. But she felt so lost losing almost everything, and she’s never been good with dealing with stress. She became more and more lost. And now she’s still lost, and honestly I don’t know if she’ll ever find or understand herself. But then there’s me. The complete opposite. I’ve been through alot…. A lot. From being sexually assaulted to so much more, that frankly I simply couldn’t type because of how much it is, I really have been through a lot. And I truly felt lost, and that I didn’t know what I was doing with my life. But unlike my sister I didn’t let it define me. I didn’t let it bring me down. I actually let it make me stronger and become who I am today. I would say I have a pretty good grasp on my life, in almost all aspects. But it wasn’t until I was lost that I started to become who I’m supposed to be and understand myself.
I agree with Henry David Thoreau’s quote, mainly because I relate to it on a personal level. Not until this year did I wholeheartedly feel “lost” for lack of a better word. The college application process in the beginning of the year was really stressful, considering the fact that I had no idea where I wanted to go (and still don’t), so I ended up applying to literally 10 different colleges. Even though all my applications have been submitted, I still feel stressed and confused. I want to receive a good education, but I also don’t want to spend the rest of my life paying off my student loan debt. It’s frustrating; I feel like I have to compromise my educational goals because I can’t afford to attend the college of my dreams. I’ve worked so hard over to get good grades over the past years- in my mind, all the hard work would be worth it because I’d get to go to the college of my choice for little to no money, based upon the presumption that I would receive merit scholarships and financial aid. However, many of the colleges that I’ve applied to are not offering me as much as I’d like. So, I’m faced with a dilemma: Do I go to the college I’ve worked so hard to get into, but spend the rest of my life paying off loans? Or do I settle for my safety college and get an education without a huge amount of debt to pay off? The second choice proves more logical; an education is an education, right? But I continue to be swayed by the first choice: I worked hard, so I deserve to receive the education I want.
ReplyDeleteThis problem has lead me to question who I am and what I want for my future. It seems dramatic, but my choice will ultimately prove who I am as a person and what I prioritize: Do I put my wants first, even if my wants are financially irresponsible? Or do I go the logical route and put aside my wants for the sake of financial stability? It’s a logos vs pathos kinda deal.
In the end, I don't want to regret my decisions. Will I be 30 years old and regret not going to the college of my choice? Or will I be 30 years old and kicking myself for being in so much debt? It's impossible to determine how I’ll feel in 12 years.
On a final note: Bernie sanders just wanted to make public college free and we screwed him over :(
First off, I would like to thank Mr. Clark for teaching me on the works of Henry David Thoreau because without him sophomore year I would have never knew how much I like him, Walden, and Civil Disobedience. But anyway, I agree with the above quote simply due to sheer experience. When life events occur and you do find yourself lost, how you persevere and overcome those obstacles is how you describe your true self. When life happens, we can then understand what we are capable of enduring. But when we just coast through life with no problems, you never truly realize your abilities and strengths. That is why I believe some challenges and hardships are good for people once in awhile because, first of all, they make you stronger as a person, and second, going through obstacles turn you into the person you are meant to be, it shows who you really are.
ReplyDeleteIn my short life of about seventeen years, I can say I have encountered many obstacles from small ones to big, but I believe one of the biggest obstacles I have faced was when I had my back surgery. When my orthopedic surgeon told me there was no way around not having this surgery and that it needed to happen, I felt as if that was the moment I began to grow up. I knew there was no way to avoid this surgery, so I grew up in that moment and knew what I had to do. However, I took two things from that experience, one, my back is now finally straight, and two, I know what I am capable of now because of enduring and overcoming the hardest event in my life. Therefore, I strongly connect Thoreau’s quote to my back surgery example because my life up to that point was so simple and contained very few hardships, but then I realized that I am not untouchable and invincible and not everything is sunshine and rainbows. Sometimes you need to experience hardships to get a reality check and in order to understand the person you truly are. Having back surgery could have been the best thing for me physically but also mentally and emotionally.
This quote is remarkably relatable to me and my constant journey to one day fully comprehend myself and my existence. My journey began September of sophomore year and luckily during this time we began to discuss the works of Henry David Thoreau. This journey of self-discovery was a result of my everlasting search for happiness, as happiness is something that I always had a difficulty finding. The combination of immaturity and inexperience left me to find happiness in one person, a mistake that I know I will fall victim to again if I am unable to discover why I let myself fall victim. My mistake was deadly as my whole world and happiness revolved around one person, then that person decided to leave and my world crumbled and my happiness faded. This almost set me into a spiral of self-destruction simply because what is a world without pleasure and what is life without happiness. These events are what lead to the void I so often experience now. This led me to seek out help from a psychologist and without the psychologist I would easily have become something that I couldn’t come back from. Now I must relate this to the quote and it involve what the psychologist said was the reason for my anger, depression, and emptiness. He said that “I was not mourning a loss of a relationship or the loss of a friend but rather the death of myself”. A part of me died with that relationship, I am lost trying to find that part once again, and that is what the void is as I have never really thought about it in depth. That is the void I feel, the part of me that died, the part that held my happiness, my hope, and my passion. This journey has been a tough one but because of it I have grown as a person. I have discovered myself on a physical, psychological, and spiritual level. The only problem is that I am still lost and searching for the part of me that died so long ago.
ReplyDeleteBecoming emotionally lost is a lot like taking the wrong exit into an unfamiliar town. You wander through streets with strange names and pass homes you've never seen before all with people inside that you have never met. When you become lost in life and you're not sure what phase is going to come next you change. Once the world no longer makes sense to you everything is put into perspective. I am lost. I don't have a story to tell because I have not managed to find my way out of the new town I've stumbled upon. Slowly but surly I'm drawing a map of my new life scribbling in everything from the side streets to the main roads. When I embarked on this journey of self discovery I was completely overwhelmed with the feeling that I would never learn. As time goes on I make decisions that change the course of my future. I've learned about the things I hate and the things I love. It takes an unimaginable amount of courage to purposely get lost in life and that I've found out through building it back up. I've changed completely and become a better person by losing my original self. I've discarded things and people who don't make me happy and took chances to bring better things into my life. I needed to get lost, because everyday that I draw a new line on the map or erase an old one I discover that new places are good for the soul. All I want now is what's good for the soul.
ReplyDeleteWell, I have to say, first, that I agree with Henry David Thoreau. I agree with him because while we are on the straight and narrow, we often forget who we are. We soak up all the success and accomplishments and happiness and sometimes do things only for the simple fact that it’ll get you more of the aforementioned things. And, unfortunately, we forget who we really are. And we turn into someone were not. And it’s not until things don’t work in our favor, and we become lost. And then, that is when we begin to understand ourselves. After we are already lost.
ReplyDeleteThis happens naturally, and almost always unintentionally. We don’t get lost on purpose, but there is a purpose for why we got lost. When you are lost, it forces you to think, it forces you to do things to better yourself, not because you’ll profit from it, but because it’s the only way you’ll survive. It makes us understand ourselves in ways we would never understand if we never got lost. Once you become lost, you can look back and appreciate everything you once had, and the places you’ve once been with the people you were once with, and that in itself is a lesson. It is a key lesson in the concept of understanding yourself.
Once my Uncle Paul past, I lost myself for a bit. I was out of it, while weirdly being in it. It was a hard time for me and my views were blurred for a while, but that’s when I grasped a deeper understanding of myself. It wasn’t until I was lost that I understood myself. I think this is because when you become lost, you become scared, and you want to be the way you once were. So, in the process of trying to be who you were before, you must do things above and beyond what you’re used to. And as a result, you get deep with yourself in order to get back and it makes you understand yourself at a deeper level, because if you didn’t there would be no chance of getting back. When I got lost for a bit, I had to force myself to think about what my views were, why I view them the way I do, and I had to force myself to think differently than the “lost” me thought. Although thoughts and ideas often come at instinct, or just at random, there is always a reason. Just because you didn’t come up with it because of another thing, if you think hard enough, you’ll figure out why. That is important in understanding and conceptualizing your ideas because without doing so, you would never be about to make racial choices and actions from the ideas you come up with.
I disagree with Thoreau's quote. I think of being lost as being in the wrong crowd, doing the wrong things, not knowing what to do or how to do it, maybe thinking you can not do that thing or you do not believe in yourself, for what ever reason. You never want to be lost. It is easier to find yourself when you lose yourself because it is necessary to find yourself when you are lost. However, I have found myself, not completely, as much as possible at the moment. But I have never been lost. Life presents challenges to you in order to help you find yourself. At the young age of 18, I have had a few challenges and they have made me find myself. A major thing that will help me find myself is college. Right now I need to decide what I want to do with my life, what college I want to go to, and what type of atmosphere I want to be around, so yes, I have much to do. I still would not consider myself lost. Troubled maybe, but not lost, it is the challenges in life that let you find yourself, being lost could be a challenge, but a challenge is not always being lost.
ReplyDeleteTo start off, who the heck is Henry David Thoreau? I have heard of his name before but I never learned about him during school and have never looked him up on my own time (because who does that). According to google, Thoreau was an American essayist, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, and historian. He was born in Concord, MA, on July 12, 1817 and then died in the same area on May 6, 1862. One of his more popular books, “Civil Disobedience,” was a resistance to civil government. It was first published in 1849. Going to be completely honest, I do not really read so he does not interest me. Also, I do not feel like looking into him so I am sure he changed our government in some type of way that it impacts me. If not he inspired people to be like him. In which, if I searched deeper into him I could probably give you modern comparisons but I did not, sorry.
ReplyDeleteThoreau once said, “Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.” I strongly agree with this statement because it takes a lot to truly find yourself. When we hit rock bottom is when you start to realize more about ourselves. It’s kind of like how we only remember nightmares or how we only remember vividly the harsh, judgemental things people say. When you are at an all time low is when you start to figure yourself out and the people around you do to (if they care). My reasoning for why I agree with this statement is because when we reach rock bottom we do not want to sink that low again. So with that, we figure what we need to fix about ourselves or what we need to fix/get rid of that is in our lives. I feel as if you have a brief understanding of yourself until you have hit rock bottom. Rock bottom is not when your boyfriend or girlfriend breaks up with you, it’s when everything just seems to be going wrong and/or working against you.
Not to say if you do not reach rock bottom you have yet to find yourself. You know some or most of you but I feel though you do not completely find yourself until you are at that all time low. Experiences make up who you are and if you have no reach rock bottom yet, you know just enough to grasp yourself. I personally, have not reached rock bottom. I have had many little problems in life who make up who I am now. Experiences that change your perspectives on things. For example, from what happened in my past relationship affect how I act or feel in my current. To add to make up who I am, it was the crazy experiences with my mom, being spanish, and many other little things. As of now, I believe I do not have a full grasp of who I truly am. But maybe I will one day.
Trust me, this quote applies to me now more than ever. And there’s only one reason why, of course. College. I believe in Henry David Thoreau’s words of wisdom because of the fact that I truly understand what he means. Since I was young I wholeheartedly believed that when the time came to apply to college, I’d already know what I’d want to major in in college and that I’d know which school would be my “dream school.” Let’s just say that’s not at all what happened. September came and suddenly I was a senior who still had no clue about what would happen after high school. I was simply lost. I didn’t know what my passions were and what I liked to do, so how was I supposed to know what path to go on in regards to college? And because of the fact that I had no idea which schools to apply to, as I would want to go to a school that excelled in what I majored in. Too bad, I can’t find out about that if I don’t know what to do with my life. So, I guess you can say I did a little “soul-searching.” I researched about twenty different majors, sought out about fifteen different universities, and took about two personality/career tests. And, nothing. Nope, still had no idea. That’s what really got me thinking. Did I even want to go to college? I know I’m tired and worn out about the whole school thing, but to not even go to college? Why waste money if I still haven’t figured out what to do with my life? Should I just take a gap year and just explore my options through spending my year shadowing in different professions or traveling around the country? Let’s just say I considered the option quite heavily, and I was almost dead set on it. But, then my indecisive mind decided to think about the cons of that option, and let’s say there were a few. So, I grabbed my laptop and repeated step one. This time, I only researched schools that were above average in many areas and had a nice surrounding environment. An environment that was lively, sociable, diverse, and at the same time had a sense of “togetherness.” Boston University caught my eye and the more I googled the more I fell in love with the thought of attending school there. It also helps that their mascot is a dog! It’s in a historical, cultural, and beautiful city, one that’s large, but still small. Now I’m just counting down days in which I’ll (hopefully) be accepted to BU and let’s say the chances are about half way in my favor. And you’re probably wondering, “Well, did you find yourself, Cynthia? Did you?” That answer would still be “No.” No, I didn’t find myself quite yet, but I did start to understand more about myself. I realized that I want more from life than a standard education. I didn’t want a nine to five job sitting in a cubicle. I want to travel to all corners of the earth and learn more about other cultures, firsthand. I don’t feel the same way about school and higher education as I did before; going to college isn’t a “be all, end all” situation as college isn’t for anyone. I want to explore new things and take on new experiences in new environments. I want to meet interesting people from all over the world (and hope to do so in a diverse city as well as through studying aboard). I understood that I am a different person now, and that my thoughts and wants will always change. Five years ago I wouldn’t dare to travel so much as I disliked long plane rides. I wouldn’t dare study in a city because of all the noise. I wouldn’t dare to even think about taking a year off from school. I’m not who I was five years ago, or even one year ago. And I think that I can attribute that the fact that I’ve been lost so many times, and within each time I discovered something new about myself that I would never otherwise of known.
ReplyDeleteSophomore year if you asked me that, I would of said no. That being lost is simply being lost. There is no answer in confusion. I would of said that lost is scary and lost bring pains and lost shows nothing. I have realized that I was very wrong. There are lots of things I've said that I now see growth in.
ReplyDeleteThere is so much in being lost- in being confused- in being scared or in pain- in not knowing how you feel - in not knowing what to feel. Lost makes you measure yourself. Lost tests your limits. Lost brings self discovery. I know this because I was once lost.
In a time where I was once heartbroken. Where I felt scared and alone. Where everything I ever knew was tarnished. Where everything I have ever loved-left me. I was scared, I was alone, I was lost. But there is something about that time and about that pain that pushed me to push myself. Push myself to get through the day, pushed myself to work, pushed myself to go to school, pushed myself to open up and feel what I always tried to avoid, push myself to understand my environment, push myself to understand myself.
There are lots of things about myself I have yet to learn. I know that in the time period where I lost my family and I lost my house and I lost Keanu- I found my strengths and I found love I wanted to spread to the loyal people in my life.
(my grammar is atrocious but what do i know about grammar)
Because there is more to learn, I want to get lost again. That is why I want to go to California for college. Because got knows what I want to do. I hope I get out there get lost and figure it out- all I know staying in this town won't teach me anything.
My man, the transcendentalist god, Henry David Thoreau. I agree with him: “Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.” We’re so caught up in certain things, life’s fantasies, we often forget who we are. Life isn’t easy. And whether we like it or not, there are obstacles. It’s hard, I know. We stumble, we fall, we hit rock bottom. But only then will you understand your own strengths, your own weaknesses, your own happiness. The experiences- the pain, the joy, everything-- we are who we are because of them. We get back up, we climb out of the abyss, we come back stronger than ever. You start to learn things about yourself you never even knew before. You begin to have a new outlook on life. You find yourself. You find your values. You find what you want. You’re no longer confused, you’re no longer scared, you’re no longer lost.
ReplyDeleteI haven’t hit rock bottom yet, but I’m not myself either. Cait Beck tells me I’m in a “funk”, but I don’t know. I honestly don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s the fact that it’s senior year, and that in just a few short months, my life will change. Or maybe it’s the fact that I’m starting to see myself as less, not good enough for anything for that matter. Or maybe I’m just growing up. Whatever it is, I am definitely lost. To be quite frank, I think I’ve always been lost. But I try, you know. I try to find my purpose in life, my happiness in life, who I’m meant to be. And to me, that’s at least something. But I’m only 17, and I have many years ahead of me (I hope). And I hope that one day, whenever that day will be, I will find myself and I will be the happiest me ever.
I don’t agree with Thoreau when he said "Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves." I believe that we understand ourselves more each day. Almost every day I find out something new about myself and I don’t consider myself “lost.” I do believe that when we are “lost,” we find ourselves quicker. I was in my “feels” most of December and the entire month of January. I wasn’t motivated to do anything, and when I went home at the end of the day, all I did was lay. That means I had a lot of time to think. So I was talking to a girl for a few months, a lot happened involving a third party, and now we don’t talk at all. I thought a lot about what I did wrong and I spent a lot of time thinking of how things could have been different. After all that time thinking, I realized things couldn't have been different. I tried as hard as I could to make it work, but I couldn't do anything to change her mind about the situation. I learned that I am more patient than I ever thought possible. I also learned that I'll try anything to make someone happy. I haven't hit rock bottom yet. I believe that when I do, that's when I can truly and completely find myself. Until then, I'll just find out little things about myself almost every day
ReplyDeleteThoreau was right when he said that we do not understand ourselves until we are lost. The first thing that came to mind when I read this is graduating high school. After a whole childhood of being surrounded by the same people, college immerses us with strangers. So then, without everyone who has influenced and shaped our personality at home, who are we individually? Who are we without our friends? Maybe on the surface we think we know who we are but until we are lost with only ourselves to guide us through new situations, we will not truly understand who we are.
ReplyDeleteLast weekend I went to “Explore Eastern Weekend” at Eastern University. Before I arrived, I was so anxious to be staying with people I did not know. Once I got there, I met my host, her roommate and another prospective student that I’d be rooming with. It really was not as bad as I anticipated. Their room was clean, they were nice girls and it was easy to mingle. I have to say though, as the weekend went on and I met more people, I realized how different everyone was from the people back home. Not everyone knew some of our oak/south jersey (im assuming) lingo. People didn’t know what “gassed” meant and I wasn’t sure of some of the other people’s slang either. It all felt foreign. Although I was spending the weekend with new people in a new place, I began to realize how it felt to be on my own. It was only my personality showing. I was not the sum of my school activities, my friend group, and my sports teams. I was just Jessica Ketschek, another stranger. It was an odd sensation but also a satisfying one. No one knew where I came from, who my friends are or anything else other than what I informed them. Despite feeling lost in a sea of 6,ooo students at times, it was rather comforting to know that my next four years in college will solely be up to me. Everything is optional, everything is in my hands. I choose who I want to be for the next four years. As I make my way through college, I will feel less and less lost, hopefully. It’s all a part of the journey to self-actualization.
Shout out to Clark, this man is speaking the truth. Thoreau was right when he said we don't find ourselves until we are lost. I have always believed that you don't know yourself until you've struggled. I've watched people go through the ultimate stuggle. It was painful to watch and hear about the hard times they faced, alone. Those people are the most infulential people in my life. I admire them because no matter how hard their life could of been or continued to be, they were able to get up and be better than before. They might go through rough nights and certain things might remind them of bad memories or even good ones that make them cry, but that doesn't mean they won't be okay. You find yourself at your darkest point. You think and think and think over and over and over again how can you make things right. What is there to do? How can I make myself happy? Can I go back in time? Change is good even when you think it's not. When I was at my hardest time I thought so much. I wanted to be a better person and although I made some stupid descions along the way they made me who I am right now and I could not be happier. You fail. You learn. Almost like it's the climb. Hmmmmmm. What a crazy thought. It's not about how fast you get there. It's literally the climb. I'm so thankful I made the mistakes I made. I don't regret them at all because it forced me to dig myself out of a hole that only I knew. Being lost is not a bad thing at all. That's where I thought the most and reevaluated my life which is sometimes needed. You mature and nurture yourself into becoming the person you strive to be. My dad always told me that he wasn't going to give me advice because he wanted me to learn myself and sometimes that was all I needed to hear. Everything I did meant more to be because that's what I wanted at the moment and he would shake his head and listen to me cry when I made the wrong choice and all he would say is "you did this and you're gonna be able to get out of it". That might of been the best advice ever. No matter what each time I created a better version of myself. Being lost only does allow you to find yourselves. You might not for a long time but it will come. Time heals all wounds.
ReplyDeleteHenry David Thoreau once said, "Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves."
ReplyDeleteYes, I do agree with the quote "Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves". I can relate to this quote in many ways. I truly believe that once a person is completely lost, it is not only possible for them to be able to understand themselves but to find there self also. Which is exactly what happened to my older sister. I guess you could say she was "young & dumb". She tended to always be with the wrong people at the wrong time. And eventually caught a case of her own. And then shortly after that, a second one followed along. She didn't learn from mistake number one, or two. And by the end of the second case she was not only "lost" enough, but became pregnant with twins. I didn't possibly think that anyone or anything could get through her head to make her turn her life around and get back on the right road. But the two blessings who I'm proud to call my niece and nephew whipped her right into shape.
Four years ago, I would of never pictured my life like it is today. But I couldn't be more grateful. My sister is my absolute number one, with anything and everything. She was once someone who didn't have her head on straight. But the mistakes she overcame made her find herself and become the strongest person I know. Our bond is unbreakable and I honestly wouldn't be who i am today, without her.
I do agree with Henry David Thoreau when he said, "Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves." only to a certain extent though. For me the only time I have felt entirely lost was when I joined the beach patrol and when I went to Costa Rica. When I joined the beach patrol I knew no one and picked Brigantine for that reason. I wanted to get out there and throw myself into a situation I wasn't used to. All the other rookies were best friends for the most part so I had to introduce myself to everyone and make friends. Prior to joining the beach patrol I was sure that I had no people skills and no making new friends skills. However I was happily surprised I managed just fine in making new friends. It was actually the first time in a long time where I was surrounded by no one I knew and I actually really enjoyed it. I enjoyed being out of my comfort zone and making new friends. This taught me different things about myself. I realized that I might not be completely screwed next year when I have to make new friends and make people warm up to my wild weird self.
ReplyDeleteAnother time was when I went to Costa Rica not long ago. Vacations for the Crispell/Holmes usually means all inclusive resort/nice hotel, however my mother decided to do the opposite when it came to Costa Rica. At first I was not happy with her decision at all however it was quite the new experience and I'm happy to have gone. Being completely submerged by the culture and the people was so different and so interesting. It wasn't like the other vacations where you're surrounded by other tourists and you look at all the prettied/make upped parts of the place you're at. For instance when I went to Cancun I saw a beautiful ocean that looked like it was on a postcard. Then when I went to Costa Rica the sand was more brown than white, the ocean looked like ocean city's ocean, and there were jungle mud trails that led you there. Costa Rica showed me its true colors. Being so "lost" in the culture made it able for me to see life through other people. I got to see how other people lived and that (plus a few all inclusives) are the type of vacations I want to take for the rest of my life. I want to see the entire world before I die.
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ReplyDeleteMr. Thoreau, we meet again. I agree with Mr. Thoreau and his quote. His quote means that when we, humans, are in a state of confusion or being lost, we start to see who we are. The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself. Once you have fallen, you can pick yourself up.
ReplyDeleteLast year, there was a time where I just lost myself. It happened after I ran my cross-country meet and found out that I ran a horrible time. I became disappointed in myself and became quiet during the bus ride home. Once I got into my car, I started my engine and drove home. Once I got home, my parents started yelling at me for not taking the trash more than once and how I act more responsible. Not only was my horrible time and my disappointing attitude toward myself was going through my mind, but now also my parent's lecture. It's not a calm and normal lecture, but more like "yelling in front of my face" lecture. I end up breaking down in my room. It sounds unlike me, but it really happened. I was on the ground crying my eyes off and yelling at myself. I told myself how stupid I am and how I failed as a senior and runner. I never had such a bad day in my life, but that's just it. It was only just a bad day. I could not let just one bad day get to me. I thought if my friends saw me in that state, they would be disappointed in me. They would judge me differently. I didn't want that to happen. I have to stay strong and not let this bad day break my will. This lead to my very own mantra in AOP. Thanks to losing myself, I was able to learn that I was a weak person who almost let a bad day destroy his will. If I were to lose myself again, I am interested in finding who I am again.
I could sit and tell you about all the times I've been lost in my life but you already know it all. All through high school until now I was lost. So lost. I definitely do not think when I was lost I understand myself. When I was lost darkness overtook me and it was like nothing could help. Like I was no one. I just floated around life waiting for something to happen. It was not until I was pulled out from the lost black hole that I found myself. I found myself this year and I began to understand myself this year. Because I was once lost it was easier to find who I was. Simply because once everything in my life came together, I came together. For example, if you are going through a bad time you kind of question yourself and your life. When You've experienced the hardships of life, it shapes you. And that shaping is what makes you you. So when you are no longer list you are now a newer person, a happier person and just that makes you understand yourself a whole lot more.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Thoreau because of a personal experience. Everybody has to get lost in order to find out who they are because it is in times of true trial and lowest points that our true selves come out.
ReplyDeleteMy This I Believe illistrates my time of trial perfectly. It talks about my lowest point, realization and my slow but sure recovery. So in full disclosure:
I'm only worth $1.07. And that's including tax. And that's if anyone will buy me. They might pick me up off of the shelf and examine me from all angles but although American people are price conscious, you can't get a quality item for $1.07.
I can tell you why I'm worth $1.07. There's quite a list:
I'm brown. Brown things don't have the same privileges as white things do. We brown things tend to not only be of lesser value, but we also never get the benefit of the doubt. Being brown is not something I ever looked down on until everyone started to prefer white items instead. People started assuming I couldn't do the job, but the white items could.
I'm big. I'm not a normal sized thing, but I promise, for $1.07, I won't take up too much of your space. However, no one wants something that's bigger than average. It has to be a perfect size to fit into a perfect life. And yes there's way that I can shrink; it's all in the instruction manual that I come with. But I don't think it's in English or I would've figured that part out by now. And I can't read the manual until someone buys me and unwraps me long enough for me to matter.
I'm poor. The other items have the things they want. I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel for everyday needs, and I'm left wanting. I always want but never receive. I can't say things like that though. The other items will think I'm selfish or that I'm overreacting but they don't know how it feels to want and deserve, but never receive.
I am damaged. Now, I have my fair share of bruises and what not because many a time did they drop my packaging, but my insides are damaged too. I'm empty and hollow under my brown exterior. And no matter how desolate my insides prove to be, I cannot fill them by myself which is pitiful. It's pitiful that I need someone to buy me for $1.07 to make me whole.
I did not decide this on my own; I wasn’t made believing I was $1.07. But that’s what I’ve been told, and I don’t have a reason not to believe it.
Oh! I forgot to tell you that I've been returned some as well. People pick me up, inspect me, buy me. Then they take me home with them. Everything is great. I do my duty, whatever that happens to be at the time, but then people lose interest in me, or I mess up. And then I have to go back to the store, back to my dusty shelf where only I stand because I'm never gone for more than a couple of days. Meanwhile, all the other items continue to be bought, the reason being plain and simple: they have what I don't.
I often think about what would happen if I threw myself off of my shelf. It's pretty high. Would someone’s world stop? Would the other items miss me? Would I get a little roughed up or would I shatter?
Then I remember that my shelf still loves me. It's always there for me, even when I leave and come back. My shelf thinks I'm worth more than $1.07. As a matter of fact, my shelf thinks I'm priceless. It always tries to convince me of that as well, but we’ll call it a work in progress. My shelf knows about the socially acceptable physical appearance, the rich and the poor and the big and small, but it doesn’t really care.
I'm slowly starting to believe in my worth. I have purpose. I have value. I am useful. Just because I’m “too brown”, “too big”, “too poor” or “too damaged” does not mean that I’m worth less than the rest of the items in this world.
My shelf tries to tell me that I have a purpose and that my value is larger than any words can describe. My shelf is slowly learning to love me.
If Dr. King were alive today his dream although maybe slightly altered would still have the same strong, firm basis. This idea that people should not just coexist because they have to and but more because they want to. This idea that everyone truly is equal and that all should be kind, if King were still here he would be fighting for all the things he believed in then now. That’s quite saddening. Our nation, supposedly great, has let this much time go by and yet we lack the simple human capability of merely even coexisting with one another. Peaceful, fair, equal none truly exist in America. King would not be able to fight for another cause because the one he originally was passionate about nothing got done.
ReplyDeleteMy dream about the future, well honestly do not smite me for this but I don’t truly know if I have a dream for America. I do not like the nation in which I live. Yes, America does not lack in regards to healthcare, food, shelter, etc. but in terms of the population of such and the way of life I’d rather steer clear of this nation. My hopes and dreams for it well unless the shitty government gets less shitty and the dipshit people get some common sense well then honestly this nation has no future. The people of America will run it to the ground. So for me in this nation I intend to try my best to make those around me feel happy, comfortable, secure and safe and hopefully one day I will bring children into this world that will do that same. All we can do now is try our best to be good people and since most can’t even do that we wait and see how long it takes for us all to fall.
I have a dream that the people of America will open their eyes. I have a dream that people will open up books or actually read more than just headlines. I have a dream that the people of our nation will see just how great life would be if we coexist. I have a dream that all the scum of this nation would someway somehow be enlightened and change. But I dream too big. I have a dream for now that maybe just maybe we can at least all be kind.
Some say the next four years will open the eyes of everyone and we will come out stronger. It will not though. The next four years will set us back 50 in history. The next four will take decades to recover from. So, I know dream big right have hope. I just don’t see how that is possible in times like these. All I have learned from this year's election is never feel secure because all you have means little. Nothing stands forever. Nothing you do may matter in the end.
ReplyDeleteHenry David Thoreau’s saying, “Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves” speaks volumes to my life, and a lot of others in 204. All the hurt, all the misfortunate, all the disappointments, heartbreaks, and losses forced me to really begin to understand myself. It was like one day I said so myself “okay Heather this is your life and you are strong and you will make it and it will be okay again” and in that very moment I also understood what is was like to love myself. To this day I still do not even know if I made it out of my mess and I think I am still lost, but I am at the kind of lost where I know not to go right because that will take me even deeper into unknown places. Being seniors and going out into the “world” soon is going to result in all of us losing ourselves once again, or for the first time. And when I say this I don’t mean it in a bad way, all of us need a chance to get lost because it will only count as a gain in the long run. The kind of lost we are going to experience next year will not be the kind where we are floating in the darkness reaching for a hand, it will be the type that saves us and teaches us and helps us.
Comfort holds the most opportunity for ignorance; the kind that allows you to sleep at night even though you know your neighbor is not okay. In comfort, we find ourselves alone, confided behind locked doors and closed blinds, the TV muting out all outside noise. In comfort, we find ourselves happy. Although, in comfort we cannot begin the journey to understanding ourselves solely because of the soft ignorance comfort wraps around us. Some crawl underneath comfort’s wing and grow old there, some crawl there before they can even speak, some crawl there when they’ve lost the ability to speak, some crawl there just to see what it’s like. As right, and safe, and bright as it may feel, crawling beneath comfort is crawling beneath ignorance not only of the world but of ourselves. Crawling beneath comfort is avoiding the walk to finding our true reflection because we’re afraid of the unknown. On the path to ourselves, there are dark clouds and rainbows all at once. There are roaring mistakes and venomous regrets and cotton candy memories and familiar rain drops. Worst of all there’s no safe place, safe outlets. There’s a sign in everyone’s path in various places that says “turn back” and often, we do, not realizing that we’re running from our own reflection, back to carpets and white walls and television where we may find ourselves in the physical sense yet never in the spiritual sense. In comfort we can’t understand ourselves.
ReplyDeleteWhen we’re lost, we understand ourselves. Beneath strobe lights, in basements, and fields of wildflowers; In winter sunshine, on mountain tops, and in run down factories; Dancing on tables, singing on rooftops, and indulging in 4 AM conversations with strangers; Running to the ocean, crying to the sky, laughing. When we’re lost, we understand ourselves. But lots of us are scared of the unknown, which is why we find it so hard to feel balanced and confident and sure of ourselves: few of us let ourselves get lost.
I’ve felt lost lots of times and those times hold some of my most life-changing memories. Whether I was facing a fear, like heights when I climbed a tower in Japan during a windstorm, pushing myself farther than I thought possible, like during races, doing something spontaneously just so see if I liked it, like hiking or cliff jumping, all of the memories I have that I’d consider myself “lost” in make me smile and have taught me things about myself I would have otherwise never discovered. I think it’s really important to embrace the unknown and get a little lost sometimes.
I completely agree with Henry David Thoreau’s quote, “Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.” I never heard of this quote before and i’m kind of upset about it. I like this quote a lot because i can relate to it on so many different levels. I’m taking it back to when i was about 7 or 8. I was this shy and weird little girl who followed her big sister around doing everything she did and wanted to be just like her. I know everyone’s probably thinking whats wrong with a littler sister trying to be just like her big sis when she grows up but in this case it got out of hand. At first it was fun copying her and trying to be like her but then it got ugly. I was so caught up in trying to be like her that we dressed the same way every day, i was friends with all her friends that were much older than me, we were on a dance team together and we did cheer together. Although a lot of this was formed because of my mom but that’s not the point. This was going on for about a year and in that year i lost myself completely. I didn’t know who i was. All i knew was that i was my sister just a smaller version. I didn’t know i was suppose to be my own person. I thought everyone that had a older sister was like this. I was confused. I was so caught up in trying to be like her that it wasn’t fun anymore. I was torturing myself. Why couldn’t I stop myself from being like her. That one single year was a year i will never forget. The year i was lost and no one but myself could save me but how could i save me if i wasn’t myself. I was weak and barely had any strength but that little bit i did have, i took it and did something with it. I saved myself. I don’t know how or when but all i know is i did. I started to understand why i was me on the first place and why i wasn’t anyone else. I started to understand the person i was meant to be and from that moment on, i became myself.
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ReplyDeleteI can’t say if I agree or disagree with this quote, only because I haven’t entirely figured myself out yet. I mean I sort of understand why I do some things that I do. But, from what I've already mentioned in one of the last blogs, I don’t know who truly am anymore. I’m lost and confused and so far in 2017, it hasn’t gotten any better...nor worse. I understand the this quote though. I just haven’t been able to relate to it.
Relationships aren’t my specialty. I’m an independant person. Sometimes I prefer it to be that way and then sometimes it kind of gets lonely. I have a support system but I like to separate from them for a little. I prefer not getting too too close because I don’t want to hurt anyone, since I know that I’m one to do so. However, I don’t know if doing that is best, although I think it is. Is it? Is it all in my head?Knowing this, I’ve come to understand that I’m just insecure and overthink way too much. (Definitely the reason why I’m single.) It will take time till I fully understand myself. Just one step at a time.
According to Charles Bakowski, "Nobody can save you but yourself-and you're worth saving.It's a war not easily won but if anything is worth winning-this is it".Charles Bakowski this saying correlates with many things I personally believe that you control the outcome of situation at hand. On a more personal note I quite remember the time that I found myself in an delima that was uncontrollable I yarned forward to get the job at hand down by practing more often and through hardwork and determination. The struggles behind it was the time that I had to put in to the strenuous activity. The portion that I was able to control was the the work ethic that had to be assimilated.Many teenagers strive to get to their maximum capacity and they normally discover who they truly are in high school or in the early stages of college, for example some people people try and see the group that they best merge into and by doing so they discover themselves. The war that is at hand is the high tide and low tide that are between the yourself discoveration.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this quote wholeheartedly, I love Henry David Thoreau on a personal level. In my own personal life it speaks a lot of volume. Being at some pretty low lows in my life, especially recent I found how so much easier it is to learn more about myself. For example my first heartbreak I thought I loved this girl and I thought she loved me too and obviously that wasn't the case and I begun to learn about myself that my emotions can so easily cloud my judgement. When people around me would hurt me like fake friends I would begin to notice how I deserve way better than this and how I'm worth more than what people think of me. Even fighting with my family and them not treating me like I am part of it, just all the neglect I've received in my life always and being forgotten by everyone else showed me so much about myself. Of course it still sucked being and still being treated like that from most people I come in contact with. But I've been taught so much like being humble and patient and not expecting anything from anyone and most importantly caring about other peoples feelings because you don't want them to feel as broken as you
ReplyDeleteI disagree, I don't believe that once we are lost we begin to find ourselves. Not all people need to lose them selves or lose faith in there selves to become lost. Some people never feel as thought that they are lost leaving them to never find themselves after all.I believe it's a case of believing in yourself and knowing you can handle things that your Brain may think you can't.I believe once we graduate there will be a feeling of loneliness ness because we will be entering a totally different environment giving us all new aspects of life that we had no idea about. But Leaving high school you don't have any more of your friends to hang with and teachers to guide us. In college you have grow up and learn how to live on your own because everyone won't always be there to help you. And to me that's a time in your life when it's okay to be lost and if you aren't lost kuddos to you, but being who I am I will be. And I am 100% ready to find myself at that point in time when I actually understand myself. So no I don't think people really lose there selves no we are just learning how to deal with ourselves & learning what we can do to help ourself! A huge key to doing so is believing in yourself you will learn to grasp things you didn't think you could before. As a teenager I feel as thought you don't need to feel lost when your trying to figure out your teenage self but later on in life when you figure out who you wanna be I feel as though you can feel lost because you don't know exactly who you are until you do.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this quote. Although I do also agree that it is possible to grow without having to be broken first. When I hear this quote I think of the book “Touching Spirit Bear.” It's about a boy named cole who got in a lot of trouble and instead of going to jail he accepted the penalty of going to a remote Alaskan island to survive with the supplies he was given and he goes through hell and back. He gets beaten up and put right down onto the ground and kicked down anytime he tried to get back up, and from this he grew. It took an intense experience like that to beat the immatureness out of him and beat the best into him. That's similar to when someone goes to bootcamp. Bootcamp is designed to get (beat/ fight/ Idk what else to use) the civilian out of you and build you into a military personnel and build you into the soldier or sailor you need to be and to do that they need to break the civilian out and break you to build you.
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