Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.
From: :http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/v/vaclav_havel.html#ixzz1nyabA6CI
While googling quotes from Havel, this is what I found. In fact, I found many quotes about hope. I love this quote so much because a lot of people do think that hope is associated with optimism, but hope is actually just knowing that what's happening is happening for a reason. I believe that everything happens for a reason, so I'm glad that I found this quote. In relation to the texts, I don't think Ludvick has hope, but I don't think he is optimistic either- I think he's just cocky that everything is going to go his way. I think if he had some hope, that someday his life will turn around and that he will be happier, then he wouldn't have forced himself on Lucie and wouldn't have hit her. I'm sure it's really hard to have hope when you're at a camp like the one Ludvick is at, but I wish that he would have some hope that he will be happier, because that would help him get through the hard times more.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Be authentic. Be true. Be you.
Another line from Havel's Power of the Powerless that has stuck out to me is "Individuals can be alienated from themselves only because their is something in them to alienate" (page 41). Havel describes that because of this, living within the truth is directly related to living within the lie. We talked about this a lot in class one day, and I think it's definitely true that it's not possible to living within the truth without having first lived within the lie. I think that Havel's description of living within the truth shows people that have first lived within the lie and then one day realized that they can't do it anymore - that they have to start being themselves.
So what is the big moment that makes people start to live within the truth? Do people really just choose to live within the lie because they are afraid of losing things? I feel like possessing your dignity and knowing that you are standing up for what you believe in is a lot better than possessing things and constantly living each day knowing you are agreeing with something you don't believe in. Like I've mentioned in my previous posts, people today deal with this exact same thing.
Middle School and High School are two of the worst times for adolescents. In Middle School, you realize that you're not a kid anymore, you start to go through puberty, and for most people it's the "awkward phase". (It definitely was for me.) One of the worst parts of Middle School, though, is trying to "fit in". I remember having a bunch of friends from elementary school who, one day, decided to tell my best friend who moved away that they hated me. When I tried to talk to them about it, they told me to "rot in hell". I cried so much, and tried to have my mom talk to their moms, but in the end I ended up without friends - really, all of my friends who went to my Middle School just stopped talking to me! And I had absolutely no idea why. When I realized I didn't have any friends anymore, I decided I had to do anything to have friends because if you didn't have friends in Middle School, you would be called a freak or a loser. I'm a really sensitive person, and I knew I wasn't about to be called anything like that.
I had one friend who was my pen pal in elementary school (she went to a different elementary school and we ended up at the same Middle School), and I decided to start hanging out with her. She was friends with the "popular" kids, and so I started to become friends with the "popular" kids. I thought it was awesome, because who doesn't want to be popular in Middle School? The only problem was that since they knew everyone thought they were cool and popular, they would make fun of everyone in the school who wasn't a part of their group. Since I wanted to fit in with a group so bad, I would agree with them when they made fun of someone, and I even participated in the mean talk. I was considered one of the nicest girls in my elementary school (according to my teachers and classmates), but as soon as I got to Middle School, I was considered one of the "Mean Girls".
Being in the Mean Girls clique lasted about two years for me. In 8th grade, I started to branch out and make new friends in my classes. When I made friends with the non-popular kids and realized that I actually enjoyed hanging out with them more than my group of friends, I started to realize that all that time, I wasn't being authentic. I started to pull away from my popular friends, and eventually they just stopped inviting me places. I was hurt at first, and tried to figure out why, but as soon as I switched to a different High School, it was easier for me to cut ties with them. I realized who I wanted to be, and that didn't include making fun of people all the time. I wish that I had been able to live within the truth by telling them to stop making fun of people, but I'm glad that I was able to live within the truth by getting away from those relationships. I'm definitely much happier now that I've found true friends, and I feel comfortable telling people not to gossip and not to make fun of people.
Because of this experience, I think living within the truth has to come with living within the lie. I don't think there would be a way for me to live within the truth and tell the girls I became friends with to stop making fun of people unless I experienced it myself. I know that is probably really sad, but unfortunately it was true for my Middle School self.
Relating back to the books we've read in class, I think the same can be said for Ludvick in The Joke. He completely agrees to living within the lie, and makes a joke about living within the truth. I don't think he actually wants to live within the truth. He talks about that moment where he wrote that joking letter as the turning point for his now-awful life at the camp. Danny from The Miracle Game is another example: he shows that he's living within the lie, but at the same time he is choosing to live within the truth with the people that he knows he can trust won't hate him for it. It is so hard to completely choose to live within the truth, but it is so beneficial and rewarding. Unfortunately, one has to go through the hard part of living within the lie, completely oblivious to what is going on around them, before they are able to see what they are doing is wrong. It is awful to think that people in our society choose to live within the lie because they don't want to experience what would happen if they were to live within the truth. I think people need to start taking more chances to stand up for what they believe in, because if they don't, our world is going to be one big lie.
So what is the big moment that makes people start to live within the truth? Do people really just choose to live within the lie because they are afraid of losing things? I feel like possessing your dignity and knowing that you are standing up for what you believe in is a lot better than possessing things and constantly living each day knowing you are agreeing with something you don't believe in. Like I've mentioned in my previous posts, people today deal with this exact same thing.
Middle School and High School are two of the worst times for adolescents. In Middle School, you realize that you're not a kid anymore, you start to go through puberty, and for most people it's the "awkward phase". (It definitely was for me.) One of the worst parts of Middle School, though, is trying to "fit in". I remember having a bunch of friends from elementary school who, one day, decided to tell my best friend who moved away that they hated me. When I tried to talk to them about it, they told me to "rot in hell". I cried so much, and tried to have my mom talk to their moms, but in the end I ended up without friends - really, all of my friends who went to my Middle School just stopped talking to me! And I had absolutely no idea why. When I realized I didn't have any friends anymore, I decided I had to do anything to have friends because if you didn't have friends in Middle School, you would be called a freak or a loser. I'm a really sensitive person, and I knew I wasn't about to be called anything like that.
I had one friend who was my pen pal in elementary school (she went to a different elementary school and we ended up at the same Middle School), and I decided to start hanging out with her. She was friends with the "popular" kids, and so I started to become friends with the "popular" kids. I thought it was awesome, because who doesn't want to be popular in Middle School? The only problem was that since they knew everyone thought they were cool and popular, they would make fun of everyone in the school who wasn't a part of their group. Since I wanted to fit in with a group so bad, I would agree with them when they made fun of someone, and I even participated in the mean talk. I was considered one of the nicest girls in my elementary school (according to my teachers and classmates), but as soon as I got to Middle School, I was considered one of the "Mean Girls".
Being in the Mean Girls clique lasted about two years for me. In 8th grade, I started to branch out and make new friends in my classes. When I made friends with the non-popular kids and realized that I actually enjoyed hanging out with them more than my group of friends, I started to realize that all that time, I wasn't being authentic. I started to pull away from my popular friends, and eventually they just stopped inviting me places. I was hurt at first, and tried to figure out why, but as soon as I switched to a different High School, it was easier for me to cut ties with them. I realized who I wanted to be, and that didn't include making fun of people all the time. I wish that I had been able to live within the truth by telling them to stop making fun of people, but I'm glad that I was able to live within the truth by getting away from those relationships. I'm definitely much happier now that I've found true friends, and I feel comfortable telling people not to gossip and not to make fun of people.
Because of this experience, I think living within the truth has to come with living within the lie. I don't think there would be a way for me to live within the truth and tell the girls I became friends with to stop making fun of people unless I experienced it myself. I know that is probably really sad, but unfortunately it was true for my Middle School self.
Relating back to the books we've read in class, I think the same can be said for Ludvick in The Joke. He completely agrees to living within the lie, and makes a joke about living within the truth. I don't think he actually wants to live within the truth. He talks about that moment where he wrote that joking letter as the turning point for his now-awful life at the camp. Danny from The Miracle Game is another example: he shows that he's living within the lie, but at the same time he is choosing to live within the truth with the people that he knows he can trust won't hate him for it. It is so hard to completely choose to live within the truth, but it is so beneficial and rewarding. Unfortunately, one has to go through the hard part of living within the lie, completely oblivious to what is going on around them, before they are able to see what they are doing is wrong. It is awful to think that people in our society choose to live within the lie because they don't want to experience what would happen if they were to live within the truth. I think people need to start taking more chances to stand up for what they believe in, because if they don't, our world is going to be one big lie.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Live within the truth!
I think Havel's example of the Green Grocer putting up the sign in his store window, and all those who walk by and ignore it, in The Power of the Powerless is definitely the best part we've read so far. I think it's so interesting how people were able to live this way - doing things and saying things that they didn't necessarily feel all because they were scared of what would happen if they didn't follow the rules. To relate it back to my common theme for this blog, connections between what we're doing in class and our society today, it almost reminds me of people not speaking up against comments that aren't "politically correct".
Havel talks about a woman who just walks by the sign and doesn't say anything about it. She also has put up a sign, and Havel describes how when the green grocer visits her store, he doesn't notice her sign either. The sign is just something they did without thinking, and neither of them feels the need to acknowledge it for fear of what might happen to them. This reminds me of when people in our society use words like "gay" or "retard" derogatory terms, and a lot of people just let it slide. I definitely used to be one of those people who would just ignore when terms like that would be used. I stopped when the word "retard" started to be used more and more. I have a brother with mental and physical disabilities, and one day I was talking to him about that word and how it made him feel to hear other people call someone "retarded" when talking about a person being stupid. He told me that it made him so upset and bad about himself. He knew they weren't calling him that word, but he also felt hurt and sad and worthless. After that conversation with him, I made it my mission to make sure that no one used that word anymore. I now feel comfortable speaking up when I hear someone use it. Sometimes I get nervous to stand up for what I believe in because I don't want others to think I'm weird or think of me differently, but I'm definitely getting more comfortable telling people not to use it.
The green grocer and the woman both know what the slogan says; they both knowingly put them in their windows having some idea of what it means and know that they will be identified as believing what it says. I believe that that is the same as talking to someone who uses a term like "gay" or "retard" and not speaking up about how hurtful those words can be. People in our society may not have their entire lives at stake if they do speak up and start to live within the truth, but they are conscious of the fact that they may lose their friends or get fired if they speak up about how they feel. I think that social isolation and being unemployed because of standing up for your beliefs would be awful as well as being jailed or put in a camp like Ludvick.
Those who do live within the truth when it comes to speaking out against derogatory terms and racial terms are stronger than anyone. There's a campaign to Spread the Word to End the Word - about ending the use of the word "retard" - and the national day to spread the word this year is March 7. I love seeing people pledging to stop using the word and posting the homepage of Spread the Word to End the Word (http://www.r-word.org/) on Facebook. Living within the truth is something that takes a lot of courage, but I think once you start to live within the truth even just a little bit, it becomes so much easier to start voicing your opinion and standing up for what you believe in.
Havel talks about a woman who just walks by the sign and doesn't say anything about it. She also has put up a sign, and Havel describes how when the green grocer visits her store, he doesn't notice her sign either. The sign is just something they did without thinking, and neither of them feels the need to acknowledge it for fear of what might happen to them. This reminds me of when people in our society use words like "gay" or "retard" derogatory terms, and a lot of people just let it slide. I definitely used to be one of those people who would just ignore when terms like that would be used. I stopped when the word "retard" started to be used more and more. I have a brother with mental and physical disabilities, and one day I was talking to him about that word and how it made him feel to hear other people call someone "retarded" when talking about a person being stupid. He told me that it made him so upset and bad about himself. He knew they weren't calling him that word, but he also felt hurt and sad and worthless. After that conversation with him, I made it my mission to make sure that no one used that word anymore. I now feel comfortable speaking up when I hear someone use it. Sometimes I get nervous to stand up for what I believe in because I don't want others to think I'm weird or think of me differently, but I'm definitely getting more comfortable telling people not to use it.
The green grocer and the woman both know what the slogan says; they both knowingly put them in their windows having some idea of what it means and know that they will be identified as believing what it says. I believe that that is the same as talking to someone who uses a term like "gay" or "retard" and not speaking up about how hurtful those words can be. People in our society may not have their entire lives at stake if they do speak up and start to live within the truth, but they are conscious of the fact that they may lose their friends or get fired if they speak up about how they feel. I think that social isolation and being unemployed because of standing up for your beliefs would be awful as well as being jailed or put in a camp like Ludvick.
Those who do live within the truth when it comes to speaking out against derogatory terms and racial terms are stronger than anyone. There's a campaign to Spread the Word to End the Word - about ending the use of the word "retard" - and the national day to spread the word this year is March 7. I love seeing people pledging to stop using the word and posting the homepage of Spread the Word to End the Word (http://www.r-word.org/) on Facebook. Living within the truth is something that takes a lot of courage, but I think once you start to live within the truth even just a little bit, it becomes so much easier to start voicing your opinion and standing up for what you believe in.
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