Personal Philosophy

         

          "Only a life lived for others is worth living."-Albert Einstein. I have not yet lived a full life but from what I have lived I know that living as a selfish person does not bring any happiness and it gives no meaning to life. It is easy to become self-centered, to want everything for oneself. However I find that being the center of the universe is not what makes you live a worthy life. I strongly believe that human nature is to be kind to each other, yet not all of us follow our nature when we are surrounded by such a corrupted society. In today's society it seems as for someone to reach full happiness and success everything must be at our feet. This however, I find that is the wrong way to live life. Us humans should follow our nature and live a selfless life that will guarantee full happiness.
          I will not sit here and say that I have followed this philosophy all my life because its not true, and even today I sometimes forget what little I have learned. As a young kid I was the typical spoiled child. Always wanting more and never sharing anything of what I had. I am embarrassed when I look back to my childhood and remember the day I cried, only because the only thing my dad brought me during his visit was a blanket. I was so used to the usual set of Polly Pockets that I did not stop to see the beauty in that blanket. Besides the fact that it was a beautiful blanket, it represented the hard work my dad did in order to buy it just for me. Thankfully today I still have that blanket and it reminds me of my actions back then but it also reminds me to never ever act like that again. Watching my parents give out to others was a big part of why I was able to change my thoughts towards the way of life. looking at how their eyes lit up when we were happy or how it saddened them to see us be unsatisfied with what we had. How easy it was for them to just help someone in need.I am not sure at which point in my life I was able to change my actions. I do however know that I started by sharing my things with others and just being there when I was needed. I was able to be happy just by watching someone start to smile. It was not so much that I was satisfied with by helping someone but it was the feeling that I could share my happiness with someone else. Today I can say that its what I love doing, even if I don't have much to share I try and make someones day. Because it is ten times better to be happy and know someone else is also happy than to have anything in the world for yourself.
          Today if someone were to ask me what is the key to having a good life, I would one hundred percent answer that its all about not being selfish. Not everything thing is about you because if you make it about you then other people will dislike you. It is better to live a life were you know that you have helped someone and that the person was maybe thankful for what you did, then live a life were everything you did was only for yourself. If I look back at my life in twenty year I am sure that I will be satisfied at least with the fact that I surrounded my self with people by helping them then with things. Its not about the things you own because even if you do distract yourself with them once in a while, they wont give you happiness. So its better to start helping people and be happy that they are happy. Like I said before, its in our nature to be kind and we will only live a life worth living if we surround ourselves by real happiness. And start thinking that maybe if we help someone today we can change the rest of their life to something positive. That is something to really be happy about and that is a life worth living.

Poem ch 16-19 (C)

This poem is from one of the migrant families talking about the theme fear. It explores the hardships they have gone through and how they evolved to eventually remake a lost community. How after losing everything they were able to share their stories and make a new community throughout the road trip to California.

Fear

We were forced off our lands

To take our things 

To move along

We were forced to fear

and go out there

and face the world

We moved along the dirty road

not knowing were

not knowing how

We learned to share

what little we had

what we didn't have

We learned to live

to share our sadness

to share our fear

Diary Entry ch.11-15 (C)

Dear Diary,
          Long days have passed since we left our home. It has been hard on the road and we have not found much luck in reaching California. I have become sick recently but we met some nice folks today. I fear that I will not make it to California but i'm glad that we have met the Joads. They have offered to help us and I know now that my husband will be fine if I don't make it. I told them that if I become too sick to go on that they must leave me behind, but they wont do it. They are good people and they have gone through some hard times as well. We lend them our tent were their Grandpa died, and they say they owe us because of it. Of course we said it was no problem, but they insisted to help. Times are hard for us and we are almost out of money. We have lost so much and I don't know if I will make it. I hope i do though.
                                                        Love,
                                                                Ms. Wilson

Transcendentalism CH 11-15 (H)

Transcendentalism is a philosophical idea that involves self-reliance. In The Grapes Of Wrath, this idea is an important one. As the farmers are kicked out of their homes and forced to move west, they only have themselves to count on. They have lost their main source of income, the land, and as times get worse they start to rely less on religion. Like the character Casey, who has lost faith in religion, the Joads are starting to depend less in God and more in each other. It also connects to them making actions that will change things and not waiting for a miracle to happen. The author, Steinbeck, has used this philosophy in the book as he is trying to show how important self-reliance is and where it will lead you rather than depend on a miracle to happen. It basically is showing that your actions will lead you someplace and if you don't take actions change will not happen.

Ch 1-10 Assignment G

Man V. Machine

"The thunder of the cylinders sounded through the country, became one with the air and the earth, so that earth and air muttered in sympathetic vibration. The driver could not control it-"(35).

"No man had touched the seed, or lusted for the growth. Men ate what they had not raised, had no connection with the bread"(36).

          The farmers in the novel are being forced to evacuate the land and they can not find a person to blame. The men who came and told them to leave do not have an answer to whose fault it is. As the tractors come and work their fields, it seems as though the farmers have no one to blame and so they blame the machine. When they see that the tractor can do the job of fourteen families, it is clear to them that if the tractor did not exist, then they would have no reason to leave their homes. There is also this perspective were you cant really appreciate the food if it is not grown by men, because there is no connection. The farmers are so used to living of the land that it feels wrong to get food they did not row themselves. It all eventually goes back to this great machine that the farmers have to compete against and its just this huge rivalry were it seems almost impossible to win. It all connects and it eventually leads to the departure of the farmers to California.

Assignment ch 1-10 Pride (F)

 "I built it with my hands. Straightened old nails to put the sheathing on. It's mine. I built it" (37).

 "Them dirty sons-a-bitches. I tell ya, men, i'm stayin'. They ain't gettin' rid a me. My pa come here fifty years ago. An' i ain't a-goin'"(47).

          Both of these quotes represent the great pride that the tenants have for the land and how they have come to it. As both quotes show, they feel great pride in the land because either they built their home in it or their family did. This pride leads them to not want to leave things behind. It builds as they believe that they are more worthy owners because they have put great work into all of it. They feel attachment towards the place they call home because they made it and they put in the hard work to have what they have. It essentially don't want to leave everything behind because they worked hard to obtain these things and it is something that makes them really proud. to be able to say that they live off the land.

Assignment 1-10 The Dust Bowl (A)