Journal #34-

As explained in the video we watched, there are three parts to self.  I would consider my self hard to explain because I do not always think about who I am.  Like most people, I am normally concerned with what other people see me as.  The three parts to self include the soul, who I perceive myself to be, and who others perceive me to be.  This last part is called the "true self".  When I think the soul side of myself, I think of Christianity.  I am a baptized Christian and have devoted my life to Christ knowing that he has covered my sins and taken my fall.  I can look forward to Heaven after I die because of His sacrifice.  So this part of my self is tied to me being a Christian.  The second part of self is who I see myself to be.  Often times this is not always good.  I doubt my abilities in many areas of my life, and sometimes lack confidence.  Most of the time I picture myself as better than I really am which is not always a good thing.  The activities I do and the people I hang out with are what shape what I perceive my self as.  Family, running, school, and church are a big part of this area of my self.  The final area of my self is what others perceive me to be.  I am not really sure what most people think of me because I have never really asked anyone.  This part of my self is the hardest to personally figure out, because everyone except me holds the answer.  I would like to think that others respect me and think of me as a caring and intelligent person.  When I put all three of these specific areas of self together, I find my overall self.  According to Whitman this self is the self of my friends, my family, people in my state, and everyone across the world.

Journal #33- Reducing Stress

Dealing with stress is a  very important part of life.  Stress is an everyday thing that every person must learn to deal with and persevere through.  I would like to say that my life is stressful, but in reality it really is not that bad.  The things that I stress over right now include my college search, homework, tests, looking for a job this summer, track, and many other pointless little things.  I have tried a few different methods of relieving my stress.  Sometimes I just try not to think about the things that are stressing me out, but this is not always the best method.  My favorite method is running.  Running is a huge part of my life.  At least five days a week I go out and run a few miles or do a workout on the track.  This time allows me to reflect on my life and the things that are stressing me out.  I can actually think about who I am as a person when I am out in nature just enjoying life.  There is just something about exercise and being outside that nothing can compare to.  After dealing with a day of school and putting up with others who are sometimes hard to put up with, it is a relief to reconnect with myself after school.  Even though this is my favorite method of reconnecting with myself, I also use a few others.  Another method I use includes when I am driving by myself.  I turn off the radio and just think about the day and how I think my life is.  The thing that I always seem to worry about most is the future.  I fear the unknown and dislike change so this is normally the base of my stress.  Being in the car by myself with nothing else to do provides the perfect time to reflect upon my day or my life as a whole.

Journal #32- Revolution

Revolutions have played a significant role in the history of the human race.  From ancient Egypt to the modern society, revolutions in technology and society have occurred.  One of the first major revolutions of society was the movement from nomadic life to tribal and town life.  Early people of Mesopotamia started out as a wandering society following their food sources of animals.  Eventually they discover crops that could sustain a permanent civilization.  This has occurred again and again in our history.  The Native Americans also did this, but it was much later in the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries.  This is just one example of revolutions in how humans do things.  Revolutions in thinking are also very significant.  Before the year 1492, many people still believed that the world was flat and if you traveled far enough you would end up falling off the face of the earth.  When Christopher Columbus traveled to the New World, he proved many of these theories wrong.  This discovery revolutionized how humans viewed the world.  Another revolution in human thought was what the connection between the sun and the earth was.  In the medieval age, most people believed that the sun revolved around the earth.  Then a scientist made some observations and proved that it was the other way around.  This revolutionized thought because people now realized that the earth was not the center of the universe.  Revolutions have been a significant factor in the progress of technology and society of the human race.  Thoughts and the way people live are very different today than they were one hundred and one thousand years ago.  This can be credited to the revolutions our society has made.  In order for a revolution to occur, someone must go against what is normal, and stand up for a new idea.  The great people of our history were not the conformers, but the leaders of new movements.  As we look to the future, we must be ready to change some of our ideas because we still do not know very much about our universe.

Journal #31- Gossip

Gossip is a major problem in today's society.  We have become so accustomed to this habit, that it does not even feel or sound wrong to us any more.  Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters is a great example of gossip and its affects.  In school I hear gossip everyday.  Sadly, I take part in it many times.  Sometimes gossip is not always bad, but most of the time it is.  If the gossip is a complement to a person, than it might not be bad.  Most of the time gossip turns out to be false information.  People can get their feelings hurt and be offended by even small comments.  A few words can do more damage than physical blows.  Most people accept gossip as a part of life in today's society.  Most people do not think about the consequences of spreading a rumor.  A person's life can be ruined by the spreading of gossip.  Like is someone started saying that a girl was pregnant and she really was not, her life for the next few months would probably be miserable.  In our culture, gossip is promoted everywhere.  It is in movies, tv shows, commercials, video games, and pretty much every form of communication.  There are entire television shows dedicated to spreading true and false rumors  about celebrities and well known people.  Movies are also full of gossip.  Entire story lines are based on the idea of one little rumor spreading, leading to a whole trail of events that seems to never end.  For some reason, it is in human nature to be eager to hear anything bad about someone else.  People like to find the junk that others are hiding and expose it to the public.  I think our society should try to start caring for other people rather than tearing them down with spreading rumors and gossip.

Journal #30- Civil Rights

Looking back at the history of the United States, civil rights have been a reoccurring argument for various ethnic, religious, political groups.  The first group to fight and win civil rights in this country were lower class white men.  From the beginning of the nation in the late 1700s, a group of rich white men held most of the power.  This stayed true until the 1820s and 1830s when Andrew Jackson became President.  He represented the "Age of White Democracy" and in these years, lower class white men gained the right to vote.  The next major event in the United States civil rights movement was the Civil War.  Even though  African Americans did not gain all their rights following the war, it was a major step towards it.  The Jim Crow Laws of the southern states and discrimination kept many blacks from the voters box and denied them their rights as citizens.  It was not until the twentieth century when women were finally given the right to vote. For decades women had been pushing for this right, and time and time again women proved they were worthy of it.  African Americans did not fully gain there rights until nearly half way through the twentieth century.  The fight and attainment of civil rights in America have been major events that have shaped our nation.  It took nearly two hundred years for everyone living in the United States to gain their civil rights; whites, African Americans, Indians, women, and immigrants.  The United States Constitution, the Supreme Court, and Congress have all played a role in shaping American rights.  The right to vote is just one of the most basic of civil rights.  We are so blessed to live in a country that protects our civil rights.  We need to remember the price that was paid to attain these rights and look forward to a better tomorrow.