Writers Dreaming
I'm currently writing an opinion article for the KHQ magazine over the upcoming election. While trying to write it, I knew that no matter what side I take my opinion will still be shut down and people will still be upset either way, so I decided to steer it in a different direction than left or right entirely. Going through all the articles written about Hilary's emails and Trump's discrimination, it was difficult to discover what I was looking for. There was more written about Hilary's health the past weeks than anything about the libertarian nominee throughout the entire election. Therefore, in this case giving the "bad" news more attention allowed it more power over what should have been covered. In other situations, like the Stanford rape case, talking about the "bad" news gave others the chance to have a voice in justice, as well as the opportunity to learn and become aware of what happens to 1 in every 4 women throughout their lifetime. I suppose it just depends what what the "bad" news is in relation to power. Sometimes giving the "bad" news power can actually be a good thing.
In my four years of learning the French language, and as I begin to study new languages, I've acquired a decent amount of knowledge of the inner workings of languages. Learning how to read or write in a language is completely different than learning how to verbally speak in the language's dialect. Especially because there can be many different dialects within one language. Besides, you don't speak the same way you write. It's an intricate process of fluency, yet it is so much more than gaining another vocabulary. You fall in love with the culture that the language is braided with. Each languages comes from a rich history, and with that knowledge is a deeper understanding. You develop a different personality for the language. It changes you in many vast ways besides just being able to say you speak another language. Everyone should learn another language other than the one they born into.
"There’s still a gap between who I am in this moment and who I want to be, and in the future version of myself, I hope to gain that freedom back that I took from myself."
While I find it hilariously tedious that I have to quote myself for the fear of plagiarism, the meaning behind it holds merit. I'm quoting my first blog post in which I explain how from middle school to high school I robbed myself of the opportunity and ability to be adverse and openly accepting out of fear of what others would think. After that realization I have been able to reverse the mindset, yet now I'm constantly aware of how true the only constant thing in life is change. I feel as though the older people get the more they fall into a rut of the mindset they grew up in. I mean it's hard to remember to be all these different things on top of worrying about the house payment and trying to be home in time for the Sunday football game. It's easy to get caught up in life and forget about the change going on around you. It happens even with teenagers. You just have to remember the realization every once in awhile and conduct a thorough self evaluation.
(also my personal blog is kellivolonte.wordpress.com :)
Thanks for your thoughtful reflection, Kelli. I have grown so weary of all the election coverage, the "bad" each candidate highlights in the other, the contradictory commercials, all of it. Please make it stop! You are wise to realize the life is full of changes, that these changes are opportunities for growth. I'll be doing some thinking about your idea that "the older people get the more they fall into a rut of the mindset they grew up in" and wondering if this is where I am in life. I know I see the world in a much broader, more open-minded way now than I did when I was young and growing up in a small, homogeneous town. But I also feel that wistful nostalgia that the time I grew up in (the 80s!)was somehow easier/better/more wholesome than the current time, and I used to think only old people like my grandparents felt that...
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