Whitman

"Breathe the air but leave plenty after me, And am not stuck up, and am in my place […] The palpable is in its place and the impalpable is in its place"

In these lines Whitman is discussing the roles of everything in the universe. Everything, no matter what it is, whether it is tangible or intangible, has a role in life. One of the many roles of humans is to breathe air, it's something we have to do to survive and Whitman is saying that even after we die, oxygen will still exist and now "belong" to other humans to breathe. Earlier in the poem Whitman discusses the diversity of humans, but also how it makes us similar in that way. All of the things that compose us put us into our place in the world. Even if we don't know what it is, everyone and everything is on the Earth for a reason. Humans, dogs, trees, rocks, all have a place and Whitman believes they are always in their place. This is a comforting idea because even if you feel lost, Whitman believes you are always living the life you are supposed to. We live together with all of these things, palpable and impalpable, and they help us and in turn we help them. This allows for a lot of interconnectivity in the universe and reliance on things other than just yourself.   

Reflections

My sister, Josie, has played a significant role in shaping who I am today. She is two years older than I am and goes to the University of Victoria. We have always been very close and she has always been my role model, ever since we were little kids. I used to follow her around everywhere, copy everything she wore, and do everything she did. There's a video of us when we were little and I refused to do something until I saw her doing it, and then of course I HAD to do it. Now that we're older and we've grown up and made friends (that don't consist of each other and our neighbors) we have become very different from each other. Our styles, qualities, and many of our interests are no longer the same. I admire how confident she is, whether or not she knows it. She doesn't care what people think about her and watching her live like this has seriously encouraged me to be more like her. She is very genuine and intelligent and has some of the most interesting facts stored in her brain. She has introduced me to so many of my favorite things, like books, music, movies, etc. She has inspired me to embrace my inner nerd. I know a lot of people look up to their older siblings and I think a lot of us younger folk always worry that maybe our older siblings don't love and admire us the same way that we do of them. Josie constantly reassures me that she loves me, though, by being the best big sister. And although we are very different, one of the things we do have in common is our sense of humor. We have the strangest senses of humor and can laugh for hours about the most ridiculous things. I've always been told to marry someone funny, but also I think you should generally surround yourself with people who make you laugh, which Josie constantly does. I think I am "my true self" (if we even have one of those) when I am around her. Even though we don't live in the same house anymore, or even the same country, I know she will always be my role model and my best friend. :)    

Socratic Seminar Thoughts

I was in the inner circle of the socratic seminar this time around and and we talked about a lot of different topics (a lot of them straying from the book), but there was one thing I mentioned at the end of the seminar that I would have liked to talk deeper about. It was on the subject of the three species of Malacandra and how they all work together,  unlike humans who are constantly battling each other. In my opinion, I think the three species are bound together by Oyarsa. They have a common "God" to look up to and believe in and that makes it easier to coexist. There is proof of Oyarsa's existence. He can be (somewhat) seen and he talks to the species. The species know that if they do anything "bent" then they will be punished by Oyarsa. On Earth however, there are thousands of Gods worshipped. There is not one single religion, which creates a lot of diversity, and also a lot differences that can/are fought over. There is no proof of a God on Earth, so all religions believe their God is the real God. I personally don't believe in any God. I have no proof of the existence of one so I don't want to spend my time worshipping something that might not even be real. However, if I did have proof, like Oyarsa, then I would probably do everything that God asked me to. I think if people had definitive proof of a God that frowned upon fighting and "evil" people would coexist better. If I knew I could be "poofed" out of existence by doing something wrong, then I would never do anything wrong and I think most people would agree with this.