Desire for Wisdom and Knowledge

Why is it that knowledge can be taught and wisdom is only learned? It would be just great if there was a book out there somewhere that would tell me all the decisions I need to make in order for me to live a happy, fulfilled life. Too bad, reality happened. I am the one who will screw up my life with a bad decision or succeed in my life with a good decision. There is no formula for wisdom. Wisdom comes with experience, and there is no avoiding it. (Not that anyone would ever want to avoid it!) Knowledge, however, is a completly different concept. We all go to school for nearly half of our lives just to say that we understand at least something about our idealized professions. Now and then, I find that if I take a step back and let life take its oscillating course, most of the time waking up another morning angry and sleep deprived won't be so bad. I don't want to squeeze all of the juice out of my life, becuase I actually like drinking the pulp. If we all just keep on adding miles onto our highways, we will find that happiness comes more naturally when we live our lives to the fullest.

My Truth

How does one obtain the truth? How do we decipher the difference between a lie and a truth? The only truth we can trust is truth that lies within us.

The only way we can become comfortable with ourselves is to embark on a quest in order to find our inner truth. Skeptics may argue that our truths are simply to be happy with our short lives. I disagree however, because not everyone knows how to achieve this. The generic formula for happiness is always: money and love. Keeping things in moderation is the difficult part. I don't even know how much concentration I need in order to get the right amount of both to be happy with my life. That is the other truth, we all seek to equate the happiness formula.

The difference between those easily satisfied and those difficult to please are exemplified by Govinda and Siddartha. Govinda is convinced quickly that Gotama has the answers to all of his suffering, and doesn't need to know anything else. Siddartha, however, needs to know more. His unquenchable longing for knowledge differentiates him from Govinda. All of us fit into one of two categories. Either we are ready to give up our questions, or not.

The Spectrum of Happiness

On the right-most end of the happiness spectrum is happiness, and on the left-most end is suicidal depression. In the middle, the emotion of contentment lies. All of us go through these different feelings multiple times in our lives due to our experiences. I felt like I had more hope and trust when I was younger, before I knew reality.

Siddartha thought that the answers to his unending questions could be simply discovered through expelling himself into another world. This is not the case however, because Siddartha must face himself in order to identify his purpose in life.

Dreams and goals are diminished and trampled upon when we all grow up. The obstacles of reality block us from becoming anything we want to be, which is discouraging.

Adjustments Through Maturation

Last night, I realized just how close I am to independence. I am not too excited about eventually having to pay the bills, or to be placed in an environment that I am unfamiliar with, but I finally get to live my own life. Although frightening and appealing, I believe that the day I graduate high school, I become an adult.

Almost four years ago, I walked through the doors into my freshman year. High School: the intimidating next step into adolescence. It wasn't until the end of sophomore year that I finally became comfortable with myself. My whole perspective on high school changed at that time. I started to care about what I was learning and what the curriculum was doing for my education, which essentially is my maturation. I am not the same person that I was three years ago. My everyday decisions reflect these modifications. To name one thing, I actually excel in school now. I try my best to succeed, because I now that proof of my metamorphosis is necessary in order to show different colleges and universities that I deserve to be in their institution.

"The Year is at the Spring" by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema reflects similar feelings that I possess. The woman in the painting, for example, seems to be fondly contemplating on a memory. Her emotions are slightly related to mine because I fondly look on into the future. I don't know what college I will be accepted into yet, but at least I know I am going. At that moment, which is coming up soon, I will be able to plan out what I want to do with my life.

Saying Farewell to Bad Choices

Is death comparable to the time of day? The inescapable coming of dawn and dusk is related to the unavoidable visit from the Grim Reaper. In my opinion, we can "rage, rage against the dying of the light" (Thomas 9), but to stop the sun is beyond human control. Shakespeare also correlates the relationship between life and light, as well as death and sleep in Hamlet in order to exemplify how little control his characters have in their plights. For example, Hamlet believes that his obligation to vengeance is beyond his control, which leads to his demise. Hamlet considers himself as a failure if he does not kill Claudius instantaneously, yet Hamlet feels that he must refrain from killing Claudius until he sees Claudius squirm with his burden of guilt. Torn between two sentiments, Hamlet's obsession with his own actions and Claudius's sins, advocates his feigned madness to become reality. Understanding when one has control over a situation allows one to avoid the crucible of indecision.

When is Madness Sane?

When Emily Dickinson wrote that "Much sense - [is] the starkest madness" and "[madness is] handled with a chain," she implies that having the trait of sensibility is equivalent to delirium. Dickinson also believes that the delirium can be controlled just like any other trait, which is ironic because delirium connotes chaos and anarchy. I believe that Dickinson is comparing the contradictory concepts of madness and sensibility in order to develop a theme of disillusionment. Due to Dickinson's prolonged isolation in her lifetime, she most likely had a lot of experience with feelings of disillusionment and therefore she integrates this theme in order to express the pain and suffering she felt. I thought "The Persistence of Memory" by Salvador Dali also represents disillusionment and chaos because clocks are forms of conformity, and time is the stimulus that tells us when to wake up in the morning, and when to go to bed. Dali paints the clocks melting, turning into unrecognizable puddles being torn apart by the ants, which conveys destruction of the conceptions of control and order. The descent into madness is similarly characterized by the slow deterioration of all conformity and the perception of reality.

Pride's Role in Revenge

It is innate that every person on this Earth will commit revenge at least one time in their lives. When embarrassment, pain, or any wrongdoing is experienced there is no doubt that the next step in concession will involve vengeance against the antagonist that is inflicting agony. However, sometimes the revenge doesn't solve the problems in our lives. For example, revenge may continue the suffering exponentially. One must choose whether to move on or to face the issue with a bare-fist. I see the temptation to stoop down to revenge as irresistible. Humans have incessant need to replenish our pride when it has been broken because revenge is the exhibition of our resiliency. Our excessive pride forces us to prove that we can rise above those who put us down before. Those who are reluctant to commit revenge try to ignore their primal need of vengeance, and they may say that they are secure enough of their emotions not to commit revenge, but vengeful thoughts are impossible to ignore. The only way for humans to sustain feelings of security is to commit revenge.