I Believe in Dreams

I believe in dreams, because as Thoreau wrote "Go Confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined." I too believe that dreams are important to have in life, and without them, you cannot keep moving forward. My essay on how I believe in dreams states that dreams can be big or small, and no matter what size they are, anything can be achieved if you put your heart and mind into it. Everyone has dreams, and everyone can accomplish dreams, it all depends on how much it means to you. If you are willing to give up time, space, money and anything else necessary, anything can and will be accomplished.

I choose this image because it relates closely to what I'm saying in my essay. I love this quote because it means that it's up to you to live the life you want, and no one can do it for you. I got this image from: http://www.adventurepostoffice.com/cards/thoughts/th131.jpg.

I Am, As I Grew Older

The reason I chose the poem As I Grew Older by Langston Hughes was for a few reasons. Even though it was one of the longer poems, it was easy to annotate the poem, and to find pictures. I thought about picking one of the shorter poems, but I didn't think that it would be as easy to find pictures for them. Take the part in the poem where it mentions breaking and shattering the darkness around him. This could be showed through dark pictures, or as I chose, splatter paintings. 

Connecting With Others

Matt Harding wrote an essay called Connecting to a Global Tribe which talks about how people have small social networks, that don't expand over a lot of other people and places. We are often curious about other people, and places, but our brains weren't designed to comprehend a world that is so big filled with so many people. What started out as something just for fun with no real big purpose, he created a video of him doing a jig in countries around the world. Over 20 million people have
watched his video, resulting in two more videos that cover over 70 countries from all seven continents. People started asking if they could join him while he was doing his jig, which has led many people to be involved. Our social networks grow everyday, which can be stressful on our caveman brains as Matt Harding puts it. People who forget their differences are able to enjoy their life without worrying about their differences, which lets you focus on everyone's similarities. Our brains can relax, because you realize simple it is to just forget the differences and focus on the similarities. If people could come to realize that the differences just make everybody unique instead of scary and weird, I believe the world could be a better place.

I chose the image of people from different countries holding up the world because it shows that everyone can live and work together. I got the image on http://mywebsite.register.com/db4/00383/buildinghisdream.org/_uimages/holdingtheworld.jpg

Beauty or Talent?

http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/08_02/2PaulPottsRTN_468x477.jpg
http://images.mirror.co.uk/upl/m4/apr2009/0/9/susan-boyle-pic-sm-247189641.jpg

I believe that people shouldn’t be judged just because of the way they look, but because of what’s inside. Both Susan Boyle and Paul Potts from Britain’s Got Talent didn’t have the looks of a star, but they had a magnificent voice. People may have great talents, but now, if they don’t have the right looks, people take one look and say ‘How are they going to be any good at this?’ I believe this is wrong, people aren’t perfect, some people have both the looks and the voice, others only have the voice. If a person can only focus on the outside of a person, and not on the inside, then they might as well stop looking because what they find may not be the true person.

Susan Boyle had a dream of performing in front of a large audience and becoming someone famous like Elaine Page. An audition on Britain’s Got Talent was the perfect way for her to pursue her dream, but because of the way she looked, both the audience and the judges both were looking at her thinking ‘There is no way she can have a good voice, she doesn’t look like star material. And the smile of hers looks like she is just a goofy person who is playing some joke.’ I believe this isn’t fair because they had no solid proof that she was going to be a bad singer. The moment she opened her mouth and started singing, everyone was taken by surprise. The judges and audience started cheering and clapping for her, which I believe is simply a way to show that they hadn’t thought she would make it. One of the judges remarked that in the beginning, everyone was being very cynical to her, and that this wasn’t fair. Susan Boyle knew she didn’t look like a star, but came anyway because she had a dream and was willing to pursue it. This goes to show that it doesn’t matter what’s on the outside, but what’s on the inside. The same goes for Paul Potts who also had a dream.

Paul Potts had a similar dream to Susan Boyle; he had always wanted to do opera singing as a career. He worked as a mobile phone salesman in South Wales, not the type of person you would find singing opera is what the judges were thinking. I believe this wasn’t fair of them either because were you work doesn’t affect your ability to sing, it’s what you do for your voice that affects your singing ability. All the same, he decided to take his chances to fulfil his dream, and ended up winning that years Britain’s Got Talent. Judging people from the outside I believe shouldn’t be done. If people would learn to judge only by what’s inside, I believe that you would get farther with less mistakes.

I Am Poem

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHWAreqTkRZPeGMTqhrCbrktizi22MqDfg10AhKbu2Acn_PJRG6fAp_Ftvzu7aZWUDx5QtdEGLqSAhyphenhyphen_8jycn3yr1pBNwWvHCpd3lnonW6IVRlMflrNhsFj4nZitzzW99aWE33g9eXE_zq/

I Am

I am a deer
Cautious in new surroundings
Darting to the shadows when trouble occurs.

I am a wave
Crashing on the shore,
Powerless against the larger waves,
Dragged back by the current.

I am the dull cover of a textbook
Monochrome on the outside
But open my pages to find adventure inside

I am a light bulb
My filament flickers and sparks
Brightening as my doubt goes away.

I am me
Struggling with my confidence,
But strengthening everyday.

I chose the picture of waves by Karen Winters because my life can be like the ocean in many ways. Sometimes, my life is calm, other times it feels like all the action will never stop, just like waves crashing onto the shore during a storm. Also, sometimes I feel powerless, like I'm being dragged back into the current. Like my life, the ocean has many moods, some better than others.

Unity of Dog and Magpie

Dog and Magpie's unity has tested them through acts of faithfulness and redemption. Dog saved Magpie from extinction, forming a bond between them strong with faithfulness, and not much could break it. The jealousy of Fox led him trying to break the faithfulness that had grown between them. Knowing how Magpie dreamed an impossible dream of being able to feel the wind rush through her feathers, Fox was determined to get her away from Dog. Using his excuse of being able to help her feel like she is truly flying again, made her break the bond between them. One thing led to another, and she was alone again. Feeling that redemption was needed, she started back home, hoping that their unity as one would still be there.

Breaking the Frozen Sea

"A book should be like an ice-axe to break the frozen sea within us." - Franz Kafka

I believe that Franz Kafka's statement can be related to me in many ways. Before the start of this school year, there was only one series of books that I was interested in reading - the NancyDrew series. I never wanted to read any other typoes of books unless I was forced to. This all changed as I came into 6th grade, when I wanted a book.

Walking to the library, with no idea of what I wanted exactly, I proceeded through the door. Over at the shelve, I started skimming over the titles hoping to find a catchy one. Many of my friends were reading Red Wall by Brian Jacques, so I decided to give it a try. Checking out the book, I started towards home group. The minute I arrived I sat down and started reading. As I read on, something happened in my mind. My mind had found something new and enjoyable, which relates to Kafka's quote. I believe that the statement is true; books are like ice-axes that are capable of breaking away that want to stay the same. For me, my 'frozen sea' wanted to stay at the same level of reading, never moving on to something new. But now, my 'frozen sea' has been smashed, and I now enjoy many different genres. The different genres I read now are many, and I never dream of gong back to my same old boring life.

I chose this picture because it shows that your mind is opened to new advantages. This is shown in the picture because the boy in the picture is reading an ABC book, giving him more knowledge. I believe that after reading Kafka's statement, this picture is a good example of what he means.

Credit to the boy reading goes to www.iotazeta.org, and I added the letters entering his head personally on Photoshop.