Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Responding to Anne Lamott
Talking about her new students on the first day of class, Anne Lamott says “Historically they show up for the first workshop looking like bright goofy ducklings who will follow me anywhere, but by the time the second class rolls around, they look at me like the engagement is definitely off.” I like this phrase because this reminds me exactly of High school, I remember the first day, the teacher would do all the talking, and they would always try to make funny remarks to get some laughs out of the class, but nobody dared to laugh. By the time a week went by, the teacher wasn’t even able to handle the class because we were so out of control. It was like total opposites after we found how far we could push the teacher without them snapping at on us. By the end of the year, it was practically like there wasn’t any authority coming from the teacher. Another one is “…then you stare at it for an hour or so. You begin rocking, just a little at first, and like a huge autistic child. You look at the ceiling, and over at the clock, yawn, and stare at the paper again.” Although this is a little out of context, it is still a good line. This is how I feel every time I sit down to right a paper. I have no concentration, and can’t stop looking at things. Although it seems like if you and a good idea in you mind, you would be able to write a half way decent paper, but with me, even if I am writing about something I love, I am still not able to concentrate on the paper. My mind is always wondering , thinking about the dumbest thins, and the most irrelevant things ever.
Mirror Mirror…
“So we check the queen’s magic mirror to exhaustion, subtly, maybe unconsciously even. It may be in our genes. It may be survival of the fittest. But on some days, in some situations we’re probably there every half hour: ‘Mirror mirror on the wall, how am I doing today? Am I out ahead? Am I getting behind?’” (Blue 131)
I chose this phrase because it conveys the yearning, the frailness of humankind. It not only shows how we as a race aren’t perfect, but how are lives are controlled by our innate craving for worldly glory. Whether we will admit it or not, what others think about us and how we “measure up” matters immensely. At times it may even be how we define ourselves and our role in this world. This phrase just struck me as the perfect words to describe the behavior so many try to ignore or shove under the rug. Who would have thought that someone as evil as the queen in Snow White, a person that as children we despised, would be so similar to us? We check the mirror to exhaustion. Not just once or twice a day, but until we have nothing left to give. We are searching for the world’s glory, its approval, and how we live our lives. This is by far the best way I have ever heard this type of behavior, this natural human instinct described.
Unbelievable
Unbelievable, by Sam Harris, is a book about religion in the modern world. Harris makes the argument that religion, all religion, is the basis for violence. With the goal of ending violence, he says that all religion should be abolished.