Books

For the last week and the next three we will be engaged in reading different books. These books all bring information about the human condition to each of the readers. We learn from the characters, the time periods, and the themes about the human condition. Take our topic of the human condition from the first weeks of school and apply it one book we have already read and discussed; once you have done this, apply this idea to your current book. See the example below:

The book Night, teaches us that as humans it is necessary for us to change and grow in order to overcome and survive the situations in which we find ourselves. This can be seen in the way Wiesel works so desperately to survive the camps and in the way he became a voice for all survivors. In the book I just finished, The Bluest Eye, we learn it is part of the human condition to see what others have and desire it while never truly seeing the beauty in our own lives. The characters live life defined by some one's idea of self worth never knowing their own worth. Through these two texts, it can be argued that being human is about change. We change in order to find value in life. For some, the change is for the good leading to knowledge, but for others, the change destroys knowledge. To be human requires us to change in order to survive.

Cleaning

This weekend, I was on a roll. I cleaned out a room, and many cupboards. Cleaning and I are not good friends. I resent her. I resent that I have to put books down to clean, turn off the television to clean, stop grading papers to clean, not go shopping--all because I have to clean! Despite my resentment, cleaning is necessary. It is the way we remove the clutter from our lives. It is the way we organize our chaos and how we purge the things no longer needed.

Perhaps my resentment of her comes from the fact that I am a keeper. Not a hoarder, there is a difference. I keep my kid's pictures that they draw, notes from high school, poetry that I find, etc. Cleaning makes me get rid of things. It forces me to make choices between what I want and what I can store. It forces me to prioritize when I am thinking about what I may need 20 years from now--hence the reason I was able to wear my sweatshirt from 20 years ago two weeks ago for throw back day.

As spring approaches, it is often customary to "Spring Clean." The goal is to sweep away what we do not need and bring in the new. I am thinking I want to sweep away the clutter in my life. By clutter I mean the things that break my focus. This might include the negative people who rain on my parade, or the things I do that take away my time. I want to fill my house with positive ideas, activities, and people who add instead of subtract from my life.

Write this week about how you wish to clean house and what you wish to add to your life. Do not add names of people. You may describe people as negative or sunshine. Focus on the positive.