Perspectives @ MindSay

 

Here are a couple of perspectives on the chaos that is Hamas and Fatah; two Palestinian brothers that have only one thing in common: the hatred of Israel.

 

lately i've learned, my life is not hard. i've gone through some tough times, but nothing's really bad. i turn on the tv and all i see is death. everytime i hear of a couple losing a child, i almost cry, the thought of losing my own someday is more than i can bear. as americans we take everything in life for granted. freedom of speech. freedom of the press. we say what we want, whether it hurts someone else or not. take the media for instance. we think of ourselves first. we think we have it hard beacause once, long ago, we lost a friend. we neglect to see life through someone else's perspective. the little boy who's parent's were shot in front of him because they renounced the government. the little girl who was taken from her family because they couldn't pay their taxes. in reality our life is a bed of roses compared to other parts of the world. Zimbabwe, South Africa, Iraq, Iran etc.

 

in america we have something called the "American Dream." the rest of the world only knows survival. in america we crush all who get in our way of reaching our goal. it seems that "less fortunate" people than ourselves truly know how to be happy, even in their hellish existence. instead of an "american dream" they have something much more meaningful. Honour, Integrity, Brotherhood and most importantly Love. in modern day america love is just a myth passed on from our forefathers.

 

these are my thoughts regarding life, many of you will know that what i say is true. and the other's... well you'll see someday. the truth is out there, now which road will you chose?

Words cannot fully express how much I’m enjoying my semester in France. Among other things, I have learnt how to master the skill of balancing class assignments, study hours, and recreation in order to absorb what this opportunity has to offer.

I have been able to develop life-long bonds with my colleagues that I intend to continue to nurture, for one day I plan to visit each of my friends in their part of the world. My roommates and I have developed a special bond from sharing different experiences together, realizing our faults and our strengths together, and engaging in extremely lengthy conversation over dinner, or at our apartment at nights that sometimes welcome the morning sun, together.

I have pitched the questions to my roommates to learn their perspective and reasons for:
-Why they wanted to study abroad?
-What they planned to achieve?
-And what would you advise/recommend someone wanting to study abroad?

Their responses were as follows:

Jennifer, a Marketing major and a very adventurous individual who has already travelled to Europe before, Mexico, and experienced a Caribbean cruise said that she chose to study abroad to gain “a better understanding of different cultures and to differentiate [her] résumé from others, as well as to make herself more marketable in the workplace.” She wants to, “achieve a greater appreciation for different cultures, and improve [her] French language skills while building international contacts.” Jennifer would recommend to, “anyone that is studying abroad to have a little experience in the language before arriving, (if going to a country with a different language to one’s mother tongue).” She also advises, “to prepare mentally and emotionally, to expect to have trouble adjusting to a new place because as we all know ‘there’s no place like home,’ and most importantly to research the area travelling to, so you would know a little bit about its culture.”

Kimberly, a New Zealand born triple major in International Business, History, and Politics, who resides in Australia and previously travelled to Indonesia said that she, “thought studying in a foreign environment would be challenging and extremely beneficial for the program in which [she’s] enrolled in”. [She] has lived in Australia, Perth for the most part of [her] life, so [she] saw studying abroad as a fantastic travel opportunity.” She hopes to achieve primarily, “knowledge, experience and culture,” She also wanted to, “learn how to speak French fluently, make connections with people from diverse backgrounds from around the world, and gain independence from back home.” She would advise, “to have no expectations, to be willing to compromise, to enjoy yourself, and to know that you’re in for a ride.”

My own thoughts will come next...

The sun is shining and I’m feeling GOOD! (In SPITE of the fact that I have a MOUNTAIN of things that absolutely MUST be accomplished during this day.) Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina in the morning! Come on over and sit a spell at the Nuthouse and take a morning coffee break!



There seems to be a tendency for folks to take for granted, the subtle blessings of their everyday lives. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I’ve found it amazing that other folk would find my life to be of enough interest that they would visit me on any sort of regular basis. Even more amazing is the comments often left, particularly regarding our quaint little wannabee farm here on the corner of a community that’s little known, even among those in our area, much less folks from somewhere else altogether.

The windows on the lower side of our unusually long house, overlook our small pasture, bordered by the creek where the beavers live, and where our fox makes her home (I don’t know why I call it a ‘her’ – she just LOOKS like a her). There are many trees near and far, window feeders, horses, fox, beaver, groundhogs, ferrel cats, falling trees and fences. There is much to see, so I find myself glancing out the windows often – sometimes to see whatever may be out there to see (another photo opp?!), sometimes just to find comfort in seeing my mares grazing contentedly, sometimes just to look at the blue sky and green trees and just enjoy the moment’s view. And though I appreciate it immensely, when I take a photo of it, the photo gives me a bit of an opportunity to see it through someone else’s eyes – someone not so ‘familiar’ with it all as we are – and then I think, “WOW! That really IS a gorgeous view!”

There’s a feeling of quietness here, though in reality, it’s anything BUT quiet. The breeze is gentle and only slightly warm…you can hear it rustling through the trees…and every now and then, there’s the faint sound of wind chimes from the pecan tree on the other side of the house (is it the breeze or the squirrel?). There’s the familiar flutter of horses’ nostrils as they blow out dust, seeds and debris collected from contented grazing.



There’s a dog barking in the distance…some neighbor must be walking up the road…and before long, my dog’s are barking – at what, they know not – and then the dogs next door, and then the dogs next door to them. The canine chorus continues up this long road till it disappears in the distance, as each dog gets bored with barking at nothing. There’s the faint fragrance of flowering trees and shrubs, in a peculiar but oh so pleasant mixture of grasses, horse manure, hay and fresh, country air.



Birds are singing all around – what song, which bird, none can tell…there are too many to discern! There’s a little Carolina Wren busily constructing a nest in the kitchen window for her soon-to-be family. You hear some tiny finches squabbling at the window feeder a couple of windows up. On the ground below, doves poke around for dropped seeds (they’re too fat and heavy for the hanging feeders) while cooing at one another.



A bumble bee appears out of nowhere and hovers in front of you for a moment…then determines you’re not so interesting, and zips off into infinity. Oh, and there’s our famous squirrel in the maple tree, flicking his bushy tail and chattering some sort of squirrel profanity at me no doubt.



I tried to kill myself twice many years ago. It was a place and a time that seems much like an altogether different lifetime now. In fact, I feel like a very different PERSON now. Funny – I lived in a place very similar to this one then, surrounded by much of the very same beauty – but I could not see it for the darkness that clouded my soul. But it was there.

Today, I love life with a passion, and hate death with almost an equal passion. Though I suppose death has its own relevant purpose in the whole scheme of things, I much prefer LIFE, movement, consciousness – the beauty of just experiencing what is and watching other living things experience the uniqueness of simply BEING. I shudder to think I ever considered leaving this place – so much beauty I’d have never seen – so much joy I’d have never known – so much love I’d never given, nor been given.



It is wonderful to be a ‘survivor’ in life. I wish I could pass out this feeling of wonder and contentment and absolute bliss to everyone who reads this, and even to everyone who doesn’t. Maybe I succeeded for a few of you, if only for a moment…