Bless Me, Ultima By Rudolfo Anaya

One of the most difficult things that we can do in a culture that is so surrounded by judgment is to not accept these judgments placed on ourselves, as well as others, as finite. Values placed on yourself by others reduces you to a statement, to words, to a sporadic thought that was devised in the mind of the other. When we accept other’s judgments as fact, we have devalued our own judgments- which brings up the interesting concept of being able to justly judge yourself. To define one 's eyes is almost impossible since we see differently day to day. It is difficult to do yourself justice with a heavy and sure gavle that judges harshly. When we leave the self-inappropriable and admit that we can’t know ourselves, let alone the other, entirely, we may not feel satisfied; however, it’s imperative to admit our lack of understanding of ourselves, so we can continue to define ourselves. When we accept the judgment of others as fact we are in turn being lethargic by not interrogating our ever-changing selves. It is true the inability to define oneself fully is a miracle; it is true that knowing yourself fully would leave no room for further discovery, but is it a gift never to know oneself fully? That is one question that we will never know the answer to. To properly interrogate yourself is to learn how to appreciate yourself

Like Mr. James McGreevey, many individuals who are at the point of understanding themselves more clearly are faced with the unknown and are constantly challenged by all that is developing. The world in which we live is the same; it is surrounded by ever changing things and we, human beings are forced to accept and carry on our lives in complete unison with. People today seem to follow the same trend; their attitudes, hobbies and self-awareness all seem to change with the ticking of time. However many times an individual is left to journey through their new selves without the attention or the approval of those around them. If a person discovers a part of

Destiny; that is where our story begins. In the novels, Of Mice and Men, The Pearl, and Cannery Row we see different destinies and dreams, but they all have the same goal, to reach them. It is the duty of every man, as far as his ability extends, to detect and expose delusion and error. Nature has not given to everyone a talent for the purpose; among those to whom such a talent is given, there is often a want of disposition or of courage to do it. The saying “you control your own destiny” applies to the everyday life of us all. The way you act will determine who you are as a person and what you chose to bring out of life. How you handle the lessons that life thrusts upon you will be completely up to you to decide. Equally important, the decisions

It shows here how our decision would affect us in the later years. If I am twenty two now and whatever road I take will probably impact my life as I reach thirty. "The Road Not Taken” reminds us of the consequences of the principle of selection in all aspects of life, namely that all choices in knowledge or in action exclude many others and lead to an ironic recognitions of our achievements.

In analysis of “Do You Have a Life Calling”, an article written by Holly Epstein Ojalvo, one is subjected to questions pertaining to the nature of finding your role in life. According to the author, many falsely presume they must follow their longings and find themselves in the process. Instead, Holly suggests, one should devote themselves to a cause and “get lost”. Based upon personal observation, the key to one’s happiness and ability to achieve fulfillment in life is to pursue passion derived from an outside problem without concern of immediate monetary satisfaction.

‘To what extent can I determine my own destiny?’ Discuss in the light of theories, ideas and research encountered in the course.

At the end of a day, a week, or a life, the end result is very different based on each individual road, accordingly, every choice is pivotal and final. The “road not taken” may haunt the individual to ponder and consider how their life would be different, save that one small choice (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012, p.624). Not only will the individual never gets back to the original path, they will have lost all of the opportunities the alternate path would open up for them. The individual considers a choice, takes responsibility for a decision and therefore, chance does not determine the outcome, but instead, the individual determines the

In the book “Let Your Life Speak” Palmer guides his readers in a quests to listen for the voice of vocation. In the first chapter “listening to life” he possess the question, are you what you do? In Chapter 2 “Now I Became Myself” he addresses the concept of “true self” and how you come to live as your authentic self. Chapter 3 “When Way Closes” he discusses the opening and closing of door in our lives. While I will briefly discuss chapters two and three this paper will focus on Chapter 1, because it spoke most succinctly to where I am in my life journey today.

To be content with destiny implies one has had control over their decisions regarding their life. A child, bred to undertake a future enforced by their influencers, will endure a life of dissatisfaction. Desire performs as a crucial aspect in the destined path for an individual; however, not everyone has the choice to resolve upon those desires. The word path, defined as the course or direction in which something is moving, connotes a series of complex meanings. The substantial factors influential to one’s path include freedom of education, guidance, and culture or tradition.

This love is doomed, because it is against Maria's identity as a "farm girl", her family values,

From birth we are told who and what we are to be in life and molded through our families stories, history and cultures. As individuals, we continue to grow and develop over time and through life we hit a 2 way street that either questions who we were told we were and who we want to be based on what we currently think about ourselves. Sometimes, our inner thoughts don’t coincide with what’s going on physically, emotionally and spiritually and you begin to question your inner being of who you are and what you stand for. We find ourselves struggling to uphold or suppress living the lives that either no longer fit us or define us. In search of a new outlook, we gravitate to someone who can listen to our stories and influence us to write new

The search for one’s purpose and identity in the world never truly ends. However, the

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I- I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” From the poem The Road Not Taken, Robert Frost described that his life started to change when he decided to seize the day and express himself as an individual by choosing the road that was “less traveled by”. As a result, Frost’s life was fundamentally unique and challenging that it would have been had chosen the most well-traveled path. Similarly, in the journey of life, I have made many decisions and chosen many paths for myself. Each decision I made could be good or bad, but there is no right and wrong because different pathways have different views.

The poem is a very difficult one to give a properly literary analysis of, at least for me, but here goes. The poem, “Alabanza”, written by Martin Espada, is both meant to be a celebration of the workers that died in the terribly tragic events that occurred at the World Trade Centers in 2001. At the same time, it is also trying to make us aware of and even mock, the things that Marxism hates most about Capitalism. Things like, commodifying, consumerism, the class system (class discussion and powerpoints)

Samsara is a film that takes you on a visual tour of countless extravagant places in the world. Samsara is an extremely unique film, because it showcases a plethora of different cultures, people, and landscapes, and seasons. Ron Fricke the director of the film wants us to be aware of all the things that are going around us. Fricke wants to emphasize avoiding all political correctness and views. I think that is the overall theme of this film is to show the viewers that we do not need the hustle bustle of everyday life to function. Instead we can focus on the wonderful things that are around us. We can connect through meditation but meditation does not have to be positive or optimistic. We can find way to connect and meditate through anything that has meaning to us in our