Short Story Close To Quiet By Heather Harlen

My mind was going one thousand miles per hour, those words haunting my head. Hot tears flowed down my face as the words sunk in. I slumped in my seat feeling exhausted and too cold for this warm house. My father’s arms reached for me, trying to comfort me. He wouldn’t understand the mental loss that was turning into physical pain. My chest heaved for air, trying to get this drowning feeling out of these thoughts that envelope me bringing a soft cloak of anxiety. “Not again, please.”

spiritual practice, this piece was meant to offer viewers a means of being closer to their

Seane Corn’s podcast was twofold: educational and invigorating. Hearing her talk about her journey to happiness is a true testimonial to naysayers who are having doubts about the positive effects of yoga. Corn’s journey to happiness, as she conveyed, was not an easy one. She had to clamber her way from an unsettled place as a child growing up in an unstable home. She explained how her blue-collar working class parents raised her in an environment where religious practices were not present and how, as a little girl, she thought of herself as “uneducated.” She abused drugs and the tender age of 19 and was diagnosed with “Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.” She even suffered from an anxiety disorder, but these dark episodes of her life eventually led to healing and happiness once she discovered yoga.

In World War One, the war was fought in two places, in France and in England. England was never physically in the war, but France truly saw the actions. The citizens of England put their best foot forward when it came to contributing to war. The truth was that there was a great divide between the two fronts. The war front, fields bloodied and smear with greasy mud. The home front, standing tall with pride, patriotism, and power. In the book, Not so Quiet…. written by Helen Smith, who have experienced the cruel harsh reality of the war, she describes the ugly side of the war and how everyone view the war. When the war started in 1914, there was need for manpower on the front line, men and women step up to take on roles, Helen was among a group of other girls that contributed on taking on the role of taking care of the wounded and the deceased.

The sky and all its beautiful colors are all that were running through my mind. I didn't notice it then, but that was the last day we ever had those moments not only there but back home too. I never expect for him to leave, which was foolish. He found happiness in the bottom of a drink, how couldn't alcohol take him? I realize we're all trying to kill that pain somehow. I didn't imagine his death would take a hold of my life, but in a way it did. You see he was the only close death, I experienced in my 17 years, before him I didn't think death would ever influence me, for it was just a life check everyone check off eventually. I took his death as unexplained for so long, all I had angry and unresolved feelings and they controlled a part of my life. I know that pain will always be there, but my life couldn’t stop, I couldn’t let this unresolved grief influence me as my uncles did. Although death is a sad thing, you have must choose whether to let it destroy oneself or sharpen it. I’m still on the path of understanding how life is after the death, still I remember he loved us and he isn’t sadden anymore, and that gives me joy and keeps on

In her book Quiet Susan Cain explains that, much like our ideal appearance or ideal economic status, there is also an ideal that extroversion is the socially acceptable way of conversing, interacting and behaving in our society. The argument posed by Cain in Quiet is that everyone is different and often we have introverts forcing themselves to become something they innately “are not” in order to feel/appear socially successful.

Have you ever gotten so furious before you felt like nothing mattered? They just kept on doing something to you and you just kept on getting mad.Then someone tried to talk to you and you just weren't in the mood to be talked to or bothered . You reacted in a horrible way by hitting and yelling. Well that's exactly what I'm writing to tell you about. How my anger got a hold of me and would not let me go. How I wanted waffles but my mom gave me something else instead.

I walked towards the Bleeding Heart Cemetery. The cool October wind blew against my frame, making me wish I wore a coat. I readjusted my grip on my oxygen tank. As I neared Augustus’ grave, the sun light captured the diamond ring Isaac gave me. My stomach flopped upside down. Although the wedding is in 2 weeks, I still felt unsure. I mean, who in their right minds marries their dead boyfriend’s best friend? I slipped the ring into my jean pocket. I located Augustus’ grave and sat down. I felt my stomach churn, realizing I haven’t visited him in months.

We started to notice the decrease in his health. But painfully the day had finally come. The mourning Sunday of May 31st, 2015, Arthur had passed. I remember my Mom waking me up early around 7:00 AM, and she said “It’s time.” and I immediately knew what she was talking about, so we hauled him into the car where he just lay there in the backseat, as lifeless as a brick. We got to the vet and they took him in and we said our last words to him on the operating table that they were going to inject him this fluid to slowly, un-painfully put him down. I said my final words to him which were, “You were the best dog any human could ever ask for.” and even my older brother who is an adult now started to cry. The dog that he had known for 15 years of his life. My little brother Noah, who was down syndrome did not really recognize the situation, but later we told him what had happened. They gave him to us in a box and we took him home, and rightfully buried under his favorite tree. One of Jackie Robinson’s nine traits, helped get me through this which was courage. We knew that it was hard to put him down and that we would miss him greatly, but we also knew that he was

“It is a shame that her father left her...this happened because her mother failed her job as a wife...she is so young...what was her father thinking?”, my relatives whispered as they sipped their tea. My cousin’s face turned pale like the white blanket of snow falling outside the lodge at the camp in Lake Tahoe. Her expression held so many emotions as if it was a canvas of a painting to be gazed upon. I could see that she felt frustrated and tired of these rude remarks, and all I did was just stand there and caressed the back side of her hands, so I could comfort her. Suddenly, it felt like the air had thickened so much that even a hammer could not slash it into tiny bits. My cousin had not yet known why her father left the house yesterday.

I watched the way people stared down at me with their eyes losing a glimmer of light as their lips to tossing me a pity smile. I couldn’t blame them when even my reflection screamed back at me asking where the little girl it used to love disappeared to. Being diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma set something deep inside me on fire, leaving me with a greater understanding of my purpose. It’s hard to believe that everything happens for a reason when trying to jump over the hurdles living with cancer comes with. I wanted to murder the demon that selfishly snached my childhood, but what kind of life would I make dwelling on my troubles? I turned a blind eye to the black pit of hours spent in the hospital, tied on a sparkly pink bandana, and decided to bust out my best dance

The book Quiet by Susan Cain. gives a unique insight into the world of introverts. Cain (2012) covers an array of topics but the most that stood out were how introverts are leaders just like extroverts, but with small differences. Introverts have certain leaderships skills that will come easier to them than extroverts, such as self-awareness, listening skills and empathy (Cain, 2012). However they also have disadvantages such as being too sensitives as times and being spoken over and at times brushed aside by extroverts in certain industries. However as tied to educational leadership, Quiet reveals that many introverts can easily become leaders, learn quickly what their strengths are and make up for their weaknesses by sometimes pretending to be extroverted since and some people who are thought to extroverts are in fact be introverts (Cain, 2012).

* How does the ritual seek to change the participants? –Protect them from future sufferings, provides more insight into meditation

Rooted in the Buddhist religious practices, meditation is rapidly being implemented into the mainstream system of health care. Numerous studies have indicated that extensive meditation training may lead to functional and structural changes within the brain (e.g. Cahn & Polich, 2006; Carter et al., 2005; Slagter et al., 2007). Therefore, suggesting that the continuous practice of Buddhist meditation is associated with cognitive, emotional, and neurophysiological changes (e.g. Davidson et al., 2003; Lazar et al., 2005). In chapter five, Weiten (2017) explains that, in open monitoring meditation, attention is concentrated on an individual’s moment-to-moment experience; allowing oneself to be a passive observer of their flow of thoughts, sensations,

Once, in the first week following his passing, I came through my front door and looked at the area where he would usually be sitting or lying. I called for him with the foolish notation that he would appear and come running to me. But of course, he did not. Then, I walked past his empty food bowls and tears started running down my face. It was a shattering reminder that he was gone and never coming back.