What Is The Reflection OfThe Signature Of All Things?

I give this movie a six out of five-star rating. How it managed to keep me on the edge of my seat the entire time is beyond me; I am still in disbelief that I was fully engaged for the entire two hours and twenty-six minutes. Although I had heard many great things about the novel, the film exceeded all of my expectations. The Natural teaches many valuable lessons about perseverance, determination, commitment, karma, relationships, and staying young at heart.

Lucretius in “The Nature of Things” explains that there are only two entities that make up bodies in the universe: matter and void. Matter is ever-present and does not decay while the void is a nothingness that allows for motion and change. Marcus Aurelius in “Meditations” explains that matter and the soul are the components of the universe, with the soul in some sense filling the void. Lucretius’ “void” has a correlation to Aurelius’ “soul.” Both philosophers explain how the concept of the void is responsible and related to death, because it allows for disturbances to the balance within the being. Lucretius believes that the void is the cause of death, yet questions whether the soul travels with it. Aurelius questions how the soul can remain after death. Death is an abstract concept that Lucretius and Aurelius attempt to answer through matter and voids. Lucretius calls the void a nothingness, which is always empty, and matter a solid that is free of any void. Aurelius has an essence of somethingness to his void, the soul, and calls matter a static body. By adding the soul as a third component to reality, the Stoic Marcus Aurelius rejects the binary universe of Lucretius.

Who we really are, what our real character is only truly elicited when we are challenged, as a proverb states, “In the darkest hour shines the brightest light.” Our true character shines through when we are pushed to our extremes and are placed in situations outside of the norm. Horace claims that when someone is faced with an adversity or a challenge, they are more likely to discover talents that they thought they never had. I agree with his claim that adversity breeds talents and strengthens our character, but still understand the importance of prosperity in developing talents.

Suggesting that no one is really special because nothing is truly permanent, in her 2011 essay “Song for the Special” writer Marina Keegan explores the many reasons as to why individuals of every generation seem to find themselves unique, looking at how even at a young age children are exposed to the idea that everyone can make a difference, and then abandons that ideal by revealing the truth that there are so many people on the planet that being “special” is nearly impossible. Her purpose is to reveal just how tiny one individual actually is in the colossal network of the impermanent present day in order to invalidate people’s need to feel special when there is a good chance they may never accomplish anything in the grand scheme of things.

Throughout generations in literature, “to live deliberately” has been the goal and purpose of life. As Alexander Supertramp (aka Chris McCandless) said, “The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun” (57).

Since the beginning of time, the environment in which one is accustomed to provides them with the choices that lead down paths that make their legacy. This environment can be negative or positive, structured or chaotic, rich or poor, all which give a variety of choices. Regardless of the different trials and tribulations we face ultimately, it is the choices we make in response that make us the person we become.

Life is what you make it as we go through life’s journey. We all have different experiences that are unique to us individually. “Life is not the way it’s supposed to be. It’s the way it is. The way you cope with it is what makes the difference.” - Virginia Satir. There are typical aspects of our journey that are similar, but different; we share commonalities along the way with others. In life, we will face challenges that bring about change, which is what happens to us along the way when we are younger, and it makes us who we are when we are older. Change is the opposite

This may sound depressing but it doesn’t have to be. You don’t have to do anything in life, it is yours to live. You aren’t destined to do great things,there are no secrets about you,you are you and nothing more.That means there is no path set out for you.So anything you accomplish anything you become will truly be your own. "As if that blind rage has washed me clean, rid me of hope; for the first time, I that night alive with signs and stars, I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world. Finding it so much life myself - so like a brother, really - I felt that I had been happy and that I was happy again. For everything to be consummated, for me to feel less alone, I had only to wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution and that they greet me with cries of hate.(122)” This is where Camus’s message shows the most and summarizes what he is trying to convey. Life owes you nothing but you also owe nothing to life. All the confines of our lives are imaginary and although we do not feel free, nothing is holding us back but ourselves. This book has helped me discover that the meaning of life is truly what you want it to

The ability to think can truly alter one’s life and their experience, without even realizing. As individuals, the decisions we make in life determine our outcomes and fate. Essentially, we can bring change not just for ourselves, but to those around us. In the novel Like Water For Chocolate by Laura Esquivel and the commencement speech “This is Water” by David Foster Wallace, the resolution one makes can be illustrated through three concepts which affects the individual as well as the community around them. These concepts are choice, love and freedom/liberation. Through these traits, the authors put forth the notion that individuals have the power to refine their life as well as others for the better or for the worse.

The theme of the novel, Everything, everything, is that you must take risks in order to be satisfied with your life.

“Life includes unforeseen incidents that prove critical to promote personal growth. Life rarely gives us what we want. We are lucky if life gives us what we need in order to fulfill the path that was in place at our birthing.” ― Kilroy J. Oldster, Dead Toad Scrolls. People will go through the journey of life. The life is not a destination but a journey. As people go through, they learn, experience, and gain. The journey of the life matters because the people can earn experiences and those experience makes people better.

“Carpe Diem, seize the day boys. Make your lives extraordinary.” Robin Williams acting as Professor John Keating spoke these memorable words in the film, Dead Poet’s Society. In this particular scene, he advises his class to make the most of the time they are given, because it is limited. Verily, we only have a short amount of time to create a change in this world, and “make our lives extraordinary.” For myself, this is something I constantly work towards. Taking pleasure in each moment while working to develop my legacy is something I strive to do, which is why this quote represents who I am.

This semester I learned a lot about writing in English 151. It has been a roller coaster ride with these essays for me this semester. I learned step by step how to write a good essay and how to have your readers be engaged in what you’re trying to tell them. Each essay I did has taught me something valuable I can take to the next level of English. I feel as if as the semester went by I did not take my writing that seriously and that reflected in my grades I received in each essay. It made me a better student and writer and it will reflect next semester. In this essay, I will reflect on what I learned throughout this semester that you should apply in your writing when you begin English 151.

Life is a complicated twist of suffering, laughing, and learning all merging to tell a great story - or great many stories. Based on this view, "it is not the end goal or outcome of life that gives life meaning but rather the quality of the story, the quality with which one lives out and develops his or her role."

Individuals must now confront the meaning of their lives without the assured aid of transcendent purpose and direction, while the daily effort to make "both ends meet" condemns most to a life of "repetition," a la Kierkegaard, under the rule of habit and social conformity. The more we struggle to achieve individuality, the more desperate the effort to liberate ourself from the sway of social conformity and ritual, and the more poignant our inevitable confrontation with death.