What I'm Grateful For

I'm thankful for a lot of stuff right now!! First of all I'm really thankful for my family who visited me for thanksgiving. They live in Ramona and we haven't seen them in awhile. My Uncle Glen (my moms brother), my Aunt Lynn (his wife), her daughter Sydne, Sydne's boyfriend Sergio, their baby, Grace, and my Aunt Lynn's parents came to our house for thanksgiving. My other Aunt (my moms sister) also came. I haven't seen my mom's side of the family for awhile so this was a really big deal. This was the first time I met Sydne's baby Grace, who is now my second cousin. She is only a couple months old and she is a really happy, adorable baby. The only bad thing is she was sick on thanksgiving so she was kind of sad but still really cute.

I'm also really thankful for all the food we had. Everyone brought a dish and so we had a ton of food. My favorite food on thanksgiving is mashed potatoes and gravy, and my Aunt Terri's brown sugar yams. I'm really thankful for having so much food because I know that most of the world didn't have food that day. I'm a really big supporter of the Invisible Children organization, so I know that the kids and families that live in Uganda, Africa don't have any food or water at all most of the time. They have to spend all day trying to get food, and tons of kids and families are starving, on top of fighting AIDS. I feel really lucky that I am provided for here in America and that i have great food and an amazing family.

Another thing I am thankful for is my AMAZING FAMILY and FRIENDS!! I love both of my parents so so so soooo much! My mom always supports me and watches over me, and my dad helps me through everything and is so supportive of my decisions and helps me through fights with my mom. I love my brother and sister because even though they annoy me sometimes they're both so happy and fun. I LOVE my friends because they keep my life so exciting and they bring out the little kid in me and aren't afraid to be crazy with me and they have great advice and help my through every bump in the road!! They bring me laughter and love and i couldn't survive without all of them!! I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving bye!!!

Oh and I'm also thankful for the amazing opportunities that I get from school and the opportunity to have a great education. :-)

Dialectic Journals Book 2

PICTURE: view the quote from Chapter 10 (scroll down) and my response... " fear the sea anytime, but never more than on a moonless night and in the hands of strangers"

Chapter 8: "...convulse with perverse glee at the misery of whatever luckless mate now found himself spitted above the coals. Up and down the lines of boys, teeth sunk into tongues seeking to suppress his fear-inspired hilarity." -80

I found I have connections to this passage because it seems the boys/soldiers first reaction to fear, or an awkward emotion is to laugh, with I often find myself doing in situations like that. When someone is yelling at someone near me, where I am in danger of getting yelled at too I find I laugh in hysteria. The part of passage where he says "convulse with perverse glee at the misery of whatever luckless mate now found himself spitted above the coals" I can relate to because I laugh in hysteria because someones being hurt/yelled at, which is also mingling with happiness that I am not in their place. This connection helps me understand how they (the other soldiers) feel about Alexandros (the boy being beaten) and the overall feeling of the group. I can almost see their facial expressions too, because I know how me and my friends look in that situation.

Chapter 9: "For once the flesh is seized, a phobokyklos, or loop of fear, may commerce, feeding upon itself, mounting into a runway of terror. Put the body in a state of aphobia, fearlessness, the Spartans believed, and the mind will follow" -78

I thought this quote was interesting because I think most people are terrified when their flesh or body is harmed, so I understand where the "loop of fear" or "phobokyklos" comes from. I think is is interesting that the Spartans believed that if your body is in a state of "aphobia" then your mind will follow, because I believe most fear is created mentally, which then affects your body (instead of the other way around). I believe that because of your past experiences/beliefs/memories; your mind creates fears, that trick yourself into thinking things that effect your body. I think if you can overcome something mentally, it will help you physically, instead of the other way around (like the Spartans believed). This is kind of like if you feel sick, when its really just your head telling you that you feel badly.

Chapter 10: "I fear the sea anytime, but never more than on a moonless night and in the hands of strangers."
I feel like I can definitely connect to this quote because I'm pretty much terrified of the sea and sailing in general. This is mainly because I am scared of anything that goes really fast or has sudden turns or drops, which usually happens because of the waves rocking the boat. If I was in the characters position I would be SO scared because I wouldn't be able to see what was happening (due to the "moonless night) but I could still feel all the motion. I would also not be able to know if something was going to happen, so I could prepare myself for it, but instead I would be shocked and suddenly terrified if a big wave came (or something scary like that). It would be like being spun around with my eyes closed, then being dropped on a roller coaster blindfolded (I HATE roller coasters.... dislike them with passion). If I was "in the hands of stranger" it would be so much worse because I wouldn't know how well they sailed, or their style of sailings, it would be a whole new experience.