What to Listen for in the World

The world is a place that sparks imagination. Images and beauty evoke creativity in which all people see differently.“When we pretend, we learn./Look out the window of a train as you ride/and pretend you are someone else:/ a poet, a novelist, a painter, a politician,/ a composer. The poet sees in metaphors which can be named:/ the sad houses, the  lonely streets, the impatient sky.”  The poet can is one that can see the loneliness and put it into words, using tools like metaphors. He can take his surroundings and put them into feelings and onto paper. While the novelist can use his imagination to create a story about who lives in that house and why the street is so empty today and will a sudden storm cause people to rush from stores to their unsuspecting homes only to find they’ve been betrayed in love?”. The novelist is one that can take the buildings and the streets and put a story line to it. He can make up information and put personalities on people to portray fake lived. But the painter, he can see see “the colors of those sad houses, fixing street and sky forever in a separate reality, part of private vision”. The painter is one who can take an image and distort it into their own view, one no one every sees and can only be made up in the mind.

This poem goes on to talk about the composer and how all of these people just simply looked at this street but a composer can look at the houses and still be aware of his surrounding and be able to feel “the stillness inside the train” and be aware of how time is running out but with a rhythm . He is able to see everything in front of him but be aware of sounds and how they work together.  I feel that this is what the whole article was saying. Musicians have the ability to do more than one thing at a time they can read the music they are playing, play it, hear the sounds they are playing, change it to correct tune or do an impromptu change because of the belief it will sound better. While in their head they will hear what the music should sound like, will sound like and the reaction of the audience.

I believe it is the musician’s job to look at a picture or the world and understand what they are looking at. They then have to put a mood onto that picture and come up with a story. It is then their job to take this information and convert it into music. To make their feelings into notes and then into pitches and sounds which then turn into a melody or a tempo. It is the musicians job to take what they say and demonstrate it to their audience, to try and make them feel the way they felt or come up with something of their own. This translation can make a person feel the exact way as the composer or feel something different.  Everyone can absorb music in a different way and it Is the musicians job to spark and idea or feeling or emotion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsc-kZ0-KGY

the video above is an example of how musicians affect mood. I think it shows that music can make you feel different things and picture different images with no real idea about what the musician was thinking when he wrote it.  Below are my emotional responses to the different types of music, maybe yours is different.

1.       Reminiscent

2.       Sad romance

3.       Greif

4.       Loss

5.       Uplifting

 

Dr. Greenblatt

On Wednesday, November 13^th I went to see Dr. Stephen Greenblatt, a distinguished speaker in the humanities, speak in Emerson Suites at Ithaca College. I can honestly say after about an hour and a half of sitting there, I died of boredom and do not know what exactly this man was saying the whole time. The problem was he talked about history and religion, the two things in the world I do not know a single thing about and find no interest in. Although, I thought he was a very good speaker and I liked the way he laid out his talk.

To first give you a little background, Stephen Greenblatt is a Writer and editor of many books and is considered to be an expert in two fields which are Renaissance studies and Shakespeare. He wrote the book, The Swerve: How the World Became Modern that won both the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Non-Fiction and the 2011 National Book Award for Non-Fiction. This book was about a translated ancient book and how it was discovered during the renaissance. This led to new ideas and inspiration for people such as Botticelli, Galileo, Freud and Einstein.

 During his speech, I took some notes and I will do my best to explain what he was saying but it may be a little hard. The script in quotes are what I wrote down but I remember writing exactly what Dr. Stephen Greenblatt was saying at times so I am trying to give him proper credit.   He talked about the renaissance and many different people as well as what they did and believed. He started off talking about Locke, who said you “cannot be compelled into a religion and you cannot force faith. He could not be saved by religions he did not believe in. He also believed we could not tolerate those who did not believe in god because binds could have no holds on an atheist”.  I agree with some things that Locke was saying. He was saying that you can’t force something on someone. It’s like forcing someone to believe there’s a Santa Clause when they've never gotten a present from him before. In their mind, there is no presence of Santa because he did not do anything for him. If you threaten someone and make him believe there is one, he will “believe” for conformity but he will not truly have faith. Although he also believed that we cannot tolerate those who do not have a faith because they can’t hold binds which I think means they can’t hold faith or love or anything like that. I do not agree with this but I think this is the thoughts of that time, which I can understand.

Dr. Greenblatt also talked about Lucretius. He explained that Lucretius thought that there was no such thing as religion as he said “The universe is being constantly created as no one person did it and humans are not unique. He also thought the soul dies when a person dies and all religions are superstitious delusions. Religions are cruel because they promise love but underneath it is anxiety”. Basically, this is the opposite of what Locke is saying. I think he is looking from more of a biological stand point when he says things like the universe is being constantly created and the soul eventually dies.  The one part that hit me the most was “religions are cruel because they promise love but underneath it all is anxiety”.  Basically this is pointing out that we are told if we have a religion we will be loved by our gods but at the end of the day we have to be careful of everything we do in fear of betraying and being hurt by god because he holds our fate.

I think the views of Locke and Lucretius were very interesting to hear about. Although, I was tremendously bored from the whole entire speech because it could not hold my interest. I would not go to see him speak again but it was definitely an experience.

Education

I had read “On the Uses of A Liberal Education” by Mark Edmundson, and believe there are many valuable points that were brought up, but some need discussion. I believe that most of the students attending college today are focused on achieving their degree, not sticking out and standing up for their own opinions. As Edmundson states, students “at their best, [are] decent”. This means that no one’s true potential as coming out anymore. A student today sits in class and learns to become knowledgeable without drawing much attention. Although, I don’t know how much I can believe this is true. Yes, there are many exceptions but from first-hand experience I know that every student goes to college to try to live up to their potential. There are many students who are not passionate about what they are doing and this is what the author could be getting this idea from. If you were a student who had a love for art and was stuck taking business classes, would you try your hardest? I know I wouldn’t. Some students today don’t have a drive because they don’t know what they love and truly want to do. This cannot be broadened to all students saying that none of them try to excel at what they do and don’t have the desire to be on top anymore. Kids are in college because they want to succeed and I believe what the author is saying is contradicting this. I don’t think he realizes some pressures put on students to do well and be right, which could be the cause of them not saying anything in class (there is a fear of being wrong).

I am a generally shy person, especially in groups of people. When I’m in a lecture class, I work better if I sit and observe, that’s what I’m good at doing and that is what I like. There are many people that like to ask questions and talk about experiences. Those are what we called extroverts. This article is saying that because I don’t participate in class and voice my opinions, I’m wrong? That is incorrect. I have opinions and I try my best to succeed, you are just more likely to see it from someone else who likes sharing and talking in front of hundreds of people. Just because I don’t actively tell people what I’m thinking doesn’t mean I am “decent”. I think the author of this article is looking at the way people act and behave as a way to test their passion and I believe he got the wrong impression.

I really enjoyed the second reading, “In the Hands of the Restless Poor” by Earl Shorris. When Shorris started his Clement Course in the humanities, he looked at a social issue around him which was poverty. He took that issue and advice from others and wanted to change it so that even the poor would have a chance for an education. By creating this course and bringing the students who had qualified to museums, feeding them, paying for their travel and watching their kids if needed, he promoted desire to learn and showed that benefits came for earning an education. Shorris found a sense of purpose through teaching these students because in the end, by reaching out to those in need and giving them an opportunity for them to grow and learn, he gave others a chance to become active citizens. His purpose was contagious and gave his students purpose where in the end he said “the first sixteen Clemente Course graduates were attending colleges…the other graduates were attending a community college or working full time. Except for one: she had been fired from her job in a fast-food restaurant for trying to start a union.” Not only did he inspire people to go on with learning and education but he also inspired them to challenge the world around them and become activists themselves.

I think this type of action by Earl Shorris is very admirable. It opened my eyes up to see that anyone who wants to have an education can succeed; some people just don’t have enough resources. My high school had a program where they would bus city school kids in everyday just to get an education at my school. I never really understood why they did this but now I do. City schools don’t have a very good reputation or education. By bussing them to my high school, they were giving these kids the chance to escape the home and violence issues they are surrounded with and allowing them the opportunity to get a better education in a school that costed no money to them. This gave them an optimistic view to their future and helped them want to go on to receive further education. This is what Earl Shorris was trying to do. He was trying to take those who were less fortunate and give them the tools and resources they needed as well as knowledge to succeed. And they did. 

 

Collage

For class, we had a homework assignment which was to create a collage with meaning. The thing is, a collage can mean many different things to many different people. Creativity works in stages. First, you can get and idea and then a better idea can occur, your first idea isn't always the greatest. So when I was thinking of something to do I wanted a center piece, something that would hint to you about what the collage was about. My first idea was a tree and then I thought, what about a light bulb. I put a light bulb in the middle and random drawings crowding around it. I wanted to show both imagination and thoughts. When you are trying to come up with an answer or a new idea, there are so many possibilities. The truth is, there are so many answers you could retrieve from literally anything and everything around you and that's what I aimed to show. I wanted to show that to use your creativity and imagination you have to use your resources around you and there is literally an infinite amount of possibilities to use to come up with an answer or to use for your creativity and imagination.

The End of Solitude

The concept of loneliness has transformed over the years and even decades. If you look up the meaning of solitude the response that appears is the state of being alone. The end of solitude by Dr. Rick Bair discusses the fact that the world has changed and our concept of being alone will forever be different from what it was before. After reading this I realized that this has even been an occurrence in my life and it’s easy to see the difference from when I was a child and now.

It doesn’t take a lot to remember my childhood and it certainly isn’t hard to spot the differences between children then and children now. When I was young, my form of entertainment was playing outside in all weathers and seasons. TV wasn’t a big part of my life and I would watch it only for educational purposes and some movies occasionally. When I couldn’t find something to entertain me, I entertained myself. I used my imagination and made up games, new rules and ways to distract myself from boredom. My friends were a big part of my life but only those whose houses I could walk to and knock on the door to see if they were home.

Today, children are surrounded by electronics from the day they’re born. They are being raised to only know how to live with technologies. Playtime used to consist of making up games and using your imagination when you were bored and now when a child feels bored they watch TV. Even babies have iPads that they play games on and interact with. Younger and younger children every year are asking for and receiving cell phones in order to text their friends and new technologies like iPods are enabling this too. This gives children the same exact thing as texting but for free through apps. When I was a child I wasn’t allowed to go on the computer when no one was home. Now everyone from age 8 to 100 is on social media sites like facebook and twitter. The way children are connected this day and age is way different from even 10 years ago. They’re learning that they don’t have to be with someone to interact and gain attention with others around them. Popularity isn’t just who’s sitting at your lunch table anymore, it’s how many friends you have and how many likes you get that determine who’s cool.

I don’t know if I could live a day in solitude. This reading talked about how the thought of being alone for some people is unsettling and looking back at my recent experiences it is. Even when I first arrived at college I was terrified to be alone. I settled that fear by texting my friends at home, making sure I still felt a connection to someone even if it wasn’t in person. I was nervous that I would ever have to eat by myself in the lunch room and calmed those thoughts with knowledge that I could still have texting and the internet on my phone if worse came to worse. Even when I’m alone in my room or going to bed I find myself not truly alone. I am still texting those around me or on social media sites, staying connected.  I have a constant stream of contact that I believe may be impossible to stop. My phone has become a safety blanket for me and without it I feel lost and with no texts I feel alone.

I can honestly say that I know what it’s like to be on both sides of this. When I think of my childhood the words stress-free and relaxing comes to mind. And now that I think about it, it is not only the fact there were less responsibilities and nap time was the worst part of my day but also because I knew how to be alone. I could sit in my room and play with my Barbie’s by myself for an hour and see nothing wrong with it. Today I am constantly connected to those around me and I don’t know how to live without it. In a changing world like ours, how do you learn to be okay with being alone when all you’ve ever known is how to connect with others?