I picked up my prom dress today. *sigh* I'm excited.
I just spent the last hour sending emails. So. Many. Emails. Argh. They were good emails though. (Apparently, someone told me that one of the steps toward happiness was to write shorter emails. Nope. That doesn't work for me. Long emails are AMAZING.)
Before that, I was reading The Kite Runner for AP English. I had actually read this book two summers ago because I was bored one day and Shayne had just gotten her books for her senior year and I was like, "I NEED A BOOK TO CURE MY BOUT OF BOREDOM PLEASE!" She chucked her copy of The Kite Runner at me and I was like,"Meh." Then I ended up not putting it down until I finished reading the last page past midnight of that same day. It's a really fast read and it has that do-you-remember-when-were-just-kids-and-cardboard-boxes-took-us-miles-from-what-we-would-miss feel to it that I've always wanted to achieve with my writing. It's a great story. But there are times when the author literally (misused!) takes your hands and places the irony, metaphors, and symbols in your open palms and shoves them all in your face, saying, "Here! Look! THESE REPRESENT THE UNDERLYING MEANINGS OF THE BOOK. Take them all!" It's pretty eye-rolling, but very bearable. So yes, I was reading it and I just finished it again for the second time because we're supposed to finish the book next week and reading ahead is necessary so that I can keep up with other homework during the week.
For those of you who haven't read it or watched the movie (I also haven't seen it, actually), The Kite Runner is about friendship, loyalty, pride, fear, redemption and sin. About half of the story is told retrospectively and that really got me thinking about the past. Actually, I had this thought earlier this week in English class.
We should never look at the past alone. This can be interpreted in two ways. The first interpretation: we should never look at the past as an independent and lone-standing idea or entity. Our mistakes in the past have made us who we are in the present and continue to steer us toward our future. Someone once asked me what it meant to have "no regrets" and I answered that to live life with no regrets means to never judge your past self. We should not regret the things that have made us happy in the past, no matter how much grief those things may bring us in the present. We also should not regret the slip-ups that have brought us where we are today, no matter how ashamed we are of them now. Yes, earlier versions of us have felt that far-off happiness and made those mistakes, not the present versions of us. But this is exactly the reason why we shouldn't look at the past with contempt--because the past still belongs to us. A younger, less mature version of us, but still us nonetheless. An understanding and acceptance of the past reinforces an appreciation for the present and optimism about the future.
The second interpretation: we should never look at the past by ourselves. Though our past may be riddled with mistakes, this is no reason to hide them. The few special people who stand by us despite what the past reveals are the ones whose faith and love will not waver and will continue to hold our hands well beyond the present. Facing the past by ourselves also does not do anything good. And, let's admit it, it's a scary thing to be staring at a painful past by yourself. But we don't need to. The past should be embraced as I said, but no one said that you should do it alone.
Risks taken: 17
Hugs: 0
Current food cravings/obsessions: apples and peanut butter
Playlist(s) on Repeat: "Like an N, But Not Really"
0 comments!:
Post a Comment