Climate Change Ultimately Caused the Syrian Refugee Crisis

Climate Change Ultimately Caused the Syrian Refugee Crisis

Sungwoo Park (17)

Choate Rosemary Hall, USA

“Climate Change” is real. Hillary Clinton recently predicted a water war in which rival governments will eventually fight over declining resources, and experts labeled this scientific phenomenon as the “threat multiplier” in contemporary society. Glaciers in the Arctic are melting, and polar bears are drowning underwater without having habitats to live. However, this intimidating change is now detrimentally affecting humanity as well. As Secretary of State John Kerry warned the formation of climate nomads or migrants, a tragic exodus is taking place near the Fertile Crescent, a fertile region in the Middle East where humans first settled to practice agriculture. In regions where rebels chose violence to defy their totalitarian governments, 10.6 million Syrians chose to search for different places to live either abroad or within the border after inevitably leaving their motherland. 85% of Syrian livestocks and the Halaby peppers hopelessly withered, and people started gathering into hugely overpopulated urban cities, such as Damascus and Daraa. This unbalanced distribution of the population caused social unrest and violent riots led by radical teenagers who sought for better lifestyle. Recently, Prince Charles of Wales pointed out a fascinating correlation that climate change has been one of the main factors that has caused social instability and mass migrations across the world. Though this phenomenon is not the only factor of international migration, it surely is the most neglected one despite its strong link with the current refugee crisis. Thus, a solution is urgently needed in order to prevent the Syrians from losing another 50% of their agricultural security and 57% of their economic development by 2050.

In Northern Africa and the Middle East, where political unrest has caused violent civil wars and riots, climate change has deteriorated people’s lifestyles and drastically changed the weather. According to Christopher Schär, a rise in temperature and humidity around the Persian Gulf will create extreme conditions that are intolerable to humans within the next century. Statistically, with the temperature rise of 0.65°C for the past century, nearly 200 million people are living in regions that are at risk of sinking below sea level by the end of the century. Stadium construction workers in Qatar unfortunately lost lives due to such high temperatures in Doha, and the Sahara Desert is keep expanding due to the aggravation of desertification that has taken away forests and farmlands in Africa. In places where effects of climate change are explicit, political unrest has always taken place because citizens cannot conform to the government that often avoid dealing with the damages from climate change. For instance, the Arab Spring revolutions took place in Libya, Egypt, and Tunisia several years ago since the dictators could not effectively deal with massive crowds from rural areas that suddenly settled in cities and caused overpopulation. In addition, Syria has suffered from an ongoing civil war against the al-Assad regime as al-Assad has maintained his authoritative rule even after a long-term, catastrophic drought. Based on these coincidences, one can easily assume the geographical significance that factors in when one overhauls the correlation between social instability and climate change. According to the climatologists at the Strauss Center for International Security and Law, climate change already has affected weather in the Arabian and Northern African region. If this devastating geographic trend continues along the equator, human population residing around the line will innocently be damaged from future geographical changes. In order to prove the correlation, case study of how the Syrian drought affected Syrian welfare and politics best exemplifies the phenomenon.

The Syrian drought, lasting from 2006 to 2011, is often characterized as “the worst long-term drought and most severe set of crop failures since agricultural civilizations began in the Fertile Crescent many millennia ago.” 75% of the Syrian population had to suffer from crop failures, and herders inevitably lost 85% of their livestocks. Due to this calamity that dismantled the nation, 800,000 Syrians lost all their livelihood in 2009, and over a million people claimed themselves as food “insecure.” Even though some might argue that this drought was a necessary part of the ecological cycle, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has proved through scientific data that the recent droughts in Syria and the Mediterranean have been the results of climate change, using the decline of precipitation and an increase in average temperature as key evidences. Thus, experts are predicting that Syria will face a harsh national regression up to 57% by 2050 if the current global greenhouse gas emission trend continues.

This drought not only took away properties and ruined the Syrian economy, but also served as a driving force towards a refugee crisis. As industries in rural areas mercilessly collapsed in Syria, families started to gather into urban cities to find new hopes. Statistically, over 200,000 rural villagers in 2011 chose to go on an exodus to the cities, and this phenomenon has been causing social and political unrest as the general population started to concentrate only in urban areas. Eventually, Syrians could not attain more raw materials to eat or produce, and many rural villagers decided to protest against the al-Assad regime, creating rebel armies to overthrow the futile government.

Clearly, explicit correlation exists between climate change and the current refugee crisis, and Syria is not the only region that is directly victimized by the phenomenon. Despite some radicals’ suspicions toward the existence of climate change, the occurrence itself can be traced back to every trash people littered with ignorance. Luckily, international efforts have been made by communities, including the COP21, which brought accordance in regulating carbon emission and many harmful activities, and these attempts will hopefully better the migration crisis throughout the world. Most importantly, people, no matter where they live, should care more about saving environment in their daily lifestyles, and more non-governmental and governmental supports should help areas like Syria reconstruct themselves from calamities and take preventative measures, such as building reservoirs and irrigation systems to prevent repeated droughts.

Whites Equals Blacks

Read Langston Hughes's "Thank You M'am" here: http://staff.esuhsd.org/danielle/english%20department%20lvillage/rt/Short%20Stories/Thank%20You,%20Ma'am.pdf

Enjoy Reading This Blog Post!

(www.sistasmusical.com)

White Equals Black

Sungwoo Park

Harsh racism traumatized the country during the mid-twentieth century. Even though slavery marked its end hundred years before, Blacks were still considered “separate but equal” in the United States. Published in 1958, Langston Hughes’s “Thank You M’am” portrayed the tragedies of Blacks’ lives. Montgomery Boycott happened only a few years before, and Martin Luther King Jr. was protesting for Blacks’ civil rights while Hughes was writing this story. As an icon of the Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes had strenuously argued that Blacks should be able to portray their genuine lifestyles in artworks regardless of public perception. “Thank You M’am” was written to convey the basic statement that Blacks are same as the majority in the country; however, they are victimized and impoverished just because of their skin colors. Thus, Hughes, through the introduction of a young, black thief Roger and Ms. Luella Jones, sought to teach his readers that Blacks have empathy, are unfairly impoverished.

Hughes begged the public to feel the heartbeats of Blacks through “Thank You M’am.” Since the 1800s, Blacks were only considered as strong, soulless machines who could efficiently be exploited in factories and plantations. Until Martin Luther King Jr. started to advocate for civil rights as a pastor, the Blacks could not amplify their struggles as people in the lowest socioeconomic class in the United States. Hughes, using this short story, sought to change people’s minds. In the story, as Roger gets caught stealing a pocketbook from Ms. Jones on the street, Ms. Jones did not report him to the police, but tried to give Roger a chance to reflect on what he did wrong and cared for him with food and advice. She realizes that Roger does not have a family or a place to stay and starts to worry about his health and education as if she became his mother as she Ms. Jones says, “You ought to be my son. I would teach you right from wrong. Least I can do right now is to wash you face. Are you hungry?” (Hughes 2) Later, Ms. Jones takes Roger to her home and provides him with snacks and money to buy blue suede shoes that Roger wanted to buy after snatching a pocketbook. Empathy can also be seen from Roger’s change in behavior. Initially when Roger gets caught, he panics and tries to run away from Ms. Jones’s wrestling moves. Even when Ms. Jones tried to take care of Roger, he says that “I just want you to turn me loose” (Hughes 2). However, despite being an immature child, Roger’s attitude changes as he enters Ms. Jones’s house and experiences cozyness. He stops thinking of escaping the house, and “he did not trust the woman not to trust him [,and] he did not want to be mistrusted now” (Hughes 3). Through creating a behavioral change of the protagonist, Hughes informs the readers that even a young, black child is capable of thanking adults’ love and care, and he also seeks to break the stereotypes that Blacks are evil-minded thieves in impoverished ghettos. As a result, through creating interactions between Ms. Jones and Roger, Hughes pleads the readers to take a closer look at Blacks’ warm hearts and sympathy for others.

Hughes also tried to explicitly display the poverty that the Blacks were going through. Hughes starts off “Thank You M’am” by setting a dark, gloomy location in an urban city as “It was about eleven o’clock at night, and she was walking alone” (Hughes 1). As Blacks were forcibly segregated from the Whites during the mid-twentieth century, Blacks formed slums and ghettos in urban cities. Thus, those regions were often considered dangerous for people to walk around in the night. Through introducing a thirteen-year old thief who simply wants to buy a new pair of shoes by mugging others’ pocketbooks, Hughes portrays how harsh Blacks’ daily lives are, and how even young Blacks are desperate to earn money so that they could buy what they want. In addition, one could assume how bad Black children are mistreated and living in bad environments through examining Roger’s conditions. When Ms. Jones asks Roger if “[he] got nobody home to tell [him] to wash [his] face” (Hughes 1), Roger, through his concise response, implies that he does not have a family or a house. As family is crucial for a teenager who is going through adolescence, Hughes tells the readers how Black children often do not have parents living with them either because their parents died of tragedy or had gone to factories to perform manual labor for the family. Evidences of poverty of Blacks are not only seen from Roger but also from Ms. Jones who provides care for Roger. Even though Ms. Jones, in “Thank You M’am”, holds a pocketbook and has a cozy house, she is also living under economic pressure and hardships. She lives in an apartment with roommates and sleeps on a daybed, which functions as a sofa in the day and as a bed at night, and she works at a beauty shop in a small hotel. In the time frame of this story, Blacks could not be placed in a high socioeconomic position regardless of their talents, and their workplaces were limited to shops and restaurants in urban cities. Moreover, as Ms. Jones “cut him a half of her ten-cent cake” (Hughes 3), readers can easily assume that she was not wealthy, either. Therefore, through writing “Thank You M’am,” Hughes tried to teach the impoverished lifestyles of Blacks so that the public would be shocked of how they have unfairly discriminated the Blacks and made them struggle.

Hughes’s “Thank You M’am” delivers two messages that relate to the Civil Rights Movement of Blacks during the mid-twentieth century: Blacks have warm sympathy, and Blacks had unjustly been mistreated and were forced into poverty. Langston Hughes opened a revolutionary movement, the Harlem Renaissance, for Blacks to freely express their ideas in the world of literature. “Thank You M’am” was not published publicly (americanliterature.com), but this story inspired many and warmed people’s heart during a sad era when Blacks were violently oppressed and killed while fighting for freedom and voice. Although riots and protests can be suppressed through killings, literature can never be stopped. Hughes successfully conveyed his ideas to the public through his short stories and poems and ultimately contributed to the promotion of Blacks’ status in the United States.

Want to know more about Langston Hughes? Don't hesitate to visit!
http://www.biography.com/people/langston-hughes-9346313

Want to know more about Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance?
http://shs.umsystem.edu/historicmissourians/name/h/hughes/

Thank you again!

Muna Salad

Final Project

Thank You, M’am

Thank You M’am is one of my favorite stories, and it took place in 1930’s when the Great Depression was happening in the America. The story portrays poverty and the impact it has on children. Hughes tells a heroic story about a strong woman and a child to get people’s attention to child hunger. I Like this story because it discusses about important moral that most people overlook.

Roger, “fourteen or fifteen”, tries to steal a purse from a woman in the middle of the night because he didn’t have any parents to take care of him. When Mrs. Jones tells Roger that she would take him home, Roger says “There’s nobody home at my house”, which suggests that Roger had no parents to take care of him. Hughes tries to show the child’s situation through his physical features like his “dirty face”.  All these details show that Roger wasn’t stealing for fun, but rather, he was stealing to save his life. Child Hunger  wasn’t only portrayed in Roger’s childhood, but Mrs.Jones has also been a victim from child Hunger. She says, “I were young once and I wanted things I could not get”, and this is the reason that Mrs. Jones relates with Roger. Both of the characters have been victims of child hunger, and Hughes is trying to gain people’s attention to the matter of child hunger.

Forgiveness is powerful, and the good it does is unreplaceable. Despite Mrs.Jones and Rogers’ unfriendly encounter, Mrs.Jones seem to care about Roger as he was her son. Nowadays, if some poor guy tries to snatch a woman’s purse, he would probably go to jail for a long time. No one would ever invite a thief, who tried to rabb them, to his or her homes, but Mrs.Jones invites Roger, feeds him, and cleans him. Her forgiveness is huge, but her ultimate goal for her compassion was to change his heart, and she says to him “Good-night! Behave yourself, boy!” as he leaves. She understands his motives to steal but most importantly, she tries to make him realize that it’s never okay to steal. Hughes’ purpose is draw people's’ devotion to helping and forgiving children because their poverty isn’t their fault. Children don’t choose to be poor. They are born with it.

Great Depression was a time of struggle, and in those times, people tend to go to survival mode. Everyone is fighting for their life, and no one stops to help someone else out. As humans, we tend to be self-centered during any tragedies, and we forget about love. Mrs.Jones was working late shift, and this suggests she was from poor class. Even though Mrs. Jones was financially struggling, this didn’t stop her from giving cash to Roger, and she says to him “buy yourself some blue suede shoes”.  Love overpowers any temptations. Even though Mrs. Jones could have kept her money, she thought it would do good for Roger. Love is also about trust. Mrs.Jones trusts Roger even though he tried to steal from her. For example, “The woman [Mrs.Jones] did not watch the boy to see if he was going to run now, nor did she watch her purse which she left behind her on the day-bed”. During economic crisis, our urgent needs cloud our morals, but Mrs. Jones didn’t let that happen.

Hughes’ convincing story reveals the strength of love, forgiveness, and kindness. The moral of the story lies with Mrs.Jones’ moral decisions towards regarding this specific incident. Instead of sending Roger to jail, she decides to take him to her house and treat him as her son. And instead of blaming him, she relates with him and tries to navigate him.

Don't Kick Someone that is Down

(https://brilliant.org)

The adage, “do not kick someone that is down” is a vital message that is seen throughout history and literature. The short story “Thank you M’am” (read it here!) by Langston Hughes was published in 1958 (http://americanliterature.com); however, the story demonstrates that the poor boy, Roger, should not be punished for a minor incident of attempted theft. Mrs. Jones used her power to support Roger and lead him in the morally correct direction rather than simply reporting him to the police to face disciplinary action. Mrs. Jones sympathetic reaction to Roger was the ideal manner to handle the situation because Roger will not likely commit unhonorable, illegal acts in the future, he is given a sense of hope, and he will reciprocate similar acts of compassion in the future.

Mrs. Jones’ lesson to Roger will resonate with him for the rest of his life because of the vulnerable state in which he received the message. Mrs. Jones was in a clear sense of power because Roger had, “sweat popped out on [the boy’s] face and he began to struggle” (Hughes 2); Mrs. Jones used this power to scare Roger to amplify the tone of her message. Roger is a poverty stricken fourteen or fifteen year old boy with a dirty face, minimal adult guidance, and in need of new clothes. Roger’s fear stems from the unpredictability of Mrs. Jones’ actions; Roger is unsure whether he will be reported to the police. Instead of a harsh disciplinary response, Mrs. Jones feeds, cleans, and gives Roger ten dollars. Mrs. Jones’ final reminder is, “because shoes come by devilish like that will burn your feet” (Hughes 4). Mrs. Jones kindness in caring for the boy left him in a state of shock as he could barely verbalize “thank you” (Hughes 4). The imagery of Roger being overcome with gratitude and surprise suggests to the reader that Roger will respect Mrs. Jones’ message because of the compassion that she showed Roger when he was most vulnerable, and the prospect of hope that she provides.

For a short time, Mrs. Jones treats Roger like her own son; it appears that Mrs. Jones genuinely cares about Roger’s well being. The hope and support Mrs. Jones offers Roger is more constructive than any punishment that she or the police could have given Roger. Not only did Mrs. Jones provide Roger with tangible goods, such as ten dollars for a new pair of shoes, but she developed Roger’s character and values in manner that he had never been taught before. Initially, Roger’s only goal was to run away from Mrs. Jones, however their relationship mature over the course of the story. When Roger thought, “He could make a dash for it down the hall. He could run, run, run, run, run!” (Hughes 3) he resisted the urge and remained with Mrs. Jones, which demonstrates Roger’s growing sense of trust in Mrs. Jones. Roger begins to believe that some people are naturally well meaning and caring of others; Roger has likely not experienced this level of support before in his life. Mrs. Jones has taught Roger the characteristics of compassion, kindness, and integrity, which provides Roger with the hope that there are still good people in the world, and he can escape poverty; Mrs. Jones passes this along in good faith that Roger will reciprocate these ideals in the future.

Mrs. Jones handles Roger with tact, respect, and care that Roger will impart on others in the future. Mrs. Jones does not speak to Roger as a lesser human; instead, she speaks to Roger as a parent figure. She does not place herself on a pedestal and suggest that she has never done anything wrong, nor does she “ask the boy anything about where he lived, or his folks, or anything else that would embarrass him” (Hughes 3). Mrs. Jones further demonstrated her good faith and upstanding character by trusting Roger to independently purchase sweet milk for the cocoa, while understanding that Roger may just run away. At the end of the story, Mrs. Jones addresses Roger, “Eat some more, son,” (Hughes 4) as if they share a familial connection. Given the trusting, supportive relationship between the two, and the appreciative, tongue-tied farewell, Roger will carry Mrs. Jones message with him for the rest of his life.

Roger begins the story as a directionless and confused street orphan; however, the guidance of Mrs. Jones developes Roger’s character to understand the character traits of compassion, kindness, and tact. Mrs. Jones provided Roger with a punishment more constructive and helpful than any law enforcement can provide. Mrs. Jones altered Roger’s life drastically and lead him in an ethically responsible path. Instead of kicking Roger when he was down, Mrs. Jones helped him up; this is a timeless character trait that everyone should impart upon their daily lives.

Watch this Ted Talk to learn how to help people up: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chXsLtHqfdM

Carry it forward. 

“Thank you M’am”, an Argument for Criminal Justice Reform

The short story “Thank you M’am” by Langston Hughes challenges the notions of punishment and rehabilitation that are the backbone of our criminal justice system. Whilst the United States employs a system of punishment and deterrence, Scandinavian countries such as Norway have experimented with more rehabilitative programs. In “Thank you M’am” the woman represents a rehabilitative approach to justice, whereas the society around her represents an approach that would suck the boy into a never ending cycle of punishment and reoffence. Especially in poor communities, people like Luella Bates Washington Jones understand the struggles of young men and aim to steer young offenders onto the right path instead of taking them off the path all together.

In “Thank you M’am” Roger, a young hoodlum, attempts to rob an old lady's purse. This old lady, however, turns out to be stronger than expected and defends herself. Clearly angered, she “put[s] a half-nelson about his neck” and drags him to her apartment (Hughes 2). The young boy expects the worst, fearing to go to jail and face harsh punishment. To the contrary, Ms. Jones sits down with him, cooks him a meal, and shares anecdotes from her life with him. The fears of looming punishment, however harsh, did not deter Roger from perpetrating crime and neither do they deter kids nowadays. The pull of material goods and their associated vanity, that have only grown in our modern consumerist society, were just too much for Roger to resist. Ms. Jones who has “done things, too, which [she] would not tell you (Roger)” understands these powerful forces that drag young men into crime (Hughes 3). With this clear understanding of the motivations and repercussions of crime, Luella Jones reaches out to the boy and tells him “shoes come by devilish like that will burn your feet” (Hughes 4). She opens his eyes to the facetiousness of a system that forces boys, like Roger, to steal from old ladies, like herself, and hopes this will steer him away from the wrong path in the future. Instead of being caught in an endless cycle of repercussions and reoffense, Roger listens to Ms. Jones and even thanks her at the end.

The criminal justice system Roger would have been subject to still maintains a recidivism rate of 76.6 %. In contrast to this, Norway, which employs a rehabilitative system akin to Ms. Jones approach, boasts a recidivism rate of 20 %. The boy is fully aware of and greatly fears jail, but that does not stop him from robbing an equally poor old lady. Unless he is provided with the crucial skills that will help him acquire the desired material goods and the social standing they are associated with he will be caught in a vicious cycle of crime, punishment, and reoffense. Norway’s criminal justice system, like Luella Bates Washington Jones, aims to provide those skills instead of weighing young men down with punishment and social ostracism. The boy is flabbergasted by this approach and his openness results in a better outcome for all parties. It would not have benefited Roger, Luella Bates Washington Jones, or even society in general to harshly punish Roger and then welcome him back into the system with a 76.6 % probability. German rappers like Xatar have been through this vicious system and share the same insights as Ms. Jones. In a song released after his 5 year jail sentence he confronts the system directly criticizing that “you lock us in a cage/ and when we reenter society you expect us to be tamed (Genius.com).” The facts and personal accounts from across the world speak for themselves.

The politicians and administrators of our criminal justice system get locked into a cycle of penalizing crime, recidivism, toughening of punishment, and repeated offense. As President Obama lamented in a Vice Documentary entitled "Fixing the System" “Nobody ever lost an election because they were too tough on crime.” Instead of continuously toughening laws against crime and incarcerating more and more people the system must take to heart the parable of “Thank you M’am.” An effective criminal justice system requires real experience and insight, not political power play.

Not for Buddha, but for Myself

Not for Buddha, but for Myself

Sungwoo Park

        The fundamental principle of Transcendentalism lies on the idea that individuals are innately good beings and should be considered as significant parts of nature. Champions of this belief often claim that social institutions have prohibited many from acknowledging their own individualities. They also argue that every individual is unique and is like a root of a plant that encompasses all men. For instance, Emerson claims that an ideal man is “he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.” Moreover, Thoreau once stated that people should “regard man as an inhabitant, or a part and parcel of nature.” He later pointed out the significance of walking because this action often allows an individual to profoundly meditate and reflect on one’s life. For me, visiting temples and traveling by myself have always been my ways of praising myself for success, scolding myself for mistakes, and retracing my steps.

        Buddhism itself is a religion of meditation. Followers never deified Buddha as a holy figure but respected him as a wise mentor who provided guidance for an individual to contemplate. As Buddha said that conquering oneself is harder than conquering others, his words place much emphasis on one’s inner self, and temples always provide a perfect environment for one to completely calm down and put down all burdens that one had from such a rigorous life. As soon as I place my feet into a temple, I am more comfortable than when I am mingled with many people in urban areas because temples are often located in the wilderness to sink into nature. Since a temple is always silent with only birds humming and wind gently dragging the leaves, this peaceful environment becomes a spiritual space just for me and Buddha. Once I reach the Holy Land, a metaphor used by Thoreau to depict the discovery of a self-identity, I cannot see anyone but Buddha who has always been willing to listen to me. For me, Buddha is not a genie who grants my wishes; he is simply a person who endlessly would listen to my complaints, hopes, and he is my best friend whom I can confide my secrets with. In Walking, Thoreau considers people who leisurely stroll as Holy-Landers because successfully meditating and reflecting upon oneself require much energy and perseverance. Reaching the level where one can proudly detect one’s individuality and rectify and strengthen one’s weaknesses, according to Thoreau, is a holy process of deification. When I pray to Buddha as I visit temples, I am brought to a different world. I subconsciously think of every bad sins I have committed, and Buddha, as a sage and a teacher, helps me admonish the devil and strengthen my weak ego and will. As walking also makes one think of what one hopes to achieve in the future as a strong individual of such a rigorous, competitive society, praying and meditating allows me to cleanse my contaminated thoughts and plan out my bright future. Therefore, as Buddhist meditation invigorates my soul, allows me to reflect upon and reprimand myself, and provides me the correct path towards success as a stalwart individual, my “walking” is communicating with Buddha at a temple.

        The primary role of a religion is to provide reliance and leeway for people who are arduously fighting against such a demanding society that asks everyone to fulfill his or her responsibilities. One of the main reasons Transcendentalists were opposed to the establishment and development of social organizations was that these groups inevitably formed social hierarchies that forced individuals to be complacent and simply follow commands from their bosses. Individuals could live on just by doing what others told them to do, and people gradually lost interests in themselves but solely cared about fulfilling their daily responsibilities assigned by others. As a student, I was forced to become a part of an educational institution. I have had abided by the strict school rules, have lived to complete assignments, and have survived in an institutionalized society where several letters called grades are the only determinants that judge an individual. Thus, visiting a temple helps me escape from such an oppressive society. Instead of simply memorizing mathematical formulas, I focus on every aspects of nature, and I only think about myself. I cannot think of how much workload I have left, but I, like how Transcendentalists emphasized the notion of individualism, delve into my true self; I always observe Sungwoo not as a student but as a 17-year old teenager trying to discover the appropriate route towards success. People always need some break and should not get brainwashed by instructions and assigned life routines. As a result, Buddha teaches me every time I visit the temple not to become a lifeless conformist to oppressive society, but to maintain my ego and identity to move on successfully and to inspire others. Consequently, Buddhist meditation is walking of my life.

“Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.” Even though humanity has been institutionalized and has advanced as a single unity, Transcendentalists argued for decades that every individual should take responsibility of oneself and prioritize oneself over others. Like Thoreau, many have their own actions that cleanse their souls and make them reminisce the past to enhance themselves in the future. As the only child of a Buddhist family, my family naturally integrated Buddhist principles in our daily lifestyle, and Buddha and his religion eventually became an integral part of my life. Thus, like sauntering to the Holy Land, Buddhist meditation has helped me become a civilized, prudent human being.

Move to Live Life
People evolve as they move around. Moving around can be expressed in many ways, but travelling is one way that we could move to evolve. Through travelling, we can evolve intellectually, emotionally, and eventually grow as a person. In my opinion, travelling is: the butterfly excitement on my chest whenever I land a foot in an airport; the knowledge that I capture whenever I meet someone new; the self-reflection that I do while  travelling and finally the happiness that overpowers all my emotions.

Living in a homogenous country where everyone has the same ethnicity, culture, color, and religion, expanding your understanding of the world isn’t easy. And basically, my world was my country. I didn’t know how it felt like to meet someone from Asia, Europe or any other country whatsoever. It wasn’t that long ago that I thought that everyone with small eyes was from China. The first time that my world started to expand was the first time that I landed my feet on an airport. One of the airports that blew my mind away was Dubai International Airport, and I remember meeting people from Japan, South Africa, and from all over the world. Those few hours in the airport widen my grasp of my knowledge on the world, and it was those hours that I had my first epiphany on travelling. The epiphany that travelling is far more educational than textbooks, and that practical presence expands your knowledge in a deeper level than any textbook does.

     Travelling allows me to meet with different people from different ethnicities, backgrounds, and cultures. This maybe that most exciting fact about travelling because how we interact with people around us reflects who we are.Travelling also sanctions me to discover my true identity, the identity that embodies me. More importantly, it also teaches me the many identities that people personify, and ultimately educates me about their flaws and strengths. Through these lenses, I encounter many versions of myself. It’s our decision which version we identify with and which version we like people to see it. At the end, it’s these experiences that bring out our different versions, and it’s not every day that we experience something extravagant in our mundane day routine. It’s through these experiences of meeting people that we develop and grow as a person. Why do you think adults receive more responsibilities than adolescent? It’s because adults have more experiences, and they lived longer. Unfortunately, experiences don’t come without movements. For example, if you raise someone in an isolated house without any interactions with humans and nowhere to go, that person would turn out more like an animal than human. No one desires to become an animal, and I for sure don’t want to miss the fun and the excitement that life has to offer as human. To  not turn out like animals, the humane thing to do is to move to seize all the experiences that would eventually make-up who we are. Henry David says, “Every sunset which I witness inspires me with the desire to go to a West as distant and as fair as that into which the sun goes down” in his essay, “Walking”, to express his inspiration to walk and move.

Travelling has a way of making us think and reflect on ourselves. Most of us live in structured day-to-day schedules whether we are working or studying, and we don’t usually ponder on ourselves. We get stressed from deadlines, exams, and work that we don’t take a second to relax and enjoy the moment. One of the only times that I really self-reflect is when my head is leaning against a window of a car or plane. I usually listen to music and stare down the window to see the clouds and trees reasoning through actions that I have taken and setting goals for myself. These moments allow me to ease up my stresses, and freshen-up every time I do it.

Most importantly, travelling gives me the happiness that overpowers all of my emotions. It doesn’t matter if I’m stressed, angry, or sad, all these emotions trample down when this sudden, and beautiful feeling of happiness emerge. Doing something for the first time or seeing cool stuff for the first time could trigger this happiness.  For example, I travelled to Jordan last term, and there were a lot moments where I just felt happiness. These moments were the times Jordan that I was trying new things like snorkelling, riding a camel, horse, and a boat for the first time. During these moments, I feel free and I feel like I can do anything. It is that sense of feeling freedom that brings out the best version of me.

Travelling makes me alive, free, and empowered. I hope to do more travelling to find my true identity and find the best version of myself before my time in this precious world end.

Walking on ice

Walking on ice

To become a “walker” one must free themselves from all external obligations and focus on maximizing the happiness of oneself and others. The journey of walking is that of a spiritual and emotional adventure that is guided by oneself and God. One can not be forced to walk; the pursuit of walking is a mutual existence in which the journey and person become intertwined. My personal “walking” is when I play pond hockey. When I am on the ice, nothing else matters. For a couple of hours I can free myself from all other obligations and capture the pleasure, liberty, and peacefulness that pond hockey has to offer. Thoreau describes, “You must be born into a family of walkers” (Thoreau 111). Although I was not born into a family of skaters, in fact I was the first person in my family to skate, my upbringing fostered my love for the game of hockey.

Ever since I was a young child, my frozen local pond has been my favorite source of pastime. Thoreau describes walking as, “nothing in it akin to taking exercise” (Thoreau 112). Similarly, I do not consider pond hockey as exercise; I can get lost in the enjoyment of pond hockey for hours. I simply enjoy hockey in its most natural and free flowing form; no referees, heckling fans, cutthroat coaches, college scouts, or player agents- just me and my boys. No rules to slow the pace, no systems to constrict the flow, and no hitting to foster hostility. No memory of my mistakes in the last game, last shift, or last play. Although sometimes directionless and sauntering, playing pond hockey is soothing to the soul and the manner in which I find my true inner peace. Pond hockey can provide many people with a similar sense fulfilment because of the ease of accessibility and brotherly unity that is developed within minutes of playing with someone. Likewise, Thoreau states, “No wealth can buy the requisite leisure, freedom, and independence which are the capital in this profession” (Thoreau 112). No monetary value can provide one with the utopian state that is achieved when walking.

Much of the beauty of pond hockey is connected to the allure of nature. Thoreau describes walking as a quest, “to go forth and reconquer this Holy Land from the hands of the Infidels" (Thoreau 110). In this sense, infidels are non believers that tarnish the beauty of the Holy Land, while the local pond is my Holy Land of hockey. Similarly, the infidels of hockey are the grinders; the agitators that contribute to the team by attempting to injure the skill players on the other team. Grinders have a misguided role that has no place in the Holy Land of pond hockey. Thoreau furthers his description of the Holy Land when he states, “So we saunter toward the Holy Land, till one day the sun shall shine more brightly than ever he has done, shall perchance shine into our minds and hearts, and light up our whole lives with a great awakening light, as warm and serene and golden as on a bankside in autumn” (Thoreau 135). Comparably, pond hockey provides me with an emotional and psychological outlet that temporarily relieves my frustrations and elicits joy and affection. Thoreau continues his description of nature by portraying his neighbourhood and its surrounding area as a location to escape reality and enter a state of temporary euphoria and tranquility. Similarly, my favorite place to place pond hockey is at my local pond. I learned how skate on this pond and have grown up playing there with many of the same players for fourteen years. It is easy to lose track of time; my mother would often call me well past midnight wondering when I would be home. Thoreau acknowledges that the environment affects one’s walk when he states, “For I believe that climate does thus react on man--as there is something in the mountain air that feeds the spirit and inspires” (Thoreau 119). Equivalently, skating outside with the crisp air, falling snow, and clear night sky, rather than a monotone, fluorescent lit rink with the stale smell of fast food is the difference between walking and playing hockey.

Although Walking was written nearly 150 years ago, Thoreau's comments on difficulties that many young people faced in that era are applicable to youth today. Thoreau foresees, “When we should still be growing children, we are already little men” (Thoreau 129). I would consider myself, and many of my pond hockey counterparts to be little men, although most of us are still teenagers. Pond hockey provides us with an escape from the pressures of college, recruitment, and the constant pressure to improve our resumes. Fittingly, Thoreau also notes, “Many a poor sore-eyed student that I have heard of would grow faster, both intellectually and physically, if, instead of sitting up so very late, he honestly slumbered a fool's allowance” (Thoreau 129). This image parallels my life that is spent worrying about grades, SAT scores’, college applications and winning the next hockey game. I would benefit from untroubled relaxation. Thoreau remarks, “In short, all good things are wild and free” (Thoreau 126). I hope that after I mature and surpass my intense adolescent years that I can shed the burden of expectations, free my soul, and find more time to appreciate life.

Whitman's Poems Create Fire

Walt Whitman's poetry style flouted traditional meter and rhyme and gained him the label, "the father of free verse

Whitman’s Poems Create Fire

Walt Whitman has been the Jesus of poetry. With innovative poems, Whitman revolutionized poetry and spread enriching verses to everyone. His vivid and inspiring writings touched many people’s hearts and gave energy to hopeless souls, and his free verses, which did not obey the conservative rules of poetry, initiated a completely new era of poetry with a looser form and a direct personal voice. Whitman’s poetry has a wide scope: in embracing all of nature, he sometimes expresses his veneration of God, but also portrays the most infinitesimal part of nature. In thinking creatively about Whitman as both an energetic poet and nineteenth century individual, one can imagine similarities between him and a fire hydrant. Just as publishing makes poems easily accessible, fire hydrants make water accessible everywhere in the city. Invented during the nineteenth century, this red-colored fire hydrant is always there to save civilians in emergencies. In brief, Whitman and a fire hydrant share similarities in that they both have saved people, symbolize sexuality, and have endless reservoirs tapped with great spewing force.

Whitman’s poems and fire hydrants imply sexuality. In Whitman’s poems, readers can easily identify themes of sex and sexuality. In Song of Myself, using erotic phrases and tones, Whitman connects bodies with souls and redefines sexual intercourses as a spiritual experience. For instance, Whitman argues that sexuality is a way to directly connect with the world as he writes, “I will go to the bank by the wood and become undisguised and naked/I am mad for it to be in contact with me." Moreover, in one of his anonymous reviews of his own work, Whitman states: “body, he teaches, is beautiful. Sex is also beautiful. He works the muscles of a male and the teeming fibre of the female throughout his writings, as wholesome realities, impure only by deliberate intention and effort.” In some rare places, some of Whitman’s works explicitly describe sex. In the nineteenth century, lines like these might have been scandalously vivid: “sex contains all, / bodies, souls, meanings, proofs, purities, delicacies, results, promulgations... / Without shame the man I like knows and avows the deliciousness of sex." Furthermore, most readers can easily detect Whitman’s affection towards men because Whitman used his poems as the only way to express his struggles and suffering from the taboos of homosexual love during his oppressively conservative era (Aspiz 10). At a time when many homosexuals gave up on expressing their love toward men, Whitman wrote lines like “You friendly boatmen and mechanics! you roughs! / You twain! and processions moving along the streets! / I wish to infuse myself among you till I see it common for you to walk hand in hand” (A Leaf for Hand in Hand 5-8). Similarly, and in an obvious way, a fire hydrant suggests sexuality in that its shape resembles a masculine phallic symbol and it sprays water with force.  

Whitman and a fire hydrant share another similarity: life-saving qualities. The fire hydrant was invented to save lives in conflagrations, and Whitman, though not a professional doctor, volunteered extensively to help thousands of wounded soldiers during the Civil War. In 1862, the second year of the Civil War, Whitman saw his brother’s name, George Washington Whitman, in a New York Herald list of wounded soldiers from the war. After learning about his brother’s severe injury during the Battle of Fredericksburg, Whitman strenuously searched for his brother at numerous make-shift hospitals in Virginia. Despite failing to find his brother for several days, Whitman finally reunited with his brother in an Union Army camp at Falmouth, Virginia. After the two weeks that Whitman spent with his brother, Whitman started to shepherd many wounded soldiers from battlefields to the hospitals. He did so throughout most of the Civil War period. Through observing the hospital and listening to soldiers’ stories and emotions, Whitman could gain inspiration and sources for his poems. He told Ralph Waldo Emerson that “I desire and intend to write a little book out of this phase of America, her masculine young manhood, its conduct under most trying of and highest of all exigency, which she, as by lifting a corner in a curtain, has vouchsafed me to see America, already brought to Hospital in her fair youth—brought and deposited here in this great, whited sepulcher of Washington itself." Moreover, readers, through reading his poems, could infer how considerate and humane Whitman was during the violent and unstable period in America. In his wartime poems, by using phrases like “the tearful parting—the mother kisses her son—the son kisses his mother” (Drum-Taps 37) and “the blood of the city up—arm’d! arm’d! the cry everywhere” (Drum-Taps 34), Whitman sought to inform the readers how tragic and inhumane the Civil War has been, and he urged the public to finish the seemingly endless warfare in this country. Similar to how Whitman cared for the wounded soldiers and tried to disseminate the brutality of the Civil War, fire hydrants have functions of not only saving innocent civilians from large fires, but also of safeguarding the community in times of droughts. Reports have emphasized the importance of having a well-functioning fire hydrant in the community, such as when houses in Montgomery, Alabama, burnt down when the fire hydrant could not supply enough water to extinguish the fire in town. In addition, the community of Spicewood, Texas is trying to install more fire hydrants because people have been fully aware that fire hydrants have saved thousands of lives and properties from burning in wildfires. As a result, fire hydrants and Whitman are comparable to one another because of their life-saving records.

Whitman’s poetry and a fire hydrant share similarities in that they both have endless reservoirs tapped with powerful spewing force. While his contemporaries used traditional poetic rules and banal subjects, including patriotism and slavery during the Civil War, Whitman devised a more flexible style of writing that allowed ordinary individuals to enjoy reading poems without feeling bored and facing difficulties. In addition, Whitman also used diverse themes, varying from religion to politics and sex. Since poems often contained profound and complex message in shorter length than proses, many who were barely literate without receiving proper education avoided reading poems and were not capable of understanding them. However, Whitman’s revolutionary free verses that consist of both impressive expressions and easy format.

Watch Walt Whitman's Biography here: