Pop Culture Connections

What movies, songs, news stories or magazine articles relate to your big question?

One of the first movies that came to mind was the movie "Lars and the Real Girl." Granted, a very odd movie, the movie explores the psyche of a man who is trying to recover from an identity crisis by feeding a delusion that his girlfriend is a mannequin named Bianca.I find it interesting that he is trying to define himself through another person or in this case a mannequin. How often do we try to define ourselves through others or inaminate objects?

The Mexican Fisherman
Author Unknown

The American investment banker was at the pier of a
small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with
just one fisherman docked.

Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna.
The American complimented the Mexican on the quality
of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The Mexican replied, "Only a little while."

The American then asked, "Why didn't you stay out longer
and catch more fish?"

The Mexican said, "With this I have more than enough to support my family's needs."

The American then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life."

The American scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing; and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat: With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats. Eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the
processor; eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then Los Angeles and eventually New York where you will run your ever-expanding enterprise."

The Mexican fisherman asked, "But, how long will this all take?"

To which the American replied, "15 to 20 years."

"But what then?" asked the Mexican.

The American laughed and said that's the best part. "When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions."

"Millions?...Then what?"

The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."

I love this story because I think it highlights how focused on material possessions we are in the United States. We are never content with just necessities--We always need more, want more, crave more and for What? What will we ever do with that 17th Porsche? Now I realize that few people in this world have even one Porsche let alone 17 but isn't that the goal? Isn't that the American Dream?

What kind of dream is that? Why would I want for excess when so many people simply lack in the necessities?

"This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind...let it be something good."

Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is bliss, taste it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it.
Mother Teresa

When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced.
Live your life so that when you die,
the world cries and you rejoice.
Cherokee Expression

Independent Study

How does the independent study book you have read relate to your big question?
Provide textual support and pertinent details from the book.

Over the summer I read Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. I love this book because much of the book was the evolution of identities and the path to manhood.From Amir, even as a young boy, he never thought he could live up to his father and so defined himself as a failure. As his love of books and writing began to blossom he found he believed himself to be an artist. I love at the end when his entire sense of identity is redefined when he is finally told that his childhood servant, Hassan, is actually his brother. This revelation brings into focus the inexplicable love that Amir has always harbored for Hassan. Amir is forced to come to terms with his recently discovered "other half." In order to rectify his feelings of insufficiency as a young boy, Amir must recognize that together him an his brother Hassan are everything that his father ever wanted. Finally he realizes the importance of being the best version of yourself and that no person can achieve perfection.

Love the earth and sun and animals,

Despise riches, give alms to everyone that asks,

Stand up for the stupid and crazy,

Devote your income and labor to others...

And your very flesh shall be a great poem.

Walt Whitman

"People travel to wonder at the height of the mountains, at the huge waves of the seas, at the long course of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars, and yet they pass by themselves without wondering."

St. Augustine, 354 430

Why do we not stop to know ourselves? I have a very close friend who at the critical age of 17 is just now trying to decide what he likes to do. Why do we wait so long to understand our purpose in life?

The Big Question

How do we define who we are? What turning points in our lives determine our individual pathways to adulthood/maturity/understanding?