September 16, 2021 – 20-1 Writers

The Beauty of Simplicity

thabilem834 20-1 B September 16, 2021September 23, 2021Gratitude, Mindfulness, The Beauty of Simplicity 5 Comments

A humble individual often finds the beauty of simplicity, thereby having a less complicated life resulting in deeper appreciation for the little things.

The beauty of simplicity is the most intimate beauty that is far beyond skin deep and peaceful compared to extravagance.

“Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials.” – Lin Yutang

When you strip non-essential things, things that don’t matter or things we have very little interest in, and focus our time and effort on things that really matter. The things that matter most in our lives vary from person to person. We all have different goals, and different things we want to accomplish, so one thing that someone decides to pursue isn’t any more important than what someone else chooses to prioritize.

I have a hard time accepting things the way they are. In school and especially when I was younger I always wanted to do everything, try out for everything, be busy all the time. This was a fine way of thinking, except for the fact that it wasn’t realistic or sustainable. The beauty of simplicity to me means that I don’t have to do everything all at once. It’s okay to take my time to do well on things that are right in front of me instead of always worrying about what I’ll do tomorrow or ten years from now. I find myself often getting jealous or feeling left out when others around me are busy doing things that I wish I could be doing right now. I feel as if I’ll eventually run out of time to complete all of my set goals. However, if you take things as it is, you’ll have a deeper appreciation for the little things you accomplish daily. I believe that there is of great importance to focus on one thing at a time. If I keep focusing on things that are not in my control, I could lose on things that matter most in my life as of right now.

There is so much beauty and so much to appreciate for the present moment. We often cloud our minds with things that we shouldn’t have to worry about. One way to have a deeper appreciation for the little things that life gives is to develop a mindset of gratitude and become more aware of the space that we share with others. An attitude of gratitude will make it easier to live in the present moment. When I take a moment to pause and think about what I accomplished instead of everything else I need to do allows me to enter a state of mindfulness. Taking the time to notice exactly what I’m doing and completely feeling the moment. One saying that really spoke out to me is, “Stop to smell the roses,” is not just about flowers or nature, instead, it’s about stopping to appreciate the wonderful things, big or small, that happens in our daily lives. Appreciating the little things involves focusing on what is pleasurable and nurturing to our mind and soul, and avoiding overthinking about the life experiences that leave us frustrated, hurt or anxious.

2021, https://www.medicaldaily.com/do-you-struggle-multitasking-why-brain-can-only-focus-one-thing-time-403792. Accessed 16 Sept 2021.

“4,597,242 Simplicity Cliparts, Stock Vector And Royalty Free Simplicity Illustrations”. 123RF Stock Photos, 2021, https://www.123rf.com/clipart-vector/simplicity.html?sti=ntz5mcet5caaityr58|.

Fear of Failure

Polina Sapojnikov 20-1 A, Response to Life, Writing September 16, 2021September 24, 2021expectations, fear of failure, guidelines, motivation, perfectionism, standards 3 Comments

When an individual is unsure of how to improve, they may develop a fear of failure due to the uncertainty of the results that their actions might bring.

Throughout our lives, we go through many situations that cause us to doubt our own abilities. Growing up, we tend to receive a lot of guidelines and pointers on how to do certain tasks. As time moves on, there is less information on how to do the work but more expectations that need to be met. Having expectations without the guidelines on how to meet them can cause a feeling of uncertainty for an individual. They might worry about whether they are doing enough to succeed. Having to meet certain standards without having much guidance can be damaging to an individual’s potential. An individual may not know what the outcome of a task should be like thereby causing them to have a fear of failure; because they are always thinking about whether they are doing enough.

https://www.retaildoc.com/blog/how-to-overcome-fear-of-failure-in-your-business

From the start of elementary school until the end of middle school we are provided with a lot of guidelines and examples entailing how to do well in school. We were often guided through projects and assignments, and the feedback that we received was more than enough. Transitioning into high school, teachers expected us to do most schoolwork completely on our own. We often receive assignments that just have an outline and rubric attached to them. My experience in Grade 10 Social Studies relates to my thesis statement. Social Studies has always been the class that I received the lowest grade in; so when my Socials grade was significantly lower than the rest of my classes, I began to worry. We were halfway through the semester but despite all of the efforts I made to raise my grade, nothing was helping. I did not know what the consequences of getting a bad grade would be. I thought there was no way in which I could possibly improve my grade, so I gave up. This situation is shown in my visual. The person is falling after reaching the top of the rock climbing wall, at the very end of their journey. I also gave up right at the end when I did not have any more motivation to keep going. Having good grades in my other classes set the standard very high. This standard added to my fear of failure because when I realized that the effort I was putting into SS class did not help, I was unprepared for the consequences that may come after I receive a poor grade.

As I mentioned previously, an individual can develop a fear of failure when they are not aware of the standard that they have to reach. I constantly think about whether the effort I put in will pay off and help me succeed. The fear of failure makes me want to excel at everything I do; so when something is not going my way I tend to give up or lose hope.

https://blog.doist.com/overcome-fear-of-failure/

Featured Image: https://www.reddit.com/r/drawing/comments/bnx60i/the_fear_of_failing/

Facing reality – Abdullah

mohammad622 20-1 A, Response to Life, Writing September 16, 2021September 18, 2021facing reality, hardwork, overwhelming, Real World 7 Comments

When an unambitious individual is faced with reality, they’re pulled back into the real world causing them to be overwhelmed , due to the responsibilities faced at hand.

“Dont spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door”
-Coco Chanel

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is download-6.jpg — https://doctoresses.ca/2017/01/30/drawbacks-of-not-facing-reality/

In our everyday lives, everyone is faced with challenges that often are in relation to facing reality. Facing reality causes individuals to stress as well as become overwhelmed with the task at hand. Or even a simple thought that may be on their mind, such as, what they want to do in post-secondary. Oftentimes the idea of your future may be shrugged off as it may seem easy to achieve, suddenly you are faced with reality and realize the hard work that must be endured to achieve such a goal. As a result, feelings of overwhelm are brought your way, when overwhelmed this causes one to struggle with getting their life in order due to the many tasks at hand. Thus limiting their ability to follow through with their goals at hand, due to the stress-causing excess anxiety. Oftentimes individuals also get overwhelmed when brought with the idea that they may not be good enough or even know that they won’t work hard. When seeing others succeed causes stress and anxiety, due to the idea of not living up to them, or even the idea that the individual will never be as good as the successor. Although facing reality can cause individuals to focus heavily on their goals, it does have major setbacks. In conclusion, when overwhelmed it’s caused by facing reality, due to the many tasks coming your way.

http://thinktolivealife.blogspot.com/2018/11/facing-reality.html

In my life I often struggle with the idea of facing reality, I would find myself asking, ‘do I want to do this project today?, or do I have nothing to worry about this will be a piece of cake.” When in reality it wasn’t a piece of cake and I needed to complete the project brought at hand rather than procrastinating. I knew this, although I refused to face the reality of it, so I didn’t have to feel the dreadful feeling of stress and being overwhelmed. At the end of the day I always face reality, for example, what may I decide to do for post-secondary. This has been something that has dwelled on me for my entire life. I’ve always wanted to be a professional soccer player, travel the world and meet great people. I set my heart on making a name for myself, often I’m faced with reality. Therefore I realize this dream I sought cannot just be handed to me, I must work hard for it. All the hard work that is needed to achieve my goal, causes me to be overwhelmed and less motivated. There’s always a voice in my head saying, you’ll never be as good as him, or you wouldn’t work that hard. This voice helps me face reality and reminds me that I must achieve my goals. I despise the idea of facing reality, although it is a necessity as it allows us to think straight at times even though it may still stress us out.

Citations

Quote – Alame Leadership in AL Inspiration Quotes, Aug 28, 2015, AL Inspiring Quote on Facing Reality , Accquired Sept 17 , 2021 , Quote by – Coco Chanel

Image 1 – Dr . Lillian Esses , Jan 30, 2017 , DrawBacks of not facing reality, Accquried Sept 17 , 2021

Image 2 – Omkar Shinde, Nov 27, 2018, Facing Reality, Accquires Sept 17 , 2021

One From Many

japraas752 20-1 B, Response to Life September 16, 2021September 22, 2021collective identity, conformity, happiness, homogenization, identity, individuality, life, loss of identity, loss of self, man vs the word, my life as a thesis, One vs all, personality, self respect, societal demands, societal norms, society, society and its affects 6 Comments

“When individuals lack self identity, they adhere to social norms and begin to conform, resulting in a stronger collective identity and a loss of individuality. “

Identity plays an important role in individuals lives. Through knowledge and experience, identities begin to form. An identity is a representation of who you are as a person or a group. This idea of identity reflects a person’s traits, likes and dislikes, values, and beliefs. Through years of growing old, many people base their identity off of their past experiences and history. But what happens when individuals have to decide from preserving their self identity or letting go of their individuality to fit in to homogenize with the local society around them? This often leads to a decision being made to fit into the community they are surrounded by. This foreshadows my thesis statement; When individuals lack self identity, they adhere to social norms and begin to conform, resulting in a stronger collective identity and a loss of individuality. Due to being around a certain group of people or a specific community, one may begin to conform because they feel like they can’t fit in. Through conforming towards a certain society, individuality may be lost. This is often the byproduct of homogenizing with society and an individual’s surroundings. As people grow, their identity grows with them: but when individuals lack individuality they become more susceptible to a greater force taking over their originality. The lack of a strong foundation of self identity can cause an individual to become attune to the people that surround them. This reflects the impacts of how individuals who do not have a strong sense of self character and personality, might go on to adhere towards larger more widespread identities. This is prevalent throughout many people’s lives. An indirect example of this is politics and the recent election. Individuals who do not hold a strong opinion on what they believe in often result in the vote of the more popular party. This portrays that individual conforming towards the greater identity as a whole. The loss of individuality can be caused by many factors but as seen throughout life, individuals who lack self identity often begin to adhere to social norms. Which results in a more interconnected and stronger collective identity.

I greatly relate to this thesis as it has played a significant role in my life. Growing up I have always been different. I looked different, spoke differently, and ate different foods. This is what made up my identity as an individual. Looking back at my past, I wasn’t the type of individual to fit in but was the one to stand out. My first four years of elementary school I had to fight my way through societal pressures to be able to keep my individuality alive. If I had not put extra effort to fight for my respect and character, I would have lost my self identity long ago. Looking back at my past, I can empathize with others who have not been able to hold on to their historical roots as it is not easy to create a strong identity by yourself. At one point I had seen myself letting go of my culture to fit into society. But instead of giving up my personality and unique characteristics, I pushed myself to stand up for my singularity and make a stance with my diverse beliefs and roots. I connect with this thesis because often it is easy to adhere to social norms instead of having to decide what one may want their future identity to look like. Through connecting through a collective identity, one may feel like they have less hardships. But as a trade off, they have lost their self identity and the traits which make them unique to society. I continue to actively hold onto my identity as without it I am like everyone else. It’s as if I were a red dot amongst a collage of black and white. My identity not only makes me stick out but also gives me confidence and courage to do things some individuals may consider dangerous and harmful. One must hold on to their values and beliefs before they fall into the hands of society’s norms through conforming. In order to prevent this; one must anchor themselves with their individuality before the wind of society blows them over.