Recently, I have been writing more and more fiction. While this has been something that I am okay with, there are more intellectual things that are in my mind. In one of my film classes, we talked about “Silence of the Lambs”. That was the first time I had heard of Hannable Lector. After finding out that there were many spin-off films and tv shows, I stumbled upon one of them. (I don’t know the title, I have never watched any of them.) The premise was that of a very empathetic person being asked to work with a cannibal to track down criminals. The empathetic person starts to care more…
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I’m Not Courageous
She seemed nervous. When I asked Brynn if I could interview her, she didn’t know what for, she didn’t even know why I wanted to interview her or what it would be used for. I was nervous too. I didn’t know what was going to happen in the article and this was my first time doing a project so big. Courage was something so easily explainable and yet I had a tendency to ask the hard questions. Even though this was the case, she explained courage as understanding consequences and yet doing it anyway. She referred to Brene Brown, a researcher who studies shame, courage, and vulnerability. Brynn said that…
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The Woman with a Necklace of Thorns
There are few faces as iconic and recognizable as that of the woman with a necklace of thorns. Her head adorned with flowers, her most notable feature that is never to be forgotten in each rendition of her portrait are the wispy eyebrows that meet in the center above the bridge of her nose. For those of us that see beyond the face in each portrait, there can be found a story of a courageous and resilient woman. Frida Kahlo was known most for her self-portraits. Each one depicted her face as honestly as a photograph, but the surroundings told a story of pain and suffering. She wasn’t a stranger…
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A Case for Valentine’s Day
I’m excited for Valentine’s Day this year. You want to know why? It’s because this year, I’m no longer thinking about how single I am or complaining that I have to watch a romance move to celebrate. I’m excited because of what Valentine’s means to me. When researching why people hate Valentine’s day so much, I found three main reasons: it’s a commercial holiday, you don’t need a special day to pay attention to those you love, and sometimes there are people who are single. Those are all good reasons. There have been multiple times in my life when I have thought those same things. I do want to give…
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The Person Next to Us
February is known as the love month. It is the time when we believe in romance. Where we take more time to think of our loved ones and give them our attention and our time. We think more about our connection to each other and the person next to us. I have a friend. She is someone that I have only known for a year and yet it feels like I have known her a lifetime. She has become not only a friend but a sister to me. Someone I can rely on and someone I hope that I serve. When I first met her, I thought that we would…
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The Prince of Peace
“For unto us a child is born”, the Prince of Peace. Christ is the ultimate Prince of Peace. While we celebrate that every year during Christmas, it can seem difficult to understand how we can truly have peace in our lives. Most people will say that peace can only come when there isn’t war. Or when you focus on yourself. They will say that there is no way you will find peace in difficulty. I believe this is wrong. Peace can always come. Those who believe in Christ say that when you follow him, peace can come to you. While I believe the same thing, I also believe that if…
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Three Ways Listening is a Form of Compassion
We are compassionate with others usually when we are communicating with others. Communication requires that at least one person listens. For some reason, we tend to think about what we are going to say before the person we are talking with finishes their sentence. In a world where conversations can help a leader, listening is the most important skill we can have. How can we develop listening skills? First, we need to make listening more than just being silent, we need to to make the conversation cooperative, and we need to understand. Don’t Be Silent Listening isn’t just being silent. Your mind can be in different places when you are…
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The Best of Humanity
What does it mean to be human? When you first think about humanity you may first think of the good that we see in the world. But as humans, we tend to have both good and bad happen to us while we are living our lives. As humans, we have a range of emotions both good and bad. While our emotions make our experiences, it also creates the experiences of the people around us as well. Think of the last time you got angry at someone. What happened? You probably thought of how much they were inconveniencing you. How much they didn’t understand what you were going through. After all,…
