Every day I walk into Troy High not
ready for what my teachers have to offer me. What new lessons will I learn that
I don't understand? Will I receive a pop quiz in one of my classes and fail it?
Will I be able to successfully perform tonight's homework without difficulties?
Can you recognize what all of these
thoughts have in common?
I'll answer that question for you:
they all contain negative ideas of what I can accomplish in a given day. In my
mind, I will never succeed on a pop quiz or fully understand what's going on in
certain classes. I will always go home and continue to be confused.
In Song of Solomon, a peacock is
described as having "jewelry [that] weighs it down" (Morrison 179),
representing how wealth is preventing both Macon and Milkman from truly living
their lives. This revived me, as I realized all of the opportunities I have
missed out on was because I was being stomped on by my own reflections.
I think of myself as never being as
good as anyone else, no matter what. Whether it's English, biology, soccer,
creativity, etc... I always put myself last on a scale of best to worse.
I feel as if I am that peacock, but
instead of jewelry, my pessimistic thoughts are constantly holding me back from
reaching my full potential. It's as if my brain is unable to cooperate with the
portion that controls positive behavior.
Why do I do this to myself? I have
absolutely no idea. Although, I have finally recognized that I do indeed
acquire such characteristics and will strive to improve on no longer thinking
this way. If I continue to do so, I will be able to fly and be free from the
burdens that keep me glued to the ground.
We all have something that prevents
us from completing certain tasks, yet we don't know why or how they developed.
We've got to work hard to make sure that there isn't any jewelry weighing us
down, because "nobody [can] fly with all that shit" (Morrison 179).
"Wanna fly, you got to give up
the shit that weighs you down" (Morrison 179).
I completely agree Izzy, it honestly takes work to remove any burdens we may be carrying in order to reach our full potential. And also, I have no clue why you do that to yourself either...you're one of the smartest, hardworking people I know.. just saying. Anyways, your blog was really articulate and well written, good job connecting the message of the book to your own troubles!
ReplyDeleteIzzy this speaks to me so much because I am genuinely so negative on myself. I love how you thought of the connection between the peacock and your negativity because they associate very well with each other. Also, your personal examples do a great job of furthering your argument.
ReplyDeleteIzzy this is so good!! I never thought about this but I love your take on the peacock and how you interpreted what it stood for. We are all so focused on the negative and we never take time to think positively.
ReplyDeleteI totally relate Izzy, I think we are all our own worst critics and it can be so harmful to us at times. Your personal examples really made your story relatable, and great job relating it to the peacock, I never realized how much our own lives can tie into the books we read.
ReplyDeleteThis was really nice to read and very down to earth. You were able to write down the thoughts that so many of have. The negative thoughts we hold are only bound to us as long as we are insecure, so we need to let go of these thoughts to fly. I really like this post. :)
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