I believe a lot of things. I believe that people should be generous and think of others more than they do. I believe that more steps need to be taken to be environmentally friendly. But those are not the beliefs that make me who I am. Those are not highly personal, they are actually fairly universal beliefs. What makes me tick? What makes me Ella Lowney Millard? I believe that being weird is awesome. I believe that when I laugh, I mean really laugh, cackling and snorting and crying and all, that it does not matter who is looking at me like I am crazy. I believe that family is everything, holding hands around the dinner table in july and singing "Fah who for-aze! Fah who for-aze! Dah who dor-aze! Dah who dor-aze! Welcome Christmas, Welcome Christmas, Come this way!" is what heals the wounded pieces and fills the missing holes. I believe that there is not one kind of success, my success is not possibly the same as my classmates. When I refuse to listen to the voice of my eating disorder I feel more accomplished than anyone in the world…. Seriously. I believe that when people struggle there is not hard and harder. There is just hard. There is just dig your claws in deep and ride it out. There is the sticky sweat on your brow after a well earned victory or the gut wrenching pain in the midst of you hard fought fight. This is life, it is chaos, hurt and danger, and the subsequent calm that awakes our senses, forces us to tune in and listen up to what we take for granted every single day. Our heavy breath, dew on our pinky toes or the soft whir of cars as we lay in bed waiting for sleep to come.
Ella, I really like all the images you have in here. You show that determination, being true to yourself, being a family person, being resilient and having fun are the bulwarks of your existence. Now the problem is boiling this down to a single this I believe.... I think it would be powerful if you were able to stay true to the tone of this piece. It would say who you are very well if you were able to somehow draw connections between all these different piece of you: it would reinforce the idea that all these pieces, in concert, are what makes Ella Lowney Millard Ela Lowney Millard.
I believe in being unsure, and I believe that absolutely nothing is for sure. There are no decisions or choices guaranteed to bring us happiness; there are only the ones more likely to. I think unsurety (is that a word?) is the only constant in life. I am unsure about what I want for breakfast, what I'm wearing to Anime Boston, if I really need friends. I'm unsure about my footwear on rainy days. I'm unsure about talking to people. I'm unsure if I really want the job I'm applying for. I'm unsure what I want after high school, but I am sure I don't want to think about it. I'm unsure if this is really what I want to write my essay on. I am unsure. I am entirely, completely unsure, and that scares me.
I believe in respect. When it comes down to it, YOU are the most important person in the world... If you didn't exist, no one would (put your deep thinker cap on for that one) and thus everyone's gotta respect themselves. That means that you stand up for yourself, and as an extension of that, you stand up for anything else you believe in... If you see someone getting bullied or harassed, you don't stand by waiting for someone else to intervene (because the fact is that's what everyone else is doing). You don't listen to whatever might be telling you "you won't be cool" if you stand up for such and such... You just act.
I think this is good because it can be made into something very personal to you. It's a somewhat common mindset/belief, but your phrasing makes it seem much less generalized and more central to you.
I believe in balance. Balance, after all, is the only reason we are here. Like Icarus in his adolescent ascent, our home is neither too close nor too far from the sun. Balance also permits us to carry out our days and our lives. One must be simultaneously nervous and calm at the beginning of a soccer game. One must be creative and wild and crazy and collected and motivated all at the same time in order to get anywhere in life. In any relationship, the yin and yang of stubbornness with accommodation is key to the longevity and strength of the bond. Balance is everything. In balance I believe.
I think this is a good start Louise. As long as the examples create a clear point and you connect yourself to this essay in some way, I think it will turn out really nicely.
I believe in Alan. Alan is a man I know who sits in Longfellow Square park on the bench facing Congress Street. Alan is probably in his mid forties, and has a grey ponytail. He picks up bottles on the street that people discard, and puts them in the recycling. He knows enough about politics to carry on a polite conversation about socialized health care, and always asks me if I have gotten used to my new school yet. Alan says he went to South Portland High School, used to work as a waiter, and has an apartment now. He says he doesn't work anymore. I believe in Alan, but I don't think I believe in his story. I think he is lying. I think he is homeless. Alan has introduced me to some of his friends who live at the shelter. Dennis and Rick are the only two I ever remember. Sometimes his friends just all blend together into a blur of white, smelly males with cigarettes tucked behind their ears and brandy in Gatorade bottles. But everyone of them has a story. Sometimes I feel like a thief because I take the best part of these homeless people, their happiest moments, and biggest parts of their lives. I haven't been there with them through the hard parts, but I get to listen to the best parts. I am a thief. I believe in Alan because there is nothing wrong with him that I can tell, because he always says hello to me, and because he doesn't judge me. My brother tells me to be careful about talking to random men on the street. My peers laugh at me for making genuine friends with the homeless. Even the police men near by glance at me, confused. But Alan is just a person, and so are his buddies. And I need a friend just as much as they do.
There are hundreds of thousands of words in English, not mention the hundreds of thousands of words in the hundreds of languages on earth. Words that convey sadness, like devastation or melancholy, words that confuse, enlighten, words of action, words of comfort, demanding words, words to learn. Words as expression, as art, furious words, excited ones.
So speak up. Say hi to the guy you’ve had a crush on forever. Tell your friend that she’s being a ridiculous. Ask your teacher why they gave you that grade because you think you earned a better one. Disagree with whatever nonsense you’re grandfather is spouting at dinner. Whatever your opinion is, it’s important. If you speak, others will listen, and that’s what creates change.
This is a great message, Louise, I can tell you care deeply about the topic, and it shows through your writing. Consider expanding on some of these great ideas, like ART, CONFUSION, and COMMUNICATION. :)
I believe in dependence. True independence is nothing more than utter loneliness. We need independence from things, but we do not need independence on its own. As an extravert, I feed off of other peoples' energies and emotions. You love, I love. You stress, I stress. You need, I need. What I need is other people. Constantly. The feeling of being alone is the worst in the world. Whether we want to admit it to ourselves or not, we all need someone. I need a lot of someones. There are over 7 billion people in this world. To isolate yourself from all of them is sad.
I know you said that you were probably going to change your focus from dependence to tradition, but this is very good piece and I think this theme could be very interesting as well.
I believe that all you need is love. In whatever shape, face, or form, love is there. Friendliness, romantic, family, whatever sort of love. Like the force, it is an intangible thing that brings us together and holds the universe together. It's a force no one man woman or child knows well enough to describe, nor a single idea that can be written down for good. All you need is love. Love, love, lovely love! It's a crazy stupid thing that some people will stumble into time and again. Like, like a cookie that you eat and it's just so delicious. But then, you finish it and you think "no more cookie, what am I gonna do?" But then someone throws another cookie at you and it's even better than the first. Maybe I'm just a simple guy, but Love is all I need.
I know that we talked about you maybe changing your topic for the this I believe, but I think this is a really good. I like the way you talked about what love means to you.
I believe in the importance of faith, but only relative to myself. I know it is wrong to think of faith only in the context of religion, yet it is my focus for this piece. For some, faith is the perpetuation of the great ignorance. For many it is the acceptance of a falsehood; something that has been and will always remains absent of sense. I’ve heard them referred to as closeted atheists, and to them I send them blessing in place of unreal, suffered prayers. For me, the mystery of faith, as it was for the biblical, was the final trial. An inescapable hindrance that could only be mentioned in private, away from the judgeful, budding eyes, which jump at the rhetoric of the opposition with crude and unending scorn. When I arrived at Waynflete, to accept religion was to accept a view foreign to those around me. The mystery of faith was a test, proof that I believe. I believe in evolution; the universe is well over the years of four thousand; and religion, under the Church, total crap. Yet when I stand in Mass, and sit in prayer, I’m encompassed in a shroud of piercing incense, and by depictions of gentle, bloody savior. My white woes are turned to pure feeling. Beyond the vague rationale of love and hate. This feeling is unique, foreign to the world outside the hallowed gates of the kingdom, and is proof to a higher power, My God, Not of the Church, and a product of another world.
We have talked in class, and I think your new idea would work better for an "I believe" piece, particularly because one of the criteria of this piece was to move away from religion. As a general piece its well written and a nice mix of narrative and description.
Everyone develops their own belief system. A set of rules that they have crafted through the scientific experiment of their own lives, which (sometimes) guides them through their trials and tribulations. Here is a start to my own list, a paltry 17 years in the making:
Never blame your tools. Once you get to a certain skill level in anything, you realize that blaming ones tools is nothing more than a frustrated amateurs excuse. Jimi Hendrix played with guitars he bought at Sears. Admit to yourself that your equipment is not your main impediment.
Even if you are the smartest kid in the class, you know way less than the teacher. Teachers have dedicated their lives to the subject material you're just being introduced to. You'll learn a lot more by listening silently than by waiting for spots to add your two cents.
Don't try too hard with appearances. That is, don't try too hard to make people think you're smart, or cool, or anything like that. If you are, people will figure it out quickly. If you aren't people will figure that out quickly too. If you're trying to seem like something you're not, people will figure that out quickest of all.
Have goals, work hard and don't give up until you've achieved them. This one does not apply in all cases. As Jackie Robinson said, not everyone can achieve everything they want regardless of background or obstacle. However, hard work and determination will bring you things that you could never imagine without them. It may sound obvious, but too many people fail to realize that if there is one “key to success” it is without doubt hard work.
I believe that love can conquer distance. On May 9th, 2011, I met my best friend. Veronica and I spent the first fourteen years of our life without each other, and I honestly don’t know how! Actually, I do. It was Lady Gaga who got us through the times in which we felt alone in the world, and it was Gaga who brought us together in the first place. I was invited to join a closed group of Gaga fans, known as Peace, Love, and Gaga... Also known as PLG! There, I found a safe haven where I could truly be myself. When The Edge of Glory was released, we all got together online and chatted about the song. There, I met Veronica. She was a relatively new member of the group and we both absolutely loved the song, so we began chatting. We hit it off right away, talking about differences between New Jersey and Maine, and giving each other cute nicknames- which, in hindsight, are a little embarrassing but very endearing considering we were fourteen years old. So “Ponymuffin” and “Glittercorn” set out on a glorious friendship which would last a lifetime.
I believe a lot of things. I believe that people should be generous and think of others more than they do. I believe that more steps need to be taken to be environmentally friendly. But those are not the beliefs that make me who I am. Those are not highly personal, they are actually fairly universal beliefs.
ReplyDeleteWhat makes me tick? What makes me Ella Lowney Millard?
I believe that being weird is awesome. I believe that when I laugh, I mean really laugh, cackling and snorting and crying and all, that it does not matter who is looking at me like I am crazy. I believe that family is everything, holding hands around the dinner table in july and singing "Fah who for-aze! Fah who for-aze! Dah who dor-aze! Dah who dor-aze! Welcome Christmas, Welcome Christmas, Come this way!" is what heals the wounded pieces and fills the missing holes. I believe that there is not one kind of success, my success is not possibly the same as my classmates. When I refuse to listen to the voice of my eating disorder I feel more accomplished than anyone in the world…. Seriously. I believe that when people struggle there is not hard and harder. There is just hard. There is just dig your claws in deep and ride it out. There is the sticky sweat on your brow after a well earned victory or the gut wrenching pain in the midst of you hard fought fight. This is life, it is chaos, hurt and danger, and the subsequent calm that awakes our senses, forces us to tune in and listen up to what we take for granted every single day. Our heavy breath, dew on our pinky toes or the soft whir of cars as we lay in bed waiting for sleep to come.
Ella, I really like all the images you have in here. You show that determination, being true to yourself, being a family person, being resilient and having fun are the bulwarks of your existence. Now the problem is boiling this down to a single this I believe....
DeleteI think it would be powerful if you were able to stay true to the tone of this piece. It would say who you are very well if you were able to somehow draw connections between all these different piece of you: it would reinforce the idea that all these pieces, in concert, are what makes Ella Lowney Millard Ela Lowney Millard.
I believe in being unsure, and I believe that absolutely nothing is for sure. There are no decisions or choices guaranteed to bring us happiness; there are only the ones more likely to. I think unsurety (is that a word?) is the only constant in life. I am unsure about what I want for breakfast, what I'm wearing to Anime Boston, if I really need friends. I'm unsure about my footwear on rainy days. I'm unsure about talking to people. I'm unsure if I really want the job I'm applying for. I'm unsure what I want after high school, but I am sure I don't want to think about it. I'm unsure if this is really what I want to write my essay on. I am unsure.
ReplyDeleteI am entirely, completely unsure, and that scares me.
Your point about not knowing being the "only constant in life" is very good, and I could see that growing into a nice "This I Believe" story.
DeleteI believe in respect. When it comes down to it, YOU are the most important person in the world... If you didn't exist, no one would (put your deep thinker cap on for that one) and thus everyone's gotta respect themselves. That means that you stand up for yourself, and as an extension of that, you stand up for anything else you believe in... If you see someone getting bullied or harassed, you don't stand by waiting for someone else to intervene (because the fact is that's what everyone else is doing). You don't listen to whatever might be telling you "you won't be cool" if you stand up for such and such... You just act.
ReplyDeleteI think this is good because it can be made into something very personal to you. It's a somewhat common mindset/belief, but your phrasing makes it seem much less generalized and more central to you.
DeleteI believe in balance. Balance, after all, is the only reason we are here. Like Icarus in his adolescent ascent, our home is neither too close nor too far from the sun. Balance also permits us to carry out our days and our lives. One must be simultaneously nervous and calm at the beginning of a soccer game. One must be creative and wild and crazy and collected and motivated all at the same time in order to get anywhere in life. In any relationship, the yin and yang of stubbornness with accommodation is key to the longevity and strength of the bond. Balance is everything. In balance I believe.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a good start Louise. As long as the examples create a clear point and you connect yourself to this essay in some way, I think it will turn out really nicely.
DeleteI believe in Alan. Alan is a man I know who sits in Longfellow Square park on the bench facing Congress Street. Alan is probably in his mid forties, and has a grey ponytail. He picks up bottles on the street that people discard, and puts them in the recycling. He knows enough about politics to carry on a polite conversation about socialized health care, and always asks me if I have gotten used to my new school yet. Alan says he went to South Portland High School, used to work as a waiter, and has an apartment now. He says he doesn't work anymore. I believe in Alan, but I don't think I believe in his story. I think he is lying. I think he is homeless. Alan has introduced me to some of his friends who live at the shelter. Dennis and Rick are the only two I ever remember. Sometimes his friends just all blend together into a blur of white, smelly males with cigarettes tucked behind their ears and brandy in Gatorade bottles. But everyone of them has a story. Sometimes I feel like a thief because I take the best part of these homeless people, their happiest moments, and biggest parts of their lives. I haven't been there with them through the hard parts, but I get to listen to the best parts. I am a thief.
ReplyDeleteI believe in Alan because there is nothing wrong with him that I can tell, because he always says hello to me, and because he doesn't judge me. My brother tells me to be careful about talking to random men on the street. My peers laugh at me for making genuine friends with the homeless. Even the police men near by glance at me, confused. But Alan is just a person, and so are his buddies. And I need a friend just as much as they do.
this is awesome Em!! It is similar to the soup lady that it is focused on a small story but it has a larger message! This has a ton of potential!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI believe in speech.
ReplyDeleteThere are hundreds of thousands of words in English, not mention the hundreds of thousands of words in the hundreds of languages on earth. Words that convey sadness, like devastation or melancholy, words that confuse, enlighten, words of action, words of comfort, demanding words, words to learn. Words as expression, as art, furious words, excited ones.
So speak up. Say hi to the guy you’ve had a crush on forever. Tell your friend that she’s being a ridiculous. Ask your teacher why they gave you that grade because you think you earned a better one. Disagree with whatever nonsense you’re grandfather is spouting at dinner. Whatever your opinion is, it’s important. If you speak, others will listen, and that’s what creates change.
This is a great message, Louise, I can tell you care deeply about the topic, and it shows through your writing. Consider expanding on some of these great ideas, like ART, CONFUSION, and COMMUNICATION. :)
DeleteI believe in dependence. True independence is nothing more than utter loneliness. We need independence from things, but we do not need independence on its own. As an extravert, I feed off of other peoples' energies and emotions. You love, I love. You stress, I stress. You need, I need. What I need is other people. Constantly. The feeling of being alone is the worst in the world. Whether we want to admit it to ourselves or not, we all need someone. I need a lot of someones. There are over 7 billion people in this world. To isolate yourself from all of them is sad.
ReplyDeleteI know you said that you were probably going to change your focus from dependence to tradition, but this is very good piece and I think this theme could be very interesting as well.
DeleteI believe that all you need is love. In whatever shape, face, or form, love is there. Friendliness, romantic, family, whatever sort of love. Like the force, it is an intangible thing that brings us together and holds the universe together. It's a force no one man woman or child knows well enough to describe, nor a single idea that can be written down for good. All you need is love. Love, love, lovely love! It's a crazy stupid thing that some people will stumble into time and again. Like, like a cookie that you eat and it's just so delicious. But then, you finish it and you think "no more cookie, what am I gonna do?" But then someone throws another cookie at you and it's even better than the first. Maybe I'm just a simple guy, but Love is all I need.
ReplyDeleteI know that we talked about you maybe changing your topic for the this I believe, but I think this is a really good. I like the way you talked about what love means to you.
DeleteI believe in the importance of faith, but only relative to myself. I know it is wrong to think of faith only in the context of religion, yet it is my focus for this piece. For some, faith is the perpetuation of the great ignorance. For many it is the acceptance of a falsehood; something that has been and will always remains absent of sense. I’ve heard them referred to as closeted atheists, and to them I send them blessing in place of unreal, suffered prayers. For me, the mystery of faith, as it was for the biblical, was the final trial. An inescapable hindrance that could only be mentioned in private, away from the judgeful, budding eyes, which jump at the rhetoric of the opposition with crude and unending scorn. When I arrived at Waynflete, to accept religion was to accept a view foreign to those around me. The mystery of faith was a test, proof that I believe. I believe in evolution; the universe is well over the years of four thousand; and religion, under the Church, total crap. Yet when I stand in Mass, and sit in prayer, I’m encompassed in a shroud of piercing incense, and by depictions of gentle, bloody savior. My white woes are turned to pure feeling. Beyond the vague rationale of love and hate. This feeling is unique, foreign to the world outside the hallowed gates of the kingdom, and is proof to a higher power, My God, Not of the Church, and a product of another world.
ReplyDeleteWe have talked in class, and I think your new idea would work better for an "I believe" piece, particularly because one of the criteria of this piece was to move away from religion. As a general piece its well written and a nice mix of narrative and description.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteEveryone develops their own belief system. A set of rules that they have crafted through the scientific experiment of their own lives, which (sometimes) guides them through their trials and tribulations. Here is a start to my own list, a paltry 17 years in the making:
ReplyDeleteNever blame your tools. Once you get to a certain skill level in anything, you realize that blaming ones tools is nothing more than a frustrated amateurs excuse. Jimi Hendrix played with guitars he bought at Sears. Admit to yourself that your equipment is not your main impediment.
Even if you are the smartest kid in the class, you know way less than the teacher. Teachers have dedicated their lives to the subject material you're just being introduced to. You'll learn a lot more by listening silently than by waiting for spots to add your two cents.
Don't try too hard with appearances. That is, don't try too hard to make people think you're smart, or cool, or anything like that. If you are, people will figure it out quickly. If you aren't people will figure that out quickly too. If you're trying to seem like something you're not, people will figure that out quickest of all.
Have goals, work hard and don't give up until you've achieved them. This one does not apply in all cases. As Jackie Robinson said, not everyone can achieve everything they want regardless of background or obstacle. However, hard work and determination will bring you things that you could never imagine without them. It may sound obvious, but too many people fail to realize that if there is one “key to success” it is without doubt hard work.
I believe that love can conquer distance.
ReplyDeleteOn May 9th, 2011, I met my best friend. Veronica and I spent the first fourteen years of our life without each other, and I honestly don’t know how! Actually, I do. It was Lady Gaga who got us through the times in which we felt alone in the world, and it was Gaga who brought us together in the first place. I was invited to join a closed group of Gaga fans, known as Peace, Love, and Gaga... Also known as PLG! There, I found a safe haven where I could truly be myself. When The Edge of Glory was released, we all got together online and chatted about the song. There, I met Veronica. She was a relatively new member of the group and we both absolutely loved the song, so we began chatting. We hit it off right away, talking about differences between New Jersey and Maine, and giving each other cute nicknames- which, in hindsight, are a little embarrassing but very endearing considering we were fourteen years old. So “Ponymuffin” and “Glittercorn” set out on a glorious friendship which would last a lifetime.