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| Above: The statue of prison reformer John Howard in St. Paul's square in New Befordshire |
As an exercise: spend time trying to "see" something or "hear" something that you normally take for granted. It might be the music by Chopin in the video on the previous post. It might be the view from the window you are sitting by. It might be the eyes of someone you care about. It might be the park you walk through every day. After you've done this, write about the experience in the comments section.
She realizes that there's often more to something than what you just see on the surface. Nora discovers the difference by observing her hometown, as do I. I grew up in a small town, in middle school I just wanted to grow up and get out and never return. However, later I realized that my town was actually incredible, and is set apart from other small towns. I can now no longer imagine living elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteExercise- As I type this, I am in my living room surrounded by the people that I love, sometimes I think that I forget how blessed I am to have the family I do.
Walking by a statue she was familiar with, Nora reads the phrase on it ("It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see") and takes a whole new meaning out of it. She realizes that she has been looking at all of her regrets and bad experiences of her root life, and not at all of the possibility. I think that I often take things for granted. For example, the air-conditioning that is keeping me cool when it is 102 degrees outside. - Matt Pittman
ReplyDelete-Ethan Green
ReplyDeleteNora realizes that after all this time of not only her, but also her brother Joe wishing to leave Bedford and feeling like it was a prison, that Bedford wasn't really a prison at all, but home. I can remember times in my life up until my senior year where I wanted to leave my hometown and never look back. I remember feeling that sense of boredom with Asher's simplicity and lack of entertainment. I salivated at the prospect of just moving to Ada and having options for what to do with my time other than being at the baseball field. Then once my summer leading into my senior year came that all changed. Yes I was ready to grow and come to college, but at the same time I made sure to soak in all of what my small town had to offer and see the glory in it. I always went a little slower on Main Street just to absorb all the scenery around me. I had the sense of sorrowful love for my hometown, like the kind you feel when your favorite relative passes on. I miss being a kid in my small town, and I will always be grateful to this place for opening my eyes to the beauty of being contempt with simple forms of elegance. For this exercise I am sitting in my room with the door shut as I'm typing. For so long I have taken the voices of my parents for granted especially in the evening times, and I realize more now than ever that someday I won't be a kid who is able to enjoy the sounds of family, not as a kid. Someday I too, will be just another adult wishing I had one more day with the .
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