Writing a Personal Essay

Author: notafish - Delphine Ménard Source: self drawn. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

            


Writing an essay is harder that it sounds. When I was in school the teacher gave requirements and rules about style and language. Now I’ve come to a place where I want to write a personal essay and there aren’t any rules. 

I write some blogs and the subject of the blog determines the subject and style. Now I want to write an opinion, but I’m not sure what the subject is. Maybe it’s just things I want to say. 

There is advice I want to give my grandchildren, wisdom I would like to impart to friends, council I want to share with strangers—all kinds of stuff I just think people ought to be aware of. It is a little scary to think I am the authority on a wide variety of issues these people ought to following. The responsibility is awesome. But it would make my life easier if I didn’t have to suffer the futility of dealing with those who don’t know how to get along. 

A few of them think they know how things ought to be done. Of course, they are misguided. I try to have pity rather than scorn for them, but sometimes it’s hard. I know several people who think they are smarter than the rest of us  and are ready to snap everyone into shape for the project they have designed. 

I have a friend who I like a lot, but she is an artist  and thinks she can make an artist out of me. I sincerely doubt that will happen. I enjoy the interaction, but I’ll never be an artist. I don’t do well in crafts either, no matter how simple. I just don’t enjoy it. I won’t sacrifice the time. 

Now that I think about it, I guess everybody I know in “the home” has the same conviction: Their system would simply their life too. If we would all behave as they demand, life would be simpler, at least for them. 

Memorial Day

A United States poster advertising World War I Liberty Bonds (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Today I am forced to remember people who have touched me with their service in the Armed Forces. My father served in the First World War. He rarely mentioned it, but it gave me a sense of pride even when I had no memory of that event. My parents had friends who were serving in the Second World War. Then, my mother was active in the Red Cross and my father sold War Bonds. I remember the ration stamps Mama had to use for buying some items, like sugar and the meatless Tuesdays. Now I have a more personal connection to the military. Two of my children and several of my grandchildren have served.  Military service in defense of my country is a personal matter when it involves family members.

I don't always agree with government actions and political slogans, but I find it hard to blame the men and women who serve with these ulterior motives. They have a different perspective on war and service than those of us who lurk back here behind the lines. Being in the line of fire changes the truths you look at and the potential for personal sacrifice.  

Today I'll think more about the people who have committed their time and lives in service to our nation and less about the speakers and the flag waving, more about the country's support of the military and less about the support of Congress or the President. The current scandal over Veterans getting health care is an on-going problem. I question so many aspects of health care already; adding the regard for veterans to the already insurmountable mess the health care industry is already in leaves me thinking we need to view this as some different battle and take it out of the government control. It was a huge mistake to surrender health care to government in the first place. What else is at risk with government take-over?  

What Are You Reading?

Deutsch: Viktor Frankl (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and from 1951 to 1955. Deutsch: Winston Churchill, 1940 bis 1945 sowie 1951 bis 1955 Premier des Vereinigten Königreichs und Literaturnobelpreisträger des Jahres 1953. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

George Vaillant

Cover of C.S. Lewis

An acquaintance asked me to give a book review. I agreed to do it, but then I got cold feet. The books I read are often not the ordinary kind of thing most people want to hear about. I  recently read Viktor E. Frankl Man's Search for Meaning. I work on George Vaillant's Aging Well repeatedly. George Vaillant has a new book out entitled Triumphs of Experience, but I think it will be similar to his previous studies of stage development. I'm guessing every audience will think I am both slow and boring.

I am also working on C.S. Lewis's Out of the Silent Planet, and
Winston Churchill's The Gathering Storm. I shouldn't have agreed to give a book review. I'm pretty sure nobody will want to hear what I read.

The works by Frankl, Churchill and Lewis are certainly not new material. Mostly they were published in the 40's and 50's. It really dates me. But somehow in this kind of company I don't mind. Vaillant is current. His new book was published in the last year, but it's about getting old, at least about the new research on getting old.

If I don't back out, I'll probably do the Vaillant book. Every since I first studied Adult Development for my degree, I have been fascinated by the subject. It's wonderful to know that as long as you live there are still stages to achieve and wonders to comprehend. I have no doubt that Frankl, Churchill, and Lewis never stopped growing and learning, but Vaillant describes it and illuminates the process so that you never have to be bored with life, even when you have retired or you abandon a career. It ain't over till it's over,  folks.

How About a New Start?

I must confess that I've fallen down on the job! Getting old means I am supposed to have acquired wisdom and I should be sharing it so that others may benefit from what I've learned. By the time we are 50 or so we should be able to mentor others and pass on some or our wisdom and knowledge. This happens when we are parents by simple osmosis, but in some cases we have to seek a way to accomplish it and find other people to receive our modeling and example. 

At least this is the message of George Valliant in his book Aging Well. This is one of the marks of successful aging. Mentoring helps you to feel useful and active and in touch with other people, especially those who are younger.

I've found a way. They aren't younger than I am, but some here enjoy reading poetry with me. We read favorites of different members and discuss the style and rhyme and meter as well as the message, and often the poet's life and experiences. People that don't participate have taken notice and given us news items of interest to poets and told us about poetry contests in the newspaper. It's sometimes hard to tell if other people think we are strange or just want to see what kind of bait they can throw out. I'm easy! I'll nibble at anything.  

Now, I'm reclaiming my dedication to writing. I've entered a contest. I'm ready to begin a new writing regime with deadlines and expectations. Next, I have to establish a daily word minimum and choose a genre to work in. I'm really interested in fiction. Maybe I'll start there. And also a little poetry. I'll let you know. 

America, Bless God!

     Everywhere I go I see the sign "God Bless America." I am not sure if it is a prayer, or a plea, or a command. I believe God has blessed America.

         At our very inception we have documents and historical evidence that our forefathers sought God and His blessing. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution placed liberty and freedom as a top priority. God blessed those ideals. Slavery was surely a blotch on that intent, but the ideal itself triumphed. Even though it cost a destructive and divisive war, those blessed liberties won. America bless God.

         There have been other difficulties over which we have struggled, other wars which have tested our resolve, other calamities which have required our resilience. America bless God.

         On September 11, 2001 we experienced major attack on our homeland. We had never experienced bloodshed from foreign attack on our continental shores before. Let us not assume that God has deserted us. America bless God.

         In 225 years of this nation's existence God has indeed blessed us. It is time to return the favor. AMERICA BLESS GOD

Memories: Joy Unending

Cover of Humphrey Bogart

Watching old movies is a nostalgic adventure. Tonight I watched Casablanca. Humphrey Bogart never gets old, but I remember other people when I watch the movie besides the stars of a bygone era. I remember my mother and father taking me to the movies and even though I didn't understand the political intrigue depicted, I recognized their admiration of the of the stars and the story. 

The movie came out in 1942 which made it very timely for what was going on. In 1942 the United States had entered the Second World War but Europe had been embroiled in it since 1939. The story is a tragic love affair that is torn apart by the war. Casa Blanca was ar risk of becoming German territory. Rick's bar was a refuge for American and European ex patriots.




When I was first exposed to the movie, I did not appreciate it's very political and patriotic theme. Now I do, but I'm still struck by the many old stars in it. Ingrid Bergman, Louie Armstrong, Sidney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, S.Z. Sakall, Paul Henreid, and Claude Rains make me realize the vast talent present in the old movies. They don't have the graphics and technical advances or more modern movies, but they had some extraordinary actors who used emotion, expression, and delivery.  Even in black and white I was impressed with their delivery and skill.

This screenshot shows Sydney Greenstreet and Humphrey Bogart in a discussion about whether Sam (Dooley Wilson) will come to work for Greenstreet. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This movie also had some memorable lines: "Here's looking at you, kid;" "Play it again, Sam;" "Of all the gin joints in all the cities in all the world, why did she have to walk into mine?" "Round up the usual suspects."

Old movies bring back lots of memories of lots of people, and not all of them are actors.

Related articles

• This week's film: Casablanca

Take Care of Your Hippocampus

Biological neuron schema (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When I got my MS degree, the prevailing wisdom said we should not be foolish about doing things that damaged brain neurons because they are not replaced. We had all the neurons we were ever going to have in early childhood, and by the time we were 18 or 20 we would begin to lose them by the thousands every day. Some activities cause more loss that is necessary: alcohol, drug use, toxic substances in food or air.  For this reason it makes sense to preserve your brain cells if you can. You will lose lots of them anyway, but don't be careless with them.  

Current research tells us that we can guard against loss by using them. We should be doing things that put a demand on brain cells because the more they are used the less chance they have to atrophy. It's the same message we get for using our muscles: use it or lose it. When we use the transmitters in the cell, it is stimulated to replace it. This keeps the cell active and vital. Doing crossword puzzles is stimulating to the brain cells and replenishes the transmitters in them. 

It also makes new connections. It is the number of connections, not the number of cells that makes you smarter. The message you need to hear about your brain is: keep it active and use it a lot. 

A newer finding on the care and training of you brain says that, contrary to the former information , you really can form new neurons in the brain. This is called neurogenesis. It happens in the hippocampus where new memories are made. The hippocampus is a structure in the Limbic system associated with emotion. The new cells won't replace your old cells that have died. The old cells still die and their information is gone, but the new cells can and must be trained to make new memories and learn new information. The neurogenesis is stimulated by demand on the brain. Learning a new language or doing difficult math problems is a possibility. Reading physics papers and playing music that requires concentrated study might accomplish the goal.

Use your brain. Use it a lot. You will benefit from the effort of learning and you might even grow some new cells. It's up to you!