Knowing

During the past couple of weeks we have been reviewing Tao Te Ching and it has been a struggle for me. I had never heard of taoism before, so there was a lot of background knowledge I needed to study before I could find some meaning to the poems.

This website was a really useful source in assisting me understand Tao Te Ching :


http://www.phenster.com/lot-archive/Archive-Stories/Tao-Te-Ching.html

Finding that information and more on Tao Te Ching makes me feel confident in analyzing one of the poems on my blog. So reflecting on the way I see Taoism, I hope you are able to relate and make sense of my analyzation! The poem I will analyze is knowing.

Without taking a step outdoors
You know the whole world;
Without taking a peep out the window
You know the color of the sky

The more you experience,
The less you know.
The sage wanders without knowing,
Sees without looking,
Accomplishes without acting.

My analyzation:

Taoist principles stemmed from Confucius, Tao means way. The main focus was balance, in order to have balance, you must lead a happy humble life. Tao Te Ching used opposites to reflect an understanding, for example, the more you experience the less you knokw. These opposites make a fuller meaning, experience brings about change and excitement to ones life, you never know what will come, these experiences can bring changes or activities you will never understand, but have done.

Another example "without taking a peep out the window, you know the color of the sky." This relates to the Taoist idea that we are always focused on what we don't have rather than what we have. We don't value the sky for the clouds, the sun, sunsets; we just know it is there, never taking the time to study it or be thankful it is there everyday and night. This poem could also relate on the fact we need emptiness to make us whole. If we didn't go through trials and tribulations, we wouldn't be thankful for the good times when we have them. The line "The sage wanders without knowing," makes me think of the way in Taoism, there is no right or wrong in the way, so it is possible for the sage to wander without knowing. The line "sees without looking and accomplishes without acting." brings me to the understanding of how we reach our "humble" life. As said before Taoism relates to opposites and how they integrate with one another, the point is to not necessarily find but live a balanced, peaceful, humble life.

As Simple As An Onion

Today I've decided to go back and reflect on the poem "The Traveling Onion" by Naomi Shihab Nye. First reading the poem, I did not get why someone would write a poem about an onion. Not being an expert on poetry, I found it odd. Going back and rereading the poem, for me, gave it a deeper meaning. I don't think Naomi is literally talking about an onion, but instead the small miracles of life we don't appreciate. We all go through our day to day lives not realizing what we have or how far we have come, a lot of what we have is taken for granted. I think this relates to this part of the poem:

How at meal, we sit to eat,
commenting on texture of meat, or herbal aroma,
but never on the translucence of the onion,
now limp, now divided,
of it's traditionally honorable career

We always look for what is right in front of us, the easiest way out of a problem, the end product, but never what it takes to get there. I am always thankful for what I have, but never for the process it took to attain what I have.  I like how the author took something as simple as an onion and could relate it to such a bigger picture. I enjoyed reading this poem, because it was easier for me to depict because I struggle with understanding poetry.

Evil Twin or Crazy Girl

After finishing the book The Icarus Girl in class, I was extremely confused and mad there was no clear cut answer for the conclusion of the story. I tried to go back and reread certain sections of the book, but still didn't find any evidence.

I did further research online and with our class discussions I realized that the author, Helen Oyeyemi, mixes reality and spirituality into this piece. She incorporated Nigerian mythology into the story which assists in it making more sense.

The story is about Jessamay, and 8 year old girl who doesn't seem to fit into the norms of an average 8 year old girl. Her mother is Nigerian and her father English, living in England makes it difficult for her to know her place in the world. It is not  until she takes her first visit to Nigeria and meets a girl named TillyTilly who seems to "understand" her. Soon, with Jess's extraordinary imagination, TillyTilly's presence becomes disturbing and Jess becomes more and more afraid of her and even more afraid to let go.

At first, I as a reader, felt that TillyTilly was and imaginary friend, all apart of Jess's imagination, but after further reading found that couldn't be true. How would TillyTilly and Jessy have broken into Colleen's house and not have anybody see them? TillyTilly reveals herself as Jessamay's twin and I feel most confident in this explanation.

''Stop looking to belong, half-and-half child,'' TillyTilly intones. ''Stop. There is nothing; there is only me, and I have caught you.'' This quote from the book hit me with the most feeling, it finally struck me that TillyTilly was trying to take control of Jessamay's life and everyone in it. She went from being a playful childhood friend to evil.


Though I am still disappointed with the ending of the book, it is one I can keep reflecting on and make new connections with. I think the reason I was so disappointed is I like to know exactly what happened, not have to make up my own mind. Overall I felt it was an extremely interesting and unique read.