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Meditation Experience…

On a day like today when i’m running on 5 hours of sleep I would rate the meditation experience at a solid 9 out of 10. I thought it would be harder to concentrate and stop my mind from roaming around but I guess I was so tired it decided to take a break. Sure my mind wandered a little but I was so close to falling asleep that I jumped up when Professor started talking again. This meditation was almost like a small power nap. Thinking back though it felt a lot longer then it actually was but yet it felt short at the same time. It seems like so much time has passed, but on the other hand I wish it could have been longer. My mind felt relaxed and at peace, like if I had the chance I could have fallen into a deep sleep. One interesting thing I realized was that once Professor told us to slowly start coming back I can’t remember anything I was thinking about in those 10 minutes, it’s almost like it never really happened.

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Meditation is…

Meditation is a way to relax your body and come at peace with the world and yourself. It’s a way to connect your body to the world almost like you are in a trance or state. I’m pretty sure that’s how hypnotists control people; they bring them into a state of meditation or relaxation. Meditation is also a way to calm your nerves and to not think about your problems for a while. It’s supposed to be a break from reality so that your body and mind can relax and come together as one. What are you suppose to meditate on though, I don’t understand? You can’t just think about nothing and expect your mind not to wander off. But maybe that’s what meditation is…just thinking about nothing for long periods of time.

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When I think of Meditation…

When I think of Meditation  I think of peace and comfort. It reminds me of many different things from yoga to Buddhism to sleeping. If you think back to your K-12 years in school gym class and they tell you to meditate you always think of that time as the chance to relax and sleep. Meditation is somewhat taken as a joke in this case, which I seem to think it is anyway. It is almost impossible, for me at least, to completely clear my mind and focus on nothing. There are way to many distractions, way to many things to do, and frankly not enough time in the day. Why would I meditate when I can just sleep? Meditation also reminds me of Buddhism. Although I’m not too sure why, but I’m pretty sure they do that in their religion. Gandhi meditated as did other spiritual leaders, that’s where they claimed their answers from a higher power came. In fact I could probably use some meditation right now. I wonder if it if actually works. Is there a way where you can almost shut down your body and actually feel peace? I guess I’ll have to find out… 

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Bastard out of Carolina

Bastard out of Carolina is a book about an illegitimate child who is born in South Carolina in the 1950’s.  At this point that is really as much as I know. After reading the first 64 pages of the books there’s really not all that to much to summarize. There were a few major plot points that shaped the story. For example, the Mom Anney, has the first illegitimate child and just 15 years old! The state labels the child, Ruth Anne also know as Bone, as a Bastard of the state of South Carolina. You can tell that during this time period is was frowned upon to have a child out of wedlock, and many people would label you for it. The story continues and you find out that the Mom gets married to a boy named Lyle around age 19. Soon after they have a child named Reese and then Lyle dies in a car accident. The Mom is all shaken up and she thinks that she will never love again but eventually after a couple years and many desperate attempts by a man named Glen, the  two date and get married. Now here is where the story picks up a little bit. Glen gets Anney pregnant and when she is in labor in the delivery room, Glen goes out to the car to check on the other two children, Reese and Bone. While he is there he keeps saying “Your mamma is gonna be alright”. At this point he picks Bone up and rapes her right in the front seat of the car. Bone is confused by what is happening and is put back to sleep shortly after. This is about all that happens in these 64 pages. I can’t say I like the book, but I also can not say that I hate it. I will say though that I do not like the way in which the story is being told. The story is told through the character Bone, but I am not a fan of the descriptions that are used throughout. It almost seems like there are to many details at some points. There’s only so many ways you can describe one scene before it’s time to move on. Also, the book doesn’t have a lot of plot points. Sure some stuff goes on here and there but while your waiting for something to happen you almost get bored. I understand that the story is told in memories and flashbacks but there are so many scenes that seem unimportant that don’t add anything to the stories plot.  Another thing that I don’t like is that the author of the novel never really sets a time line. As bone narrates the book she rarely says what the year is or how old anybody is. I am over 60 pages in to the book and I don’t know how old aby of the characters are? Now someone tell me something wrong with that. At the time of the rape you have no idea how old Bone is and that is a major fact in determining how bad of a crime this man committed. Yes, it is horrible to rape someone no matter how old they are but it would give you a different outlook on Glen if you found out that Bone was a child, a preteen or a teenager.  Although the story is lagging at this point, I am still hoping that it is going to get better. I feel like the rape scene was one of the climax points and that a story is going to build off of the family running away from Glen once everything unravels. 

One point that I can say that is good about the book is that when your mind does start to wander she throws another plot point at you, I just wish she would do it more often instead of spacing everything out so much. Also Allison does give you insight into the life of the family. It seems like you know almost everyone of their stories and what they do in their daily life. 

 

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What is Justice?

            Justice can be defined as many things to different people. Some people feel like they have been cheated out of Justice while others feel that they have experienced it. Justice can simply be described as being fair, reasonable and equal. Each and every person wishes that life could be fair, but in reality it ‘s actually not. Certain people get treated better then others and that’s just how life works. Justice is also written in the first lines of the constitution, “We the people of the United States of America, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, and provide for the common defense…” So what does that mean? Basically when the constitution was established the United States wanted to establish justice, meaning that they wanted everyone to be treated reasonably and fair. But if you think about it Justice really was never established! When they wrote this line, African Americans were still being used as slaves, women didn’t have rights, and a whole bunch of other things in America were screwed up too. Justice can also be seen in a courtroom during a trial. Is it really justice when the person who murdered someone gets off on a not guilty verdict because the police didn’t do something right? That murderer is still going to be out there and terrorizing people in the world. That doesn’t sound like justice to me. So is Justice really ever achievable? Is anything in life or our world actually fair? Is anyone in this world really considered equal?