An artistic reflection
Before reading through this, I would just like to say that it took me roughly ten minutes to come up with a title for this, since I was trying to use alliteration but utterly failed. So, as an entire class, our English teacher assigned us a task, to find a poem, an image and song lyrics, that we resonate with.
Now, before you think, “Isn’t that just a stock image?”, well, yes, yes it is. But, me being the somewhat over analytical person that I am, I don’t just see two goldfish in separate bowls. What I saw was two living beings, one having more freedom and space then the other. I believe that this simple stock image is a lot more powerful then meets the eye. Notice how the fish in the larger bowl is still in a bowl. Not in an ocean or an open pond. Isn’t that a little strange if this image is meant to represent the freedom given to some yet not others? Well, I believe that it’s almost a representative of us as human beings. Sure, some of us are more contained then others, but otherwise we all still live on the same planet. True freedom isn’t determined by space, it’s determined by the choices we are allowed or not allowed to make. And with that freedom, we shouldn’t trap ourselves in, say that we’re more comfortable being indoors, but we should step out and make a change in the world, to fight for someone else’s freedom, because everybody on this sad little rock of a planet deserves to live life to the absolute fullest.
Introduction to Poetry
by Billy Collins
I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide
or press an ear against its hive
I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,
or walk inside the poem’s room
and feel the walls for a light switch.
I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author’s name on the shore.
But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with a rope
and torture a confession out of it.
They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.
Now, I feel as if this poem resonates with me because it talks about how some people try too hard to understand art, and that art doesn’t need to be understood to be enjoyed. It also speaks of how many different meanings there are to different people trying to interpret the same artwork.
[Avicii-Wake me up]
Feeling my way through the darkness
Guided by a beating heart
I can’t tell where the journey will end
But I know where to start
They tell me I’m too young to understand
They say I’m caught up in a dream
Well life will pass me by if I don’t open up my eyes
Well that’s fine by me
[2x]
So wake me up when it’s all over
When I’m wiser and I’m older
All this time I was finding myself
And I didn’t know I was lost
I tried carrying the weight of the world
But I only have two hands
Hope I get the chance to travel the world
But I don’t have any plans
Wish that I could stay forever this young
Not afraid to close my eyes
Life’s a game made for everyone
And love is the prize
[2x]
So wake me up when it’s all over
When I’m wiser and I’m older
All this time I was finding myself
And I didn’t know I was lost
Didn’t know I was lost
I didn’t know I was lost
I didn’t know I was lost
I didn’t know (didn’t know, didn’t know)
This song, I feel as if describes not just me, but a lot of young teenagers around the world. The video accompanying the music tells the story of two young girls in a world where they don’t belong, and then finally finding a place where they can be themselves. The song itself however, I feel as if it’s not talking about a person trying to find a place where they belong, but trying to find who they are. This is what I feel describes, since most of us are still going through that awkward transition from child to adult, none of us really have any idea what we’re going to do in the future, maybe some do, but I feel most don’t.
