Happiness and Meaning Project
Together
Happiness eludes us
and its absence we fear,
though we hunt it like game
we never seem near.
This pursuit drives our life
it makes us feel whole,
but loneliness in disguise,
is society’s toll.
When we use material
to enrich our lives,
we feel disconnected,
alone and deprived.
But with family and friends,
we feel that meaning,
the thrill of the scene
the reason to breathe.
What gives us our steam,
and a reason to be.
We know want we want,
But forgot what we need,
Sometimes our desires don’t come obviously.
We search and we chase,
And try to fill holes,
That seem to lack money,
Inside of our soles.
But values can tell you,
And morale will say,
That one can never find
True virtue this way.
We dream of big houses,
With lawns to mow,
Hallways to roam,
And people to woah,
But sometimes we forgot what makes a house a home.
We yearn for the mansion that represents security,
But when we expect it to solve, or patch our impurities,
We begin to feel lonely, slowly but surely.
Our hearts feel need
While our brains feel desire
If we feed our greed
Our pain will come prior.
and its absence we fear,
though we hunt it like game
we never seem near.
This pursuit drives our life
it makes us feel whole,
but loneliness in disguise,
is society’s toll.
When we use material
to enrich our lives,
we feel disconnected,
alone and deprived.
But with family and friends,
we feel that meaning,
the thrill of the scene
the reason to breathe.
What gives us our steam,
and a reason to be.
We know want we want,
But forgot what we need,
Sometimes our desires don’t come obviously.
We search and we chase,
And try to fill holes,
That seem to lack money,
Inside of our soles.
But values can tell you,
And morale will say,
That one can never find
True virtue this way.
We dream of big houses,
With lawns to mow,
Hallways to roam,
And people to woah,
But sometimes we forgot what makes a house a home.
We yearn for the mansion that represents security,
But when we expect it to solve, or patch our impurities,
We begin to feel lonely, slowly but surely.
Our hearts feel need
While our brains feel desire
If we feed our greed
Our pain will come prior.
Artist Statement
I wrote this poem to express a negative observation that I have made with our society's priorities when it comes to happiness. I think that the most happy communities are happy because they feel secure. People often try to gain security with money but I tried to express that this is a mistake. Many people believe that having a big house will lead to your happiness but as far as I can tell, the people who expect this are the ones most disappointed by the result. The only path to happiness and security for me is having people that I love around me. If they are secure, then so am I. If they are happy, then so am I. My poem was used to show how crucial it is to stay close to the people you love, but I think that it more importantly drew light to how hard it is to achieve happiness with self-pride and riches.
Project Reflection
For this project, I chose to answer the question, “What is the key to true happiness?” Although this question is very broad, I answered it with a specific idea. This idea is relationships. I think that someone cannot achieve true happiness alone or without deep human connections. I was inspired to write about this because of my visual piece. Roxy had told me and Eno earlier this year that whatever we put out, we should try to consider a message. When I was thinking about this, I got to thinking about what our society really needs to be reminded. We have so much war, so much corruption and lying, it seems like our population is too big to act like a family. I think that if we never can act like one, then our major problems will not be solved. That is why I made the ‘hold on’ stencil and wrote my poem about human interaction and relation.
I think that for me, this project started very early in the year. I got to thinking about how important our relationship with each other is in the first semester. The only reason we kill other animals, hurt other species, and take advantage of the land is to compete with each other, and this relationship is not sustainable. I think that we are fairly insignificant in the grand scheme of things but if we plan to expand throughout and impact the universe, I think we should readdress our tactics. Albert Camus was the first person to get me to seriously consider our place in the universe by writing The Stranger. I think that in the same way that religion gives some people purpose, our free and low-consequence reality makes me feel unique and special. The fact that we know so much about ourselves yet so little about the universe intrigues me. I think that if we are to learn more, if we are to spread our boundaries, or if we plan on changing the fact that we don’t matter, we need to hold on.
After this project I have more questions than I do when this year started. What is our place in the world as compared to the universe? Can we change the faith of humanity? Can we change the faith of the world? What are we worth? How many species are we willing to kill in order to save ourselves?
I think that for me, this project started very early in the year. I got to thinking about how important our relationship with each other is in the first semester. The only reason we kill other animals, hurt other species, and take advantage of the land is to compete with each other, and this relationship is not sustainable. I think that we are fairly insignificant in the grand scheme of things but if we plan to expand throughout and impact the universe, I think we should readdress our tactics. Albert Camus was the first person to get me to seriously consider our place in the universe by writing The Stranger. I think that in the same way that religion gives some people purpose, our free and low-consequence reality makes me feel unique and special. The fact that we know so much about ourselves yet so little about the universe intrigues me. I think that if we are to learn more, if we are to spread our boundaries, or if we plan on changing the fact that we don’t matter, we need to hold on.
After this project I have more questions than I do when this year started. What is our place in the world as compared to the universe? Can we change the faith of humanity? Can we change the faith of the world? What are we worth? How many species are we willing to kill in order to save ourselves?
Rhetoric Project
The reality of our society at this point, is that it needs any economic benefits it can get. Although the health risks entailed in the federal legalization of marijuana are present, they do not outweigh the medical benefits. A common belief to counter this perspective is that with the federal legalization will only come more incentive to use the drug illegally, and with that will come many other issues.
First, this will cause the drug to fall into the hands of teenagers. Well this is a valid point, however it ignores the reality of our current teenage state. According to the CDC, 35% of high schoolers drank some amount of alcohol, 21% binge drank, and 10% drank and drove. According to Liberty Mutual Insurance, 1 in 5 teenagers have admitted to using marijuana and driving. Given the annual deaths due to drinking and driving (some 10,000 in 2013), and total driving while under the influence of weed deaths (23,500 from 1999-2010), it is hard to say that weed is even comparable to alcohol in terms of health risks. More people showed to use marijuana while driving, yet still only reported a statistical 1/5th as many deaths. Now of course, some people would say that we need to avoid these deaths because they can be avoided.
Nonetheless, I do care a lot about maximizing life. That is why with health benefits involved with THC, both medical and recreational, will outweigh the lives lost. Medical cannabis can help calm stress or anxiety, reduce depression, prevent the acceleration of alzheimer's plaques in the brain for those who have alzheimer’s, reduce the risk of daily seizures with epilepsy it can calm the symptoms of cerebral palsy and Parkinson’s disease, ease the pain involved in multiple sclerosis, and hepatitis C. Lastly, it has major implications with helping cancer and HIV patients in terms of calming nausea, creating appetite, and easing pain. The drug has been proved to inhibit tumor growth and enlarge breathing airways, making it harder for these patients to get asthma attacks. After researching the amount of people that are affected by these diseases, I landed on about 20 million. Now, keep in mind that people who have two or three of these diseases were counted for more than once. How could we deny 20 million people their right to medication that will help their illness at the risk of very few? Given the annual deaths due to this drug, there is no reason to keep it illegal.
It appears to me that the overall pros in the health category involving marijuana are far more substantial than the cons. However, health reasons are not my only incentive to legalize marijuana. I think the just like the potential health perks marijuana will involve, we cannot ignore the economic benefits. I do not necessarily think that this is the best way to improve our economy, but it certainly is a seamless piece of legislation that could be passed and bring positive change to our society. Apparently taxation on marijuana alone is expected to make Colorado $94 million next year. This does not include the sales of pipes, bongs, or other paraphernalia. Also, with the legalization of marijuana in Colorado came some 10,000 jobs. This is estimated to be a 1 billion dollar retail market. With the federal legalization of this drug, we are predicted to make 17-20 billion dollars solely on taxation. Through time, we could potentially use this money in order to socialize education, put more money into our health care, or start giving back to our never-ending debt.
First, this will cause the drug to fall into the hands of teenagers. Well this is a valid point, however it ignores the reality of our current teenage state. According to the CDC, 35% of high schoolers drank some amount of alcohol, 21% binge drank, and 10% drank and drove. According to Liberty Mutual Insurance, 1 in 5 teenagers have admitted to using marijuana and driving. Given the annual deaths due to drinking and driving (some 10,000 in 2013), and total driving while under the influence of weed deaths (23,500 from 1999-2010), it is hard to say that weed is even comparable to alcohol in terms of health risks. More people showed to use marijuana while driving, yet still only reported a statistical 1/5th as many deaths. Now of course, some people would say that we need to avoid these deaths because they can be avoided.
Nonetheless, I do care a lot about maximizing life. That is why with health benefits involved with THC, both medical and recreational, will outweigh the lives lost. Medical cannabis can help calm stress or anxiety, reduce depression, prevent the acceleration of alzheimer's plaques in the brain for those who have alzheimer’s, reduce the risk of daily seizures with epilepsy it can calm the symptoms of cerebral palsy and Parkinson’s disease, ease the pain involved in multiple sclerosis, and hepatitis C. Lastly, it has major implications with helping cancer and HIV patients in terms of calming nausea, creating appetite, and easing pain. The drug has been proved to inhibit tumor growth and enlarge breathing airways, making it harder for these patients to get asthma attacks. After researching the amount of people that are affected by these diseases, I landed on about 20 million. Now, keep in mind that people who have two or three of these diseases were counted for more than once. How could we deny 20 million people their right to medication that will help their illness at the risk of very few? Given the annual deaths due to this drug, there is no reason to keep it illegal.
It appears to me that the overall pros in the health category involving marijuana are far more substantial than the cons. However, health reasons are not my only incentive to legalize marijuana. I think the just like the potential health perks marijuana will involve, we cannot ignore the economic benefits. I do not necessarily think that this is the best way to improve our economy, but it certainly is a seamless piece of legislation that could be passed and bring positive change to our society. Apparently taxation on marijuana alone is expected to make Colorado $94 million next year. This does not include the sales of pipes, bongs, or other paraphernalia. Also, with the legalization of marijuana in Colorado came some 10,000 jobs. This is estimated to be a 1 billion dollar retail market. With the federal legalization of this drug, we are predicted to make 17-20 billion dollars solely on taxation. Through time, we could potentially use this money in order to socialize education, put more money into our health care, or start giving back to our never-ending debt.
Project Reflection
For this project we were told to pick a controversial subject that our country was dealing with. We were told to write a piece of rhetoric trying to convince the reader of our argument, and to make a short visual presentation that we would present at our exhibition. For this project, I chose to team up with Eno and discuss the federal legalization of recreational marijuana. I did this by using evidence to support the legalization in my written piece, and by debating the topic with Eno at exhibition.
Our rhetoric in this project was most prevalent in our debate. We began by shaping the audience’s knowledge. This included researching potential risks and benefits entailed with the drug that were not made clear to the general public. For example, we included a very significant statistic about IQ loss after smoking the drug at a young age. Also, we made predictions as to how well the U.S. would do after 100 years of legalization which was very influential in our debate. Lastly, we used pathos by making our statistics involve medical patients and the youth.
My favorite part of this project was how much insight it gives us into all of the problems with our country. Allowing us a large amount of freedom when picking as topic has a unique effect. It gives us a very rounded perspective on all of the worries on our plate and even compares them and can help us decide how to prioritize. For example, through this project I really solidified my belief that marijuana should be legalized however, I lost part of the belief that it is an important issue right now. I think that even with the medical and economic benefits it can offer, it is very possible that not that much change is created. This was a very eye-opening experience.
One difficult part of this project was following through with our topic. After researching it, we realized how much evidence supported the pro legalization and did not support the other side. We found that this made it really hard to legitimately argue both sides with fair evidence so we had to be very selective. If I could do this project again, I would pick a topic that really gets me fired up. This could look like how we deal with ISIS, gun control, or maybe how we tax our country. This would have made the project a lot more personal to me, however I still think that I gained a lot from it.
I learned through this project that rhetoric is a very dangerous idea. It includes the thought if the bottom 20% of our country is not intelligent enough to see through it, they will waste their votes. If we have 20% of our opinion not being exercised, then society cannot function the way we want it to. I really gained the understanding that in order for us to work on our personal agendas, we often twist the truth in order to support our side. I have concluded that if you need to use large amounts of deceptive rhetoric in order to prove your argument, then you don't have a good argument at all. I will keep this in mind as I grow to be a young American adult.
Our rhetoric in this project was most prevalent in our debate. We began by shaping the audience’s knowledge. This included researching potential risks and benefits entailed with the drug that were not made clear to the general public. For example, we included a very significant statistic about IQ loss after smoking the drug at a young age. Also, we made predictions as to how well the U.S. would do after 100 years of legalization which was very influential in our debate. Lastly, we used pathos by making our statistics involve medical patients and the youth.
My favorite part of this project was how much insight it gives us into all of the problems with our country. Allowing us a large amount of freedom when picking as topic has a unique effect. It gives us a very rounded perspective on all of the worries on our plate and even compares them and can help us decide how to prioritize. For example, through this project I really solidified my belief that marijuana should be legalized however, I lost part of the belief that it is an important issue right now. I think that even with the medical and economic benefits it can offer, it is very possible that not that much change is created. This was a very eye-opening experience.
One difficult part of this project was following through with our topic. After researching it, we realized how much evidence supported the pro legalization and did not support the other side. We found that this made it really hard to legitimately argue both sides with fair evidence so we had to be very selective. If I could do this project again, I would pick a topic that really gets me fired up. This could look like how we deal with ISIS, gun control, or maybe how we tax our country. This would have made the project a lot more personal to me, however I still think that I gained a lot from it.
I learned through this project that rhetoric is a very dangerous idea. It includes the thought if the bottom 20% of our country is not intelligent enough to see through it, they will waste their votes. If we have 20% of our opinion not being exercised, then society cannot function the way we want it to. I really gained the understanding that in order for us to work on our personal agendas, we often twist the truth in order to support our side. I have concluded that if you need to use large amounts of deceptive rhetoric in order to prove your argument, then you don't have a good argument at all. I will keep this in mind as I grow to be a young American adult.
Voices from the Animas
Recently, on August 7th, the EPA leaked massive amounts of trace metals and mining toxins into the Animas river. Thus struck controversy over how the situation(our toxic river) was to be handled. So to help find the answer, we started the Voices of the Animas project. The idea of this project was to gather as many perspectives on the issue from local residents and people of power in order to explore what the best option might be. Through this, we found that many people support a superfund in Silverton while some are very opposed for their own good reasons. The final product of this project was a complete interview recorded with someone from one of the affected communities with their take on the issue.
I learned a lot of information about the river throughout this project, but I value the insights I gained on the intricacies of the issue much more. For example, I learned that Silverton’s economy used to be based on and completely rely on mining. This has now changed drastically and mining is a small portion of their income. Although Silvertonians are not mining as much as they used to, the abandoned mines are still polluting our river quite a bit. By learning this, I noticed a little bit of a pattern in humanity. I noticed that we will always do what benefits us the best on an individual scale, not collaboratively. By this I mean that it would have been totally reasonable for anyone living in the day and age where mining was prominent to begin mining in order to compete and provide for their family. It is hard to say that they should live a poor life so that they do not affect the environment in a bad way when it is already being destroyed. Although, when you look at the issue as a whole, we are only hurting our future by mining these precious mineral because someday the toxicity in the river might reach a point of no return. Therefor, I am all for the superfund because I can see that if we do not solve this problem and we choose to neglect it, our decisions may negatively affect the environment and economy for years to come. We, as humans, think that if we are building our economy, we are building our future but little amounts of pollution can end up being the death of us.
I really liked the way this project worked for a number of reasons. First, it gave us a chance to give our own insights on the community directly around us. Second, it got us involved in something that will not only be affecting us 100 years down the road, but will affect us right now. Third, it taught us how hard it can be to get to the root of the issue with all of these contradicting perspectives and ideals. If I could change one thing about the way I did my interview, I would probably would have done it in a more peaceful and calm environment. Although I was able to get some very good dialogue in my interview, it felt very rushed because it was right outside of an exhibition, not in a quiet place. I had a huge difficulty finding my interview because I honestly did not give the challenge of getting one the credit it deserves. I was very lax in trying to get my interview and I regret that and hope to improve on these skills next time. One thing that I learned about the river through this project and my interview, was how much our river means to us. I truly never thought that swimming, rafting, or kayaking were a big enough deal to call a major part of our lives but through my multiple interviews I saw that no matter what the person’s take was on the issue, they were very passionate about it. I now believe that the river and what it means to us help define this beautiful area we live in and that it is the heart of this town. People got hit on a very emotional level when they found out about the spill and this gave me comfort because I have never really thought of the river as a source of pure joy but now I do.
I did not love the exhibition for this project mostly because I had nothing to show for it, although I enjoyed some parts of it. By listening to other people's’ interviews, I found that many of the interviewees cared just as much about the issue as we did. This came as a bit of a surprise to me because even though the river got a lot of media coverage, from what I saw there was not a lot of action being taken by the general public. This project taught me that even in a town as small as Durango, sometimes it is very hard to see what the people care about. I think that the purpose of this project was to show us how much different perspectives can vary based on who you are and where you are from. Also, it was supposed to teach us the value of digging deeper and never being satisfied with an answer. I can honestly say that even though I had trouble taking a side at the beginning of this project, I am even more conflicted now having heard everyone’s point of view on the issue from a person to person standpoint.
In this project I learned that I can be very overconfident and sometimes do not give things the attention they deserve. Since I knew that I was bound to get an interview one way or another, I did not really stress about it. This caused me to lose a very good interview that would have made the project worth wild for me but instead, I only got to hear the perspectives of people just like me. I am not saying that this was not a valuable experience, I am just saying that getting the old mayor’s point of view would have made this a very memorable project. To improve on this, I will try to just keep telling myself that regardless of how easy the project’s minimum requirements seem, I can always do better and with that mentality I hope to succeed in Humanities this year.
I learned a lot of information about the river throughout this project, but I value the insights I gained on the intricacies of the issue much more. For example, I learned that Silverton’s economy used to be based on and completely rely on mining. This has now changed drastically and mining is a small portion of their income. Although Silvertonians are not mining as much as they used to, the abandoned mines are still polluting our river quite a bit. By learning this, I noticed a little bit of a pattern in humanity. I noticed that we will always do what benefits us the best on an individual scale, not collaboratively. By this I mean that it would have been totally reasonable for anyone living in the day and age where mining was prominent to begin mining in order to compete and provide for their family. It is hard to say that they should live a poor life so that they do not affect the environment in a bad way when it is already being destroyed. Although, when you look at the issue as a whole, we are only hurting our future by mining these precious mineral because someday the toxicity in the river might reach a point of no return. Therefor, I am all for the superfund because I can see that if we do not solve this problem and we choose to neglect it, our decisions may negatively affect the environment and economy for years to come. We, as humans, think that if we are building our economy, we are building our future but little amounts of pollution can end up being the death of us.
I really liked the way this project worked for a number of reasons. First, it gave us a chance to give our own insights on the community directly around us. Second, it got us involved in something that will not only be affecting us 100 years down the road, but will affect us right now. Third, it taught us how hard it can be to get to the root of the issue with all of these contradicting perspectives and ideals. If I could change one thing about the way I did my interview, I would probably would have done it in a more peaceful and calm environment. Although I was able to get some very good dialogue in my interview, it felt very rushed because it was right outside of an exhibition, not in a quiet place. I had a huge difficulty finding my interview because I honestly did not give the challenge of getting one the credit it deserves. I was very lax in trying to get my interview and I regret that and hope to improve on these skills next time. One thing that I learned about the river through this project and my interview, was how much our river means to us. I truly never thought that swimming, rafting, or kayaking were a big enough deal to call a major part of our lives but through my multiple interviews I saw that no matter what the person’s take was on the issue, they were very passionate about it. I now believe that the river and what it means to us help define this beautiful area we live in and that it is the heart of this town. People got hit on a very emotional level when they found out about the spill and this gave me comfort because I have never really thought of the river as a source of pure joy but now I do.
I did not love the exhibition for this project mostly because I had nothing to show for it, although I enjoyed some parts of it. By listening to other people's’ interviews, I found that many of the interviewees cared just as much about the issue as we did. This came as a bit of a surprise to me because even though the river got a lot of media coverage, from what I saw there was not a lot of action being taken by the general public. This project taught me that even in a town as small as Durango, sometimes it is very hard to see what the people care about. I think that the purpose of this project was to show us how much different perspectives can vary based on who you are and where you are from. Also, it was supposed to teach us the value of digging deeper and never being satisfied with an answer. I can honestly say that even though I had trouble taking a side at the beginning of this project, I am even more conflicted now having heard everyone’s point of view on the issue from a person to person standpoint.
In this project I learned that I can be very overconfident and sometimes do not give things the attention they deserve. Since I knew that I was bound to get an interview one way or another, I did not really stress about it. This caused me to lose a very good interview that would have made the project worth wild for me but instead, I only got to hear the perspectives of people just like me. I am not saying that this was not a valuable experience, I am just saying that getting the old mayor’s point of view would have made this a very memorable project. To improve on this, I will try to just keep telling myself that regardless of how easy the project’s minimum requirements seem, I can always do better and with that mentality I hope to succeed in Humanities this year.