Control

So, Mr. Lazarow and I shared somewhat of a brainwave today. (Maybe I am doing something right afterall..) Anyway..I wanted to expound on the topic during class, but we ran out of time.

Basically, we love power. We crave it. We do subtle things to increase our store of it. But still, we remain human. The only power we have (most of us, at least) is control over our own lives. Thus, we seize this opportunity and try to make the best of it. We define our past experiences in such a way that we claim to "learn from our mistakes," which in my own personal world seems like empty talk. Few are those who actually learn from the past. This is just a quick example: After we lost our two fellow high schoolers last winter, I sensed a change was coming about. Maybe friends and loved ones would learn the consequences of their harmful actions. Wishful thinking. On the contrary, young men and women returned to their unhealthy ways a mere few months after the tragedies occurred.

Anyway, back to the original point. We have learned that our control is exercised through the future and how it is affected by the past. Thus, we define them by our own terms. We plan and we look forward to things of our own doing, of our own will. We look back on memories that we have made. It's quite psychological. This is how we control our very own American Dream...we plan it all, we build up to it, until POOF, we reach the long-desired light at the end of the tunnel (similar to Gatsby's case) and find out that, well, we never really wanted it. Then, and only then, do we blame others. It was "so and so's" fault that I took this route!

Wrong. It was your fault. Humans need to learn how to deal with their own downfalls...me, included.

(Sam Maliha)