Winter blossoms into my soul,
And keeps me encased in a flurry of gold.
The seed of merriment and joy,
Cultivates in the palm of our hearts.
What is winter?
It is a song of silence,
Slowly spreading its lyric across the landscape.
It is the sweet aroma of coffee,
Enveloping the morning with a warm hug.
It is the dawn of a new life,
Awaiting to bloom from a deep sleep.
Link to the article is here.
Recently, I began free writing in my notebook whenever procrastination came around, to motivate myself to continue studying. When I read Didion’s article on notebooks, I found myself relating to her in a lot of ways. I write spontaneous notes inconsistently as well, some entries years apart from each other. I really loved the way she used imagery and language in her article. Her detailed descriptions helped me visualize the memories she was remembering: “We were on her terrace by the sea, and we were finishing the wine left from lunch, trying to get what sun there was, a California winter sun.” (Didion 5) Didion revealed the importance of keeping a notebook, and why “preserving everything observed” has value within it. (Didion 3) We often notice when others around us change, especially loved ones. But to notice that change within ourselves is difficult. When I read my entries from 2012, it seemed like I was reading someone else’s notebook. I felt a little disturbed because that carefree person who wrote about her gelato filled summer vacation had smooth, neat printing laced with a witty sense of humor; a huge contrast with the recent scribbles on existentialism and egalitarianism. Years will fly by, and before we know it, we will have aged into a completely different person. Keeping a notebook enables us to stay in contact with not just our past selves, but reality as well.
This article first caught my attention when I saw it under the “video games” category. They have always been a very important part of my life; gaming has formed some of my most precious memories from childhood, and has always offered me a reason to keep going when things got tough. This article is the most ingenious, eloquent piece of literature I have ever read before. Not only does it evoke a lot of emotion from the connections I formed with the author’s experience with gaming, but it also cleverly strings together diverse events, films, examples, and personal memories to create a work of art. After much speculation, I reached a conclusion: The article itself is like a game of Tetris; the paragraphs are like blocks that seem to have no meaning individually, but once the reader connects the dots and fits them together, a clear picture is formed. There is no clear hint as to what the article is trying to address, as it’s been designed to leave that conclusion up to the reader, but I personally believe it is criticizing the concept of gaming. Video games are unhealthy to an extent, but that is not solely what the article is about – rather, it is that mindset, that mindset that we have when there is a challenge before us. Instead of relishing in the struggle to work through levels to beat the final boss, we would rather take shortcuts and cheat to win the game. But once we win the game, what next? There is no point anymore. We do not feel so mighty anymore, even though we beat the game; all that is left is a feeling of emptiness. Due to the Tetris effect, the lines between reality and the virtual world blur, and our lives are nothing more than a game to beat. There is no room for connections with NPCS or exciting side quests to do for the sake of adventure; just objectives and achievements to reach.