My Ideal Self

                When I think about my ideal self I think about a person who has the perfect life.  There are many things in my life that I would like to have but I know that I will never have it unless I try my hardest to have a successful future.  I sometimes think that I am too hard on myself and I know that my life is anything but perfect.  I would love to live in a big house, drive a nice car, and make a lot of money, but I know that with my career choice that is probably not going to be the case.  I really am fine with that though.  The things that I need in life should not be materialistic anyways.  I just need my friends and family in order for me to be my best ideal self.  They help me get through every day and material things don’t even matter because they can just disappear in an instant.  In “Self-Reliance”, Emerson says:

“My life is for itself and not for a spectacle.  I much prefer that it should be of a lower strain, so it be genuine and equal, than that it should be glittering and unsteady.” (HB 1749)

                I think that what Emerson is saying is that someone should live their life for themselves and not for someone else.  The decisions that one makes should be because they want to make that decision, not because someone has asked them to do it.  In the last sentence it seems to me like he is saying that your life should not be stressful, but it should be real and well balanced.  Someone should not strive to be perfect and live a glamorous life and feel stressed and unbalanced. 

                There are very few people who really know the ideal me.  It takes me a while to gain trust with someone, but when I do they know the whole me and not the person that I appear to be on the outside.  I guess I just want to have a successful life where I don’t have to stress about bills or work.  I am not saying that I won’t have to stress about those things at some point in my life, but I don’t want those worries to consume my life.  I have seen my parents go through some rough times with their jobs and I just hope that if I plan correctly, I enjoy going to work every day instead of dreading it.

“Ordinarily every body in society reminds us of somewhat else or of some other person.” (HB 1752)

                This quote makes me think of how we try to please other people that we are associated with.  If we are reminded of someone else by the way we act ourselves, then sometimes you will find yourself acting like that other person.  Instead of living for your ideal self, you are living for what someone else thinks about you.  We are all people pleasers and that is why we are so hard on ourselves to be the best that we can be.  I know that I find myself trying to please other people on a day to day basis, but now I have come to realize that if they do not appreciate me for the way that I am, then why do I need them in my life?  I am trying to focus on being my best ideal self and I don’t need people in my life who are going to keep me from doing that.    

                I honestly don’t even know what makes me my best ideal self.  I think I am still learning what this phrase even means to me.  Another good quote that I found goes as follows:

“It is easy to see that a greater self-reliance must work a revolution in all the offices and relations of men; in their religion; in their education; in their pursuits; their modes of living; their association; in their property; in their speculative views.” (HB 1758)

                This quote to me is saying that all of those factors in life are what helps us become our ideal self.  The way that we live our lives and the people that we associate with helps us determine who we are as a person.  I know that the people that I hang around have helped me become the person that I am today.  Your elders, teachers, family, and friends all impact the person that you are.  The way that you are brought up also has a lot to do with the way that you live your life.  I am very blessed to have been raised as well as I have.  I guess to sum it all up; my ideal self is still being discovered.  There are many things that I still want out of life and I can’t wait to see how it all turns out.

The Five Best Blogs

I think that everyone has really good blogs but there were five people who had blogs that really stood out to me.  I didn’t have a favorite blog from each person in particular because I thought that all of the blogs were written really well.

Michelle – I really like how organized your blogs are.  Your blogs really tell a story and you are a really good writer with the words that you use and your grammar is flawless.

Erin – When I read your blogs, I notice how you answer every question clearly.  We are a lot alike in that way because I don’t like to leave any questions from the assignment unanswered.  Your blogs are really organized and you take good examples from the reading and apply them to what we are supposed to write about.

Alex Chenault – When you write your blogs, you describe what you are saying very well and I get mental pictures in my head of what you are writing.  The examples that you come up with are really good and they keep me really engaged in your writing.

Sharice - Your blogs are very organized and I like how I can tell when you are using an example from the reading because you center it so that it stands out in your blog. 

Nicki – You have one blog in particular that I really enjoyed.  I really liked the sublime blog because I like how you included a picture and it helped me visualize what you were writing about.  I really felt like I was there walking up that mountain with you so you did a really good job describing your sublime moment.

In order to make my own blog better, I think that when I use an example from the book I need to center the text so that it is more visible and I am going to try to use better describing words to really make the class feel engaged in my writing.

Learning Reflection for Week Two

I learned a lot about the different meanings of a sublime experience.  It was cool to see how many people have had that moment in their lives.  I also became more familiar with Poe and his poems.  Even though he has a different way of viewing life, it helped me realize that not everyone thinks the same way.  I really think that this week's assignment covered all of the outcomes on the list.  In order to do some of the assignments, you really had to understand Poe's thinking and the true meaning of a sublime moment.

Comments on "Sublime Experiences"

Nicki - Your sublime experience sounds breathtaking!  I would love to go there one day because you made it sound like an amazing experience.  The words that you used to describe each level of the mountain were really captivating.  Great job!

Alex - Movies can be pretty expensive huh?  However, I think that you used a good example of the sublime.  It was very different and I wasn't expecting it, so good job!  I would still like to see that movie.  I guess it is more of a chick flick anyways!

Rachel - I would love to go see the falls!  I can only imagine how pretty and amazing they looked in person!  You did a good job of describing your experience and what your definition of the sublime is.

Almira - What a wonderful experience you had!  I am years away from having that feeling, but I know it is going to be just as amazing as you described it :)

Erin - I hope that when it is time for someone to propose to me, it is as sweet and special as the way that you were proposed to!  That is just one of the sublime moments you will never forget.

Kim - I like your example of the sublime.  I definitely agree that all men are pretty much the same.  I think it is cool how you compared your life to Sex and the City!  I have watched it a few times, but my best friend is in love with the show and the movie.  Great job! 

Living My Life to the Fullest

                In order for me to fully live my life I need to have good friends, a job that I love, and a personal life that calms me when I am feeling stressed.  I am almost living my life to the fullest except for some minor details.  I am still living at home, so I don’t have the opportunity to be quite independent just yet, but I do have wonderful parents to come home to everyday who support me in any way possible which is really lucky.  I do happen to love both of my jobs which are Victoria’s Secret and taking care of three children when they get home from school on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  I know that I will also love my future job which is hopefully going to be a career as a second grade teacher.  My personal life does usually calm me down when I am feeling stressed because my family and friends help with that so I can’t really complain there.  I also get fulfillment from my life when I come home from school or work and my dog and cat are both there to greet me.  Even when I am having a bad day, they love me no matter what and that’s really the best kind of love anyone can ask for.  The only really “bad” thing that has happened to me recently was my break up with my boyfriend of three years.  I almost had the life that I have been wanting up until that happened.  Now things are getting better and I am starting to realize that there are more things to life than love, but it is nice to have that feeling for another person and for them to have it for you.  Luckily, we are still friends and we still care about each other which does not happen too often in most relationships that have recently ended.

                I think that I have let the break up get in the way of me living my life to the fullest because there was a long period of time where I was feeling miserable for myself because I was still grieving.  It obviously was not a mutual decision, but I have now realized that I just wasted three months of my life trying to fix something that just isn’t going to work.  I think that everyone needs their time to grieve over losing someone they love, but there comes a time when you need to start focusing on yourself again and doing things that are going to benefit you and what you want to accomplish out of life.  In order for me to live the life that I desire, I need to overcome the obstacle of my relationship ending by focusing on my jobs and my schoolwork.  If I can really focus on these two things, I am that much closer to having the job that I ultimately want and the life that I ultimately want.  Even though I dread going to work some days, I always have a good time once I get there and I feel good about my accomplishments for the day when I get home.  My babysitting job allows me to have experience with the age group that I want to teach in the future, and it will look good on my resume when it is time for me to look for a teaching job.  As for my schoolwork, I do not enjoy waking up early to go to class and I do not enjoy doing homework every night, but I know that if I make good grades, I am one step closer to becoming a teacher.  Ultimately, my future career is what motivates me to do well in school as well as the support that I get from my parents.    

                Thoreau wants us to live our life to the fullest and for ourselves so that we can become the best version of ourselves.  I do think that I could try harder to live my life to the fullest and I guess that is something that I could work a little harder on.  I find that I don’t stop to enjoy the smaller things in life.  For instance, going for a walk, taking a little nap in the afternoon, or even going to get my nails done are all small things that I do, I just don’t really take the time to realize how nice it is to do those things.  Every day when I wake up, I need to think about how Thoreau looked at his life and begin each day living the way that he believes each person should live.

Learning Reflection for Week One

I learned a lot from the writing exercise that we did last week.  I have never had to write an essay about what I think it means to be an American and it really made me think about the freedoms that are important to me.  I also learned a lot about my classmates and I really look forward to learning even more.  I like the way that the course is set up and I think I am really going to like blogging.  I am not too excited about the reading just yet, but I will get there.  I think I enjoy writing about personal experiences that pertain to the reading more than actually reading the material from the book.  This is just one of the things about English class that we all have to get used to!

Comments on "What is an American?" Essays

Erin: I really like how you gave the immigrant a name!  I was unsure how to address my letter, so I think it is really cool how you used a person's name.  If I had to criticize anything, I would say that there were a few grammatical errors here and there but hey it happens!  Overall, I really enjoyed reading the examples that you used and the advice that you gave "Margaret".

Kim: I like how you compared America to a "fantasy world", that is so true!  I thought it was so creative how you used a real life story in your letter about a friend that you knew.  I didn't find anything in your letter that I thought needed critiquing.

Raleigh: You really made this letter personal and I thought that was a really great idea!  I felt like I was the person you were writing to and I really felt the honesty in your words.  Awesome job! 

Michelle: I really like how you used some history examples in your letter.  I think it would have been interesting if you could have added some more personal examples or stories of your own, but other than that I really enjoyed reading your letter!  The information that you provided would be really helpful to someone coming to America for the first time.

My Sublime Experience

I think that a person has more than one sublime experience in their lifetime. I have had several experiences where I was caught up in the moment and I could not believe what I was seeing and feeling. I think that one of my sublime moments was last year when I went on a vacation to Myrtle Beach with my parents and my former boyfriend Thomas. During this trip Thomas and I had the opportunity to have an experience that not many people get to have. We got to participate in a T.I.G.E.R.S VIP Tour. This means that we got up close and personal with some of the most unique and rare animals. These animals consisted of ligers, tigers, leopards, lynx’s, monkeys, and panthers. We got to pet them, play with them, and we even got personal pictures and videos taken with these animals. It was an experience I will never forget and it left me in complete shock that I was even able to participate in such an awesome event. I constantly had a smile on my face the whole day and the only words I could think to say were “wow, amazing, how cute, and I can’t believe I am doing this!” it was that incredible. When they brought out all of the baby tigers and leopards for us to pet I was so happy! My favorite animal is a leopard and for me to actually hold one in my hands like a kitten was just amazing. We spent about an hour at least petting all of the baby animals. The trainers took a lot of pictures so that we could have that moment captured forever and I am so grateful for that. I think my next favorite part about that day was when we got to spend time with the monkeys. The monkeys were of all breeds and ages. The trainers would give them a fruit snack and it was so adorable to watch them play with it and eat it. I really enjoyed when the orangutan was sitting on my lap and the trainer took my sunglasses and placed them on his face! It was the cutest thing I had ever seen. To this day I am still in awe of the great experience that I had at the VIP tour. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to have an unforgettable experience with wild, but trained animals. You certainly won’t forget it!


I think that people seek out situations where they feel this kind of overwhelming emotion because it makes you feel good. Whether it is a happy or sad moment, you feel good after you feel that emotion. It always feels good to laugh and it always feels good to let out a much needed cry. It is not often that we get to have an incredible experience that makes us feel overwhelmed with emotion, but when we do it is important that we soak it up for all that it is worth because you don’t know when you will have that chance again.

If I were a Romantic artist who was trying to re-create this moment I would express it through my words. I always express myself better through writing than I do when I talk. Words allow you to create images in your head of what you are reading. You are able to comprehend things a lot more and you can truly focus on what the author is saying.