The Singing Butler (#13)

 One might ask, how could French philosopher John Paul Sartre and a Scottish painter Jack Vetriano have anything in common? Well, believe it or not, one can actually compare Vetriano's painting “The Singing Butler” to Sartre’s idea that death is liberating. In the painting, a couple is found dancing along the seashore, without a care in the world. They are just enjoying their time with each other, regardless of the clouds building up to what seems to be an oncoming storm. These two people have most likely come to terms with the reality that they are in fact going to die one day and they probably will never know when that day is near. So they choose to live a carefree life, accepting that they will not always have the opportunity to do so. We can also observe in the picture that there is a butler and a maid on both sides of the couple, worrying about covering them with their umbrellas from the danger of the coming storm. They clearly are not living the some care free life that the couple is living, and they probably have not accepted the idea that they are going to die some day. This makes them a slave to all their worries.

 If we can all come to terms with John Paul Sartre’s idea that death is liberating, we are all going to be able to lead fulfilling lives, just as the couple in Jack Vettriano’s painting “The Singing Butler”. The realization of death allows for us to be stripped of our worries and focus on more important aspects of life, like accomplishing goals, finding love and seeking whatever it is that makes us happy. The thought of dying puts life more in perspective for us all, which what John Paul Sartre was attempting to do for all of us.

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Summer Come Back (#14)

I know I already posted a blog about summer, but I just haven't been able to stop thinking about summer. I think its this spontaneous warm weather we've been having lately. Okay, forty degrees is necessarily considered "warm", but compared to the temperatures we have been experiencing lately in New England, its warm . We even had a day where it was -3 degrees out. And thats not even the worst of it, the worst is that it actually feels colder than what the temperature is. For example, I can recall once this winter that it was 9 degrees out, but thanks to the wind chill factor, it felt like -7. Summer sounds pretty good to me right about now.

Who doesn't love summer? Theres no school, no cold temperatures & more daylight. Not to mention the billions of activities you can do in the summer that you can't do in the winter. I miss going to the beach the most. Here is a picture of the last visit I made to beach in summer of 2013. This beach is up in Gloucester and in the picture is not the actual beach, but a fishing dock that I went to after the beach. I thought the sky looked beautiful.

This summer of 2014, I'm expecting to do a lot of interesting things. Its the first summer where I'm actually 18 years old, which is when I'm considered a "legal adult". This means I can do a lot of things I couldn't do last summer. I'm not saying I'm going to go out and do "bad things", just fun things, without having to deal with the hastle of my parents on my back about everything. I think this summer should be pretty interesting. The season of summer always reminds me of John Paul Satre's idea that "death is liberating". I believe that summer is a time when you can truly just enjoy the moment of whatever you are doing. The only way for you to honestly do this is by accepting the fact that one day we are all going to die, so we might as well live out our lives to their fullest potential while we can. Maybe I'll even go on a vacation, something I haven't done in such a long time. No matter what I do, I'm expecting this summer to be the best one so far.

The Truman Show & Philosophy (#12)

"We accept the reality of the world with which we are presented.”

This quote from the movie "The Truman Show" really stood out to me in comparison with all the others. It stood out to me because when I read it, I automatically realized it was so true. We believe whatever is presented to us from the time we are born and on. This can be  proven by simply looking at all the different cultures around the world and by the different classes people fit into, low, middle and upper classes. Someone born into a third world country might be presented with the fact that he or she is responsible for working to support his or her family. To them, this is reality. On the other hand, take someone born into a wealthy country, who never had to work a day in their life. They had a nanny and a cook, so they never had to lift a finger. To this person, this is the reality they were presented with. The person in the third world country would never think that the wealthy person's reality would be their own, and vise versa. So its true, we accept whichever end of the stick is given to us, and in most cases, although we may wonder what its like on the other side, we will never experience the reality we were not at first presented with.

Love is Never Too Late (Blog #11)

Many people reach a certain age and start to think that they're too late to find love. Well this past winter vacation I discovered that there really is no specific age to find love. I attended my grandmother's wedding over the weekend, and the whole thing was very touching. Okay, she's not really my grandmother, she's my grandfather's wife. My grandfather passed away about ten years ago, so now she getting remarried. I found it a bit strange that after being with someone for so long and experiencing their death that she could get married again, but I'm happy for her nonetheless.

The wedding was at Salisbury beach, in the middle of winter. This was yet another thing that I found a bit strange. It was inside though, overlooking the ocean waves, which was very beautiful. As my grandmother and her new husband said their vows, you could really tell how happy they truly were to be together. My grandmother even mentioned her late husband (my grandfather), thanking him for everything he gave her, including my part of the family. She also had a table set up with pictures of all those loved ones who had passed away from her family and her husband's, representing their presence at the wedding too. I thought this detail added so much sentimental feeling to wedding. Although my grandmother is 65, she seemed so young and vibrant on this night and I'm more than excited for her new marriage. This whole night proved to me that its never too late to find love and its never too late to be happy.