Just thinking....
Premise:
Kara commented that the pics in "The Way They Were" gave her a sense of how lost those people were.
Premise:
answers indicate that this interpretation resonates deeply with many.
Condition:
supposing this could be the result of a meta-analysis or "projection":
Hypothesis:
Is it possible that so many of you responded strongly to her interpretation because you personally (and collectively, as a generation) also feel the same sense of "lost"; because you don't know what the close future is going to be like; because you worry whether your choices today (major, profession etc.) will be the right ones for the world of tomorrow?
Hazel broadened the conversation beyond concerns about personal life: she talked about finding a role in society not just as a clog that fits, but as an agent of change in society.
Is this larger role also a cause of anxiety about the future?
Open discussion.
Our reactions to Kara's post "The Way They Lived" were strong in my opinion because of fear. It is hard to see that the country we are from, the country we live was capable of putting different groups of people through such poverty and negligence. It is a deep hidden fear that one day we could revert to those times. I often have that fear that history will repeat itself and that me and others who look like me could be put back in chains. So, yes, I agree with her feelings of lost while viewing the slide show. With such a fickle government and especially with the state of our country today I feel lost. I'm not sure what my future will look like. My hope ha dimmed, and things seem very unsteady. So, the choices I make today are very important to ensuring a good future for myself, it is the only control over it that I have. I stay in school, I advance my education and I hope it takes me far in life and promise me a bright future.
ReplyDeleteNayisha, the last sentence of your comment must apply to thousands of college students. We are all hoping that our advancement in education will promise us a bright future. That is all you needed in the past. But with the growing access to education, it is no longer promised. I wish it was.
DeleteI agree with Nayisha. I too have a fear of history repeating ourselves in so many ways that I know we all hope don't. I think our generation also feels lost because there are so many more opportunities than there ever were. We're the iGeneration. So much technology has evolved in our short lifetimes that it not only makes opportunities endless, but choices as well. We all want the best possible futures for ourselves and just hope that we put ourselves in the right paths.
DeleteI think that the age that we are now gives us a sense of "lost in the world". We are transitioning from college to being independent adults in the real world so the unknown about our future plans is a heavy subject. I think that from here on out, our actions and what we do, do indeed, reflect our future. This causes major anxiety to try and be perfect with every decision that I make. There is also a sense of feeling "lost" because those surrounded by me in my age group are at different stages in there lives, may it be going back to school,getting married, or even buying homes. You almost take what others are doing around you as a way to measure if you're on the right track.
ReplyDeleteYes, we are at a critical stage of life. When we were younger, we never needed to define a purpose in life or think responsibly about how we want to lead our future. We were free of worries. Our parents took care of it all and we only asked them for what we wanted and got upset when our wishes were not fulfilled.
DeleteBut now we are maturing into adults. It is our responsibility to support ourselves, our future families, and our parents. It is now our turn to think of how to run the household, how to bring home the bread, and how to fulfill the wishes of others in the household.
It is awful that we measure ourselves against those around us. I wish I could ignore others' successes and focus on my own path, but it seems difficult. It arises from the competitiveness of the atmosphere around us. Our population density is high and job availability low. This is why we must look to expand to the midlands, where land is plenty and jobs few. The only problem with this is that since there is a lack of development in said area, there is also a lack of acceptance of diversity. But we must all conquer it together. Save enough money to move to the midwest.
You are right. It feels like we are looking for answers because we don’t know what to do. We studied, went to class, and took the test but there are no guides for the outside the college walls. The adult manual for making the right choices is not given. This feeling of lost and can’t find the answers is nerve raking. We all want to be success full but don’t know how to start or how to get there. Some say don’t worry we will figure it out. There are some that never do. As you said we look to others for measure if we are on the right track. Yet they look at use for there’s. We are transforming regardless if we want it or not to be part of this brave new world. In hopes of creating a better future.
DeleteI have to completely agree that our age is what makes us feel lost in the world right now. We are at this weird age that we are suppose to figuring out what to do with ourselves or have already figured it out. It's as if one day we are baby's and the next were suppose to just have everything figured out, it's a lot of pressure.
DeleteI think this pressure makes us feel as if were lost, just having to find ourselves in every sense of the word. It's very difficult to just decide what you want to do for the rest of your life. Up until this point in our lives it was a set thing you go to school, you make sure you do good and that was that. We have to figure out what it is we want to do and that's a feeling that can make us seem lost in the world.
I do believe that many of us responded to Kara's interpretation so strongly because we also feel lost. Feeling lost does not have a universal definition. It is different for us all. Some us feel lost in purpose while others feel lost financially. Someone may even feel lost in both matters. For me, my combination of lost results from career, finances, and family. I believe that the feeling of lost is, for some part, a reflection of fear of the unknown. I am lost in career because even though I have decided what I want to pursue, there is no guarantee that I will find my way to my end goal. There are many obstacles that stand between me and my goal, including application, acceptance, and graduation from graduate school. I am lost in finances because I do not know how to help my family out of increasing debt. I do not know how long we can rely on borrowed money. Will I be able to graduate before the limit is reached? Will I be able to start work full time before our family falls head over heels? I am lost in family because recently, we have had a lot of marriages and will be introducing new members soon. These quick changes have still not registered in my mind. How will I learn to manage these relationships, in addition to all my work that keeps me away from my own parents as is? I am already falling in trouble because I am unable to give any time to strengthen these relations. I do not have the spare time for a single hello. I am never found, always lost in pursuit for a better future for my family, which in itself is distancing me from them.
ReplyDeleteHazel's introduction of an active role in society as an agent of change is inspirational. However, it is not easily pursued. This role first requires an individual to lead a stable personal life, or to have an illusion of a stable personal life. From my limited knowledge, those who play an active role in society as an agent of change grow out of tough times to have an illusion of a stable life. So, they must experience the difficulties, but they must also feel that they have risen above these difficulties, and now they want to help others do the same. My interpretation may not be something you concur with, but it is what I personally think from what I know now.
The race to success is highly competitive and cut throat. I have worked menial jobs alongside college graduates who couldn't find work, or people that had to go back to school. It was really discouraging and made me second guess why I was attending college.
ReplyDeleteRabia, you said what I wanted to say but I just didn't articulate it. Change is never easy and to effect it, I agree one must have a personal sense of stability in their life. However, our lives are hardly ever "stable" (whatever that means for the individual), and I think we all need to work on finding the balance between self-serving pursuits and pursuits that are in the interest of the common good. Sorry if it sounds like I think its easy or that I have all the answers. I'm just throwing ideas out there. I appreciate your critique.
I appreciate your response Hazel. I understand what you are trying to say. You are trying to throw out ideas that might help individuals satisfy themselves and lead an altruistic life. While I agree it is not easy to attain this balance, I think it is important for individuals to communicate ideas as you have. You never know what path may work for someone!
DeleteI believe that Kara's work resonated with us because we feel "lost" as well. I don't mean this in the hopeless sense. As students we do our best to excel in school, so that we can have great careers that help us live happy lives. However, this sounds easier said than done. The challenge is forging a path that leads us towards success. If the path is long and hard, we question whether the goal is even possible. When you start doubting yourself, you begin to feel "lost." To make matter worse, we like in a time where the government seeks to alienate some us its citizens. How can one focus on building a future, if it's being threatened by those that run the country. Feeling "lost" is a symptom of a problem that exists in our society.
ReplyDeleteAgreeing with Kara talk about being "lost" was easy to connect because it was something I am use to feeling . The generation of today feel the pressure put on them by society , family and friends . Especially fro people like me who the first generation to attend college , my parent are excepting a big shot profession that can take care of the family . But easily trying to manage all that good grade , social life ,work you can easily lost yourself . success ask to be lost , but a times you get to that place without a choice . Being a child of immigrants if i don't make it ,its like my parents None was for nothing . Being lost for me is knowing what I want is sacrifice,but there success a actually guide in how to do isn't the right way leading to everything . Getting lost is falling and having to pick up yourself up . Making mistakes is being lost . Only if being lost was just an option .
ReplyDeleteI hadn't resonated with Kara's response because I was thinking about her response in relation to the text. Although she stepped outside the text in order to relate things to the real world, I mostly identified with Hazel's comment.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, However, I do believe many of my classmates and myself feel strongly about the topic of feeling "lost" because we are all at major turning points in our lives. I believe that "feeling lost" does not just happen in this stage of our lives though. I think individuals experience the feeling of being lost multiple times throughout their lives, multiple times in a year, and many times a month. For me, personally, sometimes I feel lost one week and feel like I have everything together the next. The feeling comes and goes depending on the challenges I encounter. I can agree that it often has to do with career questions and life questions. Lastly fear of the unknown is definitely one of the main reasons why we all may be feeling lost. We like to think that we are in charge of our future; that our decisions will bring about the expected outcome. We like to know that there is a recipe to life. And when we realize there is not, we feel lost. I think this is much like the Italians. They had an idea of what America was supposed to be. When they migrated over, though, life was completely different. To be honest, I would probbaly feel just as lost had I been in their shoes.
I agree with what you said here. Personally, right now this minute I don't feel lost, I feel like I have a handle on my life and I'm kind of in control. However, just yesterday I was in middle of making major decision, and yes, I felt very lost! When you said "Sometimes I feel lost one week and feel like I have everything together the next." I really resonated with that. I think this by itself - the fact that we never know when we'll be lost and when we'll feel grounded and in control, can by itself be a kind of lost feeling - like "I might have it under control now, but who knows what will be going on tomorrow!" I agree with you that this feeling never really goes away, no matter what stage of life you're in - it's just a part of life.
DeleteI don't think about my choices today affecting the world tomorrow as an attribution of the feeling of being "lost". I feel lost because this country has no sense of people and community. I feel lost because I don't know of other cultures to appreciate the beauty of them being apart of this country. I can't think of how I affect change tomorrow yet because Im trying to affect change in my own life and my own family. I think of the possibility of what I would do if I could change things but in a very general aspect. The dreams I have of changing racism is unrealistic in the sense of just erasing it so I think of things like making a foundation and affecting who I can within that. "Finding a role in society not just as a clog that fits, but as an agent of change in society." is exactly the plan. God says dreams will be fulfilled through servitude as Ive mentioned before, god wants us all to be agents of change. This larger role isn't a cause of anxiety at all for me. I have been raised within this mindset that what I do affects others, thats the way black families teach their children because for the black community one mistake of a black person is something that labels the whole ethnic group.
ReplyDeleteI believe that everyone can connect with Karas message because we are all going through a sense of being lost. Many of us are going through this in our lives at the moment. We are told that we have to go to kindergarten, then elementary school then middle school and onto high school. After high school we have the pressure to go to college and if we don’t we will be failures. We take the years on in college to sculpt ourselves to be the people that our parents want us to be and the people that society wants us to be. But what happened after college? What happens after that? is there anyone there telling us what the next step is? nope. We are now out finding and searching where we want to be. There is also a sense of being lost when making/loosing friends. Everyone is in such different stages of their lives and we tend to loose that people we thought we would e with forever. Setting the right goals for yourself is most important. Stopping to see whats around you is important also to see how far you have made it. But as I see it…we tend to be lost for a long time in our lives until we truly find ourselves and for many it takes longer than others.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think in our stage in life, we are lost. I personally am a few credits away from graduating college. I have an idea of what I want to do when I graduate, but I don't know how I'll get there. I'm scared to lose my every day schedule. This stage is so critical, it will shape my entire future and career path. The minuscule decisions I make now will have a large outcome on my life.
ReplyDelete