I am currently reading the book, If I Stay, by Gayle Forman. I'm getting to the end (right now on page 200), and I have a prediction to share. I think that Mia will choose to stay.
Mia is a high school girl whose life was dramatically changed when she and her family got in a deadly car crash. Everyone in her family (parents and brother) ended up dead... except for her. Mia is in critical condition, but she can still live. Now she has to face a life altering decision-- will she choose to stay in this world with no family, or die like her family did? My prediction, like said above, is that her decision will be to stay.
The reason I have this prediction is because even though Mia lost her immediate family, she still has great people and great things out for her if she chooses to stay. For one, she has loving grandparents. Mia always brings up flashbacks about fun memories with her grandparents, and they have been in the hospital many times, supporting Mia since the crash. Also, she has her boyfriend, Adam. Mia and her boyfriend have a very good relationship, as shown on page 199. Mia narrates, "Even as I was falling in love--full throttle, intense, can't-erase-that-goofy-smile love-- I didn't really register what was happening. When I was with Adam... It just felt normal and right..." As you can see from this quote, choosing to die would mean missing out on this great relationship for Mia. Lastly, something that this world has for Mia that would cause her to want to stay is Mia's amazing cello playing. She has so much potential. Mia said on page 200, "... I just had this sudden flash-- a vision of me lugging a cello through New York City. And it was like I knew..." Leaving this world would demolish her opportunities for the future. And considering Mia's skill, there are many great opportunities. For these reasons, and more, I believe Mia will choose to stay.
Loosing the people you are closest with would be so hard and devastating. I can't imagine. This could be why Mia is so torn of what she should do-- she lost the people she has the closest relationship with, but still has many opportunities and relationships on this earth that would go away if she chooses to die. I'm hoping and predicting that she will stay, but I will have to finish the book to find out.
Thursday, November 20, 2014
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
"Coming Clean" by Kimberly Rae Miller Text-To-Society Connection
For the past couple of weeks, I have been reading the memoir, Coming Clean by Kimberly Rae Miller. This memoir discusses a topic that is actually very serious: hoarding. The book is about a female named Kim and her life growing up with a father (and later on mother) who struggle with hoarding, and how Kim deals with finding peace in the situation later on in her life. In case if you are not aware, hoarding can be described as a mental illness that causes a person to keep many things (papers, boxes, and other items). This may not seem like a huge deal, but it really is-- the book mentions that Kim (main character) was living in filth. That is not healthy in many ways to grow up living with trash surrounding you. If you would like to know more on the subject of hoarding, the following link is a great place to reference for more information: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMcp1313051
A possible central idea/ realization I have had from this memoir is that the base of many struggles and hardships is the wanting of normality. In this case, Kim's main struggle was that her parents are hoarders. This causes her to not be able to have anyone over (friends, maintenance, etc.-- this is a huge problem in itself!) and other issues, like bad sanitation, relationship struggles, and more. Kim mentions many times throughout the book that she just wanted to be normal. Normal meaning that her house would be clean like everyone else's, eliminating all of the other problems that arose because of living in trash. For example, page 108 talks about how much Kim liked her first year of college, because she wasn't dealing with her struggles (well, actually living in her struggles) and therefore felt normal. It states, "For the first time in my life, I felt normal. My freshman year was like a movie montage. I'd never been so happy." This supports the fact that the root of Kim's problem was wanting normality.
This central idea can also be connected to others and their problems with hoarding. In the video from this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wj2Jag8lPB0, a woman named Jan struggles with hoarding. Her home is so overflowed with filth that she has to get ready for the day in a health club, and hasn't used her kitchen in 4-6 years. Jan says, "I am not living anywhere near what would be considered, quote, normal". This relates to my realization that the bases of many problems is the wanting of normality, because Jan's problem is, as she said, is not "what would be considered, quote, normal". If she lived in a normal house and didn't have an obsession to keep so much stuff (a normal person wouldn't have this obsession), then her struggle would disappear.
This central idea can also be connected to other people's struggles that don't involve hoarding. For example, a young girl named Ashlyn has a rare disease which causes her to not feel pain. This may seem good, since most people don't want to feel pain, however it is the opposite. Since she can't feel pain, it makes her extremely vulnerable to disease and injuries-- she doesn't feel the "warning signs" that can help prevent a disease if felt. Ashlyn and her family created a camp for families with kids who have the same disease as her. Her parent's were emotional when talking about how amazing the camp was, being surrounded by people whose normal lives are just like theirs. Ashlyn's mom said, "...to actually be in a room in presence of someone who knows what we've been through-- I mean, know your daily life, your daily struggles, and know you're not alone anymore. I mean, it was just amazing." This shows that the bases of Ashyln's problem is that she wants to have normal health and be normal (by not having this disease), because of how great of a time they had being around people who understand, and knowing that they weren't alone. Their normal was someone else's normal, which made them happy and gave them comfort. Therefore, the central idea that the bases of many people's struggles is the wanting of normality can also apply to Ashlyn and her situation. The interview of Ashyln and her parents is in the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6iOUW523BE.
As you can see, the realization I had that the root of many problems is the wanting of normality is true for many people's situations, like Kim's, Jan's, and Ashlyn's (explained above).
A possible central idea/ realization I have had from this memoir is that the base of many struggles and hardships is the wanting of normality. In this case, Kim's main struggle was that her parents are hoarders. This causes her to not be able to have anyone over (friends, maintenance, etc.-- this is a huge problem in itself!) and other issues, like bad sanitation, relationship struggles, and more. Kim mentions many times throughout the book that she just wanted to be normal. Normal meaning that her house would be clean like everyone else's, eliminating all of the other problems that arose because of living in trash. For example, page 108 talks about how much Kim liked her first year of college, because she wasn't dealing with her struggles (well, actually living in her struggles) and therefore felt normal. It states, "For the first time in my life, I felt normal. My freshman year was like a movie montage. I'd never been so happy." This supports the fact that the root of Kim's problem was wanting normality.
This central idea can also be connected to others and their problems with hoarding. In the video from this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wj2Jag8lPB0, a woman named Jan struggles with hoarding. Her home is so overflowed with filth that she has to get ready for the day in a health club, and hasn't used her kitchen in 4-6 years. Jan says, "I am not living anywhere near what would be considered, quote, normal". This relates to my realization that the bases of many problems is the wanting of normality, because Jan's problem is, as she said, is not "what would be considered, quote, normal". If she lived in a normal house and didn't have an obsession to keep so much stuff (a normal person wouldn't have this obsession), then her struggle would disappear.
This central idea can also be connected to other people's struggles that don't involve hoarding. For example, a young girl named Ashlyn has a rare disease which causes her to not feel pain. This may seem good, since most people don't want to feel pain, however it is the opposite. Since she can't feel pain, it makes her extremely vulnerable to disease and injuries-- she doesn't feel the "warning signs" that can help prevent a disease if felt. Ashlyn and her family created a camp for families with kids who have the same disease as her. Her parent's were emotional when talking about how amazing the camp was, being surrounded by people whose normal lives are just like theirs. Ashlyn's mom said, "...to actually be in a room in presence of someone who knows what we've been through-- I mean, know your daily life, your daily struggles, and know you're not alone anymore. I mean, it was just amazing." This shows that the bases of Ashyln's problem is that she wants to have normal health and be normal (by not having this disease), because of how great of a time they had being around people who understand, and knowing that they weren't alone. Their normal was someone else's normal, which made them happy and gave them comfort. Therefore, the central idea that the bases of many people's struggles is the wanting of normality can also apply to Ashlyn and her situation. The interview of Ashyln and her parents is in the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6iOUW523BE.
As you can see, the realization I had that the root of many problems is the wanting of normality is true for many people's situations, like Kim's, Jan's, and Ashlyn's (explained above).
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