Love for the Motherland

The idea of owning land and territory is interesting to me. Why is it so important? Why is it so necessary of a thing that there are fights about owning land? The idea that we can establish these borders and “split up” countries, dividing territories boggles my mind. Land is such a big thing and we’re so little that it seems so silly that we can fight over something we can’t even really grasp. In addition to this, I really admire and relate to Lionel Logue’s love for his home country of Australia. He could travel all around the world and see everything that there was to see, but his heart still belonged to Australia. I can relate this love for the motherland to my love for Poland. Even though I wasn’t born in Poland and have never lived there I still feel a really deep connection to my country through the traditions and customs that my family has that have been with me throughout my entire life. In addition I feel this deep connection and pride for Poland because of its unique and very interesting history. Poland has been divided, it’s been off the map and yet, we still exist and are all over the world, spreading our love and pride for our culture.

Life Documentation

Reading the introduction to The King’s Speech really kind of left me in a shocked state of mind. The description of how Lionel Logue left all his records, documents, and diaries amazed me. It seemed like everything was so organized, and especially thorough. The thoroughness is the one thing that really got to me. If someone were to go through all of the journals and diaries and other things of the sort that I’ve kept over the years it would be an incredibly daunting task. The works I’ve kept having really been a documentation of my life but more of just a reflection of my life at the current moment that I’m in. However, I’ve switched between journals many times. Sometimes I will write in a Microsoft word document on my computer, other times in one journal, and other times in another. In addition to this, I’ll forget to write as often as I intend to, so I know that for my junior year of high school I have maybe only a total of seven or eight journal entries. The one consistent place where I’ve kept some kind of documentation is in my online blog on Tumblr.com and on my youtube account. A lot of the time I wonder whether it’s really worth it to keep such a thorough documentation. Wouldn’t I rather be out there living life, rather than writing about it? The dedication to regularly documenting life is something that has always amazed me.

Changing Lives

I really wish that someday I can leave an incredible impact on someone’s life like the kind that Lionel Logue left on the King’s life especially. He pretty much changed people’s lives, giving them the confidence to face and overcome the challenges of their everyday lives. By helping them defeat their speech difficulties, he did so much more for them than fix their speech. He gave them the freedom to embrace and act on their true selves. This is an incredible privilege and he is blessed to be able to have this kind of relationship with many people. Teaching, especially in his sense, is truly a rewarded job. I worked as an oboe teacher during my senior year of high school and being able to help others become better and see them grow and learn in their playing and themselves is a real gift and better than any monetary reward. The money is just an extra benefit. Even though I was just teaching kids how to play the oboe, by helping them grow in a specific skill, I was helping them develop their talents, thus building their confidence in themselves. Reading The King’s Speech really made me realize my appreciation and gratitude for this privilege.

Appreciation of Culture

It seems that in today’s society appreciation for things like the opera, plays, musicals, classic literature, and the English language itself has decreased significantly. I really think it’s quite a shame. Even as I’m writing this blog entry I’m listening to classical music – something I appreciate and deeply love. It seems that a majority of people my age though listen to primarily rap, hip-hop and techno; the mainstream stuff where all they talk about is dancing, drinking, doing drugs, and having sex. In addition to this, they expose themselves to television shows like the Jersey Shore and don’t even read books for enjoyment anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy watching Jersey Shore after a long day of classes and homework too, but I don’t take it to the point where the behavior on the show affects my behavior in my everyday life. I still appreciate cultured and classy things. Sometimes I feel like I was born in the wrong time and should be living in a time like Lionel Logue’s where people would go out for a night to enjoy some good recital of speech and elocution. It seems that the huge prominence of media in our lives today has negatively affected people’s appreciation for things like that.

Outlook on Life

I really admire Lionel Logue’s outlook on life. I truly think very highly of his attitude that he can accomplish anything with some hard work and the right mindset. I was especially taken aback when he took on the soldiers that were considered “incurable” and seemingly hopeless cases. I feel like the fact that he showed his patient’s that he was so confident that he could fix their disability, gave his patient’s confidence that they could overcome their condition which tackles the psychological factor blocking them from clear and smooth speech. His positive attitude towards life also helped him out as an entrepreneur. He understands the importance of hard work and a positive attitude in life and how it is highly related to the success he will attain later in his life. I can kind of relate to this because I’ve seen my dad go through the same thing and achieve a certain level of success in his own private business. I’ve learned the hard work, determination, motivation, and dedication that is required to earn the level of success, accomplishment and fulfillment that my father has. I try and apply this to all aspects of my life.

Language

Reading about Rigoberta Menchu’s experiences and struggles living as an Indian woman in Guatemala really got me thinking about how important language is to communication and interaction with other human beings. There are many instances in which Rigoberta feels disconnected from others and alone only because there is a language barrier separating her from the other Indians. So do we, as human beings take language for granted? It really is a skill. For many who are not bilingual or trilingual it might be difficult to understand, but we grow up learning our language so we don’t understand how difficult the process is, especially for older people. I can only imagine how hard it must be to learn the language of a new country as an immigrant…being in a country where you can’t understand a single word that you hear. I speak three languages. Polish is my first language, English is my second language, and I’m currently learning Spanish as my third. Although I’m quite fluent in Polish, even when I visit Poland it’s so difficult to keep up with everyone who speaks it all day, every day. Applying this personal experience to Rigoberta Menchu’s story, I can really sympathize with the way she feels out of place among people who speak different languages.