I Admire Her

I met her for the second time;
well this time saw her
from afar,
And as my footsteps
followed on
My head turned
to steal another glimpse
of her.
It reminded me of the
amazement that I had when I knew
what had happened to her
in her younger years.
It makes me think and imagine
the time.
It makes me ponder of all the
ongoing ambivalence;
the days:
perhaps the tears but yet
those pinches of unsure happiness.
To the goal of acception
and later delight.

It makes me see her strength

Creative Process of Works

The great question that this paper will, but feebly, attempt to answer is , what is the creative process?

Though much theory has accumulated, little is really known about the power that lies at the bottom of poetic creation. It is true that great poets and artists produce beauty by employing all the powers of personality and by fusing emotions, reason, and intuitions. But what is the magical synthesis that joins and arranges these complex parts into poetic unity?

John L.Lowes, in his justly famous “The Road to Xanadu,” developed one of the earliest and still generally acceptable answers to this tantalizing question. Imaginative creation, he concludes, is a complex process in which the conscious and unconscious minds jointly operate. “There is…the deep well with its chaos of fortuitously blending images; but there is likewise the Vision which sees shining in and through the chaos of the potential lines of Form, and with the Vision, the controlling Will. Which gives to that potential beauty actuality.”

The Deep Well is the unconscious mind that is peopled with the facts, ideas, feelings of the conscious activity. The imaginative vision, an unconscious activity, shines through the land of chaos, of lights and shadows, silently seeking pattern and form. Finally, the conscious mind again, through Will, captures and embodies the idea in the final work of art. In this way is unity born out of chaos.

Though there can be no absolute certainty, there is general agreement that the periods in the development of a creative work parallel, to some extent, Lowes’ theory of Well, Vision, Form, and Will. There are at least three stages in the creative process: preparation, inspiration, work.

In a sense, the period of preparation is all of the writer’s life. It is the Deep Well. It is the Deep Well. It is especially a period of concentration which gives the unconscious mind an opportunity to communicate with the conscious mind. When remembrance of things past reach the conscious level of the writer’s mind, he is ready to go on with the process. Part of this preparation involves learning a medium—learning a language, learning how to write, learning literary forms. It is important to mot here that form cannot be imposed upon the idea. Evidence, though sparse, shows that the idea gives birth to the form that can best convey it. It is the Vision, according to Lowes, ” which sees shining in and through the chaws of the potential lines of from … ”

The Important Things in Life

Sometimes people come into your life and you know right away that they were meant to be there, to serve some sort of purpose, teach you a lesson, or to help you figure out who you are or who you want to become.

You never know who these people may be - a roommate, a neighbor, a professor, a friend, a lover, or even a complete stranger - but when you lock eyes with them, you know at that very moment they will affect your life in some profound way.

Sometimes things happen to you that may seem horrible, painful, and unfair at first, but in reflection you find that without overcoming those obstacles you would have never realized your potential, strength, willpower, or heart.

Illness, injury, love, lost moments of true greatness, and sheer stupidity all occur to test the limits of your soul. Without these small tests, whatever they may be, life would be like a smoothly paved straight flat road to nowhere. It would be safe and comfortable, but dull and utterly pointless.

The people you meet who affect your life, and the success and downfalls you experience, help to create who you are and who you become. Even the bad experiences can be learned from. In fact, they are sometimes the most important ones.

If someone loves you, give love back to them in whatever way you can, not only because they love you, but because in a way, they are teaching you to love and how to open your heart and eyes to things.

If someone hurts you, betrays you, or breaks your heart, forgive them, for they have helped you learn about trust and the importance of being cautious to whom you open your heart.

Make every day count. Appreciate every moment and take from those moments everything that you possibly can for you may never be able to experience it again. Talk to people that you have never talked to before, and listen to what they have to say.

Let yourself fall in love, break free, and set your sights high. Hold your head up because you have every right to. Tell yourself you are a great individual and believe in yourself, for if you don't believe in yourself, it will be hard for others to believe in you.

You can make anything you wish of your life. Create your own life and then go out and live it with absolutely no regrets.

And if you love someone tell them, for you never know what tomorrow may have in store.

A Vessel

Dear God,
Use me as a vessel upon this desert sea
To travel
Use me as a vessel still to reach
the coasts I’m not able to see.
Let my hands be gentle
to haul up those broken hearts
for I know You’ll be there to mend.
Make my arms fit for the propelling
of my oars.
Make my feet firmly rest
on the floor.
And the others too;
so we many come home
sailing towards the ocean
into the eternal dwelling will be.

The Military Is In

Things have really changed. Not only is the military standing tall again, it is staging a remarkable comeback in the quantity and quality of the recruits it is attracting. Recruiters, once denounced by antiwar students as “baby killers” and barred from campuses, are welcomed ever at elite universities. ROTC (Reserve Officer’s Training Corps) programs, that faltered during the Viet Nam era, when protesters were fire bombing their headquarters, are flourishing again. The military academies are enjoying a steady increase in applications.

Certainly, the depressed economy has increased the allure of the jobs, technical training and generous student loans offered by the military. Students know that if they go in and become, say, nuclear weapons specialists, they can come out and demand a salary of $60,000 a year. Military salaries, while not always competitive with those paid for comparable jobs in the private sector, are more than respectable, especially considering the wide array of benefits that are available: free medical service, room and board, and PX (Post Exchange) privileges. Monthly pay for a recruit is $574; for a sergeant with four years services it is $906; for a major with ten years’ service it is $2,305. The services’ slick $175 million-a-year advertising campaign promising adventure and fulfillment has helped win over the TV generation. Kids are walking down the school hallways chanting ‘Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines,’ just like in the commercials. And many military officials feel that the key difference is the enhanced patriotism among the nation’s youth. There is a return to the view that the military is an honorable profession. The days of a judge telling a miscreant to join the Army or go to jail are over. Recruiting for all four services combined is running at 101%of authorized goals. And the retention rate is now so high, that the services are refusing some re-enlistment applications and reducing annual recruiting target.

The military academics are also enjoying halcyon years, attracting more and better-qualified students. Compared to private colleges, where tuition and expenses have been climbing sharply, the service schools are a real bargain: not only is tuition free, but recruits get allowances of up to $500 a mouth. It is reported 12,300 applicants are for the 1,450 positions in this year’s freshman class. Military academies are now just as selective as any of the best universities in the country.

Nationwide, ROTC enrollment exceeds 105,000,a 64% increase over the 1974 figure. In the mid 70’s, the ROTC students refused to wear their uniforms on campus because they suffered all sorts of ridicule, if they did. Now if they wear them to class no one looks at them twice. To them, Viet Nam is ancient history, something the old folks talk about.