The Golden Rule

'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you’-golden rule. Easy, right? Just simply treat others the way you would want to be treated. But what if you practice Judaism and one of your co-workers wears a swastika pin everyday to work. He does not speak to you when you are working, but when you see him in the cafeteria and the restroom he whispers threats towards you, under his breath, that only you can hear. What about the golden rule then?
What if you are African American and are engaged to a Caucasian woman, and every time you walk down the street holding hands you are stared at and heckled by strangers. You become so uncomfortable that you no longer go out in public. You stay home with your fiancée, and comfort her when she becomes so frustrated with the world that she ends up just lying in your arms and slowly crying herself to sleep. What about the golden rule then?
What if you are an Islamic woman living in Iraq in 1991 and you are not allowed to step outside of your home without the company of a male. You have to cover every inch of your skin before appearing in public or are beaten. And if you argue with your husband, or are raped, your husband can kill you and be exempt from all punishment. Then what about the golden rule?
Then, you think about Mohandas Gandhi and how even though he and his fellow Indians were being repressed by the British Empire, he chose not to react violently. Instead he used civil disobedience in order to change the entire country. You think about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and how even though he and his fellow African Americans were being segregated from whites and sprayed with fire hoses and attacked by police dogs, he chose to react with peaceful protest instead of hate and guns. He used compelling words of equality and justice as weapons in order to transcend a nation. And think about how in the United States we now have a woman, an African American, a Hispanic, and a Mormon all running in the same race for president, and both the woman and African American are front runners in that race. And after thinking about all this, the golden rule might sound a whole lot more appealing. I know it does to me.

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Concept Folio Images

I'm Heading to the Beach

I’m going to the beach. Life has become unbearable, and I’m leaving. I’m fleeing from this dreadful place and I’m heading to paradise. I want to see the crystal blue water and feel the soft, white sand between my toes. I want to bask in the rays of the warm sun, and cloud watch until the bright blue sky stings my eyes.
Once I get there, I run to the middle of the empty beach, stand there for a moment; taking everything in; and then I fall to the sand. I lay there with a content smile across my face. I listen to the water lap against the coast and am lulled to sleep by the sound of the ocean. Life is never bad when I am here. I am untouchable and problem less. I have found heaven on earth, and Peace and Tranquility are my best friends. I am full of sheer bliss when I’m near the water, and everyone I have loved and lost are with me in spirit and are telling me that everything is okay. I am safe. Life is not hopeless.
When I awake, I see that I am in a room full of bouquets of flowers and people with tear soaked faces, and my mother is telling me to say goodbye one last time. I turn to face the casket and look at my grandmother. Then I kiss her forehead and leave. As I walk out of the room, I realize that deep down inside I know it’s not goodbye. I will see her at the beach.

Declaration

When Mr. Kefor first asked me to pick a concept for my concept-folio, I initially thought of the concept ‘mother earth’. But being the indecisive person I am, I decided that the ‘mother earth’ concept was too restrictive and so I changed it to ‘perception’. I soon realized that ‘perception’ was much too broad a concept for anyone. I finally settled on the concept ‘peace around us’.
I love the earth and am a huge believer in helping other people. Some people consider me ‘hippie-like’ or a ‘tree hugger’ because I am a preacher of peace and saving the earth. Personally, I have no problem with those labels. I’d much rather believe in peace, than nothing at all. A great man once said, “You can tell more about a person by what they say about others than by what others say about them.” I whole heartedly believe in that.
Because of the different struggles I’ve had to deal with, I’ve learned how to persevere, how to be optimistic in the face of any hardship, and how to “kill with kindness”-as my mother calls it. I’ve had to find peace within myself and motivation from the things around me. It is not what happens to you that is important; it is how you react to what happens to you that really matters.
This year I decided that instead of rolling over and playing dead, I would do something important with my life; my time was not over. I have something to believe in; something to put my whole heart and soul into, and that makes me feel like life is not hopeless. If I really try, I can make a difference in this world, and even if I only touch one person in my lifetime, then that’s alright; that would be more than I could have asked for. This concept-folio is a little snip-it of what is important to me. Mother Teresa once said, “Peace begins with a smile,” and you know what? I love to smile.

“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children...to leave the world a better place...to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

The First Snow of Winter

The first snow of winter is magical. It’s funny how something as simple as snow, can transform an ordinary place into a winter wonderland. I was four, the first time I saw snow in person. It had been snowing all day and when it finally stopped, my mom bundled me up to the point where only my eyes were showing, and took me to Boston Common. I had never seen a place look so heavenly and perfect. The snow was clean, untouched and blanketed the entire Common. I slowly marched through the snow to the center of the common; stood there for a minute staring at everything sparkling in the light of the setting sun; and then collapsed with joy. I had never felt so pleased with nature in my life. The idea that something so plain could make anything appear pure, no matter how impure it was, astonished me. As I lay in the snow, I felt like nothing could touch me. All my problems slipped away and time stood still. I was a stranger to peace, but in that single moment we had become life long friends.
Of course, as I grew older I stopped playing in the snow. Life became hectic, and people considered a grown woman rolling around in snow, unlady-like. However, despite all this, I never forgot my first encounter with the ‘white stuff’. No matter how crazy life became, I always made time to enjoy the first snow of the season, and all the feelings that came along with it. And when life felt unbearable, I would just recall my memory, and suddenly everything didn’t seem so bad anymore. I could just feel that carefree inner peace again.

Views of a World Without Weapons

Pessimist-
We are all doomed.
It is January, 2009 and Barack Obama is now the President of the United States. Personally, I didn’t care who was elected. Anyone who has to clean up the mess Bush left us is doomed to fail. We are loosing the war in Iraq, the dollar is weakening, and the world is dying a slow and torturous death because of our dependence on fossil fuels. I don’t know how we’ll make a come back. Every person in the world and every earthly force are against us. We need a miracle.
That’s where Barack comes in... So people say. His campaign slogan was ‘Change we can believe in’. He preaches hope, a new beginning, and peace. But are all those things really possible, or are people just full of false optimism? Could we live in a world without weapons? Can we have world peace? Barack likes to think so. The realist in me thinks that it is all a lost cause. We might as well just drive our hummers to the edge of the earth and play Russian roulette until the terrorists come home.

Optimist-
Never give up.
That’s what I always say. Even when Bush was lying to us left and right and there seemed to be no light at the end of the tunnel, I figured that once he was gone we would have a chance to start all over.
Today Barack Obama was sworn in as President of the United States.
I am a huge fan of Barack Obama. I am the person who registered as an independent, followed all the debates, and voted for the person I thought could bring change to this dwindling country. Today is the day I’ve been waiting for. I believe Barack is the man who will bring hope to this country. He is a humanitarian, in every sense of the word, and doesn’t laugh at the thought of world peace. I’d like to think that with him running the country, a ‘world without weapons’, is no longer a naive fantasy of mine. Today, anything is possible.