Metacognition: Cleaning Up the Garage

Each year the time comes when the garage needs organizing, and at least in my house, summer objects need to be shifted into the garage and 'hibernate' for the winter. My family and I spent about 30-45 minutes moving things around in the garage and bringing backyard items into the garage. The things we brought in from outside included a patio dining table, a portable bonfire pit, and a hammock. Also, our backyard grill had to be covered and wrapped tightly so the cover would not fly away. In the garage, among the plethora of balls, sports equipment, shoes, and bicycles, there were a lot of Halloween decorations that were piled up in the garage but not organized. A multitude of shoes had to be put in their proper place on their racks. And items to donate to the Salvation Army had to be sorted out.

This day was dreaded for a while. In my head, I kept thinking I didn't want to tidy things up because it was cold and I liked the warmth inside my house. Cleaning up the garage required being fully dressed in order to prevent becoming sick.

But as I reflected back on this process, I realized that there was a more subconscious reason as to why I was not looking forward to this event. Dreading the cold translates to dreading the arrival of the winter. The transitioning process can be hard, especially because summer is my favorite time of year, and naturally winter is my least favorite time of the year. It's almost like I don't want to face the harsh cold of the winter, along with the temporary cease of outdoor sports and happiness. And the apex of schoolwork takes place during the winter, right around the end of 2nd semester/beginning of 3rd semester. Also staying uncluttered symbolizes my mind being cleared up and organized, awaiting a rigorous 'winter' of hard learning and swim practice. In order to stay on track during the winter, I have to organize and use my time better to do everything that needs to be done. In the same respect, the garage needs to be organized in order for all materials of the Summer to fit in to the garage with all the Winter objects lurking around.

During the process of cleaning up my garage, I grouped things together by category and the things that would be soonest to come in to use stayed up front and visible while everything else got buried in the back. In a more figurative sense, this represents the cycling of life. Years pass, the days change, and the appearance of my garage changes by the day. If I were to take a picture of my garage all 365 days of the year, I think I would be amazed at how vividly I would be able to remember that moment in the year just by the looks of my garage. The trails of water from the cars may show the snow and the winter. The new golf clubs or shoes may resurface a birthday. After doing this project, I gathered that organizing things such as my garage helps transition my mind between different states.

iMedia: LeBron James- The Decision

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdtejCR413c

This Nike commercial that former Cleveland Cavaliers basketball player (now on the Miami Heat) sparked heated controversy when first released. And every time I see this commercial, I realize how much it reflects our culture. LeBron James became a free agent last year, and his "decision" of which team he was going to be on turned into a national press conference. Although this commercial was geared towards the Nike slogan "Just Do It", after watching this commercial I realized that with easier communication and the press and biased news channels, in the big world you have to watch your every step.

LeBron James grew up looking up to Michael Jordan, and now he IS the Michael Jordan. The only difference is, every step LeBron makes has 10 times as much weight as when Michael Jordan played basketball. I'm positive that LeBron James loves the game of basketball, and would like nothing more than to be able to play competitive basketball without any other worries. But with fame and fortune comes a whole lot of other 'luggage' to carry. People expect so much from him. Every slight mistake made is blown up by the press. And in this commercial, LeBron addresses all his fan's concerns. No matter what decision he made, he would've received criticism from the opposing side.

I think that this commercial matters to others because it finally opened people's eyes to the difficulties LeBron has to face. It's not as easy as every one may make it out to be. This matters to me because I've decided that I am no longer going to let others influence my actions if their influences are driving me away from what I love most. Sometimes it's about what you really care for, and not what you're supposed to care for. This commercial, on multiple levels, reflects modern society and the development of the media.

Connection: King Lear and Family Value

In the Shakespearean play King Lear occurs a bit of a role reversal, as King Lear loses his land and his wealth to his 'ungrateful' daughters. Though the story of King Lear was written hundreds of years ago, it is closely comparable to modern day familial relationships. Many claim that the new generations of children are showing much less respect to their parents and are becoming 'spoiled'.

Back in the 1800s/1900s, it was not uncommon for a child to be beaten for simply questioning his/her parents authority. Nowadays, children talk back to their parents as if they were simply another one of their friends. I'm not completely disagreeing with this, as this means that the child-parent barrier is being shredded down. But still, morals become corrupted as children quickly realize they do not have to watch their words.

Another direct example of how family value relates to King Lear is that in this century parents kick their parents into senior homes, as they believe that their parents are too big of a burden on themselves. They don't even consider the fact that their parents had to take care of them for years, throughout their whole childhood, and they might've once thought the same thing, that their children were a burden.

As time goes on, culture changes, and our changing culture and the crumbling formality between children and adults greatly resemble King Lear's conflicting situation.