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 |   Second blog -- answers to an ocean of prompts |
 "Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself." CHARLIE CHAPLIN  Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet confinement of your aloneness to learn anything or anyone that does not bring you alive is too small for you. David Whyte        This is my supplementary blog in which I will post entries written for prompts. |
| Prompt: Statue of Liberty "My father described this tall lady who stands in the middle of the New York harbor, holding high a torch to welcome people seeking freedom in America. I instantly fell in love." Yakov Smirnoff What do you think of statues in general and the Statue of Liberty in particular? ----- I have to begin with who Yakov Smirnoff is. https://yakov.com Yakov Smirnoff is a comedian, born in Odessa, Ukraine, and I think, a very good one. He comes up with a joke for just about everything, but his jokes have a serious heart while he uses simple words and expressions, like in this quote. As to the Statue of Liberty, during the earlier century and a half, it is what the immigrants first saw when their boats arrived into the New York Harbor. It meant hope and a new beginning for those people as the statue whispered of core American values to them, such as freedom, democracy, and the pursuit of happiness. The statue--located on Liberty Island, NY--also symbolizes the ties of friendship between the USA and France, as it was given, in 1886, as a gift to USA from the French. Each part of the statue has a meaning. The torch symbolizes enlightenment and progress and the tablet in the statue's other hand has July 4, 1776 (Declaration of Independence's date) inscribed on it. The broken chains at the statue's feet point to the abolition of slavery and the victory of liberty. During 1969, when a friend from overseas came to visit us, he asked us to take him to the Statue of Liberty, which we did. When I look back on that day, the ferry ride was the most fun until we arrived at Liberty Island. At the time, it was a common belief or rather understanding that the climb was meant to be a feat and a show of support for the ideals of freedom. That is, if one could climb up the long and winding stairs to the top, all the way to the statue's crown. The statue, with the height of 27 stories, has 354 steps on a double-helix spiral staircase to reach the crown and 192 steps in order to reach the top of the pedestal. "There are 25 windows in the crown which symbolize 25 gemstones found on the earth. The seven rays of the Statue’s crown represent the seven seas and continents of the world." https://www.statueoflibertyclub.com/facts-figures/ Alas, being in my twenties then, I was the bold one. I said I'd climb it. Our guest was a much older man than us and he did oblige willingly at first, but after one or two sections of stairs, he gave up and went down. Hubby did go up higher than him. As for the silly me, I was the champ who managed to go up to the pedestal by climbing all those stairs. But, O God, did I pay for it later! I was sore all over for two days after that as was my husband although he had quit halfway. The funny thing is, an elevator exists that goes up to the pedestal, which is at about halfway the height of the statue, but it is ticketed and you have to have reservations for it ahead of time. I could have not gotten so sore if I had taken the elevator...But then, pushing myself too hard is the story of my life, although now, my old age tells me, "Nope, no more!" And The Statue of Liberty still stands. Thank God and our lucky stars! |
| Prompt: “Mountains look big from the ground, but from eagle’s eyes, they’re stepping stones.” What is your take on this quote, and on the average, how do you notice and assess hardships? ======= Oh, the power of perspective! It's not only when we look at things but how we see them. In other words, our views do shape our approach to challenges. Who never had a problem, an obstacle, or a disappointment in life? Even tiny babies do, and we all do, since we live in a world much less than perfect. As to the image in the quote, an eagle is a creature with exceptional eyesight and the ability to soar at great heights. That's how an eagle sees mountains as mere stepping stones. Then, above all its abilities and fearlessness, how I envy the eagle's eyesight! What about soaring at great heights, then? Well, great heights or on-the-outside successes were never all that important to me. Also, should something go wrong, falling from a great height would be not only be possible but also disastrous. Chicken that I am! Yet, a good eagle views mountains not as obstacles but as features of its domain. This is what I would call a very broad vision. Adapt it to our lives, it means viewing negatives and challenges as opportunities for growth and progress. For growth and progress, since the eagle symbolizes strength, freedom and high aspirations, hopes, and goals. Viewing mountains as stepping stones implies a sense of empowerment and the ability to rise above difficulties. This has to do with adaptability and resilience. That is, resilience for thriving in any environment or situation. Just think of the World War II death-camp survivors and how most kept on suffering afterwards; but then, several became tougher and better people later and did good things for humanity. Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning comes to mind, for example. As for me, I think I'm more resilient than most. In the beginning of a difficult situation, however, I used to panic easily in my earlier years. I guess, in the long run, life toughened me up a bit. The "Why me?" lament or "OMG! What do I do now" panic still may hit once in a while. But looking at me from the outside, no one can notice my fears anymore. All in all, I'm glad to say that life taught me, somewhat, to hold back the panic. Now I find that, once the panic is eased, I can handle just about any situation. So now, when it comes down to it, viewing huge disappointments, challenges, and sorrows as being my life journey's inevitable steps helps me to handle them well enough and also make some progress in my adaptation to living. |
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