Perception is Everything

Nature is the reality that we give it. I may see something one way, and somebody may see something in a totally opposite parallel. So many things in society are based upon things that we see, but everything that we see has been constructed for us. The values we have are constructed by our parents and friends, our actions have been constructed by the wrongs and rights of society. I have recently been told I need to wear glasses because words and pictures have become blurry; have the words really become more blurry, or are they actually more clear now? Has my mind been constructed to think that when the words are blurry they are essentially "clear" and easy to read, but when they are actually clear do I perceive them differently? I will never be able to know, because my mind has been fabricated to think this way, molded by the hands of society. In history, and currently there has been so many issues over racism, people discriminating against colour. How can we discriminate against each other if we're all apprehending things discordantly? I may see the colour blue, and somebody else may see the colour red. Therefore, nobody should discriminate because of the colour of ones skin, because you may not actually be seeing the right colour, in fact you may have the skin colour that you are trying to discriminate against but your brain has trained itself to think otherwise. No human has the ability to see things how they genuinely are. Everybody has been fashioned to think a certain way at some point in their life. There is no such thing as beautiful. People often base their opinions on beauty from what they see, although this is complete idiocy because you aren't actually seeing the reality. I might see beautiful blond hair and gleaming white teeth, but in reality I'm only seeing what I wish to view, what I think I should be seeing, what I have been told to see. Nobody knows what they are actually seeing, or touching, or feeling, or hearing, or tasting. We only know these sensations through what we are told to know about them. Nature is the reality that we give it, perceived differently to each eye.

Sidewalk Chalk, A Review

Sidewalk chalk, bringing life to sidewalks. One of the most ingenious inventions in the world of children's toys. Easy to use, and easy to wash away. There is no reason why one wouldn't enjoy sidewalk chalk. Children can create beautiful masterpieces, decorating your driveway and sidewalk with lavish designs, making your house all the more welcoming and tantalizing to the eyes. You can create a hopscotch game right on your driveway to tire out your children from the relentless jumping, finally getting them to lay their heads on a pillow for a long afternoon nap. While they are napping, you take out the hose and voila, the hopscotch is a figment of the past! Sidewalk chalk is a great alternative to felts and crayons, which will undoubtedly end up on the dining room table, or the family room walls, creating maps of lines that will never be washed away. Although those may be great memories of your children's foolishness, a picture will surely capture the sidewalk chalk masterpiece without leaving an eyesore for your company to gawk at. All in all, sidewalk chalk is a 5 out of 5 star product!

Journal: The Glass Castle

The quote, "'Why do I always have to be the one who earns the money?' Mom asked. 'You have a job. You can earn money. Lori can earn money, too.l I've got more important things to do.'" is just another piece of evidence proving that Mrs. Walls is a very selfish person.

Mrs. Walls is supposed to be a mother to four children, but in reality her children are the ones mothering her. I cannot even understand how a person, who grew up very wealthy, could ever tell their kids that if they want to have food in the house, they must work to earn money to buy the very food that you should be providing for them. Jeannette is a 13 year old girl who, yes is much more mature than normal, but who is running a household. No child should have to worry about being able to pay the bills and buy groceries because her father keeps taking money for alcohol and cigarettes; completely oblivious to his children's needs.

This selfishness is proven on several other accounts in the book. When all four Walls children are starving and picking through the garbage can at school for food, they find their mother hiding a chocolate bar and eating it all to herself. She blames it on being a "sugar addict", but for me that is absolutely no excuse to let your children starve while you are indulging yourself with treats. Personally, I think that most mothers would rather starve themselves, than watch their children starve and dwindle away before their very own eyes. Also, another time Jeannette and Brian find a two karat diamond ring. They are filled with excitement from the idea of pawning the ring so they finally had money to feed their grumbling bellies. When they tell their mother about the ring, she decides that she is going to keep the ring to boost her self-esteem, in the meantime letting her children go hungry for even longer.

At one point in the book, I was so full of anger at Mrs. Walls I was overwhelmed by a feeling of disgust. Jeannette and the family had gone to visit their Uncle Stanley, but while Jeannette and Uncle Stanley where watching the television he started to touch her inappropriately. Jeannette was frightened and went to her mother for help, but her mother actually told her to suck it up because she didn't want to make Uncle Stanley feel bad, because it wasn't physically hurting Jeannette. I do not understand in the least bit how a mother could ever subject her child to something so emotionally scarring. A child should be able to feel protected by her parents, she should not have to bury her fear inside her and wait until the worst is over.

In conclusion, I feel as though Mrs. Walls is an absolutely despicable person, and a horrifyingly terrible mother. She builds extreme amounts of disgust and hatred inside of me. I feel that no person like Mrs. Walls should ever have children because she is detrimentally traumatizing them for life, while she is stealing their adolescent innocence.