As we stand together, a group of three testing our capabilities, we roll spoonfuls of thick dough into round balls, and place them onto the newly greased cookie sheet. They start their journey to the oven raw and undefined, pointless even. However in about 13 minutes, these aimless spheres of indecision will come out as perfectly baked cookies. They will be mature, they will have a point, and they will be sure to do what they can to achieve their goal of satisfying our hunger. They will be delicious. They will be stable and solid and wonderful as they make their way down our throats. They will know what they are going to do. They will have been initiated.
Like the way some lives go wrong, some cookies burn. In the story of “Sonny’s Blues” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, meaningless minutes turned into wasted hours and wasted hours turned into hollow days, and after years of struggling, Sonny began to realize that he had a problem. He lived every day with darkness in his eyes and rash decisions dominating his character, favoring sitting alone with his drugs to experiencing the real world. His addiction, his behavior, and the obvious hole in his heart seemed endless, yet somehow too inevitable to fight. Perhaps, above all of his mistakes, Sonny’s real issue was that his initiation came too late. After months of hardship, of pain, of living in a light world of confusion, Sonny came to terms with his addiction. Finally, at a time when he had nothing left, he did not want to deal with the painful moments and countless tears anymore. He wanted to live. Sonny found a new love, and as the music his fingers created rushed through his ears, Sonny realized that it was a sign. Not only did he mature, but he found himself through his music. That was the only way anyone could understand what he was feeling. Like Sonny’s damaged life, a burnt cookie appears to be cracked and ruined, however if you scrape off that scorched layer of black, maybe there is something wonderful hidden beneath the exterior.
Other cookies expect to be baked to perfection, only to find that the oven was never on in the first place. For Dexter Green from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Winter Dreams”, the world suddenly stops when he sets his hazel eyes on young Judy Jones. Her glittering smile and endless ocean of charm make Dexter feel things he’s never experienced before, and the world is suddenly a beautiful carousel of events. He is in love. One day, Judy decides to leave town for another man, without a word, and without a note. Dexter finds no reason why he should smile anymore, or laugh, or appreciate any subtleties of the world. Dexter is nothing without his beautiful love, Judy Jones. Near the end of the story, he sits alone, a young man with nothing to live for. He looks back on his life and sees, despite his accomplishments and wealth and wit, he has nothing. He was never mature enough to look at the things that were making him happy and make them a priority. He was love struck by a fleeting woman, and forgot to set his goals and live his dreams. He is half baked, uncooked, raw and exposed to the world as an irresponsible man carried away by his heart.
Occasionally, a cookie will go into the oven completely naive to the fact that they’ve got all the wrong ingredients. For King Richard from William Shakespeare's play "Richard II", initiation was the moment he realized that he was cooking with baking soda instead of flour. When he finally, after years of education and power, matured, he knew that there was no hope for his survival. He announced to his followers that “comfort is nothing,” and that death was inevitable. He was not the immortal and all powerful king he once liked to believe he was. His initiation taught him while some of us bask in the sunlight of wealth and others curl up in a corner of poverty, we are all equal. You can not pretend that life will never end, because it will, whether you are a prince or pauper. King Richard had lived his whole life in the wrong mind-set, believing that he was better than his followers. Initiation caused him to realize that even a king “feel[s] want, taste[s] grief, [and] need[s] friends.” His focus was on his power and his kingdom, but his world lacked love. King Richard realized too late that his life’s focus was skewed. He was too concentrated on supremacy to live correctly. He missed the flour.
Once in a while, after a million cookies gone wrong, one comes out just right. Initiation is found in the simplest of poems by Emily Dickinson- it’s a perfect initiation, simple and pure. In Dickinson’s poem, “A door just opened,” she talks about how life is going just right, and saying that now is her chance to take the opportunity at hand and grow up. In the first line, “A door just opened on a street,” she is telling the reader that the door to the second half of her life is about to be opened, as if she was a small ball of dough, once aimless, about to be cooked to perfection. She once was lost, but now she sees the light that will lead her to a new beginning. Within that door is a clean slate. Her life is not ending, but just beginning. She is exiting the realms of dough and becoming a real cookie. This poem represents what initiation should be, cooked just right and perfect in every way.
How are we to know what kind of initiation our lives will lead to? There is no telling what our futures will be. They could be burned, scorched and unappealing. They could be raw, confused and lost. They could be wrongly prepared, misunderstood. Or maybe, just maybe, our cookies, our initiation, and our lives will come out perfectly. However we must remember one thing. A layer of darkness can always be removed, a ball of dough can always be put back into the oven, and a recipe can always be rebuilt. Opening up the cookbook of your life is a risk, but there is always a second chance.
Introduction and Conclusion written by Anna Holt
Body Paragraph 1 and 2 written by Julie Philippe
Body Paragraph 3 and 4 written by Caroline Burlingham
Essay edited and constructed by Anna Holt
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Caroline's Initiation
In everyone’s lifetime, we have the chance to mature and show our true selves. In my life, I discovered that I matured when I was able to go across the world by myself and not be scared. This past summer, I traveled with a People2People program to France, Italy, and Greece. This was the first time that I had been out of the country without the comfort of a friend or family member by my side. At first, I was afraid that homesickness would get the best of me and ruin my trip, but I was able to overcome my fears. I tried to escape my usually shy self and become an outgoing person and make new friends. Of course this was difficult, but once you have made those friends, than you are set for life. On one of the last trips I had been on, my homesickness replaced the fun in the trip and I was miserable, so I made sure that this didn’t happen. We were already so busy with educational fun, but I made it impossible to have any free alone time where I might think of home. By doing this, I not only made better friends and locked out my sadness, but I enhanced my trip by being involved in every possible activity. During my trip I not only accomplished my goal of having a great time, but I learned what it really feels like to be mature and take matters into your own hands.
-Written and edited by Caroline Burlingham
-Written and edited by Caroline Burlingham
Julie's Initiation
Initiation in my life
At some point in all our lives, we mature and become responsible for ourselves. In my life, initiation was a big part. Before I was in middle school, I didn’t know a lot of English, but I used that as an excuse to not complete my homework each night. As the days passed and the weeks went by, I learned that I had no choice and homework had to be done. Not only did I begin to do my homework, but I realized it was necessary to have it done and I became aware of the importance of showing that I had understood the concepts. More and more, I had my homework done every night. I accepted to do it on a regular basis as it helped me for the upcoming challenges in school. I could see so many things happening when I did my homework; I was getting better at English so I could make new friends, my teachers had new perspectives on my abilities to speak English, and it enabled to be less different from the other kids. I took the responsibility to do more homework on my own, without having to be asked or pushed. Showing others that I was capable of doing all my homework by myself, not only gave me self confidence, but I gained respect from other kids, my teachers, and my parents. Throughout this time, I have matured enough to be able to work on long projects, getting organized, study on my own, and being responsible for myself.
-Written and edited by Julie Philippe
Anna's Initiation
When I wake up each morning, I get out of bed slowly and in a daze. I stumble into the bathroom and begin to brush my teeth, looking at the clock to see how late I have overslept. I splash my face with water and as soon as the ice cold liquid trickles down over the contours of my profile, I dry my face and glance up into the mirror. I see my fair skin and blue eyes shining back at me. I look at myself and the person I am today, and see that when I look back, I divide my life into two sections; the before and the after.
This summer, I was lucky enough to travel with my church to Ecuador on a mission trip. Our stay lasted a week and a half. Ten days seems brief, yet those ten days were some of the most significant of my life. To haul a stone over ones shoulder and look next to you to see someone who is so different yet so alike reaching up to help you bear the load, their caramel colored lips stretching across their teeth to make the kindest smile on earth, is a gift in itself. To eat and laugh and pray with a culture so far away yet so close to our own is a beauty I will never forget. For ten days I worked, minute after minute, hour after hour, day after long hard day toward a common goal with the native people of Ecuador. As I dug pits and painted buildings and mixed cement, a change occurred. I no longer brushed my hair into a neat braid before I left in the morning, or stared longingly at my out-of-service cell phone. I no longer grimaced at the strange food or thought about the wonders of a computer. Instead, I dug deeper holes and painted bigger buildings and mixed heavier bags of cement. I ignored my voicemail from friends at home and instead played soccer with the local kids. I saw their culture. For ten glorious days, I lived their life.
The before part of my life consists of shopping malls and friends and family and school. The after part of my life appears to be the same; however the differences that appear subtle to you are life changing for me. Shopping is no longer an easy activity, for it now entails consideration of every single dollar I spend on clothes I don’t really need. My friends and family remain the same, but with a new and fresh value. Every smile I receive form across the room, every hug I give and get, every laugh we share has a new ring to it, a new importance. School is no longer a requirement, but a wonder. It is a beautiful prize, an education to be treasured for the rest of my life and held up like a trophy above my head.
In short, I have been initiated. My initiation was slight, overlooked by many, but when I wake up in the morning and glance into my bathroom mirror, I see me. The girl I saw before my trip is still there, but revised, edited. I lived among some of the most wonderful people I will ever know for ten marvelous days of my life- ten days to be treasured forever. I lived their life, and I took a little piece of it back with me. I will never again be who I was before. I’m living the after.
Written and edited by Anna Holt
This summer, I was lucky enough to travel with my church to Ecuador on a mission trip. Our stay lasted a week and a half. Ten days seems brief, yet those ten days were some of the most significant of my life. To haul a stone over ones shoulder and look next to you to see someone who is so different yet so alike reaching up to help you bear the load, their caramel colored lips stretching across their teeth to make the kindest smile on earth, is a gift in itself. To eat and laugh and pray with a culture so far away yet so close to our own is a beauty I will never forget. For ten days I worked, minute after minute, hour after hour, day after long hard day toward a common goal with the native people of Ecuador. As I dug pits and painted buildings and mixed cement, a change occurred. I no longer brushed my hair into a neat braid before I left in the morning, or stared longingly at my out-of-service cell phone. I no longer grimaced at the strange food or thought about the wonders of a computer. Instead, I dug deeper holes and painted bigger buildings and mixed heavier bags of cement. I ignored my voicemail from friends at home and instead played soccer with the local kids. I saw their culture. For ten glorious days, I lived their life.
The before part of my life consists of shopping malls and friends and family and school. The after part of my life appears to be the same; however the differences that appear subtle to you are life changing for me. Shopping is no longer an easy activity, for it now entails consideration of every single dollar I spend on clothes I don’t really need. My friends and family remain the same, but with a new and fresh value. Every smile I receive form across the room, every hug I give and get, every laugh we share has a new ring to it, a new importance. School is no longer a requirement, but a wonder. It is a beautiful prize, an education to be treasured for the rest of my life and held up like a trophy above my head.
In short, I have been initiated. My initiation was slight, overlooked by many, but when I wake up in the morning and glance into my bathroom mirror, I see me. The girl I saw before my trip is still there, but revised, edited. I lived among some of the most wonderful people I will ever know for ten marvelous days of my life- ten days to be treasured forever. I lived their life, and I took a little piece of it back with me. I will never again be who I was before. I’m living the after.
Written and edited by Anna Holt
Quotes and Relations
“In order to be mature, one must be able to take credit for their rights and admit their wrongs.”
-Thomas Szasz
-For Sonny, he matures the moment he realizes that a drug addiction is not a way of life. When he takes on a passion for music, he begins to admit his wrongs about his past life. By starting over, Sonny was able to take on a new way of life, where he can “Take credit for [his] rights and admit [his] wrongs."
-Dexter, being the man he is, cannot let go of Judy Jones and is wrapped up in her love even after she left. He is so caught up with thoughts of Judy, that he cannot understand his wrongs and rights, and therefore can not admit to them.
-When King Richard finally begins to listen to his own thoughts and ideas, he is too late. He matures on his deathbed by admitting to his followers that he is just like them. He admits that being a king is not all pride and glory, but a misfortune in ways that only he can understand.
-In Dickinson’s poem “A door just opened,” there is not many mistakes to admit to. This poem represents all the good things in life as Emily walks through the opened door. In the poem, the door closes behind her as if she has made the right decision to pass through to the second stage of life.
Written and edited by Caroline Burlingham
-Thomas Szasz
-For Sonny, he matures the moment he realizes that a drug addiction is not a way of life. When he takes on a passion for music, he begins to admit his wrongs about his past life. By starting over, Sonny was able to take on a new way of life, where he can “Take credit for [his] rights and admit [his] wrongs."
-Dexter, being the man he is, cannot let go of Judy Jones and is wrapped up in her love even after she left. He is so caught up with thoughts of Judy, that he cannot understand his wrongs and rights, and therefore can not admit to them.
-When King Richard finally begins to listen to his own thoughts and ideas, he is too late. He matures on his deathbed by admitting to his followers that he is just like them. He admits that being a king is not all pride and glory, but a misfortune in ways that only he can understand.
-In Dickinson’s poem “A door just opened,” there is not many mistakes to admit to. This poem represents all the good things in life as Emily walks through the opened door. In the poem, the door closes behind her as if she has made the right decision to pass through to the second stage of life.
Written and edited by Caroline Burlingham
"Age is no guarantee of maturity"
- Lawana Blackwell
-For Sonny, he does not reach his initiation until a good part of his life is behind him. When he finally moves above his addiction, he looks back and sees lost dreams and time wasted in a world of drugs.
- Dexter and Judy are both full grown adults who have still not gone through initiation. Judy lives like a child, continuously hurting the people who care for her. Meanwhile Dexter can't get away from his high school sweetheart, and won't let go of the shining memories of his past.
- Kings spend their whole lives being told what other people think. King Richard was no exception, he was about to die by the time he began to listen to himself and realize his followers are his equals.
- Emily Dickinson's poem, undefined and simple, does not imply any specific age. This poem, and the quote stated above, speak to the fact that initiation and age are separate concepts. Wisdom does not always come with age.
Written collaboratively by Julie Philippe, Caroline Burlingham, and Anna Holt
- Lawana Blackwell
-For Sonny, he does not reach his initiation until a good part of his life is behind him. When he finally moves above his addiction, he looks back and sees lost dreams and time wasted in a world of drugs.
- Dexter and Judy are both full grown adults who have still not gone through initiation. Judy lives like a child, continuously hurting the people who care for her. Meanwhile Dexter can't get away from his high school sweetheart, and won't let go of the shining memories of his past.
- Kings spend their whole lives being told what other people think. King Richard was no exception, he was about to die by the time he began to listen to himself and realize his followers are his equals.
- Emily Dickinson's poem, undefined and simple, does not imply any specific age. This poem, and the quote stated above, speak to the fact that initiation and age are separate concepts. Wisdom does not always come with age.
Written collaboratively by Julie Philippe, Caroline Burlingham, and Anna Holt
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)