Week 7

Okay, so at this moment in time we, as a class, find ourselves wedged in the "in-between." Otterbein cancelled classes for the first time in my college career! I feel as though this was a somewhat anti-Thoreauvian move (if that's a word?). Thoreau would have preferred for Otterbein to not be swayed from its typical stance on snow issues not affecting classes. However, there is some irony when considering that our Thoreau reading/discussion was what ended up being displaced, of all the possibilities! That was a useless tidbit but I found it to be somewhat intriguing.
I am going to start off this week by making a bold statement. Some of you will judge me, some will stand adamantly by my side. I will take a Thoreauvian stance and state that I don't care either way because this is what I believe to be true and I will stand by it for all of eternity. Alanis Morissette is my modern-day Thoreau. There I said it.

Here is my proof ( a random smattering):

"There is no difference in what we're doing in here
that doesn't show up as bigger symptoms out there.
Why do we spent so much time in dressing our bandages
When we've the ultimate cause to the key right here
Underneath"
-From "Underneath"

"We're never going to survive
Unless we get a little crazy"
- From "Crazy"

"Change is never a waste of time
Sometimes life is so unkind"
-From "(Change is) never a waste of time"

"We watch movies of murder and censor the breast
Give thanks for the murders of Chris Columbus
We kill our own and we vote for the man
the lesser of evils and us starring in the role of victim"
- From "Awakening Americans"


Believe me when I tell you this is just the beginning of similar thought-trains that I could dig up to prove my point. However, I will find rest with these few excerpts keeping in mind that not all who will be reading this will have the degree of adoration for Alanis that I do.

Here's the thing with Alanis...she has a firm idea about everything but never knows what it is that she truly wants...and just when she thinks she has found it, she gets royally screwed (Ryan Reynolds ring a bell?) and finds herself starting over from scratch once again. Her turmoil is gut-wrenching, but it makes for some damn good music.

Alanis can never be appeased...she lives as a constant "counter friction to the machine" and through her music is constantly asking her listeners to ask the hard questions for themselves as well.

Thoreau was another one who I would stick in the category of having a firm opinion on everything but not necessarily knowing exactly what they want at any given moment. He would be sad to hear that I think but, for me at least, it appears to be the truth. This was my first reading of "Resistance to Civil Government" and I have limited memory of my reading of Walden, however, Thoreau has become very wishy-washy for me. This could be totally just how I perceive him on a personal level but I guess that's really all I have to go on at this point. In class it was mentioned that Emerson thought that it would have been good for Thoreau to have a woman in his life, who could "straighten and sweeten" him. It came as a surprise to me that he lived the life of a bachelor because for the longest time my one of my favorite Thoreau quotes has been "there is no remedy for love but to love more," and it loses all of its validity for me now to know that he never had a true love in his life other than himself and his ideas. Such a shame.

I will forever love both of these figures. I commend them for being completely unwilling to settle and for not being afraid to voice a strong opinion. In many cases it is a lot easier to submit to and accept the status quo. It takes balls to stand up for something especially when you give up all hope for a semi-normal life--I guess if I took either of their stances, however, I would be asking myself what was so great about that kind of life anyways.

It hard to keep my own mind of the straight and narrow when in the presence of all these thoughts. I think, overall, the important thing is to figure out where my own individual happiness comes from and make sure that I don't let all the other bullshit in this crazy world get in the way of it. I don't get happiness from paying my taxes but not paying them would get in the way of the things that do make me happy. Being outdoors and getting dirty makes me happy, I'm sorry if I smell. Being in the presence of my boyfriend makes me happy and I'll be damned if anyone tries to lecture me about how being a part of a relationship means I have sacrificed my own voice. I'm so sick of hearing it. Alanis and Thoreau wouldn't put up with it, they do what they want. I will try to channel this more whole-heartedly from now on.

[For a more literature-based reflection on Thoreau please refer to last week's response. Thank you.]