Learning Challenge: Happiness Jar part 2

Last week, I decided to undergo the Happiness Jar learning challenge. Overall, it was nice to see the things that went well for me.  A concrete thing that does so can really give a motivation boost for the week.  I can see how it's a good idea for some people to do a happiness jar.  However, for me, it sometimes felt like a "chore" just having to put a thought on a schedule.  I'm a very flexible person, and I personally don't like following guidelines.  I think that a change that I could do is: instead of doing a happiness thought every day, I could just do one every time I felt happy for something.  It would make it feel less of a chore and more of "I want to document why I'm happy". 

Happiness Jar

Tech Tip: Google Data

I use a decent amount of Google services.  For my burner emails, I use gmail since it's quick and easy to set up, and I don't have to worry about sensitive information being on a burner.  I know that many companies, such as Google, are already gaining information on me.  To be honest, it's not an imminent issue for me, since I feel like there's not much they can do with information about me. I've just learned that everything about me is already about there, so there's not much that I can even do.  One of the best resources that I use in my everyday life is Reddit.  r/privacy is a good to read news or research more about internet privacy. 

Week 9 Story: The Search for Sarah

The deer deeply gazes at the clear pond.  As it drinks the water gleefully, an unsuspecting bullet clears the air straight into the heart of the deer.  "What a shot!" exclaims Charlie.  "Just like father taught us" reminds Robert.  The boys have a celebratory high-five and proceed to bag the deer up.  "I can't wait to see the look on Sarah's face when she sees this beauty." remarks Charlie.  They venture back home through the same path they take.  Each of the boys understands the many twists and turns as familiarly as the back of their own hands.  As they approach the village, something seems amiss.  The smell of smoke fills the surrounding air.  The boys drop everything they are carrying and rush to their home.  They find their mother sobbing at the doorstep.  The only coherent words from her mouth being, "They took Sarah".  The boys think intensely as to "who took a Sarah" and "where did they go".  They decide to run to the port south of their home.  Along the way, they find their father deeply wounded.  Robert frantically pulls out the first-aid kit in their bag in order to care for his father.  The boys' father begins to breathe and speaks.  "Pirates came to the village and ransacked everything.  They murdered countless of our friends and family and took Sarah away from us.  I ran to confront them after Sarah was taken, but they were too strong.  You must hurry.  They have already left the port but you can still catch up to them and save her."  The boys' father slowly closes his eyes and breathes his last breath.  Charlie begins to sob but Robert holds his tears back with much difficulty.  Robert consoles his brother, "Save your thoughts for father later.  We don't have much time to catch up to the pirates".  Both of the boys run to the port to find a pirate ship.  They inspect the ship but nonetheless, there is nothing and nobody aboard the ship.  Charlie looks at the helm of the ship and notices that wheel is detached from the boat.  Charlie yells to Robert that the ship is not able to be sailed.  Robert remembers the Charlie as a child being so fascinated with ships and remembers the peace that his family had.  "Perhaps there's another ship that we can use." suggests Charlie, but Robert reminds him that this was the only ship at the port.  As the brothers stare desperately at the sky, a voice echoes behind them.  An old man appears and tells them, "The pirates that you seek reside at Treasure Island 45 kilometers east of here".  Still despondent, Charlie whispers, "Even if we know where they're at, this ship is in no condition to be able to set sail".  "Do not worry" says the old man, and suddenly the ship begins to move forward.  "I can steer this ship", claims the man.  Ecstatic, the boys have a celebratory high-five and questions the old man, "who are you?"  The old man tells them, "I am the spirit of this ship.  My journey will be ending soon, and my last act must be helping to stop the pirates."  The boys see the coast of Treasure Island and thank the man for taking them there.  The old man pleads with the boys, "When we land, my last request is for you to set this ship to fire.  When the ship is burned down, I will be free from being the spirit of a wicked pirate ship."  As the ship docks at the port of Treasure Island, the boys light the ship on fire with a burning blaze and glory as the old man disappears from the ship with a smile.  As the boys leave the dock of the island, tears run down from the side of Robert's cheek.  Charlie reminds him, "We still have a job to do", and the boys continue in their search for their sister.

The inspiration for the old man, Klabutermann,
sharing parallels with Kabandha

Author's Note:
I loosely based this story on a few of the stories from the Ramayana.  Originally, Ravana and Maricha plan to kidnap Sita, Rama's wife, from Rama.  Maricha lures away Rama by shift shaping into a golden deer.  As Maricha gets shot by Rama with an arrow, he alarts Rama's brother by imitating Rama's voice, leaving Sita alone.  Then Ravana comes and steals away Sita.  Rama and his brother go to find Jatayu who battled against Ravana in an attempt to get Sita back.  Then they find a demon who tells them where Ravana went and they cremate him in order to free him from being an evil demon.  My story and the story in the Ramayana have some plot similarities between them.  My inspiration for the spirit for the ship comes from the Klabautermann, which is a Germanic myth where the ship has a spirit that sometimes protects sailors and comes out when the ship is doomed.  The rakshasa, Kabandha, made me think of a spirit because it wanted to be free from being an evil rakshasa.  So I thought about a spirit that served wicked purposes without wanting to.  Similary to Kabandha, the spirit of the pirate ship served an evil purpose but wanted to be free from it.

Bibliography: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913)

Extra Credit Reading: Ramayana B

Messengers come to Bharata to inform him that his father, Dasharatha has died. He learns that Rama has been exiled and plans to bring him back.  Bharata performs funeral rituals for his father after Vashishtha comes to him.  Bharata meets Rama in the jungle but Rama can't come back.  Bharata places Rama's sandals on the throne and stays in the jungle.  A rakshasa, Viradha, takes Sita from Rama.  Rama and Lakshmana tries to shoot arrows at Viradha but the arrows fail to work against him.  They finally beat him but cannot kill him since he seems to be immortal.  They then cast him into a pit.  They go further and meet a sage, Agastya.  Rama receives weapons from Agastya.  Rama meets a rakshasa, Shurpanakha, the sister of Ravana.  She falls in love with Rama.  Since Rama is already married, he suggests that she attempt to seduce Lakshmana instead.  Shurpanakha attacks Sita, but Rama and Lakshmana fend against her attempt.  A demon army is formed to fight against Rama.  Shurpanakha goes to Ravana and tells him of the events that have occurred concerning Rama.  Ravana goes to meet with Maricha.  They plan to take Sita away from Rama.  Maricha turns into a golden deer and encaptures Sita.  Sita has Rama to go get the deer.  Rama chases after the Maricha and shoots it with an arrow.  Maricha disguises his voice as Rama's and yells for Sita and Lakshmana.  Sita thinks that Rama is in trouble, but Lakshmana disagrees.  Finally consenting, Lakshmana goes to look for Rama.  Now alone, Ravana turns into a sage and goes to Sita.  He offers for her to be his queen.  Sita rejects him and shows her loyalty to Rama.  Rama transforms to a demon with many heads and arms and takes Sita.  A vulture, Jatayu, tries to save Sita and battles with Ravana.  Ravana defeats Jatayu, and takes away Sita again.  In Ravana's palace, Ravana continually attempts to seduce Sita.  Rama and Lakshmana return to find Sita missing.  They wander the jungle until they meet the dying Jatayu.  Jatayu tells the brothers of the events that took place and finally dies and goes to heaven.  Rama and Lakshmana go south and meet a rakshasa, Kabandha.  He gives them information pertaining to Ravana and they cremate him so that he may be free from being a rakshasa. 

Rama shooting Maricha, disguised as a golden deer

Week 8 Reading and Writing

Overall, I'm satisfied with my blog.  I'm not exactly an extravagant person, so I like to keep my blog plain and simple.  There's not much to change about my blog.  It's just an amalgamation of different thoughts.  So it serves its purpose.  I might change my website in the future in order to pertain to a certain theme, but that depends on my future stories as well.  Overall,  I believe that the quality of reading and writing is good enough for me.  I'm not much of a reader or writer, so it's a change of pace for me.  I could definitely do more quantity of reading and writing, which I actually plan to do either this or next week.  Going forward, I definitely need to spend more time and effort on both reading and writing. 

Picture from one of my stories that involves testing.  While exams are always scary to think about.  I think exams are awesome because it can give you a sense of accomplishment when doing well. 

Growth Mindset: Share

I recently had a conversation with my friend about a growth mindset.  We talked about how insanely crazy it is that we learn so much over time.  For example, just being in University for a few years gives so much knowledge that it seemed unfathomable to reach in the past.  The growth mindset is a really good outline in how humans have evolved intellectually.  Even the most profound geniuses who are famous for their intellect were once just children.  The growth mindset really gives a big encouragement to all and gives hope that we have so much more to learn and become in the future.  It's crazy how advanced our current modern-day civilization is.  

Every fruit that's been grown has become something extraordinary.  The future is at the top and there's still so much more room to grow upwards.  

Learning Challenge: Happiness Jar

Since this is a two week challenge, this will be the first part outlining my overall plan.  I'm not exactly a paper and pen type of person, so I am going to type out something that has made me happy every day for an entire week onto a digital sticky pad.  I think it's a good idea because I am already used to using a digital notepad and I already check it often.

Although it's silly to "celebrate" Thanksgiving in March, it's always good to be cognitive about what being thankful and knowingly keep in mind the everyday things that make you happy.