Saturday, April 29, 2017

Famous Last Words: Dead Week

University of Oklahoma seal.svg 
OU
Picture by Unknown
Source: Wikipedia 

Wow, dead week is pretty much already here. Fun fact, I usually always either always get sick or somehow injure myself around dead week/finals week. Freshmen year I fell off my bed, and damaged muscle tissue in my ankle. Our beds were bunked, and I missed the step to the air conditioner to get back down. It was not a fun experience. Sophomore year I got sick, and carried around a box of tissues to all my classes. This year might be different though!

A lot of my friends are graduating this year including my boyfriend, so it’s going to be an emotional graduation, but definitely one to celebrate! I’m excited to see what everyone will be doing after graduation. I know for myself graduating undergrad is just going to be a milestone to what I want to do in life, but a very big milestone. It’s going to be crazy imagining myself graduating next year. I feel like every year is a year to celebrate because its one-year closer to what we all want to be one day. Cheers to almost being a senior!

I always feel a little sad knowing my semester is ending because time flies so fast in college! I feel like every year seems like a mush of memories instead of three different years. I am super thankful for another great semester with great people. I’ve been blessed with so many opportunities this year like volunteering for Oklahoma Mission of Mercy and being able to do research. I also got to try Ifly, and it got me super pumped to go actual skydiving one day. There’s still two more weeks left to this semester, and another two weeks to make some great memories studying for finals, and taking breaks to enjoy being part of the OU community.

Thursday, April 27, 2017

Week 14 Storytelling: Vishnu and Godaan

Bhagavan Vishnu.jpg 
Vishnu and Godaan
Picture by Unknown
Source: Wikipedia

Vishnu wanted so bad to be part of the Godaan Club. However, it seemed like whatever he did was not good enough. All his friends were part of the club except for him. He thought and thought about what he was doing wrong, or was it something he hasn’t done, or was it something he could do better.

Vishnu’s family owned a farm. They had chickens, pigs, spiders, and ducks. However, his family never owned cows. He loved all his animals. However, to be part of the Godaan Club you had to have the best cows in the entire county. The coat had to be shiny and soft to the touch. The bones had to be tough and unbreakable, and their milk had to be the best tasting milk there ever was. Vishnu knew there was nothing he could do but watch his friends plan events, dances, and lavishes parties because they were part of the Godaan Club.

One day, Vishnu was talking to his chickens, pigs, and ducks. He told them he loved them all, but they were not cows. When suddenly one of his chickens turned around, and pointed to a cow! The cow was absolutely breathtaking. She had a marvelous coat, and she was big, but not too big.

He walked over to the cow. He wondered where the owner was. He decided to go find the owner because he thought the owner would have been devastated to lose such a beautiful cow. The cow and Vishnu decided to go on a journey to find his owner. They walked and walked all over the county, but there was not a clue to where the cow’s owner was. They were exhausted, and hungry. They reached a lavish house. Vishnu knocked on the door. A man with a beard with an old blanket wrapped around him answered. Vishnu asked him if the cow belonged to him. It wasn’t his cow.

The man offered them water and food for the night. The man looked at Vishnu. Something fell from his blanket, and it was a picture of the cow. The exact cow Vishnu had. The man looked embarrassed.

“She is my cow, but I do not wish to keep her. She is a goddess. She needs care, and I am dying,” he said.

He wanted Vishnu to keep the cow. Vishnu didn’t know what to say. He accepted the cow. He was still in shock that he finally had a cow of his own, but the cow was a goddess.

Years and years went by. He never joined the Godaan Club because his cow was worthy of more than that club. He showered her with as much love as possible, and all his friends were jealous because in return Vishnu had a goddess cow. He had the best milk, the best accessories, the best tools, and a goddess watching over him.

He lived the most fulfilling life, and he never complained about not being part of an ungrateful club ever again because he already the best, and he didn’t need some club to tell him that.

Bibliography: Devdutt's Pattanaik's Seven Secrets from Hindu Calendar Art

Author's Note:  
This story was based on how cows are cherished on the Hindu religion because they provide, food, shelter, accessories, etc. Godaan is a type of charity that fulfills all. This means that there isn't a lack of anything when there is godaan to me. I used my story to represent how worthy a cow can be to someone. The reason behind why beef is not consumed is because there is a high respect for cows because of everything they provide. This was a concept I was always interested in, so I decided to turn this into a story of how valuable a cow was to Vishnu. In the original story, Vishnu becomes Go-pala. He takes care of the earth-cow. My story was different from the original because I wanted the cow in my story to be a queen instead of the earth-cow. There is automatically a sense of magnificence when something is referred to as a prince, princess, king, or queen. I want this to be projected to give the cow in my story more value than just being an animal. I truly enjoyed writing this story, and learning more about why cows are s a valuable animal. I hope this makes my readers think about how valuable other animals are in a world where so many beautiful animals are going extinct.

Monday, April 24, 2017

Reading Notes: Pattanaik's Calendar Art Part F (Brahma)

Brahma 
Brahma
Picture by Unknown
Source: Wikipedia

Brahma is a god that never gets to be worshiped because he forgot the reason behind creation. This is a completely new concept for me, but definitely an interesting topic! Brahma wanted to understand who he was. In the end, he loses himself while chasing after his own daughter. I think what Brahma’s lesson is that you can lose yourself by chasing after materialistic things—a real problem in the real world today. I want this to be the lesson in my own story, and have Brahma be the main character on a journey. The story will show where this journey leads to.

Brahma’s daughter will also be one of the main characters. She is supposed to represent energy, matter, and life in the original story. I want her to represent materialism in my story. I think this will help in making the lesson in my story show. She will be a very simple, sophisticated, intelligent woman.

I feel like this will be a very dramatic story to write. I also like how Brahma creates the private, the public, and the rest. I think will go hand in hand with the lesson in my story. I want to make it unique with dramatic scenes, and possibly an ironic ending for a twist. I look forward to writing this, and trying to create Brahma’s character into something that we all experience every now and then. I feel this will make my story easy to understand and follow. I’m still debating on if I want dialogue in my story because I want it to just portray Brahma’s internal struggle.

Bibliography: Devdutt Pattanaik's Seven Secrets from Hindu Calendar

Reading Notes: Pattanaik's Calendar Art: Part E (Vishnu)

CH cow 2 cropped.jpg 
Godaan
Picture by Daniel Schwen
Source: Wikipedia 

This video is explains the concept of cows in the Hindu religion. Eating beef is something that is definitely not allowed. I’ve always wondered what exactly the reasons were behind this, and I feel this video explains in better detail. Cows were a great resource for the gods and goddesses. They allowed them to have shelter, food, wealth, etc. This was done through using their milk for food, skin for accessories, bones for tools, and more. That explains why they were so cherished. Godaan is an interesting topic I want to keep in my story. It’s a charity that could fulfill any need.

Vishnu will be my main character in this story that takes care of the queen cow. I think this will be a really fun story to write because I want the animals to be able to talk to one another in my own story. I want it to be like children’s book. The setting will be at a farm. I want the story to project the meaning behind godaan with unrealistic scenes taking place—like a children’s book. I want to include vivd imagery of the animals, and some dialogue.

This will be a fun topic for me to explore and write about because it’s something I’ve always been interested in, but never got the chance to really look into. This video has definitely helped me a lot in understanding what godaan means, and what is so significant about cows in the Hindu religion.

Bibliography: Devdutt's Pattanaik's Seven Secrets from Hindu Calendar Art



Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Reading Notes: Pattanaik's Calendar Art Part D (Shiva, Devi)

 
Sati
Picture by Unknown
Source: Wikipedia

Wow, I would describe part two of Shiva’s story as nothing but intense. Shiva becomes a householder after Sati induces him, and is now Shankara. The concept of social order is interesting in this part because there is no such thing as order in what Shiva did—he beheaded his father-in-law. I think this story has a lot to do with civilization and what is accepted in society. I want my story to portray this concept with the character’s intense scenes still there, but with a twist.

I think Devi is one of my favorites. This video about Devi starts off by saying “desire and destiny create life.” I love this concept. I want this to show in my own story. I also like how there was a wedding that never happened. I think this would add suspense to my own story. A married goddess uses her energy to keep her home well, but according to this video an unmarried woman uses her energy to protect—what an interesting concept!

The concepts in this tale can be applied to the real world today, and I would like to portray these stories to show a relatable idea in my own story. I look forward to using these ideas in my own story for this week.
 
Bibliography: Devdutt's Pattanaik's Seven Secrets from Hindu Calendar Art
 

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Reading Notes: Pattanaik's Calendar Art, Part C (Ardhanari, Shiva)

Shiva meditating Rishikesh.jpg 
Shiva
Picture by Iqbal Mohammed
Source: Wikipedia

Wow, this was definitely an interesting watch. I think the concept of focusing of a form instead of thought is something we tend to do a lot, but forget that thought is sometimes bigger than what is represented. Ardhanari basically means that god is within and does not move. However, a goddess is what is moving. Males are represented with action, and females represented with internal ideas like knowledge and power. I think this is an interesting concept to think about. I could use the idea of the difference between a god and goddesses, and create a story representing these ideas.

I would like to keep materialistic things in my story like plants, but the plants representing something much more valuable than a still object seen with the eye. I feel this will be a great story to really put my imagination to work while representing the true meanings learned from this video.

I want Shiva, the destroyer, to also be in my story. However, I want his character to represent someone that would never destroy anything. I think this will add drama, and a sort of mystery of who the destroyer really was in my story. I look forward to taking my teachings from the video and writing my own story!

Bibliography: Devdutt Pattanaik's Seven Secrets from Hindu Calendar Art

Thursday, April 6, 2017

Learning Challenge: Biology of Positivity

Happy 
Picture by Jane Schouten
Source: Flickr


I think being positive about any situation is one of the greatest characteristics one can have. However, not all of us can naturally see the good in everything. Some of us need to be reminded to stay positive. Some of us need to train ourselves to think positive, act positive, and be positive. For some being positive is natural, and for others it's a process. 

The Biology of Positivity suggests little things to do to train our brain to think positive. Yes, you can train your brain to do what you want. I feel the suggestions like "look for good things in small amounts" is one of my favorites. I've looked for small things in my day to day life to be proud about. For instance, if I make a healthy meal one day, that is one good thing I did for myself that day. Another example would be having a good workout, which is one good thing to accomplish in one day. Drinking tea can also be one good thing to for yourself in that one day. These are just small, positive things to reflect on. 

Another favorite of mine is "be persistent, knowing that change takes time." I think knowing change isn't going to happen overnight is something we all have to accept not matter what new challenge we face. I for one am a very impatient person, so I have to continuously remind myself change takes time, and to not give up. I do this by writing encouraging notes in my planner for myself. These are just small steps for a more positive life I challenged myself to do, and hope you all take the challenge, as well. Good luck!

Week 11 Storytelling: Pattanaik's Calendar Art, Part B (Narayan)

Narayana 
Narayana
Picture by Benjamín Preciado 
Source: Wikipedia 
Narayan woke up from a nightmare when he realized everything was the same. Lakshmi was next to him, and he just silently observed his ocean of milk. Little did he know—nothing would be the same.

Lakshmi looked at him in awe. She poured some of the milk from the ocean into her hands, and had Narayan drink the milk as if it was water. He knew something was different about the milk, but he didn’t ponder on what could be so different. He put the thought behind him, and continued to observe all the little things he was blessed with. He was a king of the ocean. People awaited his awakening. People looked at him in awe, and he looked at his world in awe.

He observed the trees. The bright, green leaves swaying back and forth in the gentle wind. He observed the flowers. The roses were bright red, and the petals velvety and soft to the touch. He observed the sun. It was bright, and made everything around him glisten as if everything he owned was made of diamond. The fish were swimming around him like a rainbow of color. The clouds were light and calming. Narayan spent most of his time observing the ocean. The ocean—so deep and endless, he stared blankly at all the hope left in the world. He could do and be absolutely anything he ever wanted with all the possibilities in his world. His world was the ocean, and the ocean represented hope for him to live even more marvelously as the king. He continued to observe, but he never realized how blessed he was with so much life and hope around him. He took everything for granted. He was soon to regret that.

He smiled, and shut his eyes for a few minutes. The trees fell. The roses crumpled into dust. The sun turned into a black hole. The fish turned to rock. The clouds turned to strong wind. He looked at his world falling apart little by little when he noticed his ocean of milk turn to water.

He thought, “How could this be? I did nothing wrong. Please stop. Whoever you are.”

His cry for help was not answered. The ocean continued to shake more and more when finally everything stopped including time, and all that was left was Shesha. Shesha was the heavenly king, and Vishnu sleeps on him—he was all that was peace in disaster. Shesha ruined his conscious world in minutes. Shesha was more powerful than Narayan. Shesha noticed how ungrateful Narayan was. He knew he did not deserve to sleep in peace.

Shesha thought, “You did nothing but observe. You did not help save the beauty of nature you were blessed with, so I shall take natural life Mother Nature handed you to preserve away from you.”

Narayan woke up with a thunderstorm surrounding him. It was just a dream, but it didn’t seem like a dream to him. Narayan changed everything about his wonderful life. He watered the plants. He took care of the trees, and he appreciated everything life naturally offered him. Never again did Narayan just observe. He was thankful.


Bibliography: Devdutt's Pattanaik's Seven Secrets from Hindu Calendar Art

Author's Note: 

Narayan is a god known as Vishnu. Shesha is the heavenly king of the naga snakes. I used Seven Secrets from Hindu Calendar Art to create my own story about Narayan. The video explains that Narayan is the observer, and Sesha is the remains. Lakshmi represents fortune and wealth. She is the wife of Vishnu. I wanted to keep her character in my story because Narayan is fortunate to have beauty surrounding him. I wanted to keep this original meaning of the characters in the story with a little twist of my own. Originally, the ocean of milk means possibility, and Vishnu is usually sleeping on Shesha floating on the ocean made rom milk. To me, possibility means an endless amount of hope, and I wanted to represent both the original meaning, and what I took from that meaning in my story. Nature was the theme of my story. I feel like a lot of the time we observe nature, but do not do much to preserve what was naturally there. We forget how lucky we really are to see natural beauty in a world that is becoming more and more artificial. I included nature as my main theme for this very reason. My story was a reminder of nature's beauty that was given to the world without asking for anything in return, so it is our job to preserve this beauty for generations to come.

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Growth Mindset: Confidence

Picture of Beyoncé 
Beyoncé
Picture by Unknown
Source: Wikipedia 


After watching the video, 3 Tips to Boost Your Confidence, I feel so much better about this semester, DAT, and life in general. The first tip was my favorite, which was picturing your success. I think this is great advice. I think picturing myself taking the DAT while in a stressful environment really helps make the studying more realistic, and I automatically feel closer to my goal because I'll have one obstacle out of the way of my ultimate goal. The second tip was to have a growth mindset. This means knowing you can improve. I believe there is always room for improvement, and with a reminder that failure isn't an option, and to "keep swimming," as Dory so wisely said,  is a great motivator to reach even closer to my ultimate goal. The third tip was to practice failure. It sounds harsh, but it's really not. This means to fail, and fail some more until you've reached your ability to be comfortable in challenging environments and set backs. It makes sense because experiencing failure gives you an advantage of experience, and knowing how to handle stress in the future. 

I think this was such a helpful video. It was also something I really needed to hear at this point in my life...good timing. I will remember these three tips for the future, as well. Having confidence is so important because I feel success and confidence go hand in hand. The first person I think of when I hear confidence is Beyoncé, so I included the queen in my post. The link is posted above. I hope this video serves as a helpful tip to all my readers.

Reading Notes: Pattanaik's Calendar Art, Part B (Narayan)

Narayana 
Narayan
Picture by Benjamín Preciado
Source: Wikipedia

Wow, I think this video had so much knowledge to share. I think my favorite part about this video was the very beginning when the concept of reincarnation is introduced. The video starts off by saying how there is only a single life in the Greek, Muslim, and Christian religion. However, rebirth is an aspect of life for Hinduism. I think the most interesting difference in all these religions was how Greeks desire to be heroes, Christians desire to be saved by God, and Muslims surrender to God because the belief is there is only one life. However, Hindus believe there are many lives and worlds.

Sesha was a deep concept for me to understand. However, I took away that Sesha is basically the remains after everything else is gone, and Narayan sleeps on Sesha. Narayan is like the ultimate observer. He observes pretty much everything, but only when he is awake. If I were to write a story on Narayan, I would create a world the Narayan does observe in his sleep unlike the original story. I could make it interesting by him not knowing what reality is.

There are a lot of things I could twist from the original story, and knowledge. Another element I would like to include in my story is Lakshmi. She will be the answer to all the questions in my story. I want her to symbolism the lesson in my own story. I want the lesson to be about observing what you are blessed with. I think it will tie in really well with Narayan since he symbolizes observation. I think this will be a very fun story to create because it will have bits and pieces of symbolism that relate to the original background story of Narayan and Lakshmi.

Bibliography: Devdutt's Pattanaik's Seven Secrets from Hindu Calendar Art

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Reading Notes: Draupadi's Swayamvara, Part A


 File:Arjuna wins Draupadi.jpg
Arjuna and Draupadi
Picture by Unknown
Source: Wikimedia

I thought this story was very interesting. A concept I would like to include in my own version is reincarnation. In a previous lifetime, Draupadi had five husbands, and she has five husbands in a different lifetime after praying about it. I want my main character to fall in love with only one of her five husbands because of the way he is. However, they all have to battle for her true love. I want this to be like a game. This will add action to my own story.

I feel the concept of sharing a woman in the original story was in a way sexist and degrading, so in my story I will Draupadi be extremely powerful. Her five husbands will not know how powerful she is. The only person that will know will be her true love by the end of the story and contest.

I think this will a fun story to write. I also want to include karma in my story. I know karma correlates to reincarnation. For example, if you do not commit any sins, you will reincarnate as a man in your next lifetime—being a boy is a big deal in these stories. I’m looking forward to what I can come up with! 

Bibliography: Narayan's Mahabharata, Reading Guide A



Monday, April 3, 2017

Tech Tip: Twitter Follow

I decided to follow OU Wellness. I did a bit of browsing on their account since it wasn't on private to figure out what OU Wellness is all about. I discovered it's about activities, food, programs that make you feel good! There was nothing stressful on their account. It was all about reaching out to people about how to live a better life. I even found a tweet about a good protein source. I take health very seriously, so this was a perfect follow for me. If you're interested in a better lifestyle here at OU, this would be a great follow!