Embracing Perspective

        The small black speck next to our sun below represents the size of Mercury, (roughly 1/3 smaller than Earth). Currently, there are over 7.88 billion people on Earth, and about 1.3 million Earths can fit into our sun, which is just another star in our universe. So, if it wasn't clear before, you really aren't the center of the universe. In David Foster's "This is Water", the author encourages his audience to stop believing themselves to be the center of the universe, targeting everyone with MC syndrome. It's a wake-up call for all of us to stop functioning on auto-pilot and to really think about the choices we make and the perspectives we take, as there's a whole world beyond our immediate concerns. 

        I noticed a correlation between David Foster's argument and Charlie Kelmick's character in the novel "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chobosky. Charlie evolves as a person and goes from being a quiet observer, only ever bothered about himself, staying in the shadows to questioning, and emphasizing with others as he navigates through the waves of high school. He goes from being a passive wallflower, on auto-pilot to a funny, and cool individual who engages with his surroundings. He steps out of the rat race he was in before, and by becoming more empathetic, and sees the world from a sensitive, and selfless perspective. Initially, Charlie only existed amongst the 7.88 billion others around him, but a change in perspective allowed him to truly live amongst the other 7.88 billion people on Earth. 

    Reflecting on these two narratives, both David Foster and Stephen Chobosky taught me that allowing my brain to fall back, and think subconsciously only makes my life slow and miserable. Life has more beauty and reason everywhere if we only take a moment to think and be conscious of our surroundings. From the previous weeks in this class, David Foster's "This is Water" has impacted me the most. It encourages me to come to school with a positive mindset and to avoid a mundane lifestyle. It helped me grasp the reality of how there are probably billions of other people on earth who are going through much worse than I am. Reading the piece made me appreciative of the basic things I have that many others don't.