2nd Quarter Reflection

This quarter has been one of my most stressful quarters in high school. I had so many things all going on at once in my life that sometimes when I got to class I felt checked out.
That's why I feel like I can relate to this unit the most because I've been relying heavily on art, these two months, to clear my head after a long stressful day. Because of this I started to dislike Plato more than I already did because I just couldn't understand how anyone could dislike art when it was so important. Yeah I understand everyone is entitled to their opinion but I find it hard to believe that there hasn't been a time in his life when he wanted to escape reality.
And I don't understand why it's okay for him to write The Republic, which is a form of art and say it's not okay for anyone else because art distances you from reality.
My favorite part of this quarter was probably the imperfect societies debate. I had been dreading that debate all winter break but towards the end I actually started to enjoy it. Debating isn't my strong suit and it's nearly impossible for me to think on the spot. No matter how easy I realize the question was, once I've already answered, when I’m on the spot my mind goes completely blank. However, I felt like I was getting better and better at thinking on the spot as the days went on. I was on the tyranny group and when I was first assigned to it I was worried that I wouldn't be able to find ways to defend it because it went completely against everything I believed in. But by the end of the debate I started to find more things wrong with the other governments than tyranny. I even started to feel proud of being on team tyranny.

Plato

I disagree with Plato's theory of art because I think art is a very important part of life even if it keeps us from reality.
I think, for the most part, escape from reality is a good thing. Sometimes life can get so chaotic that it's hard to just enjoy it. That's why we turn to music or any other form of art, it is a way to relieve stress caused by day to day life and makes "reality" easier to handle.
I think I would go insane if I didn't have some sort of art to turn to when I had a problem, art is away to express both good or bad feelings in a healthy way.
In the reading, Plato's Attack on the Poets,  it talked about a singer who tried to make people realize their problems through singing but it only distracted the people more from their reality. When I was reading that I didn't see what was so wrong with it. It's nice to be distracted from life problems sometimes. Those people probably spent most of their lives worrying about their poverty and misery but by hearing the music they were able to, at least for a few minutes, leave that behind and just enjoy the moment.
But I do understand that to much of it can be a bad thing (when it comes to technology). Most people spend countless hours of their lives staring at some sort of screen while life passes by. This removal from reality isn't healthy. For example, some people rely on computers to do all the work for them which lowers attention span and makes them less self-sufficient. Technology also negatively effects social skills because no amount of cyber communication can replace the importance of human interaction.

What Is Art?

As Karen mentioned during class, sometimes in life it is hard to say everything on your mind that's when we turn to art for help. Any form of art that you create enables you to express your feelings in a healthy way. It's a way of being yourself without having to worry about anyone else.
That's why I don't think an artist should be limited to what they create because of fear of offending someone. I understand that somethings may not be appropriate to be displayed in an art museum, but I think an artist should have freedom to create whatever they want as long as it does not harm anyone (physically).  Psychologically harming someone is also wrong but I think that's a part of art too. Art should evoke feelings from the viewer.
 The best piece of art are the ones that make people take a second look and continue to think and discuss about long after looking at it.
So what exactly is art? I think art is anything that someone can see beauty in. The composer we talked about during class who wanted people to see the art in silence may not be what I would normally think of when I think of art but to him it was, so it's art. As long as something appeals to at least one person than it's art.

100 Years

Sometimes in life we are so focused on our problems that we end up wasting it. But the next year when we are faced with more problems we look back and realize how trivial the previous year's one was (at least that's what happens with me). There has been so many times where I  wished I could do a year over again because my "problems" were so much simpilar then. Unfortunately, we can't go back, we only have the present which before long will too becomes our past, so we have to make the most of  it while we still can.
100 Years by Five For Fighting makes me realize just how fast time goes by so I should enjoy every moment I have.
 I first heard the song way before I turned 15 (the age mainly focused on in the song). At the time this song didn't have much of a meaning to me because I felt like I was so far away from that. But now 15 has long come and gone and I realize just how fast time did go.
Also, in the song he says "that we only have 100 years to live" but the sad reality is that the average person has much less than that. Life is short so we need to make the most of it.

Paradise

I'm in "paradise" when I am sitting near the ocean. There is something incredebly therapeutic about being near beautiful blue water and just listening to it crash against the shore. When I'm there I feel like nothing else in the world matters. It's the few places where I can just be, with no worries. Unfortunately, I can't be there all the time but everytime I play Paradise by Coldplay I feel like I am transported there.
The tune of the song makes me feel relaxed and any stress I had just seems to disapear.
It gives me chills every time I hear it.
It is about how when we are younger we had expected our lives to turn out amazing but often times life is nothing like how we envisioned it. Our dreams are the few places we can turn to and escape reality. Though this song makes me really sad it also gives me hope. 
It makes me realize that even though life isn't the fairytale every little girl dreamed of there is some good in it and you should never give up on your dreams because somewhere there is your perfect paradise waiting for you.