In the short story, "The Birthmark" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Georgiana is granted freedom from her birthmark. In exchange for her the removal of her birthmark she has to give her life. This reminds me of the event I attended this weekend at the Night Nation Run which is a 5K run/walk that is filled with fun music, dance parties, neon lights, and fun costumes. The Night Nation Run is held to support the organization stand up to cancer. While running and dancing through the dance stations, I felt so free from responsibilities, insecurities, and any school related pressure. In this moment of freedom, I realized that this run was for a purpose which was to stand up to cancer. Georgiana found her freedom from the pressure of being embarrassed of her birthmark, and the pressure from her husband to remove the birthmark. After reading this short story I realized I took the Night Nation Run for freedom for me but also for the people who suffered from cancer and couldn't partake in this run. I was free for them and for myself.
In the short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman the narrator is the main character. She tells of how her husband believes she is insane, and she finds a room with wallpaper slowly deteriorating in the wallpaper she believe she sees a girl who is trapped in almost like a jail cell. The narrator has to help her escape because she feels as though she is trapped also. The narrator ends up finding freedom for all including herself by focusing solely on the wallpaper so much that she has become a part of the wallpaper. While reading this short story it made me think of my experience at the Orioles game. My friend had been wanting to attend the game because there were fireworks at the end of the show. I had no idea how much she truly wanted to see the fireworks until the firework show started. The moment the show had began, my friend had become a whole new person in a whole new world solely focused on the explosions in front of her. She was free in that moment, she experienced no thoughts and no worries, she was free watching the fireworks show.
In the poem " I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" by William Wodsworth, the speaker finds freedom in nature. Looking at a field of daffodils, the speaker becomes enthralled and extremely happy to see this field of daffodils. I connected this to both of my experiences this weekend in which I found happiness at the Night Nation Run when I looked around me and saw all these people supporting the cause to stand to cancer. These people who all lived different lives caused me to become extremely happy to see everyone come together and be so happy supporting something important. I found happiness while attending the Orioles game when the entire stadium stood up to sing "This Land is your Land, This Land is my Land." To see people at both of these gatherings blissfully happy made me experience freedom of condemnation, disrespect, and segregation we experience every day in the world.
Overall, while reading these works I found a amazing lesson. I found that we have to take time to find happiness and freedom in everything regardless of what others may think. This connects to my last blog post in which I am overjoyed to begin service with Soccer Without Borders and find happiness and freedom with the children I am going to be teaching.
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