Who Would I Want to Meet?

"If you enter this world knowing you are loved and you leave this world knowing the same, then everything that happens in between can be dealt with." (1) -Michael Jackson

          Michael Jackson seemed to have a very positive outlook on life, despite all of the challenges he faced. For this reason and many others, I would love to "take a page out of Thriller" and spend a day with him, asking him about his many decisions, accomplishments, and challenges. Of particular interest to me would be his inspiration for his songwriting, the story behind the Thriller music video, and his bizarre lifestyle.     

          First, I would ask him about his inspiration. Certain people would tell you that Michael Jackson defines pop music. In fact, he is commonly known as the "King of Pop." His many contributions to music and dance and even fashion have made him a symbol of popular culture for over forty years. From his style of singing and groundbreaking accomplishments to his bizarre life, no one thought that anyone could ever step up to this master of music. Take what is literally the best-selling album of all time as an example: Thriller. It sold 65 million copies worldwide in just under a year after it's release. It stuns me to think how someone finds their inspiration to write such a record-breaking song. I'm sure certain sources would tell you how MJ created this fantastic piece of music, but no one would know better than Jackson himself.

          I would also ask him about his decision to create the Thriller music video in the first place. Before Thriller, no one had ever filmed a music video like that. Back then, music videos usually only consisted of live music or recorded footage of a performance. Michael Jackson took it much farther and created the very first "proper" music video in history; many people would follow in his footsteps and do the same. I'm very interested in his ideas for the music video, which is why I would love to question him about it.

          Finally, I would ask him what many others would be very interested in: What was the reason behind his bizarre social life? Jackson's various actions outside of producing music had been the point of discussion for some time. To give you an example, MJ bought a property and created "Neverland Ranch," his home from 1998 to 2005. The ranch is approximately 3000 acres. This bizarre purchase of land had many people wondering why MJ would want to make his home double as an amusement park. MJ had often stated that he loved children. "I wanted to have a place that I could create everything that I never had as a child. So, you see rides. You see animals. There's a movie theater. I was always on tour, traveling. You know? And I never got a chance to do those things... Neverland appeals to the child inside every man, woman and child. It’s a place where I feel like you can return to your childhood. You find grown-ups, you know, doing things they hadn't done since they were like 10 years old. And it’s just a fun, wonderful place to be." (2) Michael was raised in a world of adults, so he never had the freedom that other children had. He wanted to give other children that freedom, and so he turned his home into Neverland, a place named after a fictional setting in the story "Peter Pan." Unfortunately, many people speculated that he was going mad, spending so much time with children. But all he wanted to do was give kids the experience he never had.

          These questions are only the beginning of the many topics I would ask him about. People thought MJ had a very strange life; however, maybe that's just what it looked like on the outside. On the inside, maybe he was just a nice guy who loved making children happy in the way he never could. He was a fabulous musician; one of the best the world has ever known. So if I ever get to meet him, I'm sure it would be a real "Thriller" moment.

"Let us dream of tomorrow where we can truly love from the soul, and know love as the ultimate truth at the heart of all creation." -Michael Jackson (3)

(1) Michael Jackson. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved October 29, 2014, from BrainyQuote.com Web site: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/michaeljac403017.html

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/citation/quotes/quotes/m/michaeljac403017.html#KYvb2St6ASbWbXrY.99

(2)" Neverland." Neverland. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2014. <http://www.truemichaeljackson.com/neverland/>.

(3) Michael Jackson. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved October 29, 2014, from BrainyQuote.com Web site: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/michaeljac389543.html

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/citation/quotes/quotes/m/michaeljac389543.html#lsxfpj3w1ADZ42L2.99

Ivan's Death: Who is to Blame?

     Imagine living in an old shack on the edge of an enormous cemetery, all by yourself, without any family or friends to keep you company. Every night, you would drop in the local pub to have a drink, all while being bullied by the more powerful and wealthier people above you. You only endure the teasing because they are the only people you interact with.

     Lonely, ashamed, annoyed, angry, depressed; this is the life of Ivan, the protagonist of a short story called "The Cemetery Path," written by Leonard Q. Ross. Ivan is a timid man who lives by himself in a lonely shack on the edge of an eerie cemetery. If you were in his shoes, I would imagine you would feel the same way. Despite the loneliness, name-calling and rude comments, Ivan still takes the challenge given to him by a young Cossack Lieutenant, who tells him to disprove his cowardice by sticking the Lieutenant's sabre in the ground in front of the cemetery's biggest tomb. Ivan hastily accepts the challenge, but the outcome isn't what you would have expected. Ivan does indeed fulfill the challenge, but ends up scaring himself to death when he accidentally strikes the sabre through his coat, making him unable to escape. The next morning, the Lieutenant finds Ivan's body in the cemetery, which brings us to the million-dollar question: Who was responsible for Ivan's death; himself, or his tormentors? 

     It's clear to me that Ivan has himself to blame for his death, because of three specific reasons. He could have avoided the incident altogether if he was strong enough to stand up for himself against his tormentors. He was drinking vodka before he accepted the challenge, which may have given him impaired judgment, and he scared himself to death when he drove the sabre through his coat.

     Living alone doesn't make you very strong when it comes to being bullied, so Ivan doesn't have the courage to stand up to the Lieutenant when he calls him a coward. Ivan grew up small and shy ("timid little man," as stated by the story), and therefore that may have made him less confident in standing up for himself. Regardless, he still should have stood his ground, as he is the only one responsible for his own health and safety.

     Ivan was most likely under the influence of vodka vodka, which may have caused him to use poor judgment and take the challenge from the Lieutenant, even though he would never normally have taken the cemetery path back to his shack at the end of the day. "Perhaps it was the vodka. Perhaps it was the temptation of the five gold rubles. No one ever knew why Ivan, moistening his lips, blurted: "All right, Lieutenant, I'll cross the cemetery!" Being poor, Ivan would do anything to get his hands on some money, drunk or not. The combination of his poor judgment and his desire for the five gold Rubles overwhelmed him, causing him to hastily accept, which would eventually lead to his death.

     The last reason is vaguely stated in the story. "They found Ivan, the next morning, on the ground right in front of the great tomb that was in the very centre of the cemetery. His face was not that of a frozen man, but of a man slain by some nameless horror. And the Lieutenant's sabre was in the ground where Ivan had pounded it - through the dragging folds of his long and shabby coat." By reading between the lines, we can conclude that this "nameless horror" is likely a heart attack, which means that Ivan scared himself to death. If Ivan hadn't struck the sabre through his coat, he wouldn't have died. The vodka may also have had an effect on him, causing him to be a bit uneven on his feet and uncoordinated, which may have resulted in the sabre getting stuck in his coat.

     These reasons are perfect examples why Ivan only has himself to blame for his death. If he hadn't been drinking, he may have had better judgment to tell the Lieutenant that he wouldn't take the challenge. If Ivan wasn't always lonely, he also may have had family or friends to help out with his troubles. So while the Lieutenant played a big part in the death of "Ivan the Terrible," It was Ivan himself who killed such a timid, depressed, and lonely little man.

It's You That Matters

     Have you ever had the desire to have something about you changed? It doesn't necessarily have to make you into an entirely different person, but a few things about yourself that you wished you had or didn't have. How you got this feeling could come from anything. Some people feel like they want to be different if they're being bullied, for example. It could be any reason, but sometimes, you just have that desire to be able to do something that you can't do, or to not have a certain aspect of yourself. Examples of this include things like height or weight. As for me, I'm going to be complete honest and say that I don't feel like I want to change anything about myself, so I figured I'd take on this topic from a different perspective: Why is it important for people to like who they are? 

     The answer to this is quite simple: You're not you if you change who you are. If you had the ability to, say, make yourself taller because everyone is picking on you because you're short, would you do it? I certainly wouldn't, because I'm proud of who I am. It just wouldn't feel normal if you changed something about yourself, because you're so used to how you used to feel. Whatever the reason is that you want to change yourself, whether it be bullying, if you desire to have a certain skill, or if you just don't like how you look, you are changing yourself into a different person. Here, I'm going to go into detail about why you should be proud of who you are and how to conquer these three downsides of why you would want to change yourself. 

     If you're being bullied, remember something important; There's nothing wrong with you. In most cases, It's the bully that has certain issues. It could be a case of low self-esteem, self-conscious issues, or maybe the bully is being picked on at home him/herself. Whatever the case, it's the bully that needs to change, not you. The bully could be a victim his/herself, so you go through the exact same thing that they could be going through. If a bully is ever picking on you because of how you look, just remember that they lash out because the same thing is happening to them. 

     What if you desire a certain skill or ability that you're unable to acquire? Such as playing a certain sport well, or to succeed in a certain subject. These desires are, most of the time, quite difficult to accomplish for one reason; You have to work for them. For example, say you want to join the baseball team at school, but you lack a good pitch. You can't be all upset and think to yourself "boy, I wish I was good at baseball" without putting some elbow grease into it. When you have a desire like that, your mind is often clouded with things like "I'll never be good at baseball" and other negative comments. Most people over look the one, simple fact that you have to work hard to achieve that skill or ability. If people overlook that, It can make them feel bad about themselves, which can lead to you wishing you were different. If you work hard for something that you want, the feeling of accomplishment will be amazing. Don't focus on how you could be better than how you are now. Instead, like who you are and to celebrate what you're good at.

     Of course, there's just some people out there who don't like how they look, which is quite a shame. Say you're looking through a friend's photo album on Facebook, and you see one that you're not particularly fond of. You think to yourself, "Is that really what I look like?" and you start to wonder why you look bad in that picture. So why do some people hate seeing photos of themselves?It's simply because the human eye isn't used to seeing the face that it's attached to. The only other time you ever see your face is in a mirror. These people are thinking about how they appear to others, so when they see themselves in a mirror, they think nothing of it because that they're the only one there. Photos are often accessible by other people, so the person gets all self-conscious about how they look. It's completely normal for you to act that way. Don't judge how you look from a single photo. Thinking you're ugly or unattractive will just make it worse. And if you see a photo that you don't like, there's an easy solution: Take another one.

     It's always important to like yourself just the way you are. Don't rely on other people to tell you if you look good or bad, you have the proper judgement to tell yourself "man, I look good today." If you have a desire to accomplish something, then work for it! And if you don't like how you look in a picture, take another one. If you don't appreciate who you are, then you can't appreciate your life. You may feel like there are some things that you can improve on, but it's perfectly fine to stay exactly how you are. Who you are.