Reading Notes: Public Domain Ramayana, Part D

Kumbhakarna is the mightiest of all demons. He is a giant that went to battle against Rama in which Rama defeated him with flaming arrows and severed his head from his body. I feel like this encounter could be elaborated on and the battle between Rama and Kumbhakarna could be extended with details.

I found it really interesting how strongly they felt about slaying a woman. That the rakshasa dames told Ravana that slaying a woman would ruin his fame and he listened. I think it would be interesting to write a story with the genders reversed. Having the killing of a man be a horrible crime and women in the positions of power.

After being away from Rama for so long, Sita’s purity was questioned by Rama. He refused to take her back so to prove herself she tested herself with fire and called upon the fire god. Rama witnessed her fidelity and took her back saying it was simply a test and he was happy to have her as his bride. This situation could also be brought to modern day in which a wife travels for an extended period of time and must prove that she was loyal. 

Sita's test by fire
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Bibliography: PDE Ramayana, Authors: M. Dutt, R. Dutt, Gould, Griffith, Hodgson, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Oman, Richardson, and Ryder. 

Reading Notes: Public Domain Ramayana, Part C

After reading the story on Vali’s Death, I was a little bit taken aback by Rama’s actions. While I don’t doubt that he would have stepped in when his help was needed, I found it slightly out of character for him to kill Vali in a subtle and cowardly way. I also don’t really feel like this was Rama’s fight to fight and could potentially write about if Rama had left the fighting to the brother’s and Vali was victorious.

I enjoyed reading the story about Hanuman’s past and how he was able to defeat the rakshasi and cross over to the shore of Lanka. I think there is a lot of room for creativity for how the interaction between Hanuman and the rakshasi could have occurred. I think that would be something I could write about. Maybe having them strike a deal together and the rakshasi take Hanuman to Lanka or to have tricked him.

Hanuman and the rakshasi
Source

Bibliography: PDE Ramayana, Authors: M. Dutt, R. Dutt, Gould, Griffith, Hodgson, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Oman, Richardson, and Ryder. 

Week 2 Review: Being Prepared

I really loved this meme and found it to be very relatable to me at this moment. I love being prepared and being able to get things done ahead of time however this last week I was overwhelmed by many unforeseen events taking up more time than I expected. Hopefully for this coming week my planning and organization will be the well for me when I begin to feel stressed.

WELL Meme
Source

Famous Last Words for Week 2

This week I was still trying to figure out what my schedule is going to be and what routine I can settle into. Thankfully there is a great deal of flexibility in this class because I did not get done what I had expected to when I thought I would. I am currently enrolled in a senior capstone and until this week my team hadn’t met and figured out what schedule we will be maintaining throughout the semester. Finally we were able to block out the required hours throughout the week and I will now be able to adjust my time dedicated to this class and to my other online class accordingly. Nothing stresses me out more than waiting until the last minute to get something done so I am glad I have a more consistent routine and am hoping to be doing the assignments for this class farther ahead of time.

The reading this week went really well for me. I wasn’t quite able to do it all on Monday like I had originally scheduled to but I was still able to get everything done on time.  I think I will be better off planning to do a little bit of this class everyday rather than planning for large hunks of time a few days a week. We’ll see how this next week goes and hopefully I’ll work something out that works best for me. Sometimes trial and error is the only way to go.

While doing my learning challenge this week I really got to think about the effects my training has had on my overall happiness and attitude. I have officially been training for four weeks now and I am finally to the point where I don’t dread going to run. In addition to running I have also been trying to eat healthier and get enough sleep. I’m curious to see the effects this will have on my schoolwork and within my relationships with other people.

Scheduling Motivation
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Wikipedia Trail: From The Jungle Book to Big Brother

I began my Wikipedia trail with The Jungle Book, a book I stumbled across while looking for books for my project. The Jungle Book is a collection of stories that were written in 1894 by Rudyard Kipling. I then went to Rudyard Kipling's page and learned that he was an English journalist, short-story writer, poet and novelist. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature and George Orwell called him a "prophet of British imperialism." I then went to George Orwell's page and learned his name was actually Eric Arthur Blair and George Orwell was just his pen name. He was best known for being the author of dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four in which he was the first to use the phrase Big Brother. I then went to the Big Brother page that described the term big brother as the leader of a totalitarian state wherein the ruling Party wields total power "for its own sake" over the inhabitants and comes with a very negative connotation. 

The Jungle Book
Source: Wikipedia

Link Trail:
The Jungle Book
Rudyard Kipling
George Orwell 
Big Brother

Learning Challenge: Running toward Happiness

It's relatively well known that exercising is not only good for your physical health but also your mental health. As Elle Woods said it best, "Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy." I was a runner throughout high school and quit cold turkey when I began college. Getting back into a habit of exercising is extremely hard after taking a long break from it but this last year I set a few goals for myself which included running a half marathon. To achieve this I have been running or working out nearly 6 days a week and while I'm a little more exhausted than usual, I always feel so much happier and healthier after every workout. Outside of training, I also love to run as a stress reliever. While many people think that's crazy and there's no way stressing out your body during a run can reduce mental stress but it really does! 

Legally Blonde Quote
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Growth Mindset: Motivation after Failure

I really liked the motivation of this meme. I feel like a lot of the time when something gets difficult or frustrating for me, it's tempting to want to simply quit. However the most important learning situations to me are the one's in which you fail or nearly fail. Failure allows you to sit back and reassess the situations which can lead to bigger and better things. Then once failure occurs, it is crucial to try  again and again until you get the desired result. 

Growth Mindset Meme
Source: Cheezburger

Tech Tip: Pinterest Board

I am currently a user of Pinterest and created a new Pinterest board for this class. I usually use Pinterest for recipe’s and decorations but I think this will be really useful to gather meme’s and look up other pictures related to our readings, which I will be able to use in future blog posts.

Link to my board: Indian Epics

Feedback Thoughts

I really enjoyed the 5 Tips for Taking Feedback Like a Champ article where it talked about understanding that being uncomfortable when receiving feedback is healthy and normal. While I love to receive feedback because I like to know where I am able to improve, the situation in which I am receiving the feedback always makes me feel so uncomfortable. That section of the article made me realize that other people must experience that too and I appreciated that. The only time I have formally received feedback is through performance reviews at the end of each of my internships. Being a very competitive person and a borderline perfectionist, receiving imperfect scores was hard for me. While it is hard for me to take, it’s the best way to communicate the ways in which I can improve. As a student with only a few internships of experience I would silly to think I was perfect at my job. After reading the articles they made me feel more comfortable with the feedback I had received.

I found the articles about giving feedback to be interesting as well. I have never really been in the situation where I was required to give feedback but I am sure when I am in that situation I will naturally be very uncomfortable and feel awkward. Though both of the articles I read on giving feedback were regarding a teacher giving feedback to a student, I feel that the same mindset can be applied in a professional setting.

Articles I read:

5 Tips For Taking Feedback Like a Champ

Using Harsh Feedback to Fuel Your Career

Presence, Not Praise: How To Cultivate a HealthyRelationship with Achievement

Be a Mirror: Give Readers Feedback That Fosters a GrowthMindset

Feedback Meme
Source: Meme Generator