Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Learning Challenge: Self Motivation

I am a very active user of positive self talk. I've always wondered if people speak to themselves in their head as much as I do. I constantly hear my thoughts spoken out loud in my head and have used this as a way to motivate myself. When I'm running and start to feel weak or start to slow down, I tell myself that I am good enough and I can keep going and it has a tremendous effect on my performance. I think it's extremely important to believe in yourself because if you don't nobody will. I find that reminding myself that I can be successful at whatever I put my mind to has a strong impact on my motivation and quality of work. 
Learning Meme
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Growth Mindset: Why You Made a Mistake

I think determining the root cause of why a mistake or error was make is a crucial aspect of learning. Failure is inevitable but if you just brush it off and don't make an effort to learn why this may have happened, you lose the opportunity to learn and grow from that experience. The mistake that was made may apply to other things so if you determine why it was a mistake you will be less likely to repeat it in the future and may be able to find a way that does work. 
Growth Mindset Meme
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Tech Tip: Google Timer

After reading about the google timer and another students blog, I thought it seemed like a great tool to ensure I don't waste too much time doing one thing or another. I like to time how long I watch TV, nap or work on a certain subject. This tool will be great for managing my time and it's super easy to use.

Reading Notes: The Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution, Part C

Karna’s mother told him that he had been found floating in a river in a basket. His armor and the rings on his ears had grown as he had grown. He sought to learn the art of war but is denied by all teachers because he was the son of a charioteer.

Parshuram agreed to teach Karna because he was a Brahmin like himself. When a scorpion stung Karna, he suffered silently so he would wake Parshuram from his name. When he awoke, he accused Karna of being a Kshatriya and cursed him that when he needed his skills the most, he would forget them.

 The Kaurava’s grew jealous of the Pandavas. The Kauravas told the Pandavas that their presence at a festival was important so they agreed to go. Duryodhana sent Purochan to build a beautiful palace of dry material that would burn easy. The plan was to set the palace on fire when the Pandavas fell asleep.

Vidura warned the Pandavas of the threat and to be prepared to escape. They realized that the palace was a trap and planned their escape. A minor worked for days to dig a tunnel into the forest. The Pandavas and Kunti escaped through the passage unharmed.


After traveling through the forest, the Pandavas and Kunti stop in the city of Ekachakra and disguise themselves as Brahmans. They begged for food and stayed in in a house of a scholar. Bakasur demanded each house deliver a cart of food and would eat the person. Bhim went to the deliver food to Bakasur and they fought. Bhim killed Bakasur and the city was freed.
Bhim Kills Bakasur
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Bibliography: The Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution, Epified TV (India), 2015-2016

Reading Notes: The Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution, Part B

Kunti is given the power to summon gods to get children. Kunti has a secret son from Surya, the sun god. Because she was unmarried, she sent the son in basket into the river.

While hunting, Pandu shot an arrow at a hermit couple while they were making love. The hermit cursed Pandu because of this and told Pandu that the moment he becomes intimate with a women, he will die.

Kunti called upon Yama, the god of virtue and patience. From him was the first son named Yudhidhthir. Then she called upon Vayu, the wind god and the second child was named Bhima and was known for strength and courage. The final god was Indra who gave her a son to be one of the greatest warriors. His name was Arjun.

Duryodhan, angry at the Pandava’s, ties Bhima up and pushes him into the lake. As he floated in the river, the snakes bit him. He fought off the snakes and killed them off. He fell into the realm of Vasuki who gave him the strength of a thousand elephants.
Bhima Fighting Snakes
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Bibliography: The Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution, Epified TV (India), 2015-2016

Monday, February 27, 2017

Reading Notes: The Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution, Part A

Shantanu fell in love with a fisherman's daughter and asked her to marry him. She refused him because she knew her children would never be kings. Shantanu became very unhappy and  Devavrata decided to go reason with the fisherman and his daughter for the sake of his fathers happiness. Devavrata begged the fisherman to let his daughter marry Shantanu. Devavrata vowed to never marry or father any children in front of the Gods and becomes Bhishma.

Amba pleads to be let go so she can return to the king she loves and Bhishma lets her go. When she returned, her king refused her and she was heart broken. She became determined to get revenge on Bhishma. Sage Parshuram fights Bhishma but fails to defeat him. This could be an interesting story to write this week. Using Amba's angry to write how she gains revenge on Bhishma. 

Satyavati had a child before meeting Shantanu. Vyas came when his mother summoned him and asked him to father the children of Ambika and Ambalika. They were afraid of Vyas because of his appearance. Because Ambika closed her eyes in fear, she was told her child would be born without eyesight. When Vyas took Ambalika into his arms, she turned pale with fear. Vyas told her the child would be born pale and in bad health. 
The three sons of Vyasa
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Bibliography: The Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution, Epified TV (India), 2015-2016

Sunday, February 26, 2017

Famous Last Words for Week 6

This week was a little bit more hectic than usual. I had an exam on Monday and then left on Friday to travel to Philadelphia for a mechanical engineering conference this weekend. Losing the time over the weekend and on Monday made getting my assignments for this class done a little more difficult. Luckily I was able to manage my time and get ahead of my usual schedule before I left for my trip. I am hoping to go into this next week with the same motivation so that I can finish ahead of time and possibly start working ahead. I don’t have quite as much going on this coming week so I am hoping that my stress levels will be reduced which will hopefully positively affect the quality of my story and other blog posts for this week.

This week my storytelling did not go quite as well as I would have hoped. I planned for my story last week so I was hoping that would help my story really flow this week but I think some of the stress from my other classes gave me a bit of writers block. I think the story still turned out ok and I hope to eventually get it added to my portfolio. When I add it in, I am hoping my creative juices will be flowing better than they were this week and I’ll be able to improve the quality of this story.

By doing my blog comments and extra comments I have gotten to read many different people’s stories. I have seen so many different styles such as writing stories in the form of a diary and think that is an interesting approach and good way to truly show that character’s feelings and personality. Maybe this coming week I will try out a new and more unique style when writing. I am still trying to get comfortable writing but I think I have improved since beginning this class.
Improving
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Week 6 Review: Imagination Celebration


I really enjoyed this picture because I think it’s important to encourage and celebrate creativity and imagination. Often in engineering I feel like imagination is put in the back seat since there is generally only one correct answer. I’m glad that through this class I am able to use my imagination and be more creative.
Review
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Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Week 6 Story: The Elephant Dreams

 For Draupadi’s 6th birthday, her parents surprised her with a trip to the circus. She had never been to a circus before and it was a memory she would never forget.

“Mom,” she exclaimed on the car ride home, “did you see those lions with paws the size of my head??”

She was still shaking in amazement of the acts she had just seen and was trying to comprehend how everything was possible. Her parents, in the front seat trying to tune her out, just kept saying, “Yes Sweetie, we saw them,” and “Uh huh yeah that was cool too.” However, nothing, including their lack of enthusiasm, could spoil young Draupadi’s excitement.

“Remember the elephants?!” “Wow,” she said as she sat back in her seat dreaming about them walking in the circle and the tricks they performed.

By the time the car pulled into the drive way it was past Draupadi’s bedtime. She ran into the house and up to her room but when she lay in bed, she was too excited from the day she had had to be able to fall asleep. She kept replaying each act in her head and dreaming about being apart of the circus. She could picture herself dressed up in the sparkling outfit and getting to ride the elephants. The thought of it brought a smile to her face. She leaped out of bed, got down on her knees and folded her small hand over the bed.

“God Shankara,” her innocent voice said with a slight quiver as she had only ever prayed with her parents and didn’t want to mess up. “I went to the circus today with my mom and dad and while I was there I saw the most beautiful creatures. So I was wondering if you could give me an elephant of my own. I promise to take really good care of it and be her best friend!”

She meant every word she said and spoke as if she was convincing Shankara that she was worthy of receiving this animal. Draupadi crawled back into bed and feeling as though her voice had been heard she peacefully drifted to sleep.

When she woke the next morning she ran downstairs and straight to the backyard hoping to see an elephant. To her disappointment, there was nothing but trees filling the back yard. Though she was disappointed, she hoped that if she kept praying each night, Shankara wouldn’t ignore her forever.

So she did. Night after night she knelt by her bed and with her hands folded and her voice serious, she prayed for an elephant of her own. She explained how responsible she would be and how much she would love the sweet animal.

After 7 nights of praying these prayers, she began to get discouraged.  She had been taught that the gods would answer her prayer but on her first attempt she was coming up with nothing to show for it. Just as she began to question the existence of the god, Shankara appeared in her dream.

“Draupadi,” he spoke tenderly, “You have asked for an elephant and I shall grant this boon. Because you have asked me seven times, you will receive seven elephants. You must treat them with respect and care for them in the ways you have described in your prayers.”

Draupadi was stunned. “Seven?” she thought. She had only desired just the one but the fact that her prayers were being answered allowed her to overlook this small detail and maintain her excitement.

When she awoke the next morning she wasn’t sure whether the dream was truly Shankara speaking to her or if it was simply a dream. For the seventh day in a row, she jumped out of bed and sprinted to the backyard.

Her eyes widened in amazement and she was left speechless. It was true. Shankara was real and he had answered her request and had not exaggerated how he would do so. Her eyes darted back and forth from elephant to elephant unsure of how to handle the situation of how her parents would react.


She decided that any gift from god should be appreciated so she eagerly approached each and every elephant and welcomed him or her to their new home with a kiss on the cheek.
Draupadi's Seven Elephants
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Authors Note: In a previous life, Draupadi had begged Shankara to give her a husband. Because she had asked him five times for a husband, Shankara granted her boons and told her when she was born again she would have five husbands. The gods declared that she would become the wife to all five of the Pandava brethren. I used this concept and the character of Draupadi to create a more modern and fairy tale-like approach.

For this story Draupadi is a young girl who dreams of having an elephant of her own after seeing them in the circus. She prays to Shankara who grants her boon and like in the Mahabharata, gives her an elephant for each time she had prayed. Having prayed for an entire week, she received seven elephants.

In this story I tried to incorporate more dialogue than I have in the past. With Draupadi as the center focus of this story, I had dialogue between her and her parents and Shankara.

Bibliography: PDE Mahabharata, Arnold, Besant, Devee, Dutt, Ganguli, Kincaid, Macfie, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Seeger, and Tagore.