Travel to Nowhere

To some people, the fear of traveling has burdened them with the inability to truly expand their knowledge, and to experience what life has to offer them. Life is like a pathway, that leads to just about anything you allow it to lead to. For some, it leads right back to their front door of their house. To others, it leads to a world of the unknown. In my life, I have had many opportunites to experience, or at least, get a tast of what life has outside of my home. Fortunately, with that experience, I am able to have a slight understanding of what my goals are and where I want my path to lead to as I grow older.

This is not the best picture of pictures, but it is a picture that has some meaning to me. It symbolizes a time in my life that I had the opportunity to travel. During my senior year, I was only able to get a glimpse of Europe, for a week. Anyone that knows anything about Europe, knows that Europe cannot be seen in one week, not even two weeks. Sad to say, I do not remember which garden this was, but it reminded me of such a happy place. It was so colorful and had such a fairytale-like structure, who would want to leave?

Not only were there beautiful gardens, but beautiful open country fields. This picture was taken from the Salt Mines. The beauty and simplicity of the picture truly capture the country in Europe.

Travel broadens the eyes to see much more than what is in front of them. It allows people to learn of other cultures and lifestyles. There is no truer way than the first-hand experience from another away from home.

Nocturne No. 20

"... he had a rare gift of a very personal melody, expressive of heart-felt emotion, and his music is penetrated by a poetic feeling that has an almost universal appeal... Present-day evaluation places him among the immortals of music by reason of his insight into the secret places of the heart and because of his awareness of the magical new sonorities t0 be drawn from the piano."
- Arthur Hedley, biographer of Chopin, musicologist and scholar

Arthur Hedley is one of many that have followed brilliant artists, such as Chopin. He spent his career studying music, but mainly focused on Chopin. There are so many pieces of music written by Chopin that can be considered absolutely breath-taking, therefore, by choosing one specific piece can be rather difficult. Most of his music has such dissonance and chromaticism that there is not only one song that truly captures his talent. His music as a whole is a masterpiece.

In one of my personal favorites, Nocturne No. 20 Opus Posthume, is an interpretation by Sarah Chung with a violin. The violin creates such a stronger and more "heart-felt" understanding of the music. When I first heard this song, like many of Chopin's song, I could have felt an indefinite amount of feeling that Arthur Hedley had felt about many of Chopin's music, including this nocturne. After listening to this piece, there was so much emotion felt. I close my eyes, and just focus in on the violin and piano playing in unison creating such a harmonious and melodic nocturne. Because of such a complicated and dissonant piece, there should be many people listening to music such as this, to ease and free the mind.

Chopin was a living icon during his time, and influenced many aspiring pianists to work up to par with his music. It is just a matter of opinion on what his best works are, but most that know of Chopin will say there is not one piece that is less than magnificant. In my opinion, it is this nocturne that captures my heart and soul. It brings me peace, as well as, a feeling of the strongest emotions, but yet, still, not knowing what the emotion is. It is the epitome of romanticism.



" His playing was always noble and beautiful..."
-Friederike Muller. "From the Diary of a Vietnamese Chopin Pupil"


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1tUdbknTeA&feature=PlayList&p=35AE60626A281A9F&index=9

(above is a link for the song)

"Love of Wisdom"

"...power and capacity of learning exists in the soul already; and that just as the eye was unable to turn from darkness to light without the whole body, so too the instrument of knowledge can only by the movement of the whole soul be turned from the world of becoming into that of being, and learn by degrees to endure the sight of being, and of the brightest and best of being, or in other words, of the good." - Plato

For the most part, majority of the people enjoy speaking their minds, their opinions, and their rationale of doing things, but not many are willing to truly listen or attempt to understand another's. When it comes to many philosophers, they often attempt to understand a person's views and find a way to incorporate it into their own practices. Fairly recently, I was introduced to philosophy in an academic perspective (by "academic", I mean classroom, assignments, and what not). What people sometimes don't realize is that everyone has their own idea of philosophy and practice it everyday. After having read a couple of books, and now taking classes, I find that philosophy to some can be complicated, but at the same time rather refreshing.

There are so many philosophers from ancient eras that have come up with the most amazing and complex ideas that can be beneficial to the mind. For example, Socrates had the idea that there is no true knowledge in memorization. He felt that nothing should be written down because that in a sense was a form of memorizing. In addition to there being no true knowledge in memorizing, he felt those that "knew everything", knew absolutely nothing and those that "knew nothing" knew everything. Many can relate this to their own life and their encounter with the "know it all". The "know it all" has no sense of wanting to learn more or wanting to understand because they simply "know it all". Whereas, a person that stays quiet and listens is more likely to know more because of the fact that they listen and attempt to see others' views.

Aside from my love of philosophy of every kind, there are people that seem to still not appreciate it as I do. For those that are truly embedded in a certain religion may somehow see philosophy as a route for people to follow their own beliefs. There are also others that say philosophy seems to constantly go around in circles, and never truly come to a correct answer or definite point. But in my defense to that idea is: The only thing that I can think of that has a definite answer is Math. There is really no right answer to anything anymore. People must truly learn to understand and except other people's ways of thinking or ideas because that can allow us to truly become one as a people and one with ourselves. We have to keep in mind that there is no right answer and the more we look at things and disect one's ideas, the more knowledgeable, as a person, we become.

and I end with this quote:

"Better to be the poor servant of a poor master, and to endure anything, rather than think as they do and live after their manner.... I think that he would rather suffer anything than entertain these false notions and live in this miserable manner." - Plato