opipcardenas:
I finally
got the chance to read Tuesdays with Morrie
italicize or underline on my senior year of high school.
and When I finished
reading it, I was completely captivated by Morrie Schwartz's call to reject society's restrictive culture which dictates how men and women should act, puts money and success above love and family, and overlooks the importance of the wise elderly. Until his last breath, Morrie believed that the culture never worked
; he refused to give in to the popular culture, thinking
that there must be a better culture to follow; in his mind, a culture that allows people to openly express emotion,
to start living their own dreams, and
to accept the old for their wisdom is ideal.
I have heard
of so many people who
preached about individualism and independence but Morrie is the first person that captivated me
this is redudant. He was sincere and honest; thus, he was easily believable. His actions mirrored his teachings. In numerous occassions, Mitch Albom, the author of the book, narrates instances when Morrie shamelessly cried during their meetings. In
our today's society, crying is a sign of weakness and
sometimes femininity. Morrie, however, does not care about the norms. He is comfortable enough with his identity that he is not embarrassed
about crying to cry. In fact, he thinks that a person who embraces their emotions is
a fearless
person. Men who act out of the norm
may get stares and jeers from people, but to face those taunts,
it takes a real man.
I, like Morrie,
use tears to show emotion. However, in a country like the Philippines, crying is often seen as a sign of weakness,
which provided moments of conflict with some of my friends not needed.
There was a time when I tried to defend a friend of mine from someone who [s]was making fun of him[/s]. Sitting with a blanched face, my friend was terrorized by a bully with degrading verbal attacks
this is redudant. After speaking my mind and trying to stop him, the bully targeted his attacks to me, telling me how I should stop meddling, coupled with some invectives. Despite the lack of magnitude of his words, tears welled up in my eyes. Nevertheless, I proceeded to tell him off
do not use this, with my mouth spewing
out fiery words
that was caused by my anger. I was not crying because of his hurtful comments. My anger was more about how one of my friends was not accepting of my own personality.
Reflecting on the aftermath of that verbal spat, I was concerned
on about how my friends would view my actions. I was scared that everybody would look down on me. After much consideration, I
just said, "Who cares?" I generalized that my tears did not mean
that I am weak and pathetic; it meant that I am strong enough to express my emotions. I would not let anybody coerce me into compromising my personality. Being expressive is part of who I am and I would not let anyone take that away from me. Like Morrie, I should not care about what other people say about my actions. His philosophy reinforced my belief, and it led me to apply this idea to my daily life. It taught me to be strong enough to express myself, and also to be respectful of other people's choices and not be critical of
others' people's actions.
