1a] I feel as though I'm writing to a wide variety of people; whether they be old or young, happy or sad, people who want help, but are scared, or someone who just wants hope. My topic is one that can be applied to just about anyone, which can either be a blessing or a curse. A blessing in the sense that I'll have an understanding audience, but a curse in the sense that I have quite a broad spectrum to cover. Happiness is something that everyone struggles with, in fact, in a psychological study with adolescents, their moods switched from happy to sad at least six to seven times, daily. So, I think I'll be writing to a large chunk of society.
1b] My answer to who I'm writing to can be supported through this question as well. My topic is timely crucial because it isn't a trend or an interest that will die out in a few months. My topic revolves around happiness and its effects on mood, stress levels, success, illnesses, friendships, e.t.c. This is something that, in my opinion, everyone should be concerned with. I feel as though many people do not truly know the importance of optimism. I know it sounds cliche, but happiness is key. Happy, soothing thoughts can make even the worse day vanish.
1c] I care about this topic because I battled depression all throughout middle school, and even through the beginning High School. I was so shy and introverted and I hardly had any friends. My grades didn't suffer because school was an escape from home, I could get good grades and show my parents, which would make them focus on me and not being at each other's throats. I was a mixture of emotions and I just wanted things to change. I joined marching band, lost an extreme amount of weight, and things changed for me. I was happy. I made new friends, I was more optimistic, and my life did a complete turn around. I know the power of being happy. I want anyone that is battling depression or that is contemplating hurting themselves to know that I've been there... And it isn't worth it. If you make the right changes in your life and surround yourself with the love of your friends or family, anything can be overcome. [okay, randomly switching gears to the other portion of the question..] In High School, my writings were completely serious and boring and blegh. I was a grammar nazi, contemplating every mistaken comma or misspellings. In my English classes, we were tamed and reformed to write about mundane topics that were in no way interesting or intriguing. Yet it was OUR job to pull out some BS and make it sound good, right? You were constantly adhering to the teacher's preferences, steering away from anything 'they wouldn't like.' In my English 1101 class in college, I was like a fish out of water. I literally had to train myself to let my personality shine through in my papers. It is so mind-blowing to go back and look at my first drafts compared to my finished, polished final drafts. I love college writing; when I read my papers, it's refreshing to see that it looks like I'm speaking instead of just words on a piece of paper :)
2. AAAH. I wish I could say yes to this question, but I can't. I'm trying to find other viewpoints, but I'm failing miserably. One of the comments on my 2nd blog post gave me a really good idea though! I'm going to put a status on facebook about my topic and see some differing opinions (hopefully) and use those to my advantage in my paper.
3. Well, I actually mentioned something that I found really interesting in 1a of this blog! A psychological study was done on adolescents and their moods. As it turns out, an adolescent changes their mood from happy to sad at least six to seven times....daily. That's crazy!
4. I replied to Krishna Patels' blog about shampooing your hair daily and its effects on hair loss or damage!
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Blogger Numero Dos!
The most interesting source that I've came across is a series of three documents which are titled: "Opt For Optimism," "The Three R's of Change," and "Self-talk." It doesn't have a specific author listed, but the publishing company is Parlay International. These articles are interesting because they have allowed me to look at my topic in a new perspective, such as I mentioned in my first blog post. These articles have brought light to the effects a positive attitude has on the levels of stress, the value of one's self-worth, and even how much you sleep. The human body is a magnificent creation. We can endure extreme amounts of pain [physical or emotional], our brains are like a sponge, absorbing every bit of information that we can, and everything harmoniously works together in order to make us function. When the body and brain is put under stressful situations, havoc ensues. Headaches emerge, backaches form, and depression can mingle its way into your life if you allow it to. These articles have sparked many different directions I can go with this paper, so that excites me!
Much to my surprise, my research hasn't skewed me into any other direction. I'm hoping to find another source like these documents in the sense that it pushes me into an even more intriguing route for my bibliography. I want to do something along the lines of "In what ways does optimism shape our daily lives?" or maybe "Does seeing the glass half full or half empty alter your measure of success in life?"
I'm finding trouble in finding sources that could disprove my question.. I know that isn't necessarily something you have to have for upcoming papers this semester, but I'd like to battle this topic from a viewpoint that disagrees. I think it would be an interesting aspect to the paper, so hopefully as I dig deeper into researching, I'll find something!
Much to my surprise, my research hasn't skewed me into any other direction. I'm hoping to find another source like these documents in the sense that it pushes me into an even more intriguing route for my bibliography. I want to do something along the lines of "In what ways does optimism shape our daily lives?" or maybe "Does seeing the glass half full or half empty alter your measure of success in life?"
I'm finding trouble in finding sources that could disprove my question.. I know that isn't necessarily something you have to have for upcoming papers this semester, but I'd like to battle this topic from a viewpoint that disagrees. I think it would be an interesting aspect to the paper, so hopefully as I dig deeper into researching, I'll find something!
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
First Assignment!
Well, first off, I guess I should announce my research question! Does having an optimistic lifestyle affect one's health? How about a pessimistic outlook, in contrast? At first, I thought that I would have to choose another topic to research because of the lack of studies or information about this topic. Or, even if there was some information I could use, it wouldn't be enough to support this paper, as well as the others that are to come after this one.
This topic interests me because I have been a person who has lived through both of these lifestyles. In my paper "What's It Like To Be You?," I divulged into my past and all of its dark corners in order to make a bigger statement about the person I am today. I used to battle with depression and I was very inward as well as shy. This definitely took an impact on my health; from weight gain, to borderline insomnia, to stress, and many other things. Today, I am a very optimistic, happy person. My health has took a complete transformation and I believe it's because of how different my outlook on life has changed.
I feel like it's important to address this topic because I feel as though it's something that is way too overlooked in society. People think negatively and put themselves down constantly (especially in the college world, for example: "I didn't study as much as I should have, I'm gonna fail and my parents are gonna be so disappointed in me and my life is just gonna be horrid."). Thinking this way obviously isn't healthy or good for your psyche. I feel that if more people my age took a more positive, happy approach towards their problems instead of masking or blowing them out of proportion, their health as well as their overall demeanor would change. Now, I'm not saying be happy-go-lucky 24/7 or never have those crappy days everyone has, but don't let them depict your lifestyle choices or change the way you act.
I expect to find many psychological research as well as many studies on individuals that are in my age bracket. My preliminary research has led me to what I feel like may be a big chunk of my annotated bibliography: stress. Stress levels tend to dramatically increase if one thinks negatively or puts themselves down frequently. If failure is already in your mindset when going into an event or even a small classroom, failure will typically be the end result. Stress is a HUGE factor in everyday life. If you feel stress-free and relaxed, don't you have a better day? Don't you feel light on your toes? I know I do!
I haven't done quite enough research in order to see conflicting, different perspectives on my research question. I'm almost positive there will be sources that do not agree with my opinions, because this is a very broad, sensitive subject. As far as different viewpoints go, I love them. There's this quote I absolutely love: "In order to step into someone else's shoes, you must first take off your own." In order to develop a good, argumentative paper, you HAVE to be able to incorporate and accept differing opinions in contrast to your own. If you are closed minded, then your papers will not be fiery or captivating, but instead, a dull, boring paper that someone is reading just to get closer to the end.
All in all, I'm actually quite excited for this assignment. At first, I was completely shocked and confused with our topic. I only thought of the diet and exercise aspect of health... But, after a few classes, my mind opened up to the many other facets of 'health.' :)
This topic interests me because I have been a person who has lived through both of these lifestyles. In my paper "What's It Like To Be You?," I divulged into my past and all of its dark corners in order to make a bigger statement about the person I am today. I used to battle with depression and I was very inward as well as shy. This definitely took an impact on my health; from weight gain, to borderline insomnia, to stress, and many other things. Today, I am a very optimistic, happy person. My health has took a complete transformation and I believe it's because of how different my outlook on life has changed.
I feel like it's important to address this topic because I feel as though it's something that is way too overlooked in society. People think negatively and put themselves down constantly (especially in the college world, for example: "I didn't study as much as I should have, I'm gonna fail and my parents are gonna be so disappointed in me and my life is just gonna be horrid."). Thinking this way obviously isn't healthy or good for your psyche. I feel that if more people my age took a more positive, happy approach towards their problems instead of masking or blowing them out of proportion, their health as well as their overall demeanor would change. Now, I'm not saying be happy-go-lucky 24/7 or never have those crappy days everyone has, but don't let them depict your lifestyle choices or change the way you act.
I expect to find many psychological research as well as many studies on individuals that are in my age bracket. My preliminary research has led me to what I feel like may be a big chunk of my annotated bibliography: stress. Stress levels tend to dramatically increase if one thinks negatively or puts themselves down frequently. If failure is already in your mindset when going into an event or even a small classroom, failure will typically be the end result. Stress is a HUGE factor in everyday life. If you feel stress-free and relaxed, don't you have a better day? Don't you feel light on your toes? I know I do!
I haven't done quite enough research in order to see conflicting, different perspectives on my research question. I'm almost positive there will be sources that do not agree with my opinions, because this is a very broad, sensitive subject. As far as different viewpoints go, I love them. There's this quote I absolutely love: "In order to step into someone else's shoes, you must first take off your own." In order to develop a good, argumentative paper, you HAVE to be able to incorporate and accept differing opinions in contrast to your own. If you are closed minded, then your papers will not be fiery or captivating, but instead, a dull, boring paper that someone is reading just to get closer to the end.
All in all, I'm actually quite excited for this assignment. At first, I was completely shocked and confused with our topic. I only thought of the diet and exercise aspect of health... But, after a few classes, my mind opened up to the many other facets of 'health.' :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)