I enjoyed reading this poem, especially the ending because it made me reflect on the acceptance of doubt in my own life. It is comforting to recognize that doubt doesn’t necessarily have to be solved or fixed, but I can coexist and live with it. For part of my blog, I wanted to focus on the line, “You don’t have to be useful. You are not required to come up with something to say.” The author presents a powerful message here as it is okay to sit in silence sometimes and embrace those moments. It frees ourselves from constant need to impress or perform for other people. It speaks to the idea of releasing oneself from the societal pressure to always be productive or constantly feel the need to have something to contribute. It emphasizes the value of simply just existing and being present in the moment without feeling the need to justify yourself. One’s worth is not contingent on their ability to verbalize and I think embracing the idea that we don’t have to always be useful, we are able be more present in life.

The ending of the poem also caught my attention as it read, “You can live with your doubt, that’s why it’s yours. Some of us are going to be okay.” It’s possible to live with doubt and be okay. Doubt is not a weakness or flaw, but it is a natural part of being a human. Our doubts are unique to us and our experiences and we can learn to coexist with them. The ending offers a shimmer of hope as there is always room for growth and healing despite the challenges. The author sends a message of resilience and optimism when faced with uncertainty. Doubt is a difficult thing to just forget about or avoid, as it is something that lives in the back of our minds.

For my final essay, I would like to write about song “Ize of the World” by the Strokes. The song is off of their album “First Impressions of Earth”, and the album as a whole criticizes behavior that has been normalized and touches upon how humanity has lost connection to nature by focusing on concepts like vanity, greed, and narcissism. The song itself, on the surface, asks where humanity went wrong. It touches upon the idea that humanity has chosen to sacrifice their instincts for the sake of order, but somewhere along the way, the order turned into a form of organized chaos.

I cannot believe how fast this semester went by, and I especially can’t believe that this is my last blog post before the final. I really enjoyed this class so much, this felt like a “real” University class like the type you see in movies where students are expressing their opinions on a topic and just students actually collaborating and being a part of the class. I learned a lot in this class, I took this class to keep my writing skills sharp since I have not written an essay for over a year before taking this class. As well I have such a deep love for literature and that aspect that I wanted to enroll in a class that will encourage my passions. I really learned how to put my thoughts into words and clearly convey them and make them sound very eloquent. I have become very proud of my writing skills because I have seen a big improvement with how I convey my ideas about a topic and making it sound very “intelligent.” Besides learning how to better my writing, I have also learned how to get over my fear a little of speaking in front of a class, and feeling more confident in myself and not being shy to share my thoughts on topics we have discussed in this class. I will truly never forget about this class and all that it has taught me this semester, and I am looking forward to use these skills in other classes and be able to correlate ideas we have discussed in class to other classes I take in the future. Thank you professor for such an amazing semester.

For this weeks reading I found it fairly interesting because I really liked how the poem was written to use ocean wording and ideas to correlate to human life. This poem uses the ocean as a way to talk about life’s ups and downs. It starts by comparing the ocean’s salt to tears (which I thought was really intriguing to show that we are connected to the ocean in that way), showing how something that can be sad can also be essential for life, “The salt of the ocean is always the salt of tears, melancholy but at the right dilution, or concentration, life-giving”. The poem points out that life has always been a struggle, even from the very beginning, it uses ocean creatures, like thermophiles and zoarchids (bottom feeders), as examples of how different beings are capable of adapting and thriving in harsh conditions “Look down: the thermophiles sip at the fumaroles, whose sulfur steam would kill a human being. They love it here.” These creatures don’t need to prove their worth; they just exist in their own unique ways, this thus serves as a metaphor for how people don’t always have to be like others or validate themselves through others accomplishments. The poem ends on a hopeful note, saying that despite our doubts and struggles, some of us will find our way to be okay. It’s a comforting message that encourages accepting ourselves and finding our own path, just like the diverse life forms in the ocean. I really liked this correlation with the ocean and humans because even at our lowest moments, we can find comfort in knowing that we are each taking our own unique path in life and there is no wrong doing if we just take our own path and not be affected by what others are doing.