Siddhartha Citation and Image Reflection

Reflection

"When a person reads something and wishes to grasp its meaning, he does not scorn the characters and letters and call them illusory, random, and worthless; he reads them, studies them, and loves them, letter for letter" (Hesse 35).

"One, already awakening, already on a path to himself, it had appeared to him only natural, a matter of course, to return to the place of his birth and his father now that his years as an ascetic had ended" (Hesse 36).

"From the moment when the world around him melted away and left him as solitary as a star in the sky, from this moment of cold and despondency, Siddhartha emerged, more firmly Self than before, solidified. This, he felt, had been the final shiver of awakening, the final pangs of birth. And at once began to walk again, striding quickly and impatiently, no longer in the direction of home, no longer towards his father, not longer back" (Hesse 40).

About five years ago, we flew to Dallas in order to say goodbye to my grandma who was dying of a chronic lung disease. When we arrived she was already on a ventilator and unconscious. Me, my brother, and my two cousins were confined to stay at her house alone while the adults went to the hospital. None of us were unable to sleep and it went unspoken that each of us in someway believed that if we didn't see her sick it somehow wasn't true and that she would be OK. 

When I first took care of my neighbor's baby, Palmer, I had a realization. I understood then that I was doing something for someone more than myself. I felt important and needed. This little boy needed me to take care of him. From 1-9 months that's what I did, I took care of him. It was amazing.

  

In seventh grade, I had an idea for a book. I was extremely excited, but what I didn't understand then was how much work would go into the effort. Now, more than three years later, I am still working. My book is evolving and morphing into something more than just writing a story. It has become a large part of my life and a part of who I am. The image below is the title of my book that I've had pretty much from the beginning.