This is going to sound like a random post and I suppose it is, but one that is necessary nonetheless. My English class this semester is about "Mapping" and our current section is about mapping one's self. We read Julie and Julia - I won't rant about Julie Powell here, I've talked about her much more than I'd like to - and looked at blogs and why people write them/read them. My paper for this unit looks at different diary/blog writers throughout the centuries and how writing gave meaning to their life. One person I stumbled across in my research was Anne Frank. This girl was AMAZING. We all read her diary in grade school and know her story and hopefully how truly incredible her story is. This was a girl who at 13 years old was put through absolute hell and found her only source of stability and happiness in her diary "Kitty." She poured her heart and soul into it and showed such courage in a terrible terrible time in history. Take a look at this excerpt:
"I haven't written for a few days, because I wanted first of all to think about my diary. It's an odd idea for someone like me to keep a diary; not only because I have never done so before, but because it seems to me that neither I - nor for that matter anyone else - will be interested in the unbosomings of a thirteen-year-old schoolgirl. Still, what does that matter? I want to write, but more than that, I want to bring out all kinds of things that lie buried deep in my heart." (from The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, 1952)
Because she had to experience things that no child (or adult for that matter) should ever have to, Anne was much older than her age. She had no idea that her writings would be published for all the world to see, and that's what makes them so pure, honest, and sincere. I couldn't even imagine living through what she lived through, but she still found the time to talk about crushes and the normal happenings of a teenage girl. Being reminded of her story just helps you put your life in perspective and see the little, good things in life. Anne Frank was truly an awesome girl.
yeah I remember learning all about her in like the 8th grade... she is really cool. I love awesome people like that and reading/learning about their lives and the choices they had to make. Their inspirational stories really make my life and all my problems just seem like a breeze which I am grateful for because it helps me stay more positive and really count my blessings. We may not be able to change or avoid some bad things that come our way but its how we handle them and face those problems that really matter. People like Anne Frank teach us that. Her diary shows us that even though she lived during a terrible time she still chose to try and see the positive things in her life. That's a great lesson to me. As is the quote from Boy Meets World, "Life's tough, get a helmet". =)
ReplyDeletei should've let you write that post! it's better than what i wrote!
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