Week 5 Reflection

The significance of the Peach Blossom in the culture is that the Peach Blossom represents life and happiness.  In the poem, I think it represents these things as well, but also represents the beauty of simplicity.  I've realized in my own life that if I make more time for more important things, my life becomes much more simple rather than always worrying about big things in my life.  Life is really about being happy with the little things.

My footprint for the Ecological Quiz was 4.92 Earths.  I could lighten my footprint by buying more organic foods and using compost piles rather than a garbage disposal.  I could not travel so much by car or plane, I could ride my bike and walk more places, especially when it is nicer weather outside.

In the selections from Walden reading, these were three quotes I found and related to.
1.  "What people say you cannot do, you try and find that you can" (page 351).  I really like this quote because when people tell you that you can't do something, it gives you even more motivation to prove them wrong and show them that you can do what they said you couldn't.  I've realized this in my own life and it always turns out that I can do the things that people say I couldn't do.  It makes me feel more accomplished too when I complete those tasks.  I thank the people silently that said I couldn't something, because they were my motivation to complete that event.
2.  "Some things are really necessaries of life in some circles, the most helpless and diseased, which in others are luxuries merely, and in others still are entirely unknown" (page. 352).  This quote really got me thinking about how much we take for granted in the United States.  We have so many freedoms and luxuries that so many other countries don't get to enjoy.  Many cultures don't even know about the existence of such freedoms or technology that we have here today.  It made me really grateful for everything I have and made me appreciate the simple things in life, as well as the bigger things I don't really even think about.
3.  "A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone" (page. 360).  The reason I liked this quote so much was because it made me realize how many things we really don't need.  Society and the media makes everyone think that we need all of the newest and most hi-tech things there are out there, but in reality, they just make our lives more complicated and more problematic.  For example, everyone wants and iPhone, but the second you buy it, they come out with a newer "cooler" version of it, making you need to save up all your money all over again.  We don't always need the newest thing out there, because if we try to simplify our lives rather than focus on trying to just get more "stuff," our lives will be much better off.