Flower Garden

    Flower Garden is a story that accurately portrays racism and shows that peer pressure exists among adults also. The story is about a woman named Mrs. Winnings who befriends her new neighbor Mrs. MacLane. Mrs. Maclane moved from New York, and is a widowed mother to her young son Davey. Mrs. Maclane is a popular and well-liked member of the community. It all changes when Mrs. Maclane says hello to Billy Jones and asks him to help her with her garden, Billy cannot so his father Mr. Jones accepts the offer. People do not take well to the fact that Mrs. Maclane has an African man working shirtless in her garden, and they begin to shun her. At first, Mrs. Winning is embarrassed and tries to talk her friend out of hiring Mr. Jones, but after a while she gives into peer pressure and ignores her to. It ends with Mrs. Maclane saying hello to Mrs. Winning and Mrs. Winning ignoring her, showing that their friendship is over.

   The protagonist in my opinion was Mrs. Winnings, although I sometimes found it hard to sympathize with her pettiness and shallowness. I think she was truly jealous of Mrs. Maclane, and her happy and carefree life and her tolerance of others, she also shows how jealous of she is of how much love Davey gives her. The protagonist never blamed herself or thought she was doing anything wrong, she believes that Mrs. Maclane is at fault. When Mrs. MacLane asks, “Are you sure it isn’t because of Mr. Jones working here?” Mrs. Winning’s reaction is immediately that of to think that Mrs. MacLane is blaming the Blacks, and Mrs. Winnings is immediately irritated. This statement is ironic, because the town is to blame for the cruel treatment of Mrs. Maclane and Mr. Jones and their belief that Mr. Jones is in some way inferior to them. The protagonist was not willing to go against the social expectations or norms; she easily gave into peer pressure when she saw that her own status in the town was threatened.

   

Query

   How many clothes do you have in your closet? How many of those tops do you actually need? When you see a cute top in the window of a store, you buy it but without thinking about how you already have too many tops. We never really say that we have enough, whether it’s eating, going on Facebook, or buying too many clothes. I believe that a lot of our problems stem from our failure to recognize ‘enough’.

   Albert Lexie, who doesn’t have as much as most of us do, instead of working to help himself, helps others. He leaves his home at 5:50 AM    and travels to the Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh, so he can shine shoes in the hospital’s lobby. Albert charges $3 per shine and donates all his tips to the Children’s Free Care Fund. Since 1981, Albert has donated $100,000 to the Children’s Hospital. His annual income is only about $10,000 and he donates approximately $10,000 a year to the hospital. He could use the $10,000 for himself, but instead he donates to others. This is one man who recognizes that he is happy and satisfied, so he uses helps other instead of himself.



   This video shows that you don’t need a lot of money in your life to be happy, and that you always feel good after donating time and money to help others.

   This week's query is: Do I recognize when I have enough in my life and know when to give                back?

What simplicity means to me...

   What is simplicity? Simplicity can be defined by so many words, but the definition that summarizes it best says that simplicity means centering in on that which is important and letting go of the rest. There are so many different types of simplicity; it is called the Garden of Simplicity, with different branches on the tree of simplicity. There is uncluttered simplicity, ecological simplicity, family simplicity, compassionate simplicity, soulful simplicity, business simplicity, civic simplicity, and frugal simplicity. One branch I feel that everyone should make an effort to uphold and follow is compassionate simplicity.

   Compassionate simplicity is the bond between you and your family and friends, and the community around you. I believe the world would be a much better place if people took the time to learn their neighbor’s name, many people do not even know their neighbors name. Compassionate simplicity means such a simple action such as saying hello to them can strengthen your bond. I think compassionate simplicity is tied into many SPICES, community being the most prominent one. You do not have to change your lifestyle drastically to incorporate this value into your life, something as simple as smiling at someone can make the world a better place. Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Live simply so that others may simply live.” I think he means that by being caring and compassionate to others we will make our lives and their lives better. 

   In conclusion, the world would be a better place if we took the incentive to strengthen our bond with our friends and family. We can make a big difference by focusing on others before ourselves sometimes. We should also focus on building a stronger community, by taking time to learn a little bit of people instead of going on Facebook all the time.

This I believe...

Tolerance is about being open-minded and accepting of different races, religions, and personalities. Tolerance is giving all people the freedom to be their own people, and not judging them for it. I believe that tolerance is essential in daily life, it has become a more popular topic over the years because of bullying, if you are not tolerant of somebody’s beliefs and you make fun of the you could be hurting them inside.

   I think one time my core beliefs were really tested was when I first watched Glee. I never thought that kids could be so cruel to one another, I know it is not like that in all schools, but I believe that some schools are actually like that. When Kurt came out and said he was gay, the teasing and cruelty he got from the other kids was hurtful and insensitive. Gay people are not that different from us, they just have different beliefs on sexuality, and they should be allowed to have them. Another character who was bullied for her beliefs is Rachel, she enjoys singing and because of that everybody at school makes fun of her.

   I think my beliefs on tolerance were formed when I came to Newtown Friends, I was always tolerant but I think I finally realized that when I came. At my old school, there were all kinds of races, personalities, and religions. We were all tolerant of each other’s beliefs, but we were never taught about tolerance. When I came to NFS there was a greater emphasis put on tolerance, and I learned what I really means to be tolerant. I think one prominent example of tolerance and acceptance was when my friend’s mom died from cancer, even people who did not know him very well or didn’t like him very much comforted him when he was sad about his mom’s death.

   At Newtown Friends, we are all tolerant of each other, but at other schools that is not the case. As a worldwide community we should be tolerant of each other, we do not necessarily have to believe that they are correct, but they do have the right to their own beliefs. This, I believe.

Simplicity

Simplicity is absence of luxury and showiness.