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Practice Makes Perfect

5/30/2015

"...one should get used to it...practice makes perfect" (Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith 161).
Trying to cope with his loneliness, Vincent Van Gogh wandered around the country. While doing so, he went deeper and deeper into religion. He soon stopped to live at his Uncle's house, where he was hit by inspiration. Motivated and inspired, he decided to devote himself to theological studies. But in order to do that, he had to get accepted into a university. So he studied and studied. From day to night he relentlessly studied until his uncle forced him to go to bed. But, his studying did not help him very much and he struggled to understand certain information. They did not come to him as easily as he wished. Vincent kept telling himself that if he kept practicing he would get better, but he was still doubtful.

I've been told that "practice makes perfect" my entire life, and it's true! The more you practice something, the more you get better at it. But I don't think that anything can be perfect, but you can get closer to that "perfection" if you practice. For example, I've been drawing for as long as I remember. I was really, really bad at first, but I kept practicing and made a lot of improvement over the years! But, my drawings are never perfect, they will always have some sort of flaw..they're satisfactory. But hey, that gives me something to strive for! Improvement!!
Now if I could only improve my math grade...

Question of the week: Does practice make perfect?

My Reading Progress so Far:
I'm super sick and this post is all over the place. I've...been procrastinating..a lot...that's all I have to say. But I haven't been late on posting something yet..which is a good thing, right?

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Forgetting the Past

5/15/2015

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"Forget what is behind you...Have more hope than memories" (Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith 109).
Tormented by his loneliness and isolation, Vincent Van Gogh found comfort in religion. Vincent was terribly lonely and he wanted to get rid of his loneliness by trying to get a purpose in life. He wanted to forget the days where he was mocked for being strange. The days where he had no one to turn to. Most of his memories were bad ones and his whole childhood was filled with hope. But, he never got what he wanted so instead he chose to throw all of his hope away and just move on. He completely disowned his hopes of being successful as an art dealer and instead he wanted to become "rich in God." Vincent felt that if he devoted his life to religion, he would receive forgiveness and redemption. He wanted to forget his past and in doing so, he got rid of all of his ideals/ beliefs. He turned his back to art, the one thing he was truly passionate about.

I don't think it's easy to just forget your problems and move on. Everything you do is stuck with you forever and it will always be behind you. It's just really hard to forget your past dreams and ambitions. You can't just leave painful experiences behind and move forward. It's difficult and sometimes you just end up remembering them again. I've been insulted many times in my life, and most of the time I just bury those bad memories in the back of my mind. But somehow they always manage to resurface. I can't forget them and I guess it just leaves a scar on me? I just can't leave the past behind because it's a part of me. The events that happened in the past have shaped who I am today. But I think Vincent did have the right idea in trying to leave his past behind him. He wanted to stop letting the past control him. Although It didn't really work and he couldn't change what happened, at least it did help him become happy for awhile.

Some questions: is it that easy to forget your past? Have you ever wanted to erase something from your memories?

My Reading Progress so Far:
I'm still procrastinating and it is bad and I'm regretting it...I had to jam 30 or so pages in one day and it was horrible. Sometimes I find my book hard to read because there's just so much info, but I am enjoying it!
Anyway, see you next week!!

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Admiration

5/9/2015

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"Admire as much as you can...most people do not admire enough" (Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith 73).
When Vincent's affluent uncle offered him a job, his parents were relieved, not just because he would finally have a chance at turning his life around, but also because he was finally leaving the house and taking his strangeness with him. His uncle, Cent (short for Vincent...there were a lot of Vincents in the family), had offered him a job as an "office clerk" at his business, Goupil & Cie, which was a very popular art dealership. There, Vincent attempted to redeem himself and his years of isolation. During his apprenticeship, he was very enthusiastic, and in that enthusiasm, he suddenly found a new interest in art. He devoted himself to researching about art, its history, and everything else related to it. Vincent admired detail in an image and every stroke in a painting. His mind was like a sea of pictures, vast and never-ending.

The quote that you see above is the advice that Vincent tells his younger brother, Theo. I think it's some really good advice and can be applied to a lot of things, not just artwork. Some people are living life too fast and don't stop to take breaks. We should all just stop for a minute and just relax. Just take some time to admire nature, the things you've accomplished, yourself, or admire that celebrity you like so much. Search for things that you would have never seen if you kept working like a busy bee. You might find something new, something you really enjoy. Like Vincent, I like to admire art, it makes me inspired and relaxed. When I get stressed or tired, I just sit down somewhere quiet and google pictures of flowers or puppies or something. It's not good to keep working and we all need to take a break sometimes or else we'll "break".

Hey! Here are some questions: Do you agree with the quote? Do you think it's good advice?

My Reading Progress so Far:
Okay, so that summary-for-every-chapter strategy that I said I would do last week? I lied. I wasn't able to write any summaries at all because I was busy this week (and lazy uhh). Instead, I took a notes on some events that I thought were important. I don't think I'm going to write summaries because they take a lot of time and I ain't got no time for that.

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Strangers

5/1/2015

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"His brother and sisters were strangers to him... [He was] a stranger to himself" (Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith 42).
When Vincent Van Gogh was a child, and even when he was an adult, no one was able to really understand him. From an early age, he probably had depression, and his parents' expectations of him did not help one bit. As a child he was a trouble-maker. But deep down inside, he was really a lonely boy, trying to find out who he was and seeking acceptance from his family. He was an introverted, moody, and aloof boy. His personality clashed with his parents' views, and as a result he was viewed as "strange" to everyone around him. However, his brother, Theo, was the exact opposite of him. Theo was loved by his parents. He was the pride and joy of the family, "the spring flower" of his mother and father. The brothers' relationship became strained due to the favoritism and Vincent felt isolated. As Vincent grew older, he became so isolated that he would not interact with his siblings. It's not a surprise that they all became strangers.

I'm sure most of us have all felt like Vincent before. We've all felt that feeling where you believe that no one really understands you, not even your friends. Of course, that's because we're all human, with separate thoughts and feelings. No one can really understand you, and we all go through a period in life where we try to find ourselves. When I was younger I believed that my parents could not understand me at all. I thought that they couldn't understand my interests, my dreams, or my beliefs. To this day I still believe that they don't understand me. But it's not really their fault because you can't read someone's mind. Also, in middle school I had a best friend who I thought I knew everything about. But she slowly changed. I'm not sure how, but one day I just came to school and she seemed like a stranger, a whole new person. But, throughout the years, I've learned that we're all human. We all change and grow. We're all different from each other and that's what makes everyone unique. Plus if you're friend becomes someone you don't know, then you just have to get to know them again, right?

But hey, here's a question for you: have you ever been "a stranger to yourself"? Or maybe you thought you knew someone, but you really didn't?

My Reading Progress so Far:
Anyway, I think I'm doing pretty well, but the book is a bit more slower paced than I thought due to the details of every scene. As far as reading strategies go, I haven't really done anything yet besides taking a few notes here and there. I'm planning to start doing actual summaries for every chapter next week.

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Practice Makes Perfect

Forgetting the Past

Admiration

Strangers

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