EXTRA CREDIT - Fall 2022

[Prof. Sindor Aloyarc]

Each Month you may choose any TWO of the following prompts:

Extra Credit options may NOT be used in place of Assignment work.

You are encouraged to please share these publicly here wherever comfortable. While this will not effect your points earned, it will encourage interactions by providing additional ways for people to connect. Particularly those who take part in the "Mining" portions of these exercises over time if they enjoy or relate to your work and choose to touch base on something you may have shared within their own writing.

• Manifestation (15 points)
"Scroll-and-a-Half" / 150 words
Write some kind of a Short Story or Poem that revolves around this month's Power. Let those creative juices flow! Please note that regardless of number of lines, even poetry submissions must adhere to the 150 word requirement for full credit.

• Memory (15 points)
"Scroll-and-a-Half" / 150 words
Share a story from your past that reminds you of this month's Power. This may be from your real life (keeping privacy rules in mind), and/or experiences you've had here at HOL.

• Media (15 points)
"Scroll-and-a-Half" / 150 words
Based on your reflections from this month’s lesson, choose one piece of media you find in any way to relate to these concepts floating around. This could be a book, television show, movie, musical album, etc., and doesn’t have to be something completely new to yourself, so long as it speaks to you as connecting to the vibe you’re associating with this energy. Perhaps you’ll go into detail about why you chose this in particular, along with what aspects correspond most appropriately with your sense of this month’s power. What’s your general opinion of your selection’s strengths or weaknesses? Anything unexpected or enlightening come up along the way? Include whatever you feel compelled to share!

• Mining (15 points)
"Scroll-and-a-Half" / 150 words
Explore the Class Forum. If you find something written in a previous post that in your mind relates to this month's power in any way which inspires you to further expand or reflect upon, you can use this as an option for Extra Credit here. You're welcome to poke around or 'mine through' the past years of work shared from previous members of the class to find thoughts, concepts, theories, or stories that strike a chord in you and help point toward something you may wish to write about here.

[Beezus Maloy]

 Manifestation (15 points)
"Scroll-and-a-Half" / 150 words
Write some kind of a Short Story or Poem that revolves around this month's Power. Let those creative juices flow! Please note that regardless of number of lines, even poetry submissions must adhere to the 150 word requirement for full credit.

Peace, what is peace?
Peace isnt a what it is a who
I am Peace
I wonder how
I hear Your sadness
I see Your shadows
I want your Love
I need the Peace

I pretend Your here
I feel Your breath
I touch My face I imagine your kiss
I worry If your not happy
I cry when I see your photo
But then I remember
I am Peace

I understand Your not here
But i know I need you
I dream About us together
Though I don't see you
I hope For us too
Because you know and I know
I am Peace

[February Fortescue]

Manifestation:

Janessa had had a particularly long, stressful day. Her boss snapped at her at work. Her husband was upset she forgot to fill the car's gas tank up. The kids were upset because they wanted donuts for supper instead of the chicken she has prepared. She had planned to conclude her day watching baseball, but the game had been rained out, and a romantic movie was showing in its place, and Janessa would rather suffer a toothache than watch one of those! She went to sleep with her mind replaying the stressors of the day, over and over again.

Once she fell asleep, she has the most interesting dream. She was barefoot and standing in the most beautiful green grassed field she had ever seen! The sun was high in the sky, but not overwhelmingly bright, and there was several lovely, white fluffy clouds. The filed was covered in colorful wildflowers of reds, yellows, and blues, and Janessa could smell Honeysuckle. Suddenly, she had a "Whoof!' and saw her dog, Sparky, come running towards her and do the "play bow." Sparky had been gone almost a decade, and she cried tears of joy to see him again. She romped around with him for several minutes before sitting down and cradling him in her arms while he licked her face. She had never felt such peace!

Media:

All quotes by George Harrison
much from his autobiography, I Me Mine

“I remember thinking I just want more. This isn't it. Fame is not the goal. Money is not the goal. To be able to know how to get peace of mind, how to be happy, is something you don't just stumble across. You've got to search for it.”

“Give me love
Give me love
Give me peace on earth
Give me light
Give me life
Keep me free from birth
Give me hope
Help me cope, with this heavy load
Trying to, touch and reach you with,
heart and soul”

“Why, if you are unhappy, if you are having a miserable time, why not just look at it. Why are you in the darkness? Look for the light. The light is within. That is the big message”

“When you've seen beyond yourself then you may find
Peace of mind is waiting there,
And the time will come when you see we're all one
And life flows on within you and without you.”

George Harrison had a very interesting philosophy on life. Much inspiration began when he spent time on a spiritual retreat in India. He began reading the Bhavagad Gita and I Ching, meditating for hours each day and spending lots of time in nature. He talks about peace being "beyond yourself," because I think he believes in reincarnation. We get tied up with our ego and we mistakenly believe that who we are right now is our real self, but if we can connect with the self that is beyond our self-centered ego, we can connect with that peace. And, unlike the ego which is constantly changing, the self that is beyond ourselves never changes and is accessible to everyone.

My philosophy is pretty much the same. I believe that a permanent state of peace is accessible to everyone and is found beyond the ego, aka. the changing, chaotic world around is. I'm not sure I agree with reincarnation, though. Christians also believe in permanent peace, but they believe it is only found In Christ, so I don't believe Harrison's religious beliefs are a prerequisite. In fact, I think anyone who meditates and focuses on the NOW can find this state within themselves.