I got to thinking today about competition. And what better of a day for competition than Super Bowl Sunday? Competition can be exciting; you hope your team will win. But competition can also be draining. It’s those times when it is draining that makes you question why we fight for things. Do we fight for things because we want them? Or do we fight for things because we just want to win? I’ve always been under the impression that winning isn’t everything. And it’s certainly not. But fighting for something you desperately and hopelessly want is worth everything. I’ve come to learn that you must pick your battles. You must fight for those things that at the end of the day will be worthwhile and sustaining for you. That’s what competition should really be about. And go Giants! (Only because Donovan McNabb isn’t playing.)

I got to thinking about acceptance today. Sometimes you don’t get what you want. Sometimes things turn out in the worst way possible. And sometimes we are ambivalent to the way things turn out. But what I’ve realized is that acceptance is pertinent. You have to give things a chance. Maybe you won’t get into your favorite college or number one sorority, but you must give things a chance. That’s being a strong person. That’s being a confident person. After all, things may turn out to be better than expected. And if it’s not, then at least you can say you tried. Acceptance will liberate you because it gives you the opportunity to do what you never thought possible.

I got to thinking about friendship today. How do we know who our true friends are? Is it just a gut instinct?  Or do they have to do something to prove to us that they’re our true friends? I’ve always struggled with this concept. I’ve always held the belief: treat your friends the way you want to be treated. And I’m not a saint, but I can say that most of the time, this is how I have treated my friendships. So why don’t I get back what I give out? Am I doing something wrong? Or is it merely them?

I think that friendship is very important, but it’s also super scary. It’s way easier to get along with a crowd of 1,000 than just 1 person. We put ourselves out there every day hoping that we will get a friend in return. And sometimes we do; sometimes we don’t. But it’s in those times that we do when we feel like all the world can be conquered. One true friend can make you feel like the happiest person on earth.

With this said, I’ve learned not to tell everything to everyone. It can turn out unfavorably to say the least. But I’ve also learned that we don’t have to be “best” friends with everyone. There are friends for every facet of life.

Even though friends let us down, even though friends make us livid, we should always keep holding on. We should always remember that at the end of the day, a true friend is worth a million bucks.

Alone, I walked into the modern, black-walled restaurant

I covered my sadness with make-up

The pretentious restaurant smelled of seafood

I joined a dating club because of my terrible luck with men

I did not know what to expect

I was as terrified as a child entering school for the very first time

I had low expectations

And then he walked in with his black tuxedo and shiny black shoes

His name was Christian Ward

We bonded over our love of seafood

We shared a secret look of seafood lovers’ horror as another attendee ordered a steak!

We shared a secret laugh

After dinner, he asked for another date

I gladly obliged

Two years later we were married

I never walk into a restaurant alone now

My ridiculous dating club changed my life

For I had met Christian Ward

-Caroline

It was a summer to remember

It was a summer beginning a friendship

I’ll never forget wherever that brick school was

The fresh beauty bark looked devilishly red like a garden of ripe tomatoes

We walked around in the ninety degree heat

We took millions of pictures

We savored our time together

We learned from each other

We tried to listen to the rules instilled by my mother

Our smiles could have lit up the night sky

We avoided the day we would have to say good-bye

Our friendship grew like a sunflower during that summer

We became so much more than simply cousins

We became sisters

That summer has ended

Come and gone

But the memories have not faded

We live a million miles away, yet are still so close

-Caroline

This section of my blog emulates that of Carrie Bradshaw’s column. Here, I will write about my observations of life, love, and friendship. Occasionally, I may throw in a rant.

Enjoy!

-Caroline

Well, I will be honest. I am starting a novel. I am almost finished. But I’m not sure if this is the one I should use for this blog. I have the beginnings of another novel, which is a fantasy and mystery piece.

What should I use? This has been an ongoing dilemma.

-Caroline

• Finalist: “The Importance of The Odyssey,” published in Believing in Greatness (Elder & Leemaur, 2007)

In the epic tale of The Odyssey, Homer writes, “It is tedious to tell again tales already plainly told.” Since the publishing of The Odyssey many centuries ago, other authors have been emulating stories that can loosely be based off of The Odyssey. Ideas from modern stories such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Little Women can be traced back to Homer’s well-known, Greek poem. The Odyssey is definitely the greatest literary work of all time because it set the standard of how a story should be told in literature.

To begin with, every great story since The Odyssey has placed a hero on a specific journey. This hero is seeking adventure and ultimately, chasing his home. Most authors have emulated this way of storytelling, bringing a hero into a different land than his own and setting him on a quest for something greater than himself.

The story of The Odyssey is told as Odysseus, the title character, commences on his journey back to his home of Ithaca after the fall of Troy during the Trojan War. He falls into many obstacles along the way, such as his raft getting destroyed by an angry Poseidon, the Greek God of the sea. Odysseus is also held captive for seven years by the beautiful and mysterious goddess, Calypso. While he is living this perilous and unpredictable life on his quest back to his homeland, Odysseus’s wife, Penelope is being bombarded with marriage proposals in Ithaca.

A concrete example of literary work that follows the structure of The Odyssey is Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. In Little Women, Amy March, the youngest of the four March sisters, travels abroad after her relationship with her sister Jo is deeply strained. There, Amy is put into a land she is not familiar with, searching for who she is and what she ultimately wants to do with her life. Like in The Odyssey, Amy eventually comes back home knowing who she is and married to Jo’s former love, Laurie.

Another example of Homer’s work being essentially replicated is in the story of Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. After Huck gets a hold of a substantial amount of money, his father kidnaps him and moves him into a desolate house in the woods. Reluctantly, Huck fakes a suicide and escapes and sets out on his own journey. The antithetic character of Huck Finn always felt as if he did not belong. However, as the story comes to a close and his adventure is over, Huck feels a sense of belonging.

The Odyssey is certainly the greatest literary work of all time. Modern writers have followed his example for centuries, as in Little Women and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The story of a hero going into a new land, searching for adventure, but ultimately trying to go back home, is the distinct basis of every great story.

They dance in the wind

To forbid the bad spirit

In time, it will go.

This is a Greek god myth I created!

-Caroline

Poseidon, god of the sea, loved adding to his kingdom. He was very powerful but also greedy, quarrelsome, and aggressive. One day, out of the blue, Poseidon decided he needed a queen to help him rule. Zeus, god of the sky, introduced his brother to several candidates qualified for marriage. Poseidon didn’t like any of the women, mortals and immortals, Zeus brought forced on him. Finally Zeus gave up and let Poseidon decide for himself, which was not a very good idea.

Nami, a mortal living in Athens, got Poseidon’s attention. She was an excellent weaver and great warrior, two qualities Poseidon loved in a woman. After watching Nami for months, Poseidon came to the conclusion that he wanted her as his bride.

When arriving in Athens, Poseidon disguised himself as Nami’s father and entered her home. Nami was completely fooled and had no idea a powerful and envious god was in her home. Poseidon thought it would be wise not to tell Nami who he was, and just ask her questions about what she thought about the god of the sea. Much to his surprise, Poseidon discovered that Nami thought the Greek god stories were a sham. Nami said she didn’t believe any of the stories she had heard her whole life about the gods. This enraged Poseidon.

After hearing this, Poseidon took off his disguise and told Nami he was Poseidon and she was in deep trouble. Nami begged Poseidon not to hurt her, and after careful thinking, Poseidon agreed to her request and left for his home in the sea.

Exactly twelve days after his visit with Nami, Poseidon found a way to get her to be his queen. Wittingly, Poseidon caused a huge storm under the water that caused tremendous tidal waves over the Earth, what we know as a tsunami. The largest tidal wave hit near Athens and swept away three-fourths of the population, including Nami. Poseidon brought Nami down to his kingdom and made her his queen. Today, Nami and Poseidon cause tidal waves together, and make a tsunami.