Life As A Constant Process Of Learning And Sacrifice

Alcoholism causes several individual problems in a family ad community. (Smoke Signals)

Alcoholism causes several different problems in a family and community. It is a slow evil circle that can ruin generations of happiness. People die from alcohol every year in unsuspected ways. Anyone can get involved in alcoholism, but the problems can get even worse. For example, 1 out of 10 Native Americans die from alcoholism per year. In a report done by nbcnews.com, they say “11.7 percent of deaths among Native Americans and Alaska Natives between 2001 and 2005 were alcohol-related, compared with 3.3 percent for the U.S. as a whole.” (1 in 10 Native American deaths alcohol related, nbcnews.com) When the numbers are presented, it becomes a surprising reality for people not affected by alcohol. Although death is an obvious problem, there are several more problems which can all interestingly be related to alcoholism. Alcohol is a depressant, if depression already exists, it will only be amplified. “depressed people turned to alcohol in an attempt to self-medicate to ease their emotional pain. But a large study from New Zealand showed that it was probably the other way around -- that is, heavy drinking led to depression.” (12 Health Risks Of Chronic Heavy Drinking, webmd.com) It is hard to tell whether depression or alcoholism comes first, either way alcohol will not solve problems, only make them worse. Depression eventually causes hate, which spreads negative energy and leads to more depression. Interestingly, alcoholism is also known to cause dementia. When humans get old, their brain naturally shrinks. However, someone who is a heavy drinker may have excelled brain reduction. Alcohol definitely kills brain cells, but it also puts a lot of stress on the individual's brain. “Heavy drinking can also lead to subtle but potentially debilitating deficits in the ability to plan, make judgments, solve problems, and perform other aspects of executive function, which are the higher-order abilities that allow us to maximize our function as human beings,” (12 Health Risks Of Chronic Heavy Drinking, webmd.com) These are some of the activities of daily living that alcohol affects. These problems can ruin someone’s life, their marriage, their relationships, their work. Alcohol is something that does not have to be bad, but can easily be abused because of it’s addictive qualities. Too much can shatter a family and knock down a community, literally and metaphorically.


People can and should use their sense of empathy to become a stronger community instead of taking it for granted. (Empathic civilization)

People can and should use their sense of empathy to become a stronger community instead of taking it for granted. The sense of empathy is not unique to humans as a species, but it is unique to mammals.  Human and animal social behavior is quite similar to one another.  In fact, some animal species treat others with more compassion and empathy than humans.  Yet humans have a more developed sense of empathy.  “Many animals are far more empathic and fair than many people realize. Even mice are empathic beings and capuchin monkeys and domestic dogs expect to be treated fairly.” (Why Animals Need Empathy Too, Marc Bekoff)  In studies designed to learn more about the psyche of animals, the animal has an understanding of a “treat”, or an incentive offered to him, and expects to get treated fairly when he performs certain duties.  Although humans have a very evolved sense of empathy and compassion, some people misuse it or take it for granted.  Since humans have a more advanced empathetic sense, they tend to use it on animals.  For example, they train their dogs by rewarding them with a treat when they do something good.  Through all observations of animals and empathy, much can be learned.  A scientist, Marc Bekoff does a study on wild dogs and domestic dogs and finds that,“Basic rules of fairness guide social play and similar rules are the foundation for fairness among adults. This moral intelligence, so evident in both wild canids and in domesticated dogs”  (Why Animals Need Empathy Too, Marc Bekoff)  Evolutionarily, what starts off as a small sense of fairness can lead to a much more evolved emotion of empathy.  This sense could be a big part of evolution because it subconsciously tells the being how to live in a community.  With animals, they learn rules which helps them survive in a community.  “Four basic aspects of fair play in animals are: Ask first, be honest, follow the rules, and admit you're wrong. When the rules of play are violated, and when fairness breaks down, so does play.” (Why Animals Need Empathy Too, Marc Bekoff)  These four things are all very simple concepts yet they have taken the human race so far and have helped people prosper and become a community.  If the human race studies empathy in it’s entirety, people may be able to do so much more with it.  The sense of empathy and compassion may not yet be anywhere close to fully evolved.  Imagine a culture where empathy and compassion are used to their fullest, there may not even be a word for war.


Nature can be emotionally healing in many ways.(ceremony)

Nature can be healing in many ways, physical, mental and emotional.  Nature is a peaceful retreat for anyone in need.  It has been scientifically proven that being in nature, or even seeing images of nature can reduce stress, anger and possibly depression, especially for someone with  recent trauma.  For some people, depression is caused by lack of personal connection. Interestingly, a study done by the University of Illinois showed that nature can connect people and minimize depression.  “University of Illinois suggests that residents in Chicago public housing who had trees and green space around their building reported knowing more people, having stronger feelings of unity with neighbors, being more concerned with helping and supporting each other, and having stronger feelings of belonging than tenants in buildings without trees.” (How does nature impact our wellbeing? www.takingcarge.csh ) Throughout history, it seems as though humans always have a remarkable connection with nature subconsciously.  There is an energy connection between humans and nature no matter how stressful,  painful or traumatizing life is.  Even the smallest bits of nature help.  “Nature helps us cope with pain. Because we are genetically programmed to find trees, plants, water, and other nature elements engrossing, we are absorbed by nature scenes and distracted from our pain and discomfort.” (How does nature impact our wellbeing? www.takingcarge.csh ) Most hospitals are built around parks and green areas for these reasons.  In turn, nature plays a large role in emotional pain as well.  For example, PTSD is something that can consume one's mind with negative thoughts which make them more and more depressed.  Nature can somehow bring them back up.  “humans find nature inherently interesting, we can naturally focus on what we are experiencing out in nature.  This also provides a respite for our overactive minds, refreshing us for new tasks.”  (How does nature impact our wellbeing? www.takingcarge.csh)  In the book Ceremony, the main character Tayo, had a significant amount of PTSD coming back from World War II.  However, as he spent more time in nature, his mood started to get better.  Nature eventually gave him a new purpose in life and in the end, made his life complete.  Nature is part of human life just as much as human life is a part of nature.


Sometimes, the imperfections make things even more beautiful.(press pause play)

Sometimes, imperfections can make things even more beautiful.  A defining quality of humans is to make mistakes, in art, media, daily routines, and work. It is very natural and easy to make a mistake.  However, when someone tries to be perfect, it feels unnatural and eerie to another.  A music producer says this about his inspiration for music, "I like listening to Billie Holiday because there is vulnerability.  I get really almost intimidated and bored by perfect digital art." (Moby, PressPausePlay.) Billie Holiday was popular in the 1920s and 1930s, she is a jazz musician with a very distinct voice.  She had a soothing but unpredictable musical style.  Many people all over the world believe music is meant to have subtle mistakes or else it would simply not be music, only sounds that have been over manipulated.  There is a fine line that can be crossed when small beautiful, subtle mistakes become blatant mistakes.  "Younger musicians and some older ones that I've seen rely too much on the technology. They give a subpar performance and expect the technology to compensate for it." (Nick Sansano, PressPausePlay.)  If one  overuses tools like technology and forgets about the beauty in the subtle mistakes deep within the music, they may destroy the music and it becomes predictable and boring.  Some people could argue that new editing software is a tool that would create the illusion of perfection in music, when in reality it only makes it sound more robotic.  Also, technology is a tool to help the artist, not control the artist.  According to an article by Boundless.com,  “Beauty in terms of art refers to an interaction between line, color, texture, sound, shape, motion, and size that is pleasing to the senses.” (boundless.com, what makes art beautiful?)  This quote means that all these factors come together to make one visual, audible, touchable interactive piece of art.  It becomes something beautiful, in fact, it is arguable that art is already beautiful, and it just needs the artist to put it together to make it even more beautiful. There is no correct way to arrange emotions and feelings, which is one of the reasons why art is incredibly powerful.  It is about the human spirit, and the human spirit is not about being perfect.


P.T.S.(D is a normal human human stress reaction that could happen after a dramatic experience to anyone. (pts(d)

P.T.S.(D) is a normal human stress reaction that could happen to anyone after a traumatic experience.  It is a weight that can be held on an individual's shoulders from a very young age, which can lead to many other sorts of problems.  This horrific human reaction can be caused by any sort of traumatic experience in one's life, as explained in this video giving background on P.T.S.(D) “Most people have been through  some type of life threatening or traumatic event, and it's common to have stress related reactions after trauma, but when symptoms last more than 3 months and there not better, it's time to get help.”  (What Is PTSD? Veterans health administration)  It is natural to be afraid in a life threatening situation.  In Fact, a split second sensation occurs in the body called fight or flight.  This reaction makes the individual choose whether they can stay and fight or leave and escape.  With P.T.S.(D), this reaction is damaged within the individual's mind.   P.T.S.(D) works against empathy.  Empathy is the act of understanding and feeling something happen to another.  P.T.S.(D) makes this reaction immensely stressful.  “the harm may have happened to a loved one, or the person may have witnessed a harmful event that happened to loved ones or strangers.”(What is post traumatic stress disorder? Mimh.nih.gov) The human brain is not designed to see very much danger, destruction, or trauma, so when it does, parts of it shut down.  People who have P.T.S.(D) are known to feel unsafe or in danger when there it may be nonexistent, but how common is it to get P.T.S.(D)? According to an article from nature.com about this topic “50–60% of people will experience a traumatic event at some point in their lives, whether through military combat, assault, a serious car accident or a natural disaster.” (Stress, The roots of resilience, Virginia Hughes)  This world is filled with trauma and destruction, and the odds are in humanity's favor to experience some of it.   Sometimes bad situations happen to good people, and the good people are the ones that can handle these bad situations and emerge from them.

Thing-Link

a Transcendence of Community and Nature of Empathy

As the population continuously grows, some say the presence of a community is diminishing.  This could be because of a lack of attention in technologically addicted people.  However, is there really such a thing as "technologically addicted"?  The answer may be "yes" according to Joe Garner.  He made a film experimenting with this topic called, Craigslist Joe.  In the movie, Joe says, "have we become so caught up in our  lives that we are not willing to go outside our bubble, are we less willing to see each other as neighbors?" This bubble he is referring to could perhaps be a virtual bubble?  This bubble could very well explain our addiction to technology.  If one stripped every thing

away from their life except for technology, would it still be possible to have a human connection? After doing just that for a month, Joe Garner experienced a connection with community that blew him away, "The generosity of people, and like, the stories they share and the connections I made."  There was immense emotion in his journey.   Joe used technology (Craigslist) to create a community of generous people who came together to help him go across the country.  For example, "Studies have shown that Americans spend more time with media than they do eating, sleeping and participating in family activities." Media Literacy  Human spirit is the one thing that cannot be broken.  Although it can be abused, it can also be used as a tool to help people become closer to their community.

Empathy is something that every human is capable of.  It is a feeling that makes people cringe and shriek due to others' pain or suffering.  It is amazing how all humans can quite literally feel another person's pain. "6.8 billion people, at various stages of consciousness, theological, idealogical, phycological, dramaturgical, all came from two people." Jeremy Rifkin, The Empathic Civilization.  Studies
show that all people are actually related to many of the same ancestral humans.  Interestingly, studies also show that all mammals show empathy towards different creatures.  This is caused by mirror neurons.  Most homo sapiens have them, but it was first tested on monkeys.  The following quote helps explain mirror neurons and what they do. "If I'm observing you. Your anger, your frustration, your sense of rejection, your joy, whatever it is, the same neurons will light up in me as if I'm having that experience myself." Jeremy Rifkin, The Empathic Civilization.  An example of this would be when a spider crawls up someones arm and the other person watching gets creeped out.  It is easy to take this feeling for granted because it occurs so often.  However, it can be used for good as long as people don't repress it. "Bring out our empathic sociability so we can rethink the institutions of society and prepare the groundwork for an empathic civilization." Jeremy Rifkin Empathic Civilization.  Humans naturally have been building civilization around this feeling for millenniums.  That's why empathy is one of the most amazing and incredible human traits.

Videos/Images

The room is off balance with the picture

Jesse moving into a daze state

there is a black shadow in the side of the picture

his green cloths and the money symbolize sickness

there is more light in the picture than dark.

some of the image is black and the other lighter

It starts with the main character blurred in the mirror of a car, which moves to a diegesis.  The shoot is edited and moves to him singing to landscape to a bar. The shots focus on her face in that rear view mirror. then moves to a graveyard.  The lighting brighter in the beginning and darker at the end.  At the beginning it is also a open space sence and towards the end it is more closed may meaning a escape getting smaller and smaller.  At the end he turns into a squid which could mean he is de evolving back into a creature from the ocean based on earlier evidence when he is in the ocean and has a bit of a connection while watching a seal.

The sense is shot in a gloomy diner which focuses on a woman while a man is trying to get her attention in the background.  It starts off low key lighting and moves to highly lighting. Throughout the video, the clock does not change,  which means it could be a flashback and/or a dream.  He could feel as though he needs love in his life therefore

What the Internet Consists of

The internet has many different purposes.  It is a way to connect with others or a way to enhance one's knowledge about almost anything.  It is a tool for good and evil and an information haven for people all around the world.  The internet makes new information almost too easy to access.  "The peoples right to know is much more easily fulfilled than it has ever been in the history of the world. We've come a long, long way and the information revolution is coming." (Culture and Communication)  In other words, because information is more accessible to the average person than it used to be, it has a greater affect on society in many ways.  One effect is mass fear.  This is caused by media showing people the horrors of the world that they may not necessarily otherwise.  For example, when Princess Diana died, people from all over the world were fearful and sad but also intrigued. "The Internet which became a bona fide news medium by the end of the 20th century, also proved to be a successful vehicle for covering the story of Diana's Death." (Culture and Communication)   The internet can be a way for millions to connect and come together.  In this case, people could mourn the loss of Princess Diana together.  With situations like these, the internet is constantly becoming bigger all the time, "research also showed that hundreds of thousands of internet users around the world turned to chat rooms and message boards to express their shock and share grief together.   Princess Diana's death is a prime example of how the internet is used to bring together groups of people to share the human spirit through a virtual way.

Technology Is Great. Or is it?

Many old questions can still be debated today. What comes first? The chicken, or the egg? This question can be taken into consideration when thinking about different kinds of art, like music, literature and film. For example, some say technology is assisting music too much, but what came first, the technology, or the musician?  Bill Drummond, an artist says, "The technology always comes first, then the artist comes along. The artist always comes after the technology." Bill Drummond, PressPausePlay.  In a very basic way this statement is true, with arguably every artist throughout history. VanGough could not paint his masterpieces if paint was never invented. However, can the artist overuse or mis-use the technology?  Evidence points to the answer being yes.  Nick Sansano, a music producer says, "Younger musicians and some older ones that I've seen rely too much on the technology. They give a subpar performance and expect the technology to compensate for it."

Nick Sansano, PressPausePlay.  Although  technology may make these musicians sound better, it leaves out room for human imperfections, that give art creative expression.  Moby, a well known artist says, "I like listening to Billy Holiday because there is vulnerability.  I get really almost intimidated and bored by perfect digital art." Moby PressPausePlay.  Perfection is something that is unnatural to humans.  If one feels "intimidated" by listening, one must feel "intimidated" or worse by creating it.  Technology may have always come before the artist, but does the artist create technology that can be considered art itself?  Time can only tell.

As the internet changes and evolves, so do people.  When someone uses the internet it leaves an electronic footprint thus building a larger picture called an (e)dentity.  In an article written about (e)dentity, Stephanie Vie explains what her definition of an (e)dentity is, " "(e)dentity, an electronic identity composed of the digital traces left behind as we participate in virtual worlds." Stephanie Vie, Your (e)dentity.  One can choose what kind of persona they would like to become in a virtual world. Someone may portray an (e)dentity online who they may not truly be.  Another problem with an (e)dentity is that it is a violation of privacy. "When the news feed feature was introduced in September 2006, thousands of users were outraged, concerned that changes in their relationships, conversations with other users and so on were now immediately visible to everyone else in their network." Stephanie Vie, Your (e)dentity.  People feel their privacy is invaded.  It is almost like living in a big city -vs- a small town. In a city people don't really have an idea of what is going on in the life of people around them however in a small town people know every detail about each other's lives.

(E)dentities, of course, can also be good.  For example, if a music group is just starting their career and needs to promote themselves, it could be used as an effective promotional tool.  (E)entities can also represent a community.  It can  be used to send a message, "An event that clearly illustrated both the power and the limitations of social media was the flood of rapid reactions to the shooting of U.S. congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords."  When people form a community to send a message through social media, it makes a massive virtual footprint, and an even greater (e)dentity.

Forgiving Forgetting

Humans are forced to pay for what their ancestors have given to them.  Why should one have to pay? Why should one want to forgive themselves or their ancestors?  As Thomas says in the beginning of the film Smoke Signals;  "How do we forgive our fathers? Maybe in a dream. Do we forgive our fathers for leaving us too often, or forever."
Born into pain.  People cannot simply choose their lives. Thomas says in Smoke Signals "You know, there are some children who art really children at all. Theory just pillars of flame that burn every thing they touch. And there are some children who are just pillars of ash, that they fall apart if you'd touch em. Me and victor, we were children of flame and ash. Someone that is born into pain is typically very weak. and as a result of that, they may feel like they destroy every thing around them or get destroyed by every thing around them emotionally.  One way to heal from this situation is to simply not take anything that has happened in the past or is currently happening too seriously. To recognize it, but not pick at it. Thomas is a good example of this, because even though he lost both of his parents, he does not let it get to him. He understands it happened, but does not focus on the facts too much. "Sometimes its a good day to die, sometimes its a good day to eat breakfast" He is starting out by saying something depressing and serious, but ending with a way to bring things back to a lighthearted place which his mind is in. There is a time in every ones life, when they must come to understand an emotional wound and why it happened. That is where the journey of healing begins.

It has been proven that Human communication is the hardest thing people do on a daily basis. Why? Several reasons. One being that it depends on the outlook that person has, meaning their mood. When someones outlook is bad it projects on someone else, giving them a bad outlook, the cycle continues. It shows a great example of this in the film Smoke Signals, Arnold Joseph has been racially profiled his whole life giving him a bad outlook "Back then Arnold Joseph was a hippy but that was ok because back then most hippies were trying to be Indians any way!" Therefore projecting these thoughts on his son Victor Joseph, and eventually leaving his family as a result. This makesVictor bitter, and gives him a bad outlook on life. Victor is usually trying to spread his outlook on other people like Thomas for example but he can seem to get through to him. Thomas says "Hey Victor Hows your Dad?"  Which only seems to make Victor's outlook even worse by binging back  memories about his father he wanted to vanish. Why would Thomas do that? he simply did not know. This is another reason why communication is hard. People simply do not know what other people will get offended by. Although Victors father was an alcoholic, that is something he did not pass down to his son. Victor says "I don't drink, never had a drop of alcohol in my life, not a drop." His father taught him not to drink by being a bad example. This is important, however still leaves him with emotional wounds. There are reasons why Communication is hard for Humans, but the benefits outweigh the negatives. By communicating, one can heal.