Artifact 3
Assignment
One of our assignments was to free write two to three pieces a week for ten minutes. The rules for free writing are that there are no rules, except that you do it. Free writing means just that, to write freely any first thoughts that come into your head. Natalie Goldberg encourages us to free write with pen and paper and that is how I did it for most of the class. When we free write we are not worried about spelling errors, grammar, logic, rules, or any other convention of writing that you might have learned. The idea is just to write starting with a blank paper, a pen, and your thoughts. It is even fine if you have no thoughts, write that down "I have no thoughts, I have no thoughts" over and over until you do have some thoughts or the page fills up and your time limit is reached. I have tried free writing in a public place, in the middle of the desert at sunrise, in bed in the dark, the bathroom, and my truck. I have not purposefully sat down to do any of my assignments as free writing exercises first. Most of my assignments have come sitting at the computer Using Microsoft Word and just getting it done. Interesting to me is that when I write on the computer now I tend to write a lot faster and I just try to keep up with the first thoughts in my head. I will never write another paper the way I did in the past, get an idea, find evidence to support the idea, write the paper in a logical order, works cited, done. Now I can immediately find some time to free write about a topic or several topics and then review the free writes to see if there is anything interesting there. Then I can do my research and find any evidence that supports or diminishes my point of view. Then I can write about it. The piece below is from a free write I did in my spirally notebook that I copied word for word to the computer so I could upload it here. I did not edit this in any way, I don't think that I spell checked it. This free write let me vent a bit about all the be-headings that were going on in the news at that time (why doesn't the news self-censor those types of things? It feels like car chases on TV, news coverage only encourages others to do the same). I could go in a lot of different directions with this but merely writing about it let me get on with my day in peace.
There's no such thing as a writer's block. If you're having trouble writing, well, pick up the pen and write. No matter what, keep that hand moving. Writing is really a physical activity.
Natalie Goldberg
Free Write Example
I saw a Facebook post today about what Ronald Reagan would do to fight ISIL. For me it is not helpful to make such a contemplation. He was a great man in his time. The times we live in now are much different than they were in Reagan’s day. It is important for us to recognize that, to recognize that different solutions are required to solve the problems we face today. Solutions that worked in the past may no longer work, if they ever did. The problem that we face today with ISIL is more about a clash of ideologies than it is about be-headings, jihad or the control of oil resources. America is the land where the idea started that all men were created equal endowed by their Maker with certain Inalienable rights, namely life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. When Thomas Jefferson penned those words, he threw a tiny snowball down the mountain face of history and forever changed the world. At the time he wrote those words people were not citizens of Great Britain, they were subjects. Their rights existed at the whim of the Monarchy. Jefferson had a different idea, the idea that the rights men enjoyed were endowed by their maker and could not be taken away by any man, king, or government. Critics will point out that Jefferson himself inherited, owned, and maintained slaves throughout his life. Isn’t it inconsistent for Jefferson to proclaim all men are created equal and yet be an owner of slaves? The answer to that is yes it is inconsistent with the idea of universal equality for one man to own slaves and proclaim equality for all men. How did Jefferson address this issue? He never talked about it. The facts are that Jefferson spent much of his life in opposition to slavery while also owning slaves. He must have been aware of the great contradiction in his life. Perhaps, Jefferson knew that the idea of equality would eventually destroy the institution of slavery as it was practiced in America. We can never know that answer, yet that is what happened, and the snowball kept rolling. Eventually women were recognized to have the same inalienable rights as men after much suffering.
Islamic extremists, of the ilk that practice be-headings, have an entirely different view of the world. They hold the idea that Muslims are supreme in the world and that God will return after every infidel has been removed from this world. I do not doubt the fidelity of these extremists. I am convinced that they truly believe that their actions are manifest of the will of Allah. If that is true than we cannot reason with one another and it is doubtful that we can ever coexist peacefully. One group will destroy the other.
When Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, most people in America had a shared sense of God. That does not mean that they all believed in the same God, just that the majority were believers in God. It was easy for them to agree with the principles and the ideas that all men created by God should each enjoy certain rights not to be superseded by government. Is that still true today? Do Americans still have a shared sense of God? That our rights are Inalienable and come from our Creator? I am not sure that we do and if we do not have a shared sense of our creator than where do our rights come from? The State? We have witnessed many atrocities in every state that ever existed. In America, we perpetuated the slave trade, massacred the native people, and experimented on our own soldiers and citizens, among many other crimes. Do we want to grant the state the power to grant us our rights when we have seen what the State is capable of doing to its own citizens? If we should grant the state that power, are we not also granting the state the power to modify or cancel our sacred rights at its whim?
I do believe that America and her people have done much that is good in this world. I believe that many Americans still believe in God. Sometimes we are ashamed or embarrassed to admit our beliefs, as our beliefs do not always mesh with a scientific view of the universe. Alternatively, we have trouble explaining how God can allow natural disasters to kill people or famine to starve innocents. We never think of the alternative, we never question why governments have killed over 200 million people in the last 100 years. Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot, the list goes on and on.
Islamic extremists, of the ilk that practice be-headings, have an entirely different view of the world. They hold the idea that Muslims are supreme in the world and that God will return after every infidel has been removed from this world. I do not doubt the fidelity of these extremists. I am convinced that they truly believe that their actions are manifest of the will of Allah. If that is true than we cannot reason with one another and it is doubtful that we can ever coexist peacefully. One group will destroy the other.
When Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, most people in America had a shared sense of God. That does not mean that they all believed in the same God, just that the majority were believers in God. It was easy for them to agree with the principles and the ideas that all men created by God should each enjoy certain rights not to be superseded by government. Is that still true today? Do Americans still have a shared sense of God? That our rights are Inalienable and come from our Creator? I am not sure that we do and if we do not have a shared sense of our creator than where do our rights come from? The State? We have witnessed many atrocities in every state that ever existed. In America, we perpetuated the slave trade, massacred the native people, and experimented on our own soldiers and citizens, among many other crimes. Do we want to grant the state the power to grant us our rights when we have seen what the State is capable of doing to its own citizens? If we should grant the state that power, are we not also granting the state the power to modify or cancel our sacred rights at its whim?
I do believe that America and her people have done much that is good in this world. I believe that many Americans still believe in God. Sometimes we are ashamed or embarrassed to admit our beliefs, as our beliefs do not always mesh with a scientific view of the universe. Alternatively, we have trouble explaining how God can allow natural disasters to kill people or famine to starve innocents. We never think of the alternative, we never question why governments have killed over 200 million people in the last 100 years. Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot, the list goes on and on.
Reflection
I do not want to be a political writer. I do get upset about the Sigalert that has become politics in our world. I worry about the future for the sake of our children, my children. I have a perception that this whole battle we are having with Islam is being trumped up to keep Americans scared and to get us to accept the erosion of the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. This free write example reflects my feelings on the day that I wrote it. I had been watching and reading too many news stories about ISIL beheadings and they sickened me. I hope that I am wrong and that there is a way for those who practice Islam and the rest of the world to coexist without destroying each other. I remember back during the Bush Presidency when we were in war in Iraq and Afghanistan that most people thought we were fighting over oil. Perhaps we were fighting over oil, and perhaps we fight over oil still. Actually, a war over oil would be preferable to a religious war. A religious war is much more difficult to win that a simple war over resources. It is nearly impossible to change another’s mind, let alone a billion minds, which is what, would need to happen to win in a war with Islam. I would prefer no war at all. This piece brought me relief when I wrote it, as I was able to put my fears on paper. It is copied exactly from the spirally notebook in which I wrote it. My thoughts are not complete in regards the problem the World faces with Islam. I am sure that the problem is partly our fault. We, and I mean me, need to work to increase our understanding and tolerance so that we have a chance to coexist peacefully. When the day comes that we truly embrace the idea that all people are created equally, with the inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness we will find a way to coexist peacefully. Unlike Jefferson, who remained silent on the great contradiction in his life, we must own the mistakes that we make.
The correctness and quality of what you write do not matter; the act of writing does.
Natalie Goldberg