Sociological Mindfulness

Michael Schwalbe defines sociological mindfulness as, "the practice of tuning-in to how the social world works." He discusses how few people in today's world are sociologically mindful for various reasons. I agree with nearly everything that Schwalbe has to say on this subject matter. People are often too busy to take the time and think about how their actions affect others and how everybody's lives are intertwined. In addition, from a very early age people learn to focus mainly on themselves and only worry about things they know they have control over. It seems as if people are almost trained to be blind to the outside world and not to take the time to think about others, or actually try to fix problems that may seem difficult to fix, but are surely fixable. Thus far in my life, there have many occasions where people, and usually even my friends, are completely ignorant to how their words and actions affect the people around them, and even affect me. Many of my friends make jokes that play on stereotypes, even if the jokes are related to a group of people, or people of a certain race, that are present at the time. I have heard many Jewish jokes being told not only in front of me, but to me. Since I'm Jewish and all of my friends are aware of this, I'm not too sure why they think it is a good idea to be making those jokes to me of all people. The jokes don't really bother me anymore because I know my friends accept my religion and are most likely only kidding, but there is no doubt in my mind that the jokes offend plenty of other people that hear them. I think that the world would be a much better place if everyone could start to think less about themselves and more about others and how those people are affected by their actions. If Schwalbe's lessons could be taught to more people, there would be an epidemic of awareness that would only enlighten the minds of the somewhat ignorant humans that are living among us today.

Silence

After discussing our experience with Sal's silence activity on the first day, the entire class seemed to agree that the silence was awkward. But why was it awkward? What makes people think that silence is such an uncomfortable thing, especially in a classroom? Ever since we were children we have been brainwashed into thinking that if teachers don't get up in front of the class and lecture, or talk the entire time, that something is wrong. To students, silence is unconventional. It's not what is supposed to be. People need to stop having a problem with things, or in this case silence, that are out of the ordinary. Just because we aren't used to something, it isn't automatically bad or unacceptable. This situation is similar to one I was in over winter break. I asked my mom if I was allowed to stay out later than I'm normally allowed to and she didn't respond whatsoever. I am so accustomed to thinking that the "silent treatment" means I've done something wrong, when in reality she said yes shortly after. Humans are trained to think a certain way and often have a hard time adjusting to thinking in new and different ways. The saddest part about this is that most people don't even realize it has happened to them and nearly everyone around them.

Who Am I?

 It's hard to say what defines me as a person, because I rarely stop to think about what interests and qualities make me who I am. One of my biggest passions in life is music. I couldn't imagine life without my iPod and I wish I had more musical talents so I could be around music all the time. Up until freshman year I played piano and focused more on making the music, but now I love listening to other people make it. I could spend hours of my days searching for upcoming bands that I think might become popular, or just groups that I have never heard of before. Needless to say, I'm a music junkie. Starting my freshman year of high school I began to snowboard and fell in love with the sport. I can admit that I'm not very good at it, even after nearly 4 years of learning, but that is irrelevant to me. Snowboarding is relaxing(when I'm not face-planting into the snow) and it provides a necessary escape from the stresses of every day life. I try to live my life based on lessons that my parents have taught me and advice they have given me. Their opinions are extremely important to me, even if I may not let them know that at times, and they have helped me make numerous decisions in my life and have influenced my actions. By the end of my life, I want to be able to say that I lived life to the fullest and always tried my hardest at any task I was given. I always try to give one-hundred and ten percent, because if I don't try my hardest I know I'll regret it later on. Yes I can be hard on myself very often, but I would rather be that way than always wondering what life would be like if I had put more effort into things.