Reading Notes: Nine Ideal Indian Women: Sita, Promila, and Shakuntala, Part B

I've loved this reading. it's a whole new approach to the stories I already know. I was shocked when I read about Sita and Rama's first encounter to find out they were both so young! It was said that at the age of fourteen Sita's father began looking for a husband for her. It also said that Rama was sixteen when he completed the task of breaking the bow. I feel that their whole meeting and becoming a couple was not explained thoroughly enough for me in the Ramayana. I was excited for all of the details. The imagery created when they first laid eyes on one another was absolutely perfect. I also was unaware that Rama's full name was Ramchandra. I think the story of Rama and Sita will always captivate me the most.

Bibliography:

Title: Nine Ideal Indian Women: Sita, Promila, and Shakuntala 1919

Author: Sunity Devee

(Rama and Sita)

Reading Notes: Nine Ideal Indian Women: Sita, Promila, and Shakuntala, Part A

I decided that for my last reading I would read about Indian women. So far I've really enjoyed learning of Sita's background. They each have such unique story. I thought it was interesting that the word sita means furrow. I was surprised to find that Sita was actually found inside of a furrow in a gold gharrah (pitcher). It was said to be buried in the ground. How was a baby alive inside of a pitcher, buried underground? Well I guess things do not have to make logical sense in epics. I am eager to read more about the other two women. I like that there are stories that solely focus on the india women. That's pretty neat to me. I hope I can come up with a great story this week after reading the Nine Ideal Indian Women!

Bibliography:

Title: Nine Ideal Indian Women: Sita, Promila, and Shakuntala 1919

Author: Sunity Devee

Growth Mindset: 4 Lesson in Creativity

I watched Julie Bernstein's video over the four lessons in creativity. I am drawn to creative people. When I feel that I am lagging behind, talking to someone about their passion is likely propel me forward. I enjoyed listening to the words of all the creative people she had interviewed. It truly excites me to hear all the different point of views. I liked how she focused so much on imperfections. We tend to have some sort of creative plan but that doesn't mean things always go according to that plan. She used the pottery as an example. She showed how one pot acquired a crackle pattern on it due to the quick change in temperature. The pattern was not intended but it was actually beautiful. Or when she talks about how the photographer was about to make something beautiful out of the rubble from 9/11, I feel that I can relate to that. I can really only write after I've been heart broken. While this is a form of destruction, it makes the most beautiful art, at my own cost. But I wouldn't have it any other way. I think it is that way for many artists. The strongest of feelings end up as the most vibrant. Creative people will always ignite the spark inside of me. I really enjoyed this short video. 

(Rupi Kaur Poem)

Story Planning: The Brave Little Bear

I am considering writing a story off of "The Brave Little Bowman" story. I may include a hunter in my story and have him be the antagonist. It will start with a family of bears in the woods and all their woodland friends. I could also incorporate parts of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears". So there would be Papa Bear, Momma bear and Baby bear in my story. I could have Papa bear get caught in the hunter's trap and then baby bear has to rise to the occasion and save Papa while protecting Momma. 

The bears will be a family of grizzlies. Baby bear's best friends will be a fawn and a young hawk. I want to use a hawk so that he can use his flight to help Baby bear save Papa bear and the other animals in the forest. I'd like to start out my story with how the three became friends. I think it would be cute to write about the young hawk learning to fly, the fawn learning to run and Baby bear learning how to climb a tree. This will explain the bond they have with one another and lead up to them helping Baby bear. 

I don't want the hunter to be killed in my story but rather just scared off. I think it would be interesting to have Baby bear not be able to roar. Maybe this is something Baby bear is very self conscious of. And then I could have Baby bear's roar scare off the hunter and all the animals will be so happy for him finding his roar finally. At this point I am just spouting off ideas but I guess that's what brainstorming is. I want to make this story a combination of a few of the Jataka tales I've read this week. 

Bibliography: More Jataka Tales 1922 by Ellen C. Babbitt 

(Baby Bear)

Reading Notes: More Jataka Tales, Part A

I stuck with my recent theme of Jataka tales this week. I am hoping next week to branch out more. I think the stories about women look interesting so maybe I'll tackle those next. This week I read a few Jataka tales but there's one I particularly enjoyed. It is called "The Woodpecker, Turtle, and Deer". I liked that in this story they all ended up helping one another escape death. I truly valued the lesson taught here. I think that these days it can be hard to find loyal friends. These three friends demonstrated a perfect example of loyalty to one another. The turtle and the woodpecker worked together to save the deer from the hunter. In return, when the turtle was captured by the hunter, the deer came to his rescue. In the end they were all able to keep their lives. This ordeal brought them all closer and it is said that they lived out happy lives together from then on. I think one big reason I am drawn to these stories is because they typically involve animals. Animals are one of my biggest passions. I also enjoy these stories because of the lessons they teach. Some lessons may be easier than others, but each and every one are important. 

Bibliography: More Jataka Tales 1922 by Ellen C. Babbitt 

(Bambi and Friends)

The Sea Turtle and the Whale

The Barrier Reef is home to many vibrant families. They all have specific jobs in their community. Each species is so diverse from the other. They usually only mingle with those like them. It's common to find two clown fish cracking jokes with one another. As well as two clams polishing pearls together. But cross-species mingling is not acceptable. 

Ruth, a scrawny year-old humpback whale, never feels connected with her fellow humpbacks. Everyone else her age is twice her size. And on top of that, her sight isn't very strong. She's constantly bumping into large rocks, the reef, and other humpbacks. The others always make fun of her. Joking about her size, "I think you were meant to be a dolphin," one cackles. "Or maybe a mole? Since you can't see a thing!" another adds. Ruth spends most of her time alone, swimming the same route she does day after day. She has it memorized so that she won't embarrass herself by running into things. It's a wide open ocean. It shouldn't be that hard to avoid obstacles. But when an obstacle the size of a silver dollar comes swimming at you full speed, there's really not much one can do!

THUD.

"Ow... what in the world was that?" Ruth rubs the tip of her nose. She looks around trying to figure out what had just hit her. There's a small green object lying on the floor of the ocean. She swims down next to it, inches away.

"Please, don't eat me! I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was swimming!" a little voice croaks from the being lying on the floor.

"I'm not going to eat you, silly! I just can't see very well. Are you a sea turtle?"

"Oh. Yes, I am. My name is Eugene."

"Nice to meet you, Eugene, I'm Ruth!"

"I've never met a humpback. Y'all are even bigger up close." Eugene's eyes widen as she gets up and dusts herself off. "That was quite the collision, nearly knocked me out!"

"And I have never met a sea turtle. You are so tiny, I didn't even see you coming! How did you miss me?" Ruth asks.

"Well, I was playing tag with my friends and I must have wandered off a bit far. I was looking back to see if anyone was chasing me and BAM, I ran into a wall. Or, so I thought. And the next thing I remember was this creature with huge eyes staring at me!" Eugene explains. 

"Well, I am sorry about that. I would have gotten out of your way had I seen you!"

They are both laughing at this point. And from this day on they are inseparable. With Eugene by Ruth's side, Ruth is able to venture out to parts of the sea she has never seen. Eugene is always the eyes of the duo and if they come upon any potential threats, Ruth is big enough to protect the both of them. But others cannot understand why a humpback and a sea turtle would want to be friends with one another. I mean, it is truly unheard of. 

"Glad you finally found someone to take pity on you, Ruth." A girl humpback named Calliope taunts Ruth about her new found friendship. "Looks like a match made in heaven!"

Eugene just cannot hold her tongue. She swims up to Calliope, and shaking her fin in the giant mammal's face says, "You can't understand true friendship till you learn to love someone who couldn't be more different from you. How shallow of you to hate on our friendship. It's possible that our relationship is the deepest one in the ocean. Living the way you do, you may never find a friendship like ours." And with that she turns to Ruth. "C'mon, we don't need to waste time with whales who have nothing interesting to say."

Ruth and Eugene's friendship only grew stronger over time. Their husbands became great friends as well, and their children, and their children's children. To this day they still swim the same route they always have. They are the one reason sea creatures all intermingle now. Diversity is what makes the sea so rich and in embracing it they unlocked a door of endless love and happiness. 

Author's Note:
After reading Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt last week I was inspired to write a story with cute animals in it. Each Jataka tale always has a lesson in it. I wanted to choose a lesson very important to me. That's why my lesson is to accept others no matter how different they may be from you. I love the diversity in our world and can't understand why more of us can't learn to embrace it! Without diversity, the world would be a pretty boring place. I wanted to use a sea turtle and  a humpback because they are such different creatures. My humpback, Ruth, was modeled after a character from Finding Dory. And my sea turtle, Eugene, was modeled after Squirt from Finding Nemo! I feel like these days many are in need of this lesson. We are all too caught up in our own ways to try to accept anyone else. All I ever see on the news anymore is violence and more violence. And it all centers around the same issue, people not seeing eye to eye. I hope that one day we can overcome all of this adversity and learn to love one another despite our diversity. 

(Great Barrier Reef)

Bibliography: Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt

Reading Notes: Twenty Jataka Tales, Part A

This week I read some more Jataka tales. In part A of the reading, I particularly enjoyed the story about The Fairy and The Hare. It taught a wonderful lesson about being selfless. The four animals decided to not eat for a day and save their food for someone who really needed it. So all but the hare found food to give away. The hare was beside herself trying to find food to give away. Then she decided she would give up herself as food. While this story is the extreme, it truly teaches such an important lesson. Being selfless is such a rewarding act. For the past two years, during thanksgiving, my family and I go to the City Rescue Mission in downtown OKC to eat with the homeless people. Some don't talk, they just eat. But some share their stories. Or if there are kids, they're always fun to play with. It's really rewarding to get to share a meal with people who may go hungry some days. It also really does make you thankful for what you have been given in life. I really enjoyed the moral of The Fairy and The Hare.

Bibliography: Twenty Jataka Tales by Noor Inayat (Khan)

(The Fairy and The Hare)

Story Planning: The Sea Turtle and The Dolphin

This week I chose to focus on a few of the Jataka Tales. I really enjoyed reading these. Since they were written for children they were simple and easy to comprehend. Each involved a different set of animals and each taught a lesson about life. I feel like using the Jataka Tales as a guideline for my story could be very helpful. Maybe I could choose a specific life lesson and then pick my animals accordingly. I want to challenge myself to pick an animal that wasn't already used i the Jataka Tales. 

For this next story I want to challenge myself also to focus more on punctuation. I have been struggling with it in previous weeks. I also want to become better at editing my own stories. I think skill is extremely important to a writer. 

I think I would like to use a sea turtle as one of my animals in my story. Maybe a sea turtle and a dolphin? Or maybe a whale? I think setting my story in the sea would make for a ton of vibrant imagery. Maybe it could give it a Finding Nemo kind of feel. 

For the lesson maybe I could focus on "follow your passion". Not sure what the passions will be for the dolphin and sea turtle yet but I'm sure I can come up with something really cute. I love being able to personify these creatures. Stories always seem to be more intriguing when talking animals are involved. 

I am eager to write this story because I feel like I can really dig deep into my imagination. I'm excited to develop a unique, feel-good story. I also feel like I can pack more emotion into this story which I always love. I primarily write poetry in my free time so emotion is usually what I use to propel myself. 

(Finding Nemo)

Bibliography:
Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt

Reading Notes: Jataka Tales, Part B

I read another Jataka tale tonight. I really like these because they have to do with animals and animals are one of my biggest passions. I read "The Elephant and The Dog" this time. This was about the friendship built between an elephant and a dog. In life there seems to be many interesting animal friendships. I feel that the human race could learn a lot from nature. An elephant and a dog could not be more different but that doesn't stop them from loving one another. Once they are separated both are devastated. The elephant won't even eat or bathe. In the end once the dog returns to the elephant they are both elated. In life sometimes we think if someone is drastically different from us we won't be able to get along. But we are all living and breathing beings, on the same earth. When it comes down to it we aren't that different at all. We are all capable of love, every single being. I fully believe that. I really loved this short little tale and feel that I will be able to write a great story this week based off the Jataka Tales.

Bibliography:
Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt

(Elephant and Dog)

Reading Notes: Jataka Tales, Part A

This week I decided to read the Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt. I read the tale of "The Foolhardy Wolf". I liked this tale because I feel like there is a huge underlying lesson to it. In life I feel that often we become too confident in our ability to do things on our own. This kind of reminds me a bit of the relationship between a child and their parent. Children are always so eager to go out and do things on their own, until they really get thrown into the real world. I know this happened to me once I went to college. Being an adult definitely isn't easy. In this story the lion was making all the kills for the wolf as long as the wolf would look out for prey and notify the lion of them. They had the perfect dynamic going on until the wolf grew bigger and took on too big a task. He wanted to take down his own elephant and in ignoring the lions warnings that he wouldn't be able to do it, was killed by the elephant. I am so eager to read more of these tales and hopefully compile them into a story of my own about life lessons!

Bibliography:
Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt

(Lion and Wolf)