Free Write - In Every Sense of the Word

I made a resolution to post weekly, and I intend to keep it.

"I made a promise, Mr. Frodo. A promise."

Something like that.

But sometimes the desire to blog and the time to blog don't want to correspond nicely like they're supposed to. So this is my basically free-write blog post, where I shall just spin something out and see what happens. It's quick, and will probably come out weird, but hey, that's free writing for you. Actually free writing is a wonderful exercise that I've started liking more lately. It's really weird once you first start it. It's like "I'm supposed to be typing out my thoughts? Umm...I'm thinking about what I'm thinking about. I'm think about what to write about. And so I'm writing about thinking about what to write about...Aaah!" Yeah, pretty much.

But once you let yourself go, and just be willing to type, to keep throwing stuff out there, to not stop or restrain yourself, it can be a great exercise. It's great to do if you have a lot of emotions that you want to pour out, even if you don't know how to articulate them. It can be used as a venting mechanism. It can be used as a type of brainstorming. It can help generate ideas, whether that's for writing or a project or just for how to deal with a situation in your life. There are lots of uses. Sometimes it just helps to pour it out there. And see, now I'm free writing about free writing. And I'm trying to not slow down or censor myself (within reason, you understand. Don't go crazy with what I mean by that). And not censoring is hard - especially since I know I'm going to be posting this. This is probably a little more controlled than most free writes I do, or than most free writes should be. I would suggest not even going back to fix typos when you free write, which is of course not what I'm doing in this case, because who wants to read a blog post full of illegible typos? Ew. No thank you. Anyway, I hope this isn't boring. It probably is. But it's a blog post. And that's the point.

Ok, a little free writing on some quick thoughts of what's been going on in my life. Hopefully that will be interesting to some degree. In no particular order, here we go. We had two snow days last week, which was beautiful. I loved having the time to relax. Also, I've never really had snow days before, since nothing is ever canceled because of snow where I'm from. Super fun. However, I have even more busy-ness this week than normal because of it. So now I'm looking at several tests, a mock interview, a mountain of reading... And instead of reading Wordsworth or reviewing the French Revolution or practicing my best interviewing skills, like I should be doing, I've been taking "Which Disney Villain Are You?" quizzes, finally signing up for Pottermore (and wishing I could spend all night on it), going to Jack in the Box to get milkshakes and tacos, talking with friends in their dorm rooms, and free writing/blogging about what I'm doing instead of what I should be doing. That's right now.

In general, life's been pretty great lately. I've learned that granola bars are life savers. I've learned that I'll never feel like I've gotten enough sleep. I've learned that the sun will rise. Ok, that came from the line in the song I'm currently listening to. (It's The Lion King Broadway soundtrack, in case you're interested.) I've learned that I've been on a major Broadway music kick recently. I've learned that all my high ideals often don't match up with reality. I've learned that I never quite know what to think of myself. I've learned that there are some areas where I really struggle with knowing what I believe and I feel torn between two extremes. And this just got a bit deeper than I thought it would.

Also this is beginning to get long. Long enough to be a legitimate blog post, right? Anyway, back to the original topic of free writing - this is a bit of what a free write looks like, although I wasn't as strict with myself for this one as I usually am. I usually don't allow any editing or any pauses. But that's the general idea. Hope this was interesting. And if not.... Sorry. It was hurried. Obviously. But other peoples' free writes are probably not as interesting as your own free writes. So go write. Take a chunk of time - even time yourself for it - and just write, everything that comes to your mind. It sounds crazy, but try it. You never know where it's going to go. And you don't have to be a writer to do it. Just have fun. Alright, enough of this. I know this isn't a normal blog post. And most of my posts won't look like this. But I wanted to post, yet didn't want to put the effort into pulling together a polished post. So it's half determination and half laziness. Take it or leave it. But if you read it, or if you try free writing, let me know what you think!

Antigone in 60 Seconds

[Disclaimer: May or may not take longer than 60 seconds]

I present Antigone by Sophocles, one of the classic Greek dramas, as interpreted by me in a snarky mood!
(In case you're not familiar with the story: Antigone and Ismene are sisters, Polynices is their dead brother, Creon is their uncle, Haemon is his son and Antigone's fiance, Eurydice is Creon's wife, Tiresias is a prophet, and the Chorus is a group of citizens who like watching everything and philosophizing.)  

Antigone: Help me bury our brother because our uncle said we can’t!
Ismene: No way!
Antigone: You’re lame! 

Chorus: Thank goodness that war is over!
Creon:  I’m king! Everyone be loyal to the state! Don’t you dare buy Polynices. 

Sentry: Promise it wasn’t me, but someone kind of sort of buried him.
Creon: *explodes* 

Sentry (brings back Antigone): She did it!
Antigone: Yep, I did. Let's debate our differing views on duty.

Ismene: I only have you, so I’ll die too.
Antigone: I’m mad at you, but fine.
Creon: Oh kill them already.

Haemon: Hi Dad.
Creon: Justice! The state! Discipline!
Haemon: Couldn’t agree more. Maybe you could let her go?
Creon: Idiot, why won’t you listen?
Haemon: Ditto. See ya. 

Chorus: Love, you’re lame. 

Antigone: Well this stinks. Let me sing my funeral song to mourn myself.
Creon: Oh go shut her in a tomb already.
Antigone: See what I get for being a good sister? 

Chorus: Wow, kind of like in mythology.

Tiresias: Not so smart, dude.
Creon: Shut up.
Tiresias: Fine, but you’re going to lose someone. See ya.
Creon: Ok, so maybe it wasn't so smart.
Chorus: So let her go.
Creon: I don’t want to…Oh fine. 

Chorus: Hey Dionysus, we could use some help. 

Messenger: Well, things just got worse.
Eurydice: Just tell me the worst.
Messenger: We buried the body, then went to get Antigone, but we found that she hanged herself. Haemon was there and tried to kill Creon, then killed himself in desperation. 

Creon: Guys, I messed up.

Messenger: It gets worse. The queen just killed herself. And she cursed you before she did.

Creon: “I am no one. Nothing.” 

Chorus: “The mighty words of the proud are paid in full with mighty blows of fate, and at long last those blows will teach us wisdom.” 

 *** 

(I must say, it got much harder to be snarky once everyone started killing themselves...)

This semester I am in a Play Writing class, which is definitely the best class I have! Combining writing and theatre - what's not to love? We just went through Antigone, and it was my first time reading it. Despite my goofy summary of it, and despite its darkness, I really did enjoy it. I loved the emotional conflicts and the contrasts between Antigone and Creon. Also for class, I made this chart plotting out Antigone's and Creon's emotional journeys next to each other. I stayed up way too late, but I had fun making it!

So there you have it - a little look into what I've been working on! I love this opportunity to learn more about theatre, to try my hand at it, to admire stories that have been classics for thousands of years, and to look at why some stories can stay with us for so long.

When Disney Gets It Right

[Disclaimer: This post will contain spoilers. If you haven't seen Frozen yet, do yourself a favor and go watch it now. Right now. Then you can read this.]

Imagine some of the creator's of Disney's Frozen having a chat together about the film, coming up with taglines to describe it...

"Ok, how could we sum things up? What's the heart of the movie?"
"Well, it's all focused on Anna and Elsa, on the sisters. Definitely about their relationship."
"It really contrasts love and fear between the two of them."
"Right! Because Elsa is dominated by her fear, which makes her unable to control her powers, until Anna sacrifices herself, love 'melts the frozen heart,' and Elsa realizes that love is the power she needs to conquer her fear and gain control over her abilities."
"So....'love defeats fear'?"
"'True love casts out fear'?"
"'Perfect love drives out all fear.'"
"That's great! That is definitely a major concept. What else have we got?"
"Well, this story kind of redefines the classic concept of 'true love.' It changes the way the romantic relationships work, but, again coming back to Anna and Elsa, it shows that true love isn't just romantic."
"Well, Olaf defines love by saying that it's putting the needs of someone else above your own."
"And then Anna sacrifices her life to save Elsa - the ultimate act of true love."
"Oh, that's good! 'The ultimate act of true love is sacrifice.'"
"'There is no love greater than sacrifice.'"
"'There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends.'"
"Perfect!"

Ok, my made-up dialogue may stretch things a bit...but maybe not a bunch. The fact is, Disney's newest movie that has taken our nation by storm (no pun intended) has a lot of substance to it. I believe that this is largely because some of the strongest themes at the core of the movie echo some of the strongest themes at the core of Truth - and at the core of the Bible.

The two lines above are from 1 John 4:18 and John 15:13. They deal with the selfless nature of love - a theme that we see throughout Frozen.

Love isn't falling for a perfectly charming prince the first time you see him. (Actually, that may not work out so well for you.)

Love isn't always neat or pretty - sometimes it means loving even when other people drive you crazy. And that kind of longsuffering love is powerful. ("We're not saying you can change him, 'cause people don't really change. We're only saying is love's a force that's powerful and strange. People make bad choices if they're mad or scared or stressed, but throw a little love their way, you'll bring out their best.")

Love is giving yourself for others, putting their needs before your own (walking out of town with your reindeer - then charging back in).

Love is the fact that:

Love is an action. And an act of true love doesn't have to be a kiss.

These are, honestly, only a few of the extremely solid messages from Frozen. And trust me, there are plenty of other blog posts out there about them (which you should definitely read). But the ones I noticed the most were the ones that very directly echoed themes - even direct statements - from the Bible.

I've completely fallen in love with Frozen for a lot of reasons, but perhaps the biggest is the fact that, in telling its own beautiful story, it often collides full force with some powerful truth.