Sanctuary

*Can't always do what is with what is because sometimes it is hard to keep your when everything around you seems to be going 

*When you are  all that matters to you is, but when you get  you begin to  of 

*Sometimes you are  by your own  that you don't  the  around you which can be a  to not only your  but theirs as well.

RESTrepo

Hetherington- "everything we do is political." 

Everything you do is political, whether you like it or not. It was your choice to view this blog. You had two choices and you picked a side...as simple as that. Usually when a person thinks about political views they immediately jump to conclusions on whether it's "democrat" or "republican." In the documentary, Restrepo filmed by Tim Hetherington, he focuses on the lives of some soldiers fighting the war in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley (2007). The documentary is named after PFC (Private First Class) Juan Restrepo. He was a great friend to many of the soldiers in the platoon that was deployed to the Korengal Valley. The soldiers took time to grieve, but soon chose to fight in his name. They would later set up a camp called OP Restrepo named after their friend, brother, comrade, Juan Restrepo. Was this to ignite the idea of a political statement? In an interview Hetherington was asked if the film was political or made to make a political statement. Short and sweet he said "no." He said no to the idea that it was made to be a political statement. His view of "political" was to say that every choice is a step in the direction of being political. "What you eat...How you dress...where you choose to live. You know it's all political."  It is very true to say that. It is all political. Life is a political phenomenon. Choice. Politics is all about having a view and choosing what to do with it. Even if you choose to do nothing with it... isn't that still your choice? 

Restrepo is a political movie, but not in the sense of "Democrat" or "Republican." It is a  political movie in the sense that there is meaning and choice behind everything in life, whether it is good or bad. Everything happens for a reason and you have a choice to make it what you want. Your life is political. 

The Perception of Reality

For as long as I can remember I have made a trip to my grand parents house around Thanksgiving time. It has always been a time of family and catching up on the hard times and great times of life.  My grandparents house has never very large to me, but don't get me wrong, it has always been comfortable. In the summer of 2007 I moved to England for a span of 3 years. During that time I had no face to face connection with my family that still lived in the United States. It was a hard time, especially for how young I was. There were no longer any annual Thanksgiving trips to my grandparents. I was 9 when I moved and that was the last time I got to see my grandparents house before moving abroad. The things I forever remembered about their pad was that there house consisted of one bathroom the size of a closet... in fact, the closet was bigger then their bathroom. It had two bedroom areas that were a fair size and a computer room that doubled as a jam center for my Papaw. For as long as I have known him, he has played the guitar. They have never been much for rolling in money, but if there was one thing you would find in that house then it would be one beautiful guitar. Moving on from his jam headquarters and about 30 yards away would be the living room. A beautiful and comfortable couch, a recliner, and a mid sized TV. The funny thing is that we never hung out in any of those places. We always got together in the kitchen/ dining room. Our family has always been centered around food in the house. Food was one of those things that was always in the house. Always a delicious mid-west home cooked meal. Things never really changed through out the years I have visited. Maybe a new piece of furniture here and there, but the point I am trying to make is that nothing changed. There is something comforting in that. My grandparents house had consistency and stability. One of the major things that is natural in humans is that we don't necessarily like change. We like to be comfortable with what we know. My grandparents house always gave me that feeling of comfort as if I could always be at peace. That is one of the things that has stuck with me through out the years. A lot of people say that the places they once went to were "larger" as a kid, but it had some how gotten "smaller" over the years. I think that is because they don't really have a strong remembering or comfort with the place. It is all about familiarity.

Opportunity

A door knob... people often pay no attention to them. It's on every door and it comes in many shapes and sizes. Door knobs are in a way a metaphor for opportunity.Everyone has the chance and ability to turn it and open up the bigger picture which would be the door itself. The door knob is a decision, just as life is. It is all about what you do with it. The aspiration of it can  shift any type of moment. It can be unlocked which is like it being open for your life's ambitions. When it is unlocked, it is welcoming. Anyone is able to open it, but just like all things... it is more complicated then it seems to appear to get to the final product. We often see less then what is going on within. People tend to notice just a door knob, but don't pay attention to what is going on inside of it...the inner mechanics. Several millions of people take for granted the things they own. And like the inner mechanics of a door knob, it doesn't get the credit it deserves. It is often pushed aside, because to some it is taken for granted just as some opportunities are. People don't recognize the ability of the things they can do, because they always pass up life's door knobs with the belief that another one will come along. However, a locked door knob can deny some of their potential. A locked door knob can go two different ways. It can deny those of entering and it can also secure those behind it. When a door knob is locked and denying someone of entry it can be sought as unavailable potential. There is always a meaning for a locked door knob. Some might not be able to know the reasoning behind it at the beginning, but there is always a reason. Sometimes it isn't just protecting those behind it. It can be protecting someone from entering a new and/or familiar place. This falls under the " when one door shuts, another one will open up." Sometimes one opportunity is passed for an even greater one. Everything happens for a reason. Just like a door knob is on every door, there is always a chance in a new opportunity. Door knobs are the opportunities of life.

Never Settle

     I've never been one for settling. Throughout my years of growing up I have moved four different times and have lived in nine different houses. It all starts with being born in Alabama and living there for my two first years of life and then moving to Annapolis, Maryland. Not to exciting there with those state, but I have traveled to places that some can only dream of. In August of 2007 I moved from a city in Maryland all the way to the city of North Yorkshire in England. What a move that was. I lived in England just four hours north of the infamous city of London. My family and I moved when I was nine years old and it was much harder then it might seem. I lived in Maryland for seven years of my life and made some great friends and even some people that I still call family. Just imagine

yourself leaving those kind of people at any age... It is difficult. Being nine years old and moving over seas is a crazy thing to think about, especially with that time being some of the most critical times in life. I'm here telling you now... education in England isn't half as "complicated" as it is in the states, it was a huge change for such a small kid. It is a lot of emotional and mental stress, leaving behind the ones you love in to a foreign country with out any help. It made me sick to my stomach for the first week of being there, but like they say; you don't know what you had until you have lost it... It is very true. I only lived in England for three years and it is honestly one of those things that you can't wait for it to be over when it first happened. I was a young and scared kid with no friends at the time, because I was the "new" kid. However; I soon developed great friendships with everyone in my grade which was only fourteen of us (lived on a R.A.F Base). I said for a short amount of time that I couldn't wait for it to be over until I developed those bonds, then I didn't ever want it to end. Being a military kid isn't easy, the moving is the most painful because you develop some unbreakable friendships and then you have to leave them to start on a whole new adventure with people you don't know, things you have never seen, and places that you have never been. It has been one of the hardest things in my life, but I wouldn't change it for the world. I got to go to places some can only dream of and I got to travel Europe before I even hit double digits.After three years I finally found myself in Virginia where I have made new friends and become close enough with some that I can now call my family. My traveling experiences have made me a  more educated and better man. You sometimes don't realize that there is more in the world then the United States. It is my favorite country by far, but I liked to have lived in places that expanded my education and made me more culturally knowledgeable. It is one of those experiences that some will never be able to have and I was blessed to be in that situation even thought I didn't feel that way at first. Just one of the things I would say is to never get to comfortable in any situation, because you never know when something can change. Never settle.