Week 3 Story: Monarch Butterflies

The Monarch Butterflies and the Caterpillar

Every year monarch butterflies fly south to Mexico to escape the cold. Hundreds of thousands of orange butterflies fly together. It is an event people come and watch every year. Two of them wanted to bring one of their friends, the caterpillar, along because he could not fly yet. They were scared he would not survive the winter because he could not fly away.

They called to the caterpillar asking him to come along. They devised a plan that the caterpillar could hold onto a leaf as the butterflies carried them to Mexico. So they asked, "Hello Caterpillar, do you want to come back to us to Mexico? It is beautiful and warm there. You will definitely survive the winter there."

"How can you bring me along,? I cannot fly" the caterpillar asked.

The butterflies replied, "You will hold onto a leaf we will carry all the way there, but you cannot let go to wave to the children who wave to butterflies."

So when it was time to leave, the butterflies started to carry the caterpillar to Mexico. The journey was long, so the caterpillar had to hold on for a long time. Eventually, they passed a group of tourists who were watching the butterflies make their travels to Mexico. A young girl decided to wave at the butterflies, and the caterpillar saw, got excited, and let go and waved back. He then fell off the leaf down to the ground.

The butterflies flew on sad because their friend could just not wave.

Monarch Butterfly

Author's Note

The story, The Turtle Who Couldn't Stop Talking, is a very sad story. The original story is about a two geese who befriended a turtle and wanted to bring him home, but turtles cant fly. So to get around this, the turtle had to close his mouth around a stick while the geese carried him. But, the turtle opened his mouth to talk, so he fell. I changed the story to different animals and a different event. It made the story more happy, while retaining the moral of the story. 

Bibliography:

The Turtle Who Couldn't Stop Talking Jataka Tales, Ellen C. Babbit 1912

Ramanaya Part B

Ramanaya

Rama's brother, Bharata, was away from home when his brother was exiled and his brother died. He was supposed to be King, but vowed to not take the throne and to look for his brother, so he could return. However, first he had to tend to his dad's funeral. Then, he went into the forest and found his brother, begging him to return. He even offered to switch places for the 14 years and gave him sandals that were symbols of royal authority.  

While Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana met many sages when they were in the forest. Sita shared the story of her birth to the wife of the sage Atri, Anasuya. Her dad found her when her was ploughing, on the ground. The next time they meet a sage, Agastya, he receives weapons from him. 

Sita was abducted by the demon, Viradha. He cannot be wounded by a sharp weapon so it is hard to kill him. Rama and Lakshmana battled him to save Sita. Rama and Viradha's story had been connected since Viradha was cursed.

A rakshasa woman, Shurpanakha, and the sister of Ravana wanted to seduce Rama. She tried to persuade Rama to leave Sita, but Rama suggested she pursue Lakshmana because he was single. She then went to Lakshmana, but he jested with her. However, she did not like being rejected, and attacked Sita. Lakshmana protect Sita and cut off Shurpanakha's nose and ears.  She went home and told her brother about what happened. This interaction led to another fight between Khara and Rama. Khara wanted to fight for his sister and avenge his brother's death. Rama won when he drew his bow and shot a blazing arrow. Shurpanakha then went to her other brother, Ravana, the King of Lanka. 

He sought help to take on Rama by asking Maricha's help. They enchant Sita with by Maricha disguising himself as a golden deer. She asks Rama to get the deer for her. Rama shot the deer, killing it, but realized it was Maricha after he called out in an imitation of his voice. Lakshmana and Sita heard the imitation of Rama and thought he might have been slain. Ravana changed his shape to a sage of the forest to get close to Sita. Lakshmana had left the hermitage they were staying at. He changed into the shape of a demon and stole Sita. The bird Jatayu tried desperately to stop Ravana from taking Sita. She dropped her jewelry as a path for Rama to find her. However, Brahma was happy because he foresaw Ravana's death. Ravana brought Sita back with him to Lanka. He tried to seduce her because he wanted her as a wife, but she refused. 

Lakshmana found Rama and they rushed back to their hut, but returned to find Sita was gone. They learned from Jatayu that they had headed south. Rama and Lakshmana head towards Lanka and meet another rakshasa, Kabandha. He bade them burn his body so he could leave his rakshasa form. He promised information regarding Sita. He told them where she was and that Ravana held her. On their way there, they found a hermitage and a woman named Shabari who was waiting for their arrival. It was part of her destiny that he was coming and she asked him to perform her funeral rites. 

The Shri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Temple

Bibliography

Ramayana Online: Public Domain Edition 

Ramayana part A

Ramayana part A

King Dasharatha was the King of the Solar Dynasty and lived in Ayodhya. He had a brother who was the king of the Videha Kingdom and lived in Mithila. Dasharatha was of the solar race and lived in a stronghold with 1,000 soldiers. He also had eight sage counselors and two family priests. He had a great life, except that none of his wives had given birth to son. He has a horse sacrifice to have a a son and the gods promised him four sons: Sumitra had twins, Kaushalya had Rama, and Kaikeyi had Bharata. 

There was drama in Dasharatha's kingdom and in the heavens. The God Vishni came to Earth as Rama, Dasharatha's son, to defeat Ravana because he could not be killed by man or monkey. 

When the Princes grow up a great sage visits them. He asks them to take on demons in battle who are disrupting the sages's and the priests. Rama battles for the first time with the heavens on his side. He fought Thatanka, the mother of Maricha, He was hesitant to defeat her but when she became invisible, he struck her with an arrow, killing her. He then used his celestial weapons to defeat Maricha. 

Rama asked about an abandoned hermitage and he was told a story about Ahalya and the sage Gautama. Their stories are connected to his own. The God Indra fell in love with Ahalya and dress as her husband so he could sleep with her. When her husband found out, he cursed her to become invisible. When Rama shows up, Ahalya is freed from the curse. 

Rama falls in love with the avatar of the God Lakshmi, Sita. Rama and his brother left the without the hermits consent to see the city of Vishvamitra, and met the kings daughter, Sita. They saw each other and immediately connected. Her dad set out a challenge to any man who wanted to marry his daughter--the potential suitor had to bend the bow of the god Shiva. Rama was able to bend  the bow (breaking it)and was then able to marry Sita. A hermit was suspicious of Rama and had him draw the bow of Vishnu. The strings were loose before, but when Rama held them they became taught.  

Because they had proved themselves, Rama and his brothers all had a wedding to their respective brides. 

Dasharatha needed a son to carry on the Solar race, but now he had four and he had to choose from them. Rama was the obvious choice because he was so qualified. But, Kaikeyi, the King's youngest wife despised Rama because of the influence of Manthara. She demanded that her husband exiled Rama and made her son, Bharata, king. Dasharatha agreed reluctantly. 

Rama followed his father's orders to be exiled for 14 years. He tries to go alone, but his wife and brother, Lakshamana, go too. They leave their home and go to the forest. 

While Rama was in exile, his father dies. He remembers long ago he was cursed to lose a son in an accident. None of his sons are there when he dies.

Raymayana and his wives

Bibliography: 

Public Domain Edition 

Week three Reading Extra Credit: The Sons of Rama

The Sons of Rama

So Rama forces his brother to take Sita away, even though she is pregnant. She is scared of being left alone, and that is completely understandable. Her husband sent her away, and she is about to have twins. She is taken in by the Sage,Valmiki, who educates her twin sons, Luv and Kush, of their father and his accomplishments. As the boys grow up, it is not revealed to them that Rama is their biological dad.

Meanwhile, Rama is back in Ayodhya, and prepares the Royal sacrifice of the Horse-Sacrifice. He uses a golden statue to take the place of his wife. The horse escapes and Luv and Kush capture it. They defeat their uncle, the same man who sent their mother away and some of his other supporters.

After the boys prove themselves, their true identity is revealed to Rama, and he faints when he realizes that their mother is Sita, so he is their father. Valmiki explains the situation to the two parties, but Sita refuses to return and seeks refuge with her mother, Bhumi, the Earth Goddess.

This story is interesting because the amount of twists in the story. Also, I would like to know about the background because every person involved has their own story separate to this one.

The Sons of Rama

Bibliography
The Sons of Rama by Anant Pai

Feedback Articles

A Simple 5-Second Habit to Rewire Your Harshly Self-Critical Brain

I love that I learned that the brain continues to develops when your an adult. But I did not like to see what stress does to my brain. It slowly changes the density of it. Stems cells can reverse the process (that's why stem cell research is so important). A way to make this happen is REBS, which is a way to congratulate yourself for your work. This will be really nice to use on long days when I have SO much to do.

An Inspirational Cat
A meme made by Growthmindsetmemes and the picture is by Cheezeburger

Why rejection hurts so much — and what to do about it

This article says that the greatest damage of rejection is self inflicted and we are wired to react that way. Scientists believe that we are this way because we had to be in groups to survive and being ostracized was certain death. This connection is fascinating. It is crazy how ways early humans lived effects our social structures. 

There are ways to help the emotional pain that rejection causes. Like having a zero tolerance policy for self-criticism. I could use this tip. I am by far my harshest and meanest critic. 

Topic Brainstorm: Storybook

Finding Stories

Nala Damayanti link

This is the love story of King Nala and Princess Damayanti. They met when a Swan brought news of the King to the Princess. But King Nala lost everything in a gambling match and abandoned Princess Damayanti in the forest. They have to find each other. 

Vasantasena, A Dancer link

The evil king, named Palaka, pursued Vasantasena, but she didn't love him back. Instead, she loved a poor but nice man named Charudatta. He had a wife and child already, so she joined their family. Her slave earned their freedom. Also, her husband lost her jewels for a while. Then, Vasantasena fell into the control of Palaka's brother-in-law, Samasthanaska. Then, her husband had to stand trial for a crime the King's brother committed. 

 Sukanya link

A sage, Chyavana, was covered by an anthill during his meditations, and then Princess Sukanya accidentally hurt him. She vowed to the Goddess Durga that she would marry him and correct her wrong by helping him with his rituals. The Ashwin Gods arrived and tried to cure Chyavana's blindness. They can only do it if Sukanya can identify her husband after he is transformed by the Gods in their image. 

An Anthill

The Lord of Lanka link

The ancient of rakshasas, King Sumali, was looking for a suitable husband for his daughter, Kaikesi. He found a man of great wealth named Vishrava, the King of Lanka. They get together and have four kids. One of their children was jealous of his older half brother because of his wealth. Ravana the jealous son, took Lanka from his brother's kingdom, Kubera. However he wrongs the beautiful Rhamba and she kills herself and vows to kill him in another life. Her reincarnation became Ravana's adopted half brother and defeated him. He then made Vibishana the new king of Lanka.  

Week 2 Story: The Crocodile in the River

The Crocodile in the River

Deep in Australia, where crocodiles grow to enormous lengths and have incredible strength. A Monkey, Bodisatta, was told by his fellow troupe about a crocodiles named Devadatta's murderous plans. But the Monkey was not afraid, they had been through this situation before. Long before, in another life, Devadatta had tried to kill the monkey but failed.

A Troupe of Monkeys

Bodisatta had lived a previous life as a monkey. He had grown extremely large and strong. Instead of living in Australia though, he lived on the West Coast of Africa. There Devadatta also lived as a large crocodile in muddy waters where he could hide. He lived with a different troupe of monkeys on a beautiful island filled with trees. He could get from the island to the the mainland by jumping on rocks or debris to get more fruit that did not live on the island.

Devadatta was in love with a beautiful crocodile who longed to eat a monkey heart. The two had a small family, and she spent her days caring for the young. So, she could not catch the monkey, for her days were filled. Crocodile children have terrible attitudes. So Devadatta came up with the plan to lay on one of the rocks the monkeys used to cross to the mainland and catch a monkey when he landed on him, instead of the rock.

The next day Bodisatta was going to cross from the mainland back to his home when he noticed the rocks were not like how they usually were. One in particular looked much larger and darker than usual. He wondered if it could be a crocodile so he called out to it, "Hello Rock." But, the rock kept silent. So, he called out to it again.  But this time, the crocodile answer back, "Hello."

Bodisatta then replied, "Who are you?"

Devadatta caught, answered, "A crocodile, here to eat your heart"

Bodisatta was much smarter than the crocodile. He knew the crocodile could stay there until he caught a monkey. So he told Devadatta, "Open up, you win. I can not get home and there is no life for me here."

Devadatta accepted the easy win and opened his mouth and closed his eyes. But, Bodisatta jumped off his head to his island and to safety. There, he could warn his family and keep Devadatta from getting monkey hearts from them.

Authors Note:

I slightly changed the story. I changed details and made the story my own. Also in the original, Bodisatta lives in solidarity on his island. I have never heard of a monkey not in a troupe so I added that detail and also I liked the aspect of two family men looking for their family's and the start of a feud over their loved ones that lasted lives. It wasn't a large change, just changed the priorities of the main characters. Also, monkeys are in abundance of where I chose to place the story so it made more sense to warn others because Devadatta could have just found another monkey. 

Bibliography:

The Crocodile in the River, Vanarinda Jataka, in The Jataka: Volume 1 translated by Robert Chalmers.

Reading Notes: The Foolish, Timid Rabbit

Jatakas

One morning, he woke up anxious underneath a tree that the world would break. Then, some monkey dropped a coconut near him, so he thought the world was breaking. So, he reacted like a rabbit and started running. However, he created panic in other too because he saw another rabbit who asked what was wrong and he said, "The world is all breaking up." Together they gathered more rabbits attention and created a stampede of over 100 rabbits scared the world was ending because some monkeys dropped some coconuts. They recruited a deer, fox, and a elephant too. They continued running until they saw the King Lion. He stopped the commotion by roaring and asked who started the scare. The rabbit came forward and told his story and they went to the palm tree he was sleeping under and saw a coconut had fallen. The lion called him foolish and went and told the rest of the animals the world was fine and the rabbit was fine. The King of the Beasts stopped their running. 

This story reminds me of Chicken Little, but Chicken Little actually saw aliens and no one believed him. It crazy how different cultures influence each other. I would never have thought Chicken Little had its roots in Buddhist stories, so I'm glad I had the chance to learn. It also says the story of Jatakas is the original so there is nothing better to read. I hope I read more stories where I see more instances of this. The prologue paragraph also references Henny-Penny, I don't know that story but I'm sure its similar.  

Chicken Little Movie Poster

I think it is quite interesting in the story how all the animals just took the rabbits word for the world breaking apart, until the lion stopped. I don't know of there are certain qualities usually attributed to rabbits but they seem foolish according to this story. No one questioned it-- not even the Elephant-- who I think of very smart because they have high IQs. I wonder if this was done intentionally to portray the lion as a leader. Like in the lion king, where they play down the other animals abilities except for the main characters to build up the qualities of the lions so the audience accepts them as the leaders. 

Bibliography-

Ellen C. Babbitt, Jataka Tales

Week 2 Reading Overview

I Love Books

The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic

I choose to to read this version next week because it is written by R.K. Narayan. He was one of the most famous English writers, so this intrigued me. I figured he earned this notoriety for a reason and is aan excellent writer. 

 Tales of Balarama

This is the tale of a team of brothers who are incredibly courageous. I found them interesting because of the family connection and the wedding hinted at the end. I always enjoy a happy ending. 

Vasantasena, a Dancer 

I was intrigued by the story of Vasantasena. She broke the traditional roles for herself and I loved that. She marries for love and turns down the king. She broke what was expected out of her. I'm not going to judge her for being the second wife if its something in their culture. I hope they were happy though.

A Diwali Story

This story made me sad because Rama was fit for a king but his mom? talked his dad out of letting him. His brother even knew it. The humbleness of the story made the so wholesome. Everyone who had not been fed lies was there for each other. 

Ganga

Ganga

Ganga came to the Earth to save man. She was in the heavens. The video did not give me much information, I would love to know more. I just don't know anything.

Time Strategies

This was quite a week

I had every intention of sticking to my planned scheduled-- three hours on Tuesday and the rest in Thursday-- but this week, life said no. I got sick on the first week on school, so I did the work when I could look at a computer screen. I wanted to not let the canvas due dates dictate my life, but it kinda happened. But it wasn't a normal week, so I will continue using my schedule next week and adjust it if necessary. It should work unless I have a test or paper in another class, then I can just moved time to another day as necessary to allow me that time to study. 

Prioritizing is important!
Another time management post

There were many time management options I thought would be useful. For instance, my morning doesn't start very quickly. Joy Nicole Martinez, the writer of she owns it said to capture it, that its the most important part  of your day. I'm going to try it. It might be hard because I have two roommates and I cant wake them but I have to try. 

I also liked the two minute rule brought up in Thomas Oppong's eat the frogs first thing in the-morning and other better work habits  that says if you can get it done in two minutes, do it now. If I did this, I wonder how much time I would free up everyday, not letting little tasks add up. 

The biggest time management skill I could do is to spend less time on my phone. I lose probably hours scrolling on social media for no reason, but its a new year new me and I'm working on it. 

Technology woooo

I love Google Docs

A library that helps with technology issues

So I love Google Docs, but probably more, Google Drive. It has almost eliminated flash drives and losing them. I don't think I have carried one since middle school if i am honest. The other technology tools I am not near as familiar with, other than twitter, but I can learn. I have been using computers since my parents let me when I was six. They have been a part of almost of my whole life. 

This is unlike any other class I have been in-- blended, online, or in person. At first I could not find anything, but I learned quickly. I'm excited because I will never use canvas or connect ever again so the reasoning is understandable. I don't know what I will use. The internet changes so quickly, I don't even know if it has been created yet.

First Impressions Assignments

Hello Blogs

So I have never written a blog in any class before. I am enjoying it thus far, however, and I am enjoying how I can free write. I have to do so much formal writing I have lost the love of just sitting and down and writing, but this week I am starting to get it back. 

I'm interested in the extra credit opportunity, Famous Last Words. I have never kept a diary but I love their purpose and how they force you to reflect. You can change so much in one year or any amount of time and not realize it until you have to sit down and reflect and this forces more happy reflections. 

My photo- This is how excited I am for the new year!

Growth Mindset Blog

The Growth Mindset

I have never heard of Carol Dweck before, but I love Ted Talks so I was interested. I enjoy watching them and self improvement. For the first video "The Power of Believing You can Improve," I loved the examples she used. I hated Elementary School when I was young because I was always bored because my dad tried really hard to raise me in a similar manner. Personally, I dont think we should make children feel cheated if the work was too easy for them because there are so many factors in a classroom, but instead strive to teach them that the satisfaction is found in the challenge not the completion. However,  I really liked the high school in Chicago that used the grades "not yet" because it encourages improvements.  

A Cartoon depicting the Growth Mindset
A link to a school who uses the growth mindset

Here at OU I have learned so much about my learning. In high school, I was a straight A student and didn't every feel challenged because I took classes that were easy to master so i didn't know my learning style. But here, I really work hard to seek out my interests and prepare myself for my future. For instance, I am currently enrolled in "Fate and the Individual" which has over 6,000 pages of reading, so I have been using the Growth Mindset and taking on a challenge. I'm worried but I believe I can do it. Because of these decisions, I have learned that a mix of auditory and visual is the best way for me to learn something, but the true key is to put into a story form. This discovery helped me tremendously in my history classes. 

This semester I am studying for the LSAT so my learning goals are incorporated with that. I would like to be able to consistently study and improve my score. This will be the hardest test I have ever take so Ill need to preposition myself to take it directly on. 

Storybook Favorites

The Goddess Isis

Of the three storybooks I read, this one was my favorite. This story tells of the Egyptian Goddess Isis and her plan to escape the human world where she was trapped. She wanted to live as a god again and felt that she was no longer needed. To achieve this, she tricked Ra and stole some of his divine powers. Then, when she was back with the rest if the gods and living with her husband Horus, his brother Set killed him and locked him in a coffin that he sent out to sea so no one could find him. She spent years finding all the pieces of her husband so she could put him back together. Her son was preparing to take on Set. Together with their efforts they defeated set and put Isis in charge.

This book showed Isis as a sassy person instead of an almighty god. I thought this humanizing factor was refreshing. 

Arabian Nights, In a Nutshell

This Storybook was written in an incredibly funny tone. I had never though of Arabian Nights in this manner because the women hating, cheating, and death, but the author brought refreshing humor to the story. It is so outrageous--1001 nights of full story telling-- humor is needed to battle the horrors of the story.

This is a picture from the story relating to the 1001 tales.
Genie on Fire

 Horses Divide

This was a very in depth story. My favorite part was the author included a picture of her own horse and I really appreciated that personal touch. The author put a great deal of work into the story, for it was a great deal longer than any other story I read. It told the account of four different divine horses in ancient Buddhist and Hindi stories. The first story was about Uchchaihshravas and the story of his birth. He was the noble five head stead of Indra, the King of the Heaven and the Gods. The second story is about how Hayagriva saved the world by saving the Vedas. The third story is about how Valaha saved the author by being Buddha and leading those with Dharma in their heart to salvation. The last stor is about the end of the world and how the best warrior ever will ride Devadatta and the horse will help the warrior bring in the new age. 

This is me!

Caitlin Schneider

Testing the new blog and introducing myself. My name is Caitlin Schneider and I am a Sophomore Letters Constitutional Studies Major. The coolest thing about my major is how small it is. I love when I walk into a class and know almost everyone there. I would like to eventually to litigation and I am leaning towards international litigation.

I graduated high school from a tiny school (59 in my graduating class) in Kansas, but I lived most of my life in Washington State. I chose OU because I was not a fan of KU. Their campus culture didn't feel like home and it was really hilly. Also, I lived way to close (only about 45 minutes away) and wanted more of an adventure.

This break I toured a law school which was really scary but so much fun. I don't feel ready yet to be getting ready for grad school, but here I am. I tour Arizona State and it was wonderful. I loved Arizona as a whole so that also helped. I probably ate my weight in oranges. I had no idea they had so many citrus trees and how big the fruit got. It was amazing. 

My Photo-- I am the one on the left. 

I have two pets-- two dogs-- Tar and Roxy. I'll post a picture of them. Tar is a sweet, gentle giant but he is so needy for attention, it can be rough. I love him but he is very big and will climb into my lap and then I cant breathe. Roxy is sassy as her name suggests. She has small dog syndrome very bad and believes she is the alpha of the house.

My photo with Tar

My photo with Roxy during my blonde phase

I am not blonde anymore. It was a phase during my senior year of high school after my senior pictures. Purple shampoo and touch ups are expensive when you are on your own.

The best class I took last semester was Debating Constitutional Controversies with Dr. Porwancher. It changed the way I talk and write for the better. I also learned so much about strange controversies most people don't know about. It prepared me for my future goals tremendously.

My Favorite Place, the Pacific Northwest

My Favorite Place

This is Seabeck Washington. It is a quaint fishing town nestled into the Mountains. I was actually in the same school district as the kids who lived here. I was always jealous of their views.
https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/2390-Tekiu-Point-Rd-NW_Seabeck_WA_98380_M17029-30634 

The Pacific Northwest has a special place in my heart. Not only is it an area with a culture unlike any other in the country with companies like Amazon, Boeing, and Microsoft to name a few, fueling it economy and a grassroots culture with the lower classes influencing the trends more than the extremely rich. Additionally, it does not rain THAT much--it mostly mists. Also, the region is a melting pot of different cultures with extremely large populations of minorities. This cultural blend allows many different celebrations of religion and tradition to coexist. It is unlike anything I have ever seen before. I was lucky enough to grow up for most of my life right outside of Seattle and experience its beauty. 

Within the region of the Pacific Northwest, there is two states: Washington and Oregon. I lived in Washington and reaped the benefits of Seattle and the Cascade mountains. But the more southern state, Oregon is a completely different vibe. Oregon is a very active state known for allowing individuals with strange personalities to thrive. My grandfather lived in Gold Beach, Oregon, so whenever I visited I was able to experience it. My dad would always say this specific area was the most photographed in the world but I have never been able to find that stat anywhere. If he was right, I would understand--it is breathtaking. 

This picture is taken along Highway 101 (The Oregon Coast Highway).  There were waiting lists for the adopt a highway programs in this area. People wanted to help keep this area beautiful so bad there was too much help.
https://www.tripsavvy.com/fun-in-gold-beach-oregon-1608381 

I love this area with all of my heart. It helped frame me into who I am today. The Pacific Northwest is also possibly the most beautiful place on Earth. There is no where else like it. I hope one day to return.