Life’s Little Traffic Lights
I love it, life is so crazy. I’ve always said if it isn’t going to bother me in three to five years, then I’m not going to worry about it now, then I come across what I like to refer to as a “traffic light” you know, those little situations and encounters that make you stop and reminisce about a time and place that you left behind so long ago, deep in the folds of your memory, and the sudden slap of reality that makes you stop and look around and think what’s different?, what’s changed?, and what path has brought me here?
You see a “traffic light is like a memory, better than a picture, it’s a feeling you get deep inside. A sudden sense of knowing exactly who you are and why, often times all in the depths of a single moment. Still confused? Here’s an example…
It’s a fairly brisk day in January of 2002, brisk enough to turn my flesh slightly purple in spots where I’m scarred or bruised, I walk into the dry cleaners after a short work day, to pick up the pants that have been sitting there for about three weeks (I seem to have the memory of a gold fish and the attention span of a fruit fly). Of course I’m in a big damn hurry even though I have no where in particular to be and nothing in my near future has been marked urgent (it’s just the sense of urgency that makes whatever it is that I’m doing seem so much more important than what it really is) I encounter a motherly looking middle-aged Native American woman, who in just a smile seems kind and warm enough to pull me from myself and set me back into the reality of my objective. She doesn’t know it but she’s about to take me for my last $15, but damn I really want to wear those pants tonight. She looks up as she hands me my receipt and very politely asks me with a wonderful note of concern in her voice “ your nose it looks bruised, did something happen to it?, having heard this question what seems like a thousand times during the winter months, I give her my standard answer, “ oh, yes I broke it a couple of years ago, and the mark always shows when its cold outside” “won’t it ever go away?
Flashbulb memories are emotional memories that seem so vivid that people appear to recount them in extraordinary vivid detail. They are just like other memories, but somewhat more intense because there is an emotional connection to it. Psychologist have found that flashbulb memories are actually just like ordinary
Jocasta’s and Laius’ fate all depends of Oedipus. The story begins with the Oracle giving them horrible news. It tells them that they will have a child, Oedipus, but when he grows up, the boy will in turn kill Laius and then it says that the boy will sleep with Jocasta after Laius dies. Both of the parents are in distress over this news, so when the little boy is born they tell a servant to put him on a mountain and leave him there to die. Years pass by and the King and Queen keep thinking that they are safe; however when Laius is on a crossroad on his way to speak to the Oracle Oedipus, his son, comes along. Lai...
The imagery of sight versus blindness lead to his ultimate downfall. He is transparent to the lie he has created. Also the contempt and torture he has just brought upon this city. Like the prophecy says his wife will kill herself first, then later his life will all go downhill from there. Later prophecy actually comes true. First with his wife killing herself, then Oedipus realizes that he has done wrong. He was blind when Teiresias told him the first time. He then actually saw the irony in what he has done wrong. He later then actually makes himself blind and stabs out his eyes so he cannot see anymore. This causes his downfall and later his
The first close-to-death experience the narrator and his posse have involves a case of mistaken identity. The group wrongly identifies a lone car as that belonging to a mutual friend and flash their headlights in a
In the tragic play of Oedipus, the prideful king, Oedipus, who demolished the curse of the Sphinx is now the king of Thebes due to their previous king, Laius, being killed by his own son. Furthermore, Oedipus married the queen the queen of Thebes (Jocasta) and has four children. The tragic unfolding starts to begin as the town of Thebes is under another plague and the only way it can be broken is by finding Laius’ killer. Oedipus, being prideful, accuses his wife’s brother, Creon as the unrighteous killer. As the story unfolds slowly, Oedipus finds out that he himself was the killer of his own father and married his mother. Because of this news, Jocasta hangs herself because she cannot bare to live with the shameful embarrassment. In addition,
My car slows as it approaches a stoplight. I take this opportunity to allow my mind to become engulfed with my surroundings: the bright fierce red of the traffic light, the brilliant blue sky with its specs clouds, and the mass of hurried people. The four corners of the intersection are filled with people who are preoccupied with their fast-paced lives to notice the little things, such as animals and anxious cars awaiting the traffic light. My thoughts vigorously put all of the information that my mind has gathered from the intersection to order.
Sometimes you need to 'stop and smell the roses,' as the saying goes, and just enjoy life as it comes at you. And life does indeed come at you, with its ups and downs, but perhaps a particular low is needed in order to appreciate the normal. But high points make themselves known easily, announcing themselves with imprints on the mind, memories.
"So you step out at the lights, almost as if today you know you are
People could say that my life is similar to that of a car ride; where there are bumps in the road that can or cannot be avoided; when there are times when the car ride is rough or smooth; when it is lonely or populated with loved ones; and how the car will keep going at different speeds until it has run out of gas. My life has been filled with its typical ups and downs, excitements and fears, and its fair share of accomplishments and failures. I come from a world that I did not want to be a part of, but looking back on it now, I feel that the events I experienced in my past have shaped me into who I am today.
The behavior of Oedipus is ironic, because he is not capable to grasp the truth that is being unrevealed before his eyes. Oedipus is blinded by his ignorance. He is a very confident man and powerful in the way he acts and talks. Oedipus is so blind to himself, that instead of relying on the oracles, he counts on his own knowledge to find out the truth. Oedipus is destined from birth to someday marry his mother and to murder his father.
Starting at my early childhood I was forced to walk, crawl or ride a bike to get to where I needed to go, the next step was driving. I wasn 't sure if I was ready to drive, but I knew it was the next step towards adulthood. Driving is an essential tool that many adults in the real world cannot live without. Learning from my mistakes when I first started to drive helped shape me as a woman, but it was not easy at first trying to adjust. Driving meant that I was becoming an adult and that I had to take responsibility for all my actions. Thinking about that really gave me a hard time, because I was no longer my mommy and daddy’s little girl anymore. It was a bumpy experience but I was ready for the ride.
The Second Phase of Individual Psychology's Belonging and Human Striving. (n.d.). Adlerian Theory. Retrieved March 25, 2014, from http://www.carterandevans.com/portal/index.php/adlerian-theory/69-adlerian-theory
There is an old saying “There are none so blind as those who will not see.” What this is saying is that people are blind in what they see (ignorant) and what they are willing to see. Even some with the best vision can be blind. It is all about what we want to see, which can be very misleading and can cause issues like it did for Oedipus. We all can be blinded by the truth if we are ignorant and foolish. In Oedipus the King, we see two common themes, Sight vs. Blindness which is demonstrated both intellectually and physically. There are five instances that really stick out to me where we see Oedipus blinded physically and by his ignorance and hubris.
The short story, “Unlighted Lamps,” by author Sherwood Anderson is about a relationship between a father and his daughter. Their relationship is a stressful one because neither of them talk to each other, nor show their emotions. Throughout the story, you find out why their relationship is the way that it is, and why it is hard for her father to talk to her. The unlighted lamps in the story represent flashbacks of memories wherever light dances across something.
Poor Oedipus discovers that he had killed his father and married his mother at the climax of the play when the Shepard is questioned. He states "I stand revealed at last - cursed in my birth, cursed in marriage, cursed in the lives I cut down with these hands!"³ He then finds his mother after she has committed suicide and proceeds to gouge out his own eyes with her brooches.