Changing the Face of Marriage

I feel like 'domestic church' is whatever you and your partner decide upon. When having children, you must talk about situations such as these before having them so that you can work out the problems before kids are in the mix. After reading the Busted Halo article, I have come to agree and disagree with a lot of their statements. First, I disagree that families with be strengthened by economic growth because I feel like I know a lot of families who struggle with money, but they are perfectly happy with their lives and partners. I feel like sometimes when partners go through tough times with money, that could strengthen their bond. I find the statistic that people with a lower degree more likely to divorce very interesting. I do agree that young people going to four-year colleges will not help solve the growing problem of divorce. When people are more educated, they are more likely to make rational and 'smarter' decisions. I hope that one day I can raise my children with a domestic church. I hope they will believe in God and the goodness that comes from Him. Religion should be a family tradition with good family values with love and forgiveness. When I find a life partner I will ensure that we have the same attitude to the domestic church and how we can formulate it to match our beliefs and lifestyle. We should embody Christ in everyday life even if it is not physically stepping into a church and we can do that by having a loving enviornment right in our home.

Dating and Marriage

Taking a closer look at dating and relationships is important. I think it is a good idea to read about other peoples' opinions to fully understand how a healthy relationship should look and feel. After reading these two articles, I have a better understanding of how I want my relationships and marriage to be. Because I have not really thought about marriage and obviously have not been involved in marriage but I think there should be an equal balance of yourself and the other person. It would be unrealistic to say that you were going to completely give up your life for someone and honestly, I wouldn't want my partner to do that. I think they should still be themselves and meet me in the middle. Religion and other views should be similar. However, if they are not the partners should still be understanding and respectful of their opposing views. The New York Times said that partners will bring new experiences and I also agree with that. When you live with someone and spend a lot of time with them you are automatically exposed to something new. In marriage, you should be open to trying new things so that you can experience the world with your partner. I agree completely that relationships are all about self expansion because when you love someone else you are learning new things about yourself and are adapting to the new changes in your life. I think self expansion is essential in life and an ideal way to achieve that is through dating and marriage. I think modern ways of marriage are just to be stable. Stable with money and a nice home and things like that. I feel like with our modern culture people are skipping the spending time together and growing and are focusing more on issues and financial things. Today, more than ever, many relationships end. People can grow apart but also I think that some people just are not ready for the commitment of their entire lives. Love is truly present when there is trust, comfort and happiness.

Dating?

Dating is obviously something common in our modern world. It seems like celebrities and even "normal" people are always dating. There are people who are "anti-daters" because they believe that God sends your spouse to you. What they do not see, is that you do not have to have sex with every person whom you date. I think dating someone is just having a deeper connection with someone more than just a friend. Through relationships you find out more about yourself. You learn to love and trust and you realize your qualities and things you may need to work on. Before you settle down with someone for the rest of your life, I think it is important to explore your options and see what is right for you. Many may argue with this, but if you haven't loved someone else then how do you know you truly love your husband? Dating is a controversial issue, but it really has to do with your own beliefs.

Hooking up can be classified as many different things. Generally girls like to be in relationships rather than 'hooking up'. 'Hooking up' can be seen as less serious and less committed than a relationship. But this is not always clear to both parties. Through hooking up, a lot of friendships have been broken and a lot of feelings have been hurt. Relationships are so much deeper than physical pleasure. There is a connection inside that is made. In the article, I think it is very spot on when they say men walk away from hooking up proud of "getting some" and the girls walk away distressed and a lot of the time they are disappointed. In the sex talk that we watched in class, Christaline said that many girls participate in sexual acts for awhile before feeling used. She also showed that even though she 'hooked up' with a lot of people for a long time, she was able to turn her life around.

Some say love...

After reflecting on many songs, I realized that love is the main theme in most songs. It is interesting to listen to the lyrics because everyone has a different perception of love. In dating and committed relationships there needs to be trust. Without trust, the relationship will never work. There also has to be support. Having a relationship is a beautiful thing because you can do things together and support the other person. Through the media "soul mates" are very common. I think in real life they are a lot harder to find, hence all of the divorces in our world. I also think love is something that takes work and practice. However, not all people can love each other so there is a little sense of a soul mate there. The following songs that I have chosen demonstrate love.

"Better Together" by Jack Johnson

Love is the answer,
At least for most of the questions in my heart
Like why are we here? And where do we go?
And how come it's so hard?
It's not always easy and
Sometimes life can be deceiving
I'll tell you one thing, it's always better when we're together
Mmm, it's always better when we're together
Yeah, we'll look at the stars when we're together

This song shows love between two people, most likely in a romantic way. Jack Johnson says that sometimes love can be hard but it is always better when the couple does it together. This perfectly fits with the characteristic of love I mentioned before, support. These two in the song support each other and therefore have a successful relationship. I think this is a nice song and has a meaningful message. Obviously, this song follows the theme of love and most of Jack Johnson's songs do.

"You and Me" by Lifehouse

Cause it's you and me and all of the people with nothing to do
Nothing to lose
And it's you and me and all other people
And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you

This is a beautiful song because the person can not keep his eyes off of the girl even in a crowd of a lot of people. The word "love" is never mentioned but it is evident that this is a love song. In a way, this shows the idea of soul mates. This is an uplifting song, as most love songs are.

"My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion

Near, far, wherever you are
I believe that the heart does go on
Once more you open the door
And you're here in my heart
And my heart will go on and on
Love can touch us one time
And last for a lifetime
And never let go till we're gone

This song was in one of the greatest love movies, "The Titanic". This meaning shows that regardless of the geographic location of the couple, the heart will keep loving. This is true love. Many couples break up when someone moves, but true love will last for a lifetime like this song shows.

"For Good" Idina Menzel (in Wicked)

I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you...

This is one of my favorite songs because love does change people. Whether in a romantic relationship or just friendship, love changes everything. I think this song could be about any type of love. This song supports the idea of soul mates when they say "people come into our lives for a reason" because soul mates also come into our lives for a reason. I think this is a great song and sends a good message about the positive changes dealing with love.

"Picture" by Sheryl Crow and Kid Rock

Wish I had a good girl to miss me
Lord I wonder if I'll ever change my ways
I put your picture away
Sat down and cried today
I can't look at you while I'm lying next to her

A lot of country songs have a message of love. I think this shows the real life love that actually happens every day. They are both unhappy when they are not together but then at the end of the song they end up being together and are so happy. This gives people who are in love hope because it shows them that it can still work out.

How does the media affect our perception of sexuality?

There are many different pressures in our world today that are different from years ago. Everyday we are bombarded with ideas on the way we should look, talk, wear and everything in between. With TV and the internet there are many different advertisements that we see on a daily basis. People of all different ages see these advertisements and it most definitely affects our perception of sexuality.

This is an advertisement for Hollister, a store that many young teenagers love. Here, there is one girl and two boys and they are wearing little to no clothing. This ad is probably in the store, on their website, and on their shopping bags. This ad is giving the idea, if you wear clothes like this, then then you too will be with two good looking boys. This completely affects our perception of sexuality and gives young teenagers the wrong impression. Everyday we see ads just like this one and many people do not even realize it because it has become "normal" for us.

This advertisement is for Burberry perfume. You can't really see in this picture, but the woman is not wearing pants. This has nothing to do with the perfume that they are selling. Just like the movie, America the Beautiful, said the perfume ads are the most sexual. When I look at this ad, I do not think of perfume. Many men see this and think it is attractive. Women will then buy the product because of their perceptions. This is a vicious cycle of sexual connotations in our advertising world because with each new risque ad, there is a company or business that wants to "one up" the other. I never thought about how advertisements are altering our perception of sexuality, but now I do. Younger teenagers will subconsciously think that this behavior is "cool" and that is not a message we want to be sending. Through all of the different ads in the media, our perception of sexuality is completely affected.

Sources of My Identity

Ever since I was little I knew I wanted to be a teacher. My entire basement was set up like a school and I would force my sister and neighbors to sit and "learn" every day. I would make lesson plans and grade fake tests. My mom is a fifth grade teacher so I think this influenced my hobby as a teacher in my basement. As I got older, I still felt the same interest in teaching children. When I got to the Mount I heard about LaSalle Academy tutoring. This was right up my alley. The first Thursday I went, I fell in love with all the kids there. I met so many amazing kids who just wanted a friend. I also realized how much I love to help others in need. As I look at colleges now, I am certain that my major will be a teacher and LaSalle Academy ensured that for me.

A very influential person in my life is my sister, Megan. She is a freshman at the Mount. Even though she is younger, I look up to her. Now I do, both literally and figuratively. She always seems to amaze me with her great grades and her success on the crew team. She is also always there whenever I need someone. Through things like these, I learn from my sister every day. When I was little, I thought two and a half years was so far apart, but now I feel like she is my own age. Throughout each summer, we share a room down the shore and I feel like this really bonds us. Megan is one of my best friends and a lot of my decisions are based off of her opinion. Although she is at a different stage in her life, I feel as though she is a huge source of my identity and will influence me for the rest of my life.



My friends, just as any other teenager, influence me. I think through the friends I met at school and my friends from grade school, they have all influenced me for the better. They have all taught me how blessed I am and how I can be the best person I can. When a lot of people think about high school, they may think of how awkward they felt or how they were bullied. I truly believe that because of my friends, I have had an awesome high school experience. I don't know what I would do without them. They know everything and I hope I can be half as good of a friend as they are to me.