Sana Thakkar Week 2: Exploring the Little Moments in Life
Cricket season is here, and with it, I am blasted by a collection of memories. There was an India vs. Pakistan match last Sunday, and my grandma, along with the rest of my family, awoke at 2:00 a.m. ,despite her sixteen hour flight on the same day, to watch the match. But, cheering for India's victory mitigated the intense sleep deprivation coalesced with waking up in the early hours of dawn. This exhilaration was not primarily due to India's triumph. The euphoria associated with waking up in the middle of the night, going ballistic when Kohli hits a sixer, while hearing my family members play makeshift drums when India wins, and watching the sun rise afterwards makes the actual result of the game a diminutive portion of the entire experience. In fact, my most significant recollections consist of small details I considered unimportant at the time. I learned that these minor memories are what shape our experiences, creating an important component of our identities.
This revelation prompted me to reevaluate my outlook on life, allowing me to discover the pertinence of these tiny moments. I used to visit Las Vegas every winter. When I look back on these trips, I do not recall the grandeur of the skyscrapers and themed resorts, I remember the harsh Vegas wind, the Christmas magic, and how the lady at The Venetian's receptionist desk told me my eyes were beautiful. My morning routine of turning on my lights at twenty percent brightness, while making my bed, and organizing all of my stuffed animals in a specific order; my excessive need for cleanliness; my germaphobic tendencies; my passion for traveling; my fear of bugs; my love for the ocean amongst a multitude of small memories and qualities embody my true character, my true identity.
ReplyDeleteHi Sana! I love the descriptive words you used throughout your blog. The use of words such as “coalesced”, “euphoria”, and “pertinence” rather than, say, “combined”, “joy”, and “importance”. The use of these words gives your blog such a sophisticated feel, sort of similar to many of the books we read in English. It’s also great that you’re able to make all the little moments in life a part of your identity as I feel like people usually let the big events or aspects of their personality and interests define who they are. The mention of your stuffed animals also really caught my eye. I love stuffed animals but I’ve never arranged them in a specific way before. What do you have in mind when you order your stuffed animals? It’s also very interesting how you ended your blog with a collection of various facts about you. It certainly ties into the last sentence of your first paragraph, detailing how “minor memories are what shape our experiences.” Your collection of these facts also reminds me of the I Believe Poem, where we all shared a lot about ourselves. With your descriptive language and imagery, your blog has a very poetic appearance!
Hi Sana! I resonate with many of the ideas that you mentioned in your blog. My uncle is a big cricket fan; whenever I visit my relatives in India, he always invites me to watch cricket with him. Even though I am not a regular cricket fan, his enthusiasm for the game is infectious. I look forward to when I can relive those moments, relating to your discussion of the small events in our lives that add meaning. Your blog elaborates thoroughly on what it means to live life. Enjoying every moment and living in the present moment adds value to our existence. The blog helped me reflect on the small moments of my life that I underappreciated or ignored. When reading the blog, I experienced feelings of nostalgia, as I recounted many memorable moments that I overlooked. Your blog reveals a unique part of your personality and reminds me of what is important in life.
ReplyDeleteHi Sana, I am able to relate to many things that you mentioned in your blog. My brother actually plays cricket himself, and my whole family was awake at 6:00 AM watching and cheering when India beat Pakistan during the cricket match! Cricket has been a part of my family for generations, with my grandfather playing in national cricket matches during his time as well. The descriptive words really helped me envision the environment in your house while you were watching the match. I think you made an excellent point on appreciating the small details in life, and how these experiences shape our memories. It made me think back on the little things in life that may be going unnoticed. While reading your blog, I was reminiscing over the times when big groups would gather at my house, and we would all sit and lose our voices while cheering for the games. Additionally, I think that your blog contained extremely vivid imagery, allowing me to experience the same things that you did. I was also able to learn a lot more about you, and the things that interest you through your blog.
ReplyDeleteHi Sana, I love the word choice that you used in order to paint the image and put me in the environment of the story. I love how your blog topic is focused on the little things, because we often, at least for me, I think of the biggest moments that define us. Whenever I think of what defines me, I think of the grandest moments or my greatest accomplishments, but I love that you shine light on the other side of the spectrum and show me how everything from the smallest things to the biggest things have impacts on our identity. That makes me think do you think there is a trend between small events having small impacts and big events having bigger impacts?
ReplyDeleteHi Sana! I really enjoyed reading the vivid imagery you added throughout your blog, I think your blog really stood out to me due to this as I can very clearly picture everything in my mind. I also got to know more about you! I found the mention of the order of your stuffed animals very relatable. Whenever I make my bed, I also tend to organize my stuffed animals in a particular way. I always put my bigger ones in the back while the smaller ones in the front while still keeping it color coordinated the best I can. How do you arrange your stuffed animals? My family back in India are also huge cricket fans although over here in the United States we are not too big on it anymore. However your vivid descriptions brought back memories of watching cricket with family in India. It is so interesting to think about how a game is very important and such a huge part in our culture as well as helping us connect with others who also share the same culture or interest in cricket. Your blog really captures the beauty of life and finding joy in the little things. I loved how you added a few habits or facts about yourself — it reminded me of our "I Believe" poems! I really look forward to more of your vivid and descriptive stories and blogs.
ReplyDelete