In the poem La Belle Dame sans Merci, a knight tells the story of how he becomes obsessed with, and then gets abandoned by, a spirit known as “The Beautiful Lady Without Mercy.” Though seemingly aware she’s an illusion, the knight lingers in his memory of the Lady, and it’s implied he will do so until he dies. In this relationship, the knight’s love turns from enchantment into an obsession.

 

Through his example, the poem expresses two linked warnings about the dangers of intense romantic love which may transform into an obsession. When the object of obsession disappears, the lover left behind undergoes a spiritual death, losing the ability to appreciate the beauty in anything but the memory of what is lost. These warnings suggest that love, though wonderful, can quickly shift into a kind of metaphorical death if it becomes obsessive. The knight first describes falling in love with the Lady as a kind of enchantment that consumes him completely. The Lady he finds in the meadow is “Full beautiful, a faery’s child.” The Lady’s perfect beauty captures the knight’s attention. By describing her as the child of a magical creature, he emphasizes that her ability to charm him is a supernatural force. Enchanted further by the mysterious wildness in her eyes, the knight begins serving the Lady and devoting all his emotional energy to her. He weaves the Lady “bracelets” and “a garland,” and in reward receives her “love” and “sweet moan.”

 

However, the line between enchantment and obsession is dangerously thin. The Lady soon becomes the knight’s single focus, seemingly his single source of life. Besides the Lady, the knight sees “nothing else … all day.” This may sound like hyperbole, but the knight means it: the Lady creates a private world for herself and the knight.

 

Soon, the knight sees her in everything as he is obsessed. The flowers transform into suitable material for the Lady to wear. The hillside cave, a feature of the natural landscape, becomes the Lady’s “Elfin grot.” As the knight’s obsession deepens, he grows to depend on the Lady even for basic nutrition. The Lady feeds the knight “roots of relish sweet, / And honey wild, and manna-dew.”

 

Having devoted so much emotional energy to the Lady and put himself completely under her control, the knight undergoes a spiritual death when she disappears. In his dream the knight sees the Lady’s former victims: “pale kings,” “princes,” and “warriors”—”death-pale were they all.” In their faces, he sees the man he will become: someone deathly, starved, and captivated by memories of the Lady to the point of enslavement. Like them, he will wake up “death-pale,” or, as the speaker first describes him, “Alone and palely loitering”—physically alive, yet condemned to replay his memory of an obsessive love for the rest of his days. The Lady is finally revealed to be La Belle Dame sans Merci—literally, The Beautiful Lady Without Mercy.

Strangely, the Lady’s merciless behaviour actually consists of the love and joy she provides; her sudden disappearance is what makes the knight’s experience so painful exactly because she was previously so kind. The shape of the Lady’s cruelty suggests that anything one falls in love with or obsesses over can cause such pain since anything can disappear in an instant. The poem thus cautions against such intense, obsessive love, arguing that it’s ultimately not worth the agony it can cause.

 

I think that there are quite a few areas I should work on for analysing a poem as I didn’t do as well of a job as I have done before. One of the things that I need to do is be more clear about what my topic sentences are. I need to have my points beforehand so that my ideas don’t stray. I should also constantly remind myself of the importance of sticking to the PEA format. I would also think that I need to have a better grasp of the different literary devices, as I only focused on connotation, which held me back from all the other devices I could have used.   I also forgot to mention the title and poet which was unpardonable of me!

Pieces that I find to be Art 

The Creation Of Adam c. 1508–1512

Significance of the art piece

In the painting, there is God on the right and Adam on the left. God is depicted as an elderly, yet a muscular man with grey hair and a long beard. He is backed by angels without wings and appears to react to the forward movement of flight. It appears to be a momentum created by the angels. This is different from the imperial images (other contemporary recreations) of God which had actually portrayed God to be dressed in jewels and royal garments. In this painting, Michelangelo has depicted God as an all-powerful ruler, where he wears only a tunic which leaves much of his arms and legs exposed. God is shown to be stretching his arm out, for Adam to touch, which shows him to be accessible even though God is actually shown to be untouchable and unreachable in most parts of the New Testament. On the other hand, Adam has a half-hearted and uninterested aim towards responding to God’s touch. This touch will not only give life to Adam but will give life to all mankind. It is, therefore, the birth of the human race. The piece also has the mindframe to have Man in the likeness of God, an idea that Michelangelo believed and endorsed.

Personally, the creation of Adam is one of my favourite pieces of all of the artwork that I have seen in my life. I had seen it as early as when I was 8 years old and I remember being mesmerized by it. The reason is because as I have grown up, I tend to be very pessimistic and cynical especially about the human race and the dying sense of humanity in general because of the things I have heard and seen people do to the Earth and and all the pain and conflict that humans tend to inflict on each other in the name of race, religion or gender. This perhaps because I am an ecocentric person so I believe that Mother Nature came first and that the environment is our first problem and our own safety and our well-being should come after. Of course, this isn’t necessarily true because we as humans are also part and parcel of nature and the ecosystem. But sometimes I really tend to express extreme dislike towards our species. However, I use this piece of the Creation of Adam as a way to remind myself that humanity does exist and that people are not all destructive and ruinous. Though I am not religious myself, I find the idea interesting that Michelangelo has portrayed a God who is accessible and keen to prove mankind isn’t as brutal as it seems.

Movies Spirited away and Howl’s Moving Castle

The movies Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle are my all-time favourite Studio Ghibli movies. Spirited away is about 10-year-old Chihiro and her parents who stumble upon a seemingly abandoned amusement park. After her mother and father are turned into giant pigs, Chihiro meets the mysterious Haku, who explains that the park is a resort for supernatural beings who need a break from their time spent in the earthly realm and that she must work there to free herself and her parents too.

I consider Spirited Away to be a piece of art as (similar to the painting The Creation of Adam) as it helps to fill in the insecurities that I feel which is a loss of hope for the future of mankind and the environment. The movie Spirited Away gives the message of the importance of having and keeping a good relationship with the people around you. In this case, it is between Haku and Chihiro who strengthen not only their friendship but also their personalities in going through this experience. Chihiro discovers her inner strength and becomes a more courageous individual, while, with the help of Zeniba and Chihiro, Haku is able to remember his name and free himself from Yubaba (the witch who cursed people who enter the Bathhouse). I also consider this movie to be art as it not only gives a positive message to its audience of hope, generosity and trust but it is also hand-drawn, not computer-generated, a method of animation that is nearly extinct in the United States.

Additionally, the movie Howl’s Moving Castle in which a young, contented milliner (a person who sells people’s hats) named Sophie is turned into an old woman by a witch who enters her shop and curses her. I personally think that this story is a form of art as it similarly spreads messages about hope such as appearances don’t matter, what you have inside does and more importantly, that war never makes any sense. That it is a pointless fight which will ruin both parties. The movie portrays how destructive people can be and how there is no rationality to the human behaviour. Throughout the film you don’t understand the real reason for the war that takes place, you don’t know what is the target of those who attack and counterattack. It is impossible to fight something that exists for no reason. War is a destructive fury that never stops, persisting on perpetuating its power, it is shown to have no reason or justification. In my opinion, this movie explains the actual problems that people who have been affected by real life wars face. This gives the viewers a sense of hope since the characters appear to find strength and trust in human bonds through the difficulties of war. The director for both movies mentioned is Japanese and makes several references to the World Wars (also in his other movies like Laputa: Castle in the Sky). Given Japan’s experience of the holocaust in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, this element makes the two movies all the more appealing and poignant to me.

The last piece that I consider being art is Yann Tiersen’s Comptine d`un autre ete – l`apres-midi which is a piano piece from the movie Amélie. The movie Amelie is about a girl of the same name who was raised away from other children. Her father, a man obsessed with garden gnomes, misdiagnosed her with a weak heart, while a suicidal person leaping off a building landed on Amélie’s luckless mother, killing her flat. Amélie observes life from a distance, that is until the death of Princess Diana leads her to discover a hidden old rusty box, in which a young boy once hoarded his treasures. After this discovery, Amélie explores the simplicity of life and sees the beauty in almost everything she witnesses. Scripted in almost complete silence, the background score of the movie makes it lyrical and music is used with a deft hand to convey the emotions of every frame.The piece Comptine d`un autre ete – l`apres-midi personally reminds me of all the years I did ballet, as it was a piece I would often dance to. The piece itself means, “Nursery Rhyme of Another Summer” which highlights all the events of my childhood in which I danced and celebrated music. This in turn, unlike the other three pieces of art (which gives me hope and fill my insecurities), reminds me of my past, a kaleidoscope of warm memories and colour that is a part of everyone’s childhood and it tells me how music and dance helped to shape me into the person I am today.

Today during our second lesson of Theory of Knowledge (TOK), we had just begun experiencing the meaning of the word knowledge. The word knowledge implies that we base our “knowledge” on facts, information, and skills acquired through experience or education. It is the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject. Knowledge can be acquired through the awareness or familiarity gained by experience of a fact or situation. However, knowledge can be questioned by what we can see. If something is not proven or is not witnessed first hand, it is hard to believe. Knowledge and belief tend to tie ends, as when a person finds a result from an action, it turns into both belief and knowledge. For example, if you kick a ball it will move forward. So if a person actually does kick a ball and it does move in that direction, then the person will believe the statement and believe that if anyone kicks a ball, it will move. The person is able to come to this conclusion because they have witnessed the situation. 

 

The idea of knowledge can also be linked to dreams. We tend to dream about what we have seen before. Dreaming is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Although the content and purpose of dreams are not fully understood, we believe that dreams appear to be influenced by our waking lives in many ways. Theories about why we dream include those that suggest dreaming is a means by which the brain processes emotions, stimuli, memories, and information that’s been absorbed throughout the waking day. Rather than knowledge being connected to dreams, it is actually that your dreams can affect your knowledge. Your dreams represent your subconscious and your conscience, so when your actions in a dream are different to how you feel the way you would act would later affect your knowledge.  

 

An interesting relationship between dreams and knowledge has actually already been explored in the movie Inception (Leonardo DiCaprio!!). Inception is about Dom Cobb who is a thief with the rare ability to enter people’s dreams and steal their secrets from their subconscious. His skill has made him a hot commodity in the world of corporate espionage but has also cost him everything he loves. Cobb gets a chance at redemption when he is offered a seemingly impossible task: Plant an idea in someone’s mind. If he succeeds, it would be the perfect crime, but a dangerous enemy anticipates Cobb’s every move. Inception itself is the practice of entering dreams and planting an idea in someone’s head. 

 

The link between dreams and knowledge is that reality can be bent as it can become hard to distinguish between reality and fantasy. If you’ve ever said “I don’t know what was real and what was fake”, you’ve got reconciliation issues. When you’re faced with making fantasy and reality consistent with one another so that you can accept the truth of what has happened, and what you feel, do, or are being, you opt for the illusions. This basically suspends you in No Man’s Land while opening you up to problems in the real world. This is what bends the difference between knowledge and belief through dreams. This is because fantasy is an idea with no basis in reality and is basically your imagination unrestricted by reality. Whereas reality is the state of things as they exist. It’s what you see, hear, and experience, this could also be a lucid dream. 

 

There is a high possibility that we could be dreaming right now. Apparently, it is said that before our body completely shuts down when we die we still have sevens minutes of brain activity left in our body which revisits every moment in our lives. What if we (or I) are dying right now and are reliving the last seven minutes of our lives?  It is something that we will never know. 

]

 

Throughout the past two years, during my IGCSE course, I was becoming more aware of the type of subjects I enjoyed and did well in. Personally, I felt as though I had become better at subjects such as English Literature and Global Perspectives. I had also begun to really enjoy these subjects as I felt they were truly embedded in real life and they helped me to develop my interests in journalism and international relations. Due to this, I took up an internship at the Asian Geographic Magazine. I had taken two internships here, one in the summer of 2018 and another, very recently in the summer of 2019.

 

The Asian Geographic Magazine celebrates Asia’s diversity, covering environmental issues, science, exploration, travel, heritage, arts and cultures. It is based here in Singapore, the team has its fingers on the pulse of Asia, with award-winning contributors scouring the region to bring you powerful stories and images. Titles under Asian Geographic Magazines include its flagship title Asian Geographic, as well as Passport, Asian Geographic Junior, and diving titles, Asian Diver, Scuba Diver and UW360. The last three, I found particularly interesting because I was yet to come across any magazine which focuses solely on diving, a natural sport that I myself find interesting. 

 

While I was studying Global Perspectives in Grade 10, I realized that I have a very strong interest and passion for the environment and the Asian Geographic Magazine was the perfect opportunity to explore the type of career I would like to pursue in the future. I wanted to join Asian Geo as the company not only recommends magnificent landmarks areas to sightsee but it also highlights the environmental dilemmas in Asia which are fuelled by the current use of power in Asian governments. Last year when I first joined the internship, I was placed under Rachel, who was in charge of the flagship title Asian Geographic as well as Passport. Rachel had explained to me the way the magazine worked and how the editor (John Thet) felt that it was important to highlight all of the significant and most popular Asian news. The magazine also focuses on the diverse traditional cultures through its photography. The aim of the magazine is to cover environmental issues while keeping social and political issue in mind.

 

 During my first internship, I was to research on environmental sustainability which included plastic pollution, climate change and energy crisis. The eventually published magazine, “The Taste of Waste” (issue date.) recognizes one of the urgent environmental issues – plastic pollution. The magazine reveals unexpected statistics of Asia’s plastic consumption and it focuses on the economic development and poor waste management which has caused severe pollution in Asia’s waterbodies and eventually into the human system. It also highlights countries which have taken action towards effective waste management such as recycling and presents viable solutions to our plastic problems in their stories like “Our Battle for Sustainability” and “Changing the Face of Plastic Waste”, in hopes to inspire their readers to take action against the rising issue. 

 

Personally, as I was taught how to research on this specific topic of ocean waste and pollution in Asia, I was having difficulty to find credible sources as well as a variety of information as a majority of websites provided similar information. It often also took me a long time to find any relevant or brand-new data. At the cost of sounding cynical, could possibly reflect that Asia is still living in the past and refuses to look at pollution regulation policies in a proactive manner? However, throughout this process, Rachel taught me how to segregate my information and to look for specific news in particular countries. Thus, despite having to spend so much time researching, the work was relatively easy afterwards as ocean pollution is a global problem which many countries are hastening to control.  

 

Recently, in the summer of 2019, I had rejoined Asian Geo as an intern and had begun working for Terrence who was operating the diving titles, specifically Asian Diver. My work for this summer revolved around focusing on a specific organisation named AIDA International (International Association for the Development of Apnea; Apnea means the temporary discontinuance of breathing) which focuses on freediving athletes and competitions. My aim was to research on a number of Asian freedivers and find their national records. My task this summer was significantly different in comparison to last year as my work had now shifted from an environmental point of view to a sport. Last year, I spent a certain amount of time researching ocean waste. However, this time, the amount of time I spent researching on divers increased as it became more difficult to investigate due to the association’s poorly organized website. This showed me that journalism is not a career which can be taken lightly as it requires serious focus and dedication despite the difficulties the writer faces. The research element needs to stand on strong legs to give eventual article a strong point of view. 

 

The entire operation of research which Terrence and I handled was unorganized and disordered as it was almost impossible to find Asian records on the website. It later became even harder to find specific branches of AIDA International (for example AIDA China or AIDA Philippines). After a couple of days of endlessly searching on pages with no details on Asian freedivers, we realized that all the Asian divers were listed in ranks, which were (thankfully) ordered by country and type of free-dive. The aim for me was to list all the highest ranked Asian divers of every single possible Asian country listed on the website. Despite being such a simple task, it took me forever. A majority of the information on the website was convoluted and disorganised which led me to research individually on each diver to prevent further complication in the research. This process helped me realize that in journalism there is a fair chance of being unable to find information and may be provided with incorrect information. However, it is important to be organized and self-managed and even more importantly, one should be calm and determined despite many difficulties. Once I had been able to find information on a specific part of Asia, I was later able to recognise a pattern in the way the website organized its information, which later allowed me to collect more information on other countries without wasting time. This was a good experience for me to realize that journalism is not as comfortable and secure as it seems and that it takes a lot more effort to find the correct and accurate information than to find inexact data. This has helped me become more open-minded about what kind of career I would like to pursue in the future. 

 

However, throughout the time I spent researching on these freedivers, I came to realize that it was only difficult to find Asian divers in contrast to foreign/Western divers. I also came to realize from my last experience that it was slightly more laborious to find information on Asian sustainability in comparison to Western sustainability. Personally, I feel as though it would be incorrect to say that West has accomplished more than the East due to race or historical events like colonisation but perhaps it is really just the amount of dedication, effort and determination that they constantly place in their work. Am I being too pessimistic here? It is not that the people in the East have not worked hard to achieve the positions where they are today. However, in many cases, for example, this simple case of researching for Asian freedivers, there were very few Asian divers in comparison to Western divers. Of course, that being said, perhaps, the West is provided with the better facility, safety or training but it seems almost off-putting to know that there are only three well-known freedivers in India in comparison to the multiple other divers from Western races which have exceeded in their profession. Nevertheless, I feel that this experience has taught me that companies such as Asian Geographic operate to inform their readers of relevant issues in Asia which are not highlighted too much by mainstream magazines like National Geographic. Consequently, it is a definite step towards achieving a higher level of awareness among readers. 

 

My internship with the magazine also woke me up to the fact that while journalists play an important role in highlighting obscure facts, if I were to pursue a career in international relations or public policy making, I would actually be on the other side of the table and have perhaps more power in correcting what is wrong. Maybe then I could be more of a change maker. 

 

A picture!

Asian Geographic:

https://www.asiangeo.com/

 

Article on Ocean Pollution:

https://www.asiangeo.com/magazines/asian-geographic-magazine/

 

AIDA international:

https://www.aidainternational.org/

And a letter from Rachel and Terence!

 

2018

2019

 

My sister Rai,

Not very high.

Loves this singer,

Named Harry Styles.

 

She writes his name right across the mirror.

And posts his face on twitter.

She can never stop her silly things,

For Harry, cause she still loves him.

 

I don’t really mind his songs,

Or the way he talks and walks.

But I’d rather would’ve liked Orlando Bloom,

He’s goodlooking and appears in movies too.

 

But my sister always insists,

To have Harry’s face on her walls.

It seems she sees him all the time,

Like in the Phantom of the Opera when the bell chimes .

So she sings his name,

Around the house.

Hoping one day,

He’ll knock on the door

And ask her to be his bride.

 

Rai is only 14,

And I guess Harry is older,

So I doubt that this future will ever begin.

Yet she plants his stickers on her arms,

And travels around the world to see Harry perform.

 

She thinks he is handsome,

And never thinks he is tiresome.

For all she thinks is of Harry,

Is that he is gorgeous and sings beautifully.

She can never ever stop,

All the babbling she’s got.

 

She would do anything I reckon,

To meet Harry in person.

She paints her nails with stickers from 1D.

And watches the Red Nose Movie in HD.

 

Her wish is to be with Harry Styles,

For infinty years.

And live in a mansion,

With 1D songs playing all day long.

 

My sister will never fall for any other man but Harry Styles,

Even if she has to find him across a 100 miles.

She promised that even when she would marry,

Until she died she would still think of Harry.

Here I am,

Jolly like a snowwoman.

 

I have all right,

To swim all night,

In the cold freezing pool,

WITH MY best friend SMASH.

I DIP MY TOE IN,

IT’S FREEZING COLD.

I LEAN TOWARDS THE EDGE,

SHE PUSHES ME IN.

 

“AGHHHH!!!” I SCREAM.

I TRY TO CATCH HER,

SLIM SLENDER ANKLES.

 

SHE RUNS TOO FAST AROUND THE POOL,

I TRY TO FAKE MY FALL,

AND HURT MYSelF.

WHEN SHE COMES TOWARDS ME,

TO TAKE A LOOK.

I PUSH HER IN SIDEWAYS,

RIGHT INTO THE POOL.

 

SHE SCREAMS AT ME AND GRABS A FLOAT,

AND SO DO I BOB MY HEAD OUT OF THE HOLE.

WE STRETCH OUR ARMS OUT,

TO SPIN OURSELVES INSIDE THE FLOATS.

AND CLOSE OUR EYES,

TO TWIRL SLOWLY FROM THE SKY.

 

SMASH LETS GO FIRST, SINKING UNDERWATER,

I PULL HER UP, AND SCREAM AT HER.

I HOPE SHE ARGUES,

BUT SHE ONLY SMILES BACK.

 

I CALL HER A POOP BAG AND THAT JUST DOES IT,

SHE WALKS OUT OF THE POOL,

AND RETURNS TO POUNCE ON ME.

SHE TRIES TO DROWN ME,

AND CALLS ME A STICK.

 

SHE OPENS HER BLACK HAIR,

LIKE LETTING DOWN A LION’S MANE

AND SHAKES IT IN MY FACE.

I GRAB A SMALL STRIP AND,

NEARLY PULL IT OFF HER HEAD.

 

SHE SQUEALS VERY LOUDLY,

LIKE A PIGLET HIT WITH A CANE.

SHE PUSHES ME UNDERWATER,

AND COUNTS TO 10.

 

SHE GOES TO THE STEPS AND CALLS ME TO PLAY,

I AGREE WITH HER AND SWIM TO THE BAY.

IN THE NEXT MINUTES WE ARE MERMAIDS.

 

SMASH IS CORAL AND I’M DELPHINE.

I AM THE DOLPHIN,

I PLAY AND CATCH LEAVES THAT FALL FROM ABOVE,

SMASH AS CORAL TELLS ME WHAT TO DO,

AS I FOLLOW LIKE A BEAGLE HUNTING FOR FOOD.

 

WE USE THE FLOATS AS HOOLA HOOPS,

FOR ME TO JUMP LIKE IN ARIAL TROOPS.

 

BUT ALAS!

WE HAVE LOST OUR LOVELY TAILS,

AND DISAPPEARED ARE OUR SILVERY SCALES.

WE ARE HUMANS AGAIN!

I ASK SMASH,

“DO YA WANNA PLAY BREAK DANCE?”

“DUH!”

 

WE FLING OUR BODIES INTO THE POOL,

AND DO HANDSTANDS UNDERWATER, HOLDING OUR BREATHS.

SMASH JUMPS AND DOES A TRIPLE ROLL.

 

“WOOOHHHOOOO” WE CHEER,

UNTIL MY MOTHER CALLS ME HOME.

I WALK BACK, HOLDING SMASH’S HAND.

WHEN I WALK UP THE FIRST 2 STEPS ON THE FRONT PORCH,

I TURN AROUND, BUT NO ONE IS THERE.

“MUM, CAN SMASH AND I WATCH T.V?”

”SMASH? WHO’S SMASH?”

“THE ONE I SWAM WITH.”

”WHAT? THERE WAS NO ONE THERE WITH YOU. I WATCHED YOU ALL THE WHILE…!”

Today we had a talk from Deborah Emmanuel. Deborah Emmanuel is a Singaporean poet, a performer as well as a four-time TEDx speaker.

Deborah started her talk with a bit of her past, of how she had trouble fitting into the Singaporean community. She introduced to us a common formation in the Singaporean community CMI, Chinese, Malay, and Indian. Deborah claimed that she couldn’t fit herself into any of these categories and had difficulty fitting in.

As a Singaporean Indian myself, I feel that Deborah had proposed a point that hasn’t been discussed enough in our school (UWCSEA). A reason as to why we never discuss this issue is because we don’t need to worry about it. The idea of “not fitting in” is an insignificant issue which isn’t precisely a part of our school. As a UWCSEA student, I think that we never acknowledge people who are unaccepted. We never notice the people around us who are rejected in the sense that no one understands them and no one wants to. The idea of fitting in forces the majority of us to change our personalities and the way we look. We only change to be noticed. Relating back to the CMI, I feel that this “system” or categorizing people is absolutely unnecessary as it traps people into being something they may not aspire to be.  Even just the idea of being unaccepted due to the difference in sexual preference (LGBTQ++)  is not necessary. And what is most troubling is that these categories have labeled us from the second of our birth, which basically narrows our choice of everything (religion, race.. etc).

I think that a major question that is asked during existential crisis or depression or just pure frustration with life is “What is the point of doing something if no one else is even listening?” This phrase shows the sign of giving up and it is used too often in our generation. We give up too often when we think something is becoming too rough or too complex and is slowly becoming deformed and monstrous to take care of. I myself say this many times, but I feel that it is important to carry on working because there will be a time when people start to notice you. Take Van Gogh for example, not until his death did people notice his artwork which changed how people saw things. I am not saying that death is required to be noticed, but to engrave something immeasurable and valuable should be encouraged.

There was a poem that Deborah had performed named “I love you”. It was written for her mother. What I feel that Deborah was promoting that “Love isn’t permanent” and “Love doesn’t last forever” these are both mediocre and obvious points but it does strike a question of why is there only one way for love to be? Even though the sense of love between people is different, however, it still the same. I don’t think that love is permanent either because, at some point, there will be a time when one person or the other will run out of emotions just like how one day, the sun will burn out or the world will come to an end.

I think that this was the most interesting talk I have been too, it has given me a wider perspective as to how oblivious we can be to our surroundings as well as how we underestimate our powers. We don’t care about issues like recycling or global warming or racism or the refugee crisis because we don’t want to. We feel that these problems will go away at some point and we don’t want to accept that they will only increase until something drastic happens. But, we can always turn things around by changing ourselves and individually reflect on how we can improve and how we can develop in a way that doesn’t harm our environment.