Questions in Big Book

How do our hearts and minds influence our actions?

In some circumstances, one’s decision will always follow his/her heart. Nevertheless, sometimes what is more convincing is the influence of people and events. Take myself as an example. When I hang out with my friends to buy new clothes, I might choose a jacket, which has shining decorations on it, to buy. However, when your friends see me holding that jacket. Their opinions might soon appear. For instance, “Hey, don’t you think that jacket is too fancy?” That is only a simple sentence, yet it can bring a strong influence on your decision. When some people received that, they may stand on his/her point immediately and no one could move the decision. Nevertheless, as for me, I would accept my friends’ opinions and put the jacket back to its original position. Therefore, I believed that what really influence our hearts and minds are voices and opinions from others.

When people have a close bond, can they even really be separated – even by death?

           

            I believe people can be separated. Yet, what I meant for this is physically. Take John Donne’s poem as an example. In A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning, it talks about the husband has to leave the wife for work, so the wife has to stay at home and wait till her husband return. However, John Donne describes that their relationship will still like a compass in the end. What it means is that although two people are far apart, their love is still connected; even by death, if they have a close bond. There are examples in reality that a wife died, and the husband is alone. What the husband thinks is that his wife is his true love, there will be no one can replace her. So, even though she has passed away, the husband still misses her. These examples demonstrate that two people can actually be segregated; nevertheless, the love between them is actually tightly bounded, even by death.