I Shot the Albatross

After I read through the part where the ancient mariner killed the albatross, which surprised the crew. I think of two reasons that can explain why the mariner killed the albatross. First reason is that, the ancient mariner was really angry about the weather condition they were facing, which prevailed their ship to caught in the seawaters. So, he killed the albatross in order to release his anger. The second reason is that the mariner killed the bird because he wanted his fellowmen to stop being superstitious and suspicious that whether or not the bird is the main reason that cause the extreme weather changed. Therefore, once he killed the albatross, the crew will suspect the power and ability of the albatross. However, I searched this question on the Internet. Some said that Coleridge wrote this situation, and there is no concrete reason why the ancient mariner killed the albatross. It was just an impulse, which made him do the hellish crime.

Coleridge's Imagination

           Although Coleridge’s later life was totally different from the life he used to have. He lost three significant things that a person should have, which are marriage, friendship, and health. However, I believe that this troubles instead of pulling him down, they strength his imagination. According to his extraordinary memory and powerful, persuasive expression of ideas, Coleridge could use these real life examples to create more work on different areas. For instance, he continued writing and mostly about philosophy and literary criticism, until his death in London. I think that philosophy is about life and love. These are part of the things he lost, which are health and marriage. On the other hand, he published work about literary criticism. This makes me think of William Wordsworth; because he lost his best friend and no one’s work can compare and compete with his best friend’s. Although this troubles make Coleridge suffered, they do not stop Coleridge’s imagination; they only made his ideas more powerful and unique.

The Earth Is Full

      Have we used up all our resources? Have we filled up all the livable space on Earth? After listening the presentation of Paul Gilding, I kept asking these two questions to myself. Besides lands, oceans, and air, the last main thing that exists on Earth is human being. In other words, Earth is filled with human beings right now. Paul Gilding also stated that the current growth based socioeconomic approach is unsustainable. Although the technology and economy are improving, which take us to live in a better quality of lives. However, we did not think of the consequences that we made. In addition, people in nowadays are having a wrong and impossible expectation that the economy will become bigger and stronger in a limited time. This is totally agreeable, because people should not care about present only. What matters the most is the condition in the future. Paul Gilding also reminded us that we should all be fear about things that closely surrounded us, such as families, friends and children, because we are living in uncertainties. Therefore, it is significant to think about the future rather than the present. 

Philosophy of life

            If I have been notified that I only have few more months or days to live. I believe my attitude would change dramatically. The reason, which is simple, is that I want to cherish every moment of the rest of my life; thus, I would like to do anything that I enjoy or things I’ve never done and always wanted to do. For instance, I would like to hangout with my friends and not worrying about unhealthy food. Also, I wished I could meet my favorite rock band members and talk with them face to face. In addition, I am the kind of person, who cares about my reputation and other people’s opinions a lot. If I knew that I can only live for a few months, I would not care about those at all, because the only thing matters in that period is to make myself happy everyday. However, besides these goals I wanted to achieve, there are still things I must done before my end comes. That is spend the rest of my time before death with my family and the people I loved. That way, I can leave this world peacefully and tranquilly.