Annie Van Voast

Myth Term Paper

11/25/13

That Anyway, is What I Have Learned

            As I try to think and put together all the things I have learned in this class I find it difficult to simply put it all down.  I know exactly how everything we have discussed has influenced me and made me feel, but putting in on paper is rather difficult sometimes.  As I have listened to other presentations about our class it seems what I have learned or rather “remembered” is nothing uncommon or new.  Obviously many others in this class have realized this.  However, I don’t find it a depressing realization; but rather a somewhat comforting thought.  When things are hard and one feels alone in a situation, really, it has already been experienced by someone else before.  Although it may not make sense or have an explanation it still is your story.  Someone may have experienced what you are going through but no one else has been you which I think still makes everyone special. 

            Being that this class was all about stories I truly enjoyed coming and hearing all about myths, initiation, experiences, love, hate, and everything in-between. It was quite the experience digging up all the ideas and knowledge I had forgotten.  Hearing about the stories of pain and suffering, separation and indifference really was a fascination to me.  When I first entered the class I assumed the basis of our time would be studying Greek mythology, taking a test on what we “learned” and memorizing some names.  I soon came to find this class was so much more than that.  We may not have taken many tests, or done much homework but I found that I “learned” more in this class than I did in many others I have taken in the past.  We may not have been learning the most recent discovery in scientific history, or the most efficient way to carry out a calculus problem but we were rediscovering things that in my opinion are just as important as all the other classes we are committed to; if not more.  In fact, based on what I have gained and experienced coming out of mythologies I believe it may be one of the most important classes I have or ever will take again. 

            When we first began to discuss what a myth actually was I realized my perception was totally wrong.  I didn’t delve deep enough into what a story really was and that myths were and are in fact true.  Upon realizing that, a lot more began to make sense; not only in class but in my life.  I remembered more and more about whom I was and what was happening to me.  When we talked about the Greek gods I thought they were simply gods that people made up to follow and worship in the ancient times and that a myth was just a lie. It wasn’t until later on I began to understand that the gods weren’t just a belief system, they are a part of people and who they are.  They are real; in a sense that they exist inside of us we and what we do and how we act are all due to “the gods inside us”.   I find that to be one of the most interesting things I realized.

            I also came to understand another very important thing about myself through this class.  That it is okay, wonderful even, to be a creative dreamer who loves stories. I absolutely love a good story; I love relating them to my personal experiences and creating new ones through my own.  Some people would argue that stories aren’t important; not as important as chemistry or spending time doing things that make money.  I believed that, and I pushed away my love for literature and creativity to force myself to be good at things I did not enjoy.  Mythologies helped me to see that stories and the things I love are in fact very important.  Perhaps even more important than a lot of things people now days spend their days doing.  Through being part of this class I realized telling stories and enjoying literature are one of the most important things I can partake in through my life.  It brings me great happiness that I have come to embrace that.

            Lastly, I wanted to bring up something that Dr. Sexson said in class that intrigued me.  He said how people now days instead of enjoying the ride and experience always seem to demand an explanation or a reason for events that happen in the stories they read, see, or live out themselves. I am afraid I am one of those guilty people; I am always looking for an exact reason to why something is happening to me in my own story, or what things could possibly mean.  Or I hear a story and I feel as if it was all a pointless experience if it doesn’t explain itself in the end.  As many of the stories we heard portrayed, there doesn’t have to be a reason or an explanation, what matters is what we get out of the story, and whether we be bitter about it because we don’t understand, or we take joy in the experience is our choice.  However, enjoying the ride and embracing change, bliss, disappointments, failures, achievements, relationships, or heartbreak will make continuing the story much more interesting and enjoyable.  That anyway, is what I have learned.