Jesika's Blog

I read an interesting article called " Don't Waste Your Time With Bad Resolutions. This is How To Do Them Right. " by Tim Herrera. I liked this article because it was realistic about setting goals. Often times, we set goals that are overly ambitious and don't seem to follow through with many of them. In this article, it mentioned a helpful acronym, which was SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Thinking about those things when setting a goal would help to make a more reasonable and specific goal to reach. I also liked how it talked about being a little more self-forgiving because sometimes we all have those bad days. It's important to just keep improving from the slip ups. I know one thing I want to get better at is making better and realistic goals. Sometimes I feel like I don't give myself enough time to meet my goals, or they're not really realistic. Definitely could improve on not wasting my time and focusing on how I can ...

So for this blog post, I'll talk about the Canvas mobile app. I have an iPhone and the app was pretty easy to instal from the apple store app. This app is actually quite useful when you need to check something really quick and don't have access to a computer. You can access all your classes, check any emails from your professor, and check your grades. You can even get notifications from the app. Overall, it's a pretty useful app for students!

The Story of the Cane and the Fish The Master teaches a young prince Ajatasatru a lesson on how cunning does not always succeed and wickedness doesn't always prevail.  He told the young prince of a story. Story was about how there was two ponds. One that was quite small, while the other one was big and wide. Now, there was a crane who noticed fishes in the small pool. He came up with a plan to deceive the fishes by saying he'll carry each fish one by one to the bigger pond. However, he tricked them and didn't take them to the pond. Instead, he killed and ate them. Then, the crane tried to con the crayfish, but it outsmarted him and killed the crane. The crane got it's karma from the crayfish. The prince thanked the Master for the lesson before he left. The crane that fooled the fishes. (Source: Wikimedia Commons ) Bibliography: " The Story of the Crane and the Fish "- The Life of Buddha by A.F. Herold.

This week I decided to watch more TED talks and there was one in particular that I found interesting. The TED talk was called "What makes a hero?" by Matthew Winkler. This caught my attention because I didn't really realize how many popular stories like the Harry Potter, Hunger Games, and The Lord of Rings used a common layout. A common formula for a hero's journey includes the ordinary world and special world, along with certain key events. Those key events are status quo, call to adventure, assistance, departure, trials, approach, crisis, treasure, result, return, new life, and resolution. A hero's journey is basically written in a cycle where they go through those key events. I just thought that was interesting and didn't really notice until watching the video. Joseph Campbell even wrote a book on the dozen of stories on the mono myth of a hero's journey. A quote by Joseph Campbell. (Source: Pinterest ) Link: TED Talk " What Makes A Hero? ...

The Three Encounters Prince Siddhartha has never been outside his palace, until he had a sudden desire to explore outside the palace. The king or Siddhartha's father couldn't say no to his son even though he feared something outside the palace would mess with his innocent soul. The king order for a path to be clear from evil things, beggars, and those who suffer, so his son could go into the city. However, the Gods were jealous of how people celebrated the Prince when he came into the city. They sent an old man who looked worn out, another who was sick, and a dead man on three different instances when the Prince went outside the palace. Each time the Prince saw those men it scared him and made him fear of growing old and getting sick.  The king did get upset that his fear came true and those bad instances messed with his son. Prince Siddhartha encountering old age, sickness, and death. (Source: Wikipedia ) Bibliography: " The Three Encounters "- The Lif...

Maya's Dream Queen Maya had a dream where a young elephant came from the sky and entered her womb. Also, a bunch of gods appeared in the dream and sang her immortal songs. When she woke up, she was so happy and went to the woods. She told her maids to go get her husband, King Suddhodana. King Suddhodana reigned in Kapilavastu. Before he could enter the woods, he felt something weird. Then, he heard a voice from above telling him to be happy as he was expecting a son. He went to his wife and she told him about the dream. She asked him to tell some brahmans about it and to interpret what it means. The brahmans told them they are expecting a son, who will be great and a Buddha. They celebrated and gave back to the poor. I liked that this was a simple and cute story of Maya finding out she's pregnant. I could re-write this story in a more modern setting.  King Suddhodana asking brahmans to interpret the Queen's dream. (Source: Wikimedia Commons ) Bibliography: ...

For this week, I decided to do a story lab and watched a Ted talk video about stories and storytelling. It was called "The Danger of a Single Story" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I really enjoyed this Ted talk because it opened up my perception on how a single story doesn't represent a place entirely. She mentioned her personal experience dealing with this when she came to America for college, and that her roommate was shocked to know how well she spoke English since she was from Africa. She talked about how her roommate only had these assumptions of Africa because of the negative and one side things she's read or seen on different media platforms here in the U.S. At the end of the talk, I really liked what she said, "When we reject a single story and realize there's never a single story about a single place, we regain a kind of paradise." In addition, she talked about you could change this by writing the story from the other side's perspective. For i...

Shibi and the Hawk Shibi was a king, who was know for his unselfishness and love for God's creatures. At a park, this pigeon fell into his arms. The bird was tired from trying to get away from a hawk. Shibi managed to revive the poor bird, but then the hawk told him to hand over the pigeon to him. He told the hawk no that he couldn't do that to the pigeon. The hawk explain how he had the right to do so because the pigeon was its prey, otherwise he would starve.  Realizing the hawk was kind of right, Shibi offered himself as food for him if the hawk let the pigeon go free. Hawk agreed and Shibi prevent both the birds from suffering. I found the ending quite odd and couldn't believe he offered himself without hesitating.  I think I would want to change the ending where Shibi doesn't get hurt and instead finds another source of food for the hawk. The hawk that was trying to eat the pigeon. (Source: Pixabay ) Bibliography: Indian Fables and Folklore - Part...

Yudhishtir's Dog Yudhishtir was the eldest Pandu brother of the 5 of them.  Him and his brothers won a battle against the Kuru family with the help of Krishna, who is the equivalent of the Indian Hercules. However,  Yudhishtir refused the throne, and his brother and his wife set out a journey to Mount Sumeru (Indian version of Olympus). He had his faithful dog accompany them. Unfortunately, he and the dog were the only ones to make to Mount Sumeru. King of the Gods, Indra, wouldn't let Yudhishtir enter to heaven with his dog. Yudhishtir refused to come in if his dog wasn't allowed to come with him. Yama, the God of Death and Justice, agreed to let Yudhishtir come to heaven with his dog because how faithful and true their relationship was to one another.  I liked this story because it was just a simple story of how a dog stayed loyal to his owner. I could change this story and make it more modern.  Yudhishtir and his dog trying to get into heaven. (Sou...

How The Antelope Was Caught      This story was about how this antelope kept wandering through the gardens of the King. The King asked its gardener to capture it. The gardener told the King he needed honey in order to catch it, which he was granted by the King. Very carefully and slowly, the gardener was able to gain the antelope's trust. He put some honey grass and sprinkled it on the ground leading to the castle. The clueless antelope followed the trail and into the castle. They closed the doors behind the animal and instantly it freaked out. The King said how the taste of lust could blind side even an animal. In the end, he let the antelope go back into the forest.      I liked the end of this story and how the King let the animal go instead of killing it or holding it captive. Also, I thought the message of this story was clear and nicely portrayed. Giving into greed could lead to trouble. I could change the setting of this story and use other charac...

The Faithful Friend There was an elephant and a dog who became great friends. Everyday they would eat together and just hang out. One day a peasant wanted to pay the elephant keeper for the dog. The elephant keeper didn't care for the dog, so he took the money. The elephant became depressed after losing his friend and wouldn't eat for several days. They told the king about the situation. He made an announcement to his people that whoever took the dog would be fined.  The man who took the dog turned the dog loose. After, the dog and elephant were reunited and lived happily.  King honored the Bodisat for knowing how the animals felt.  The elephant and dog hanging out. (Source: Wikimedia Commons ) The Monkey That Saved The Herd A buddha was reborn as the King of the monkeys. They lived in a forest near a lake.  An ogre lived at the lake and would eat any animal that would go down to the lake. The King of the monkeys told his people not to drink or ...

The Man Who Worked to Give Alms There was a buddha born as merchant named Vissaya He loved to give back to the community and help people who needed food or anything.  He set up charities all over the city and at his own house. Sakka, the King of the gods, got kind of jealous and worried that he might be replaced by this merchant. Sakka made all the merchants stuff disappear including his charities. As people came to the merchant asking for help, the merchant realized his stuff was gone except a mower. He would mow the grass and tried to use that to give back to his charities. Merchant eventually grew weak, and Sakka asked him why he kept giving alms. Merchant replied that he didn't want to replace him or become a brahma, and just wanted to help. Sakka eventually gave the merchant's wealth back. I think I could rewrite this story in a more modern way in where someone misjudges the others' intentions.  The act of giving alms. (Source: Wikimedia Commons ) Bi...

The Great Elephant There was this great beautiful elephant in the sandy desert. The elephant heard voices of men and went to go see what was up. The men told the great elephant that they've been lost in the desert for days with no food or water and how they lost a ton of men. The elephant noticed how weak and desperate these men were for food and water. He told them to go to this hill where an elephant will provide them of food and there will be a stream nearby. Next the elephant just started to run towards the hill really fast, making the men confused why the elephant ran in such a rush. Elephant climbed all the way to the top of hill and jumped killing itself. By the time the men catch up, they notice the great elephant dead on the ground.  They were amazed and shocked on the fact how the elephant gave up its life to save theirs, so they can get strong by eating its meat to make it to the nearest city. This had a happy ending but also a very sad one. I think I might ch...

The Golden Feathers There was a man with a wife and 3 daughters. The family was really poor and barely had any money, so the father left to go find stuff that go bring their family some money. As he was walking through the woods, a fairy came upon him, and asked him where he was going. He said to look for fortune. She then turned him into a goose with golden feathers. The father goes back to his family and gives them a golden feather, so they can sell it to get money. He only gives them one feather at a time until they run out of money from the last one. He never told his family that it was him. The mother decided to grab the goose and take all his feathers. She did this because she thought that one day the goose might never return.  Daughters did not like this idea. When mother plucked all the feathers off, the golden feathers turned to white because the fairy charmed them to where if they were taken from goose forcefully they would turn back to normal. The mother trappe...

There was a man named Kansa, who was this cruel king of Mathura. He had a beloved sister named Devaki. Even though he was this tough king, he loved his sister very dearly. She was to marry one of the king’s noble named Vasudeva. The two were in love and King Kansa couldn’t be more happy than he was for the couple. He threw a huge wedding for the couple and they celebrated to a new beginning. However, after the celebration, the King heard a strange voice in the wind. The mysterious voice said, “The couple you adore so much their eighth child will be the reason for your death.” This gave King Kansa the chills and immediately he became so paranoid. After hearing this, the king commanded the guard to imprison his sister and her husband to the dungeons of the castle. As the guards were taking the couple to the prison, Devaki yelled out to her brother, “Oh dear beloved brother, how could you do this to us? I am your sister, please I beg of you.” King Kansa did not even look once towards ...

The Return of Mathura Krishna is about 12 years of age now, and has been dealing with all the attempts made on his life by Kansa. He has managed to defeat all the demons so far sent his way. Krishna and his brother Bolarama head to the city of Mathura. There was a sacred object guarded near King Kansa's throne, which was a great bow. It is said anyone who wants to take his crown must first bend and break the bow, which is from the gods.  Krishna manages to bend and break this great bow. In doing so, it made a huge sound that even Kansa could hear it from a distant. Kansa wasn't able to sleep well because he kept dreaming of himself with no head. To others he showed no fear or concern about the bow breaking, but inside he was worried. There was a tournament in the city where people would match their skill to the King's wrestlers or fighters.  Kansa had a elephant secretly stationed which no one knew about. Krishna and Bolarama came into contact with this elephant a...

The Birth of Krishna Kansa is a tyrant king of Mathura. He loved his sister, Devaki, who married a noble named Vasudeva. One day a voice spoke to him saying his sister's 8th child from her husband would slay him. Ever since he heard this, he placed the couple in the prison and killed every child they had until the eight one.  When the eighth child was born, he showed signs of Vishnu. The parents soon heard a voice saying to take the child to the house of Nanda and switch the child with a baby girl who was just born there.  Vasudeva managed to escape the prison and sneak out to take his son to the village of Gokool to the King of Cowherds. They switch children and he went back to the prison with the baby girl. Kansa found out about the couple having another child and was surprised to find it was a girl. He thought a girl could not slay him and the voice made it sound like it was a man who will slay him.  When he went to go pick up the baby girl to kill her, she t...

Hey guys the link to my portfolio project is here . Hope you guys enjoy it! Imagery of books full of stories. ( Source )

The wolf searching for food. (Source: Wikipedia ) Hey guys, there's an updated version on my portfolio, here ! Once upon a time, there was a skinny grey wolf who wandered around for hours trying to find something to eat. He searched for some food and even tried to kill some small animals. However, he was so weak from starvation and was unable to succeed in his hunt. The poor wolf hasn’t had a good meal for a couple of days now until one day everything changed for him. During his search for food, the wolf spotted a great lion killing this big buffalo in just a matter of seconds. The wolf couldn’t believe his eyes and how strong this lion was capable of killing such a big animal. He followed the lion back to his den where he confronted the great lion. The wolf stooped to the lion’s feet and begged the lion to help him get some good food to eat as he was very weak. The wolf continued to tell the lion he would do anything for him. At first, the lion wasn’t too sure what ...

How the Monkey Saved His Troops The king and his men found this strange fruit, which was mango that they found out from people who lived in the area. They travel further down the river to collect the fruit and decided to camp overnight in the area to get more of the fruit in the morning.  While the king and people were sleeping, these group of monkeys came to eat some of the fruit, but they were being loud, which woke the king up.  King order his men to shoot the monkeys down with arrows. The monkeys look down and notice the archers. They went to their Chief and asked for help. The Chief of the monkey used himself as a bridge so his troops could get over from tree to another and escape.  The king saw how the monkey saved his kind and was impressed. He decided to make sure the monkey was taken care of the rest of his life.  The Foolhardy Wolf There was a hungry wolf who asked this great lion in helping him get food. They made a deal, which was the wolf w...