Graham VS. Brooks

Graham's article "Confessions of a Quit Addict" is about her quitting a bunch of things that doesn't "arouse her passion". She quit college then she pretty much quit her life and left everything back at home her family, friends, quit job, sold apartment and everything to set on an adventure with her boyfriend, Brian. They left everything for this journey to find freedom when in the end she wasn't happy with how her life was going. As soon as she had her son it opened up her eyes and she was tired of living from one place to the next and jumping from one job to the next when one got boring. After having Clay, their son she knew this wasn't the life for them. She wanted friends, family, and a place to call home for her and her son, but Brian wasn't on the same page he was go, go, go all the time that they ended up getting a divorce so with all this she became a writer and learned a lot from this failure journey. She learned that she likes having people to call family and people to call friends. She likes being around people. She learned that no matter what she does she doesn't have to run after change because change constantly finds her.

Brook's argument "It's Not About You" is about all the opportunities that this generation of high school and college students have. Brook's says the way the educational system works now leaves young people/adults struggling with the real world. These generations are getting babied more and more that when its time to grow up and enter adulthood we are left not knowing what to do. Back in the day there was a way of doing life and now these young adults have more freedom and have more opportunities to do whatever they want.

A way these two connect are in "It's Not About You" in his last sentence of the argument he says "The purpose in life is not to find yourself. It's to lose yourself." connects to Graham's article when she says "My family, my home, close friendships, the natural world, and the worlds I create in my work constantly surprise me with their nourishment- a thick and complex root system I might never have know if I hadn't stopped cutting the ties that bind." These two connect because Graham finds out that she now has a son she has to take care of and she can't live in a world that's all about her anymore because she now has another human being to tend too. I actually gained a lot from the conversation that we had in class on Tuesday because I was very confused and unsure of what was going on with these articles and how they connected to each other and now I see how they do so and have a better understanding of the two.

"The Epidemic of Worry"

"Some of the Trumpians are savage" I'm starting off with this quote because it stood out to me. It stood out to me because first "Trumpians" like there are actual people out there that call themselves that and second he called them "savage". He used a word teenagers are using in todays day which shocked me that Brooks used it. Brooks says "some mental health therapists are reporting that three-quarters of their patients are mentioning significant election-related anxiety. People are seeking help for their anxiety because of the election. This election is creating people to have anxiety which I think is crazy and ridiculous. The quote he uses to describe both forms of anxiety the good and the bad which is "the kind that warns you about legitimate dangers and the kind that spirals into dark and self-destructive thoughts" gives a very visual and concrete image and gave a better understanding of the two. They stood out to me because I didn't know that there was two forms of anxiety let alone a good and a bad form, so it informed me that there was two different meanings and gave visual descriptions. The two "flavors" of worry in America are "educated- class anxiety which can often be characterized as a feeling overabundant of options without core of convicting purpose" and when people hear affluent they express worry which usually means "the fear of missing out and the dizziness of freedom." I can definitely see these two "flavors" of worry play out in either friendships or with family because in the article Blow mentions that "affluent people use money to buy privacy, and so cut themselves off from both the deep relationships that could give them purpose and the neighborly support systems that could hold them up if things go south." Why are we setting up guards when one day we may need help, but cant receive it because we have walls built. Just because America is nothing like it was doesn't mean we now have to shut everyone out and trust nobody even though that is how they are making it out to be. Were all in this together. This is our country and we need to make it better together because like Brooks said "American's culture may be permanently changed for the worse" but we change that. As being a citizen of a affluent nation I don't believe I share any of the anxieties that he mentions in this article.