Reflective Paper Hour 2 11/12/08
On Wednesday, November 12th, I visited the Bob Dylan lyrical “mural” at the University of St. Thomas. At first, we had no idea where to go, and we asked a very friendly and helping student where to find it. He pointed us right to it, and it turns out we were standing almost on top of it. It was dark and cold outside, and I think that that fact hindered my experience. But, the whole idea of it, and the content, was very moving.
Throughout the mural, the graphic pictures and touching lyrics were absolutely heartbreaking. For some reason, the picture of the dead whale really hit me hard. It made me realize that humans aren’t only ruining the planet for us, but for other innocent creatures and beings that have done nothing to advance the man-made decay of our planet. Another image that struck me hard was of the little children. In one of the pictures of the kids, his stomach was so bloated and the rest of him was stick-skinny. His bloated stomach could have been due to many things, like a parasite or a disease, all caused by severe starvation. It just made me think of how “hard we have it.” I mean, I complain and hear complainers every single day about how much homework we have and how we skate too much at hockey. Seeing these pictures made me realize that these kids don’t even get to have an education! They don’t have organized sports, let alone enough food to power them through a varsity hockey practice. It made me sad to think how amazingly easy life is for me compared to them.
Another picture that I remembered vividly is the thermo-image of the earth. It was basically all red and yellow. Even on the poles. Its sad to see that even though everyone knows about it, and it has been proving many, many times, that global warming is still in effect and is still very dangerous to our planet. If people this age are really that ignorant, then the generations to come are pretty much screwed....