I was going to write about something trivial that ended up being, well, not so trivial. But then I thought to myself, what is trivial, really? Everything is important: every living being, every tiny fact, every atom, every quark. One person’s trivial may be another person’s most significant object of desire. Most people probably see insects as a trivial, albeit sometimes annoying, part of their lives, but to me, they are my entire world. On the other hand, I care nothing for sports, but I know that most people count them as an important part of daily life. Surely there are countless other examples. So how can I write about "something trivial" when the word itself is so arbitrary?
Brandon, I really liked this. You took the idea of the post and flipped it on its head. I just read through the other posts for this, and almost all of them said more or less the same thing: this one thing is trivial to other people, but not to me. It proved your point very nicely. I also liked how you used two examples towards the end to help clarify your point and bring it into focus. Ending with a question was a really strong choice. Good job!
My knee hurts. Or, more to the point, it twinges, and it feels weak. I noticed it last week, when I had dance on Tuesday. It was swollen and oddly sore and I couldn't straighten it. This week, I noticed it again today because I had dance again for the first time since last Tuesday (no school on Friday). Today it wasn't swollen; it was just weak. It rolled around a bit, like it wasn't quite sure what it was supposed to be doing. For anybody else, that's the most trivial thing in the world. So your knee is sore; slap some ice on it and move on. It'll get better eventually. But for me, it's frightening. I tore my ACL back in eighth grade, skiing, and I was one of the few lucky ones who was able to have an ACL repair, versus a reconstruction, like Julianna had. What if my repaired ACL is failing on me again? What if I've done something to it? What will I do this time if I have? I wanted to cry this afternoon, when I figured out that last week wasn't a one-time thing. Just goes to show how perspective is everything: something as trivial as a twinge can ruin your afternoon.
The ball takes one little funny bounce, I take a half a second too long, my arm is an inch out of place on my dive. These are the trivial little things that put the ball in the back of the net, change the score on the board, and, eventually, make one team a winner and one team a loser. I guess, in the end, that's just soccer. It's the nature of the sport; so little scoring makes goals, and the mistakes that cause them, that much more important. Most sports, you make a mistake and give up a point, bummer. You have plenty of time to get it back. Soccer is different; one early goal because I can't get enough of my hand on the ball, and the other team sends attackers back on defense so we can't score for the rest of the game. Soccer also has sudden death overtime, once the mistake, and the resulting goal happens, the game's over. It doesn't matter how much work and training you have put in, everyone makes the trivial little mistakes at one point or another. I just hope that tomorrow the bounces, seconds and inches are on our side.
My cat is the best. She is so adorable. When she sleeps she tucks her nose and her paws in. She is not the smartest cat on the planet. She doesn’t really have a memory. She has instincts, and she recognizes my family, but other than that she doesn’t remember anything. I have dropped her before and after a few seconds she will turn back around like nothing happened. She also doesn't recognize herself in a mirror or other cats on TV. She doesn’t know that she can’t protect herself because she doesn’t have front claws so she chases animals all over the yard. She loves to chase squirrels but she also will chase other cats or foxes. She lives a simple life, she is my kitty.
Something happened to me about a bit over an hour ago that wasn't at all trivial, though maybe to some people it would have been. We were doing a cue-by-cue at rehearsal and I didn't know what that was. Being confused, I was a bit late coming on stage, which prompted someone to say some really mean things to me, which I won't write out, because maybe to some people her words would have been trivial. To me they weren't. I was hurt and began to hyperventilate, leading me to whisper my line because I couldn't breathe. She accosted me backstage, saying I needed to be louder. I tried to say something bold in my defense, but instead I gasped and began to sniffle, much as I tried not to. Everyone else comforted me, hugged me, said it was just because she's a obnoxious freshman. But I just stood there in the hallway, reliving every emotional wound I'd ever received. In sixteen and a half years, I have never once been able to defend myself when someone has emotionally hurt me (once I even apologized to my attacker, which is about the most illogical reaction imaginable), and each time, it has only gotten worse as I remember my past failings. I only hope that the next time someone hurts me, I have the strength to tell them to leave me alone.
Anna, I loved how your post is very relatable yet also personal. You capture the paralysis from being attacked so well as well as the desire to defend yourself but not being able to put up a shield in time. Your experience shows just how much words can hurt, even if they were not meant to be harmful. I like how you bring up the “snowball effect” that happens, because how you deal with it afterwards is something that varies for each person. By explaining this, it offers a window into your train of thought. Great job! (on this piece and as an afflicted girl!)
Often times I find the trivial things to be the things which evoke my strongest emotions. For example, today I was clearing my dishes after dinner. I accidentally put my knife into the dishwasher with the point facing down and it slipped through one of the cracks. Then, when I tried to close the dishwasher the knife prohibited the drawer from sliding back in. This enraged me and I began mumbling a string of swears to myself (to which my dad replied and said I was not a sailor and so I shouldn't be talking like one). I pulled the knife out and returned it to its rightful position in the dishwasher before leaving in a fit. I understand that, objectively, this is ridiculous and it's really quite stupid to make such a fuss over something so insignificant. It was not stupid to me, though, as I have a tendency to remain level-headed in more serious situations and "loose my cool" when silly, or trivial, things go awry.
This is great, Meredith. Your anger at this seemingly unimportant occurrence comes through clearly, and it’s very understandable too. I also liked the bit of humor that you injected in the interaction with your dad, as it offsets the decidedly unfunny mood of the rest of the piece. Great job!
Reading this post, I had no idea what trivial meant. I asked my mother, who promptly told it meant something small and unimportant. I thought about the things that go through my mind on a daily basis. Homework, if i will get in to college, my unwritten college essay, my constant stress, my constant fear of doing poorly in school because of my constant stress, if my dad will finally be home for dinner, if my knee will ever get better, and so on. Nothing in my life seems trivial to me right now, which scares me. It is always nice to have something that is somewhat small and unimportant, because it takes you away from the big scary parts of life for just one second. It gives you something to focus on that won't make you go crazy. Everything I think about scares me, and it is the worst feeling I have ever had.
My cat lies at the end of my bed, curled up with her tail by her head. I, on the other hand, am upright listening to the sound of Natalia Kills fierce song drifting softly out of my computers speakers. This is my routine. With my mess of a room organized with piles in their separate corners, my closet door shut, and my bed made, I always sit on top of my blanket with my back against the wall, and my feet over the edge. But, above all, the door to my room is firmly shut. Although, my family doesn't seem to realize the importance of shutting my door all the way, or at all. It's often of my brothers or my little sister to barge in to my quiet atmosphere, talk about something that I don't care about, and leave without shutting the door. It is the most simple of tasks, one of the most trivial, for them to just bring the door to a close as they leave my room. I don't understand how they don't understand it does so much for my concentration(or that it lets me procrastinate in private). Either way, the small difference between the door being an inch from being shut, and shut all the way, seems so trivial. But, in fact, it is one of the most important things for my routine to go smoothly.
Parents got a fish for me a few years ago. He usually swims around in his tank on the corner of my desk, either building bubble structures on the surface, or reorganizing the rocks at the bottom of the tank. When I get home from school and sit down at my desk, he swims back and forth on the side of the tank facing me. I even taught him to jump out of the water to get food off of my finger. Most people think fish are pretty boring pets, but not Marvin. For the past couple of weeks he has been sitting at the bottom, swimming up to the surface to get air, and then sinking back to the bottom once again. It is sad to see him not touching his food and hiding at the bottom but there is nothing I can do. He is old for a betta fish, but it happened so suddenly. My family tells me he is a fish and I can get another one, but losing him would not be trivial.
I was going to write about something trivial that ended up being, well, not so trivial. But then I thought to myself, what is trivial, really? Everything is important: every living being, every tiny fact, every atom, every quark. One person’s trivial may be another person’s most significant object of desire. Most people probably see insects as a trivial, albeit sometimes annoying, part of their lives, but to me, they are my entire world. On the other hand, I care nothing for sports, but I know that most people count them as an important part of daily life. Surely there are countless other examples. So how can I write about "something trivial" when the word itself is so arbitrary?
ReplyDeleteBrandon, I really liked this. You took the idea of the post and flipped it on its head. I just read through the other posts for this, and almost all of them said more or less the same thing: this one thing is trivial to other people, but not to me. It proved your point very nicely. I also liked how you used two examples towards the end to help clarify your point and bring it into focus. Ending with a question was a really strong choice. Good job!
DeleteMy knee hurts. Or, more to the point, it twinges, and it feels weak. I noticed it last week, when I had dance on Tuesday. It was swollen and oddly sore and I couldn't straighten it. This week, I noticed it again today because I had dance again for the first time since last Tuesday (no school on Friday). Today it wasn't swollen; it was just weak. It rolled around a bit, like it wasn't quite sure what it was supposed to be doing. For anybody else, that's the most trivial thing in the world. So your knee is sore; slap some ice on it and move on. It'll get better eventually. But for me, it's frightening. I tore my ACL back in eighth grade, skiing, and I was one of the few lucky ones who was able to have an ACL repair, versus a reconstruction, like Julianna had. What if my repaired ACL is failing on me again? What if I've done something to it? What will I do this time if I have? I wanted to cry this afternoon, when I figured out that last week wasn't a one-time thing. Just goes to show how perspective is everything: something as trivial as a twinge can ruin your afternoon.
ReplyDeleteThe ball takes one little funny bounce, I take a half a second too long, my arm is an inch out of place on my dive. These are the trivial little things that put the ball in the back of the net, change the score on the board, and, eventually, make one team a winner and one team a loser. I guess, in the end, that's just soccer. It's the nature of the sport; so little scoring makes goals, and the mistakes that cause them, that much more important. Most sports, you make a mistake and give up a point, bummer. You have plenty of time to get it back. Soccer is different; one early goal because I can't get enough of my hand on the ball, and the other team sends attackers back on defense so we can't score for the rest of the game. Soccer also has sudden death overtime, once the mistake, and the resulting goal happens, the game's over. It doesn't matter how much work and training you have put in, everyone makes the trivial little mistakes at one point or another. I just hope that tomorrow the bounces, seconds and inches are on our side.
ReplyDeleteMy cat is the best. She is so adorable. When she sleeps she tucks her nose and her paws in. She is not the smartest cat on the planet. She doesn’t really have a memory. She has instincts, and she recognizes my family, but other than that she doesn’t remember anything. I have dropped her before and after a few seconds she will turn back around like nothing happened. She also doesn't recognize herself in a mirror or other cats on TV. She doesn’t know that she can’t protect herself because she doesn’t have front claws so she chases animals all over the yard. She loves to chase squirrels but she also will chase other cats or foxes. She lives a simple life, she is my kitty.
ReplyDeleteSomething happened to me about a bit over an hour ago that wasn't at all trivial, though maybe to some people it would have been. We were doing a cue-by-cue at rehearsal and I didn't know what that was. Being confused, I was a bit late coming on stage, which prompted someone to say some really mean things to me, which I won't write out, because maybe to some people her words would have been trivial. To me they weren't. I was hurt and began to hyperventilate, leading me to whisper my line because I couldn't breathe. She accosted me backstage, saying I needed to be louder. I tried to say something bold in my defense, but instead I gasped and began to sniffle, much as I tried not to. Everyone else comforted me, hugged me, said it was just because she's a obnoxious freshman. But I just stood there in the hallway, reliving every emotional wound I'd ever received. In sixteen and a half years, I have never once been able to defend myself when someone has emotionally hurt me (once I even apologized to my attacker, which is about the most illogical reaction imaginable), and each time, it has only gotten worse as I remember my past failings. I only hope that the next time someone hurts me, I have the strength to tell them to leave me alone.
ReplyDeleteAnna, I loved how your post is very relatable yet also personal. You capture the paralysis from being attacked so well as well as the desire to defend yourself but not being able to put up a shield in time. Your experience shows just how much words can hurt, even if they were not meant to be harmful. I like how you bring up the “snowball effect” that happens, because how you deal with it afterwards is something that varies for each person. By explaining this, it offers a window into your train of thought. Great job! (on this piece and as an afflicted girl!)
DeleteOften times I find the trivial things to be the things which evoke my strongest emotions. For example, today I was clearing my dishes after dinner. I accidentally put my knife into the dishwasher with the point facing down and it slipped through one of the cracks. Then, when I tried to close the dishwasher the knife prohibited the drawer from sliding back in. This enraged me and I began mumbling a string of swears to myself (to which my dad replied and said I was not a sailor and so I shouldn't be talking like one). I pulled the knife out and returned it to its rightful position in the dishwasher before leaving in a fit. I understand that, objectively, this is ridiculous and it's really quite stupid to make such a fuss over something so insignificant. It was not stupid to me, though, as I have a tendency to remain level-headed in more serious situations and "loose my cool" when silly, or trivial, things go awry.
ReplyDeleteThis is great, Meredith. Your anger at this seemingly unimportant occurrence comes through clearly, and it’s very understandable too. I also liked the bit of humor that you injected in the interaction with your dad, as it offsets the decidedly unfunny mood of the rest of the piece. Great job!
DeleteOh, and “lose”, not “loose”, by the way.
Reading this post, I had no idea what trivial meant. I asked my mother, who promptly told it meant something small and unimportant. I thought about the things that go through my mind on a daily basis. Homework, if i will get in to college, my unwritten college essay, my constant stress, my constant fear of doing poorly in school because of my constant stress, if my dad will finally be home for dinner, if my knee will ever get better, and so on. Nothing in my life seems trivial to me right now, which scares me. It is always nice to have something that is somewhat small and unimportant, because it takes you away from the big scary parts of life for just one second. It gives you something to focus on that won't make you go crazy. Everything I think about scares me, and it is the worst feeling I have ever had.
ReplyDeleteMy cat lies at the end of my bed, curled up with her tail by her head. I, on the other hand, am upright listening to the sound of Natalia Kills fierce song drifting softly out of my computers speakers. This is my routine. With my mess of a room organized with piles in their separate corners, my closet door shut, and my bed made, I always sit on top of my blanket with my back against the wall, and my feet over the edge. But, above all, the door to my room is firmly shut. Although, my family doesn't seem to realize the importance of shutting my door all the way, or at all. It's often of my brothers or my little sister to barge in to my quiet atmosphere, talk about something that I don't care about, and leave without shutting the door. It is the most simple of tasks, one of the most trivial, for them to just bring the door to a close as they leave my room. I don't understand how they don't understand it does so much for my concentration(or that it lets me procrastinate in private). Either way, the small difference between the door being an inch from being shut, and shut all the way, seems so trivial. But, in fact, it is one of the most important things for my routine to go smoothly.
ReplyDeleteParents got a fish for me a few years ago. He usually swims around in his tank on the corner of my desk, either building bubble structures on the surface, or reorganizing the rocks at the bottom of the tank. When I get home from school and sit down at my desk, he swims back and forth on the side of the tank facing me. I even taught him to jump out of the water to get food off of my finger. Most people think fish are pretty boring pets, but not Marvin. For the past couple of weeks he has been sitting at the bottom, swimming up to the surface to get air, and then sinking back to the bottom once again. It is sad to see him not touching his food and hiding at the bottom but there is nothing I can do. He is old for a betta fish, but it happened so suddenly. My family tells me he is a fish and I can get another one, but losing him would not be trivial.
ReplyDelete