Outside Reading #7

Stories can help encapsulate a time in our life. For example, the song Stop This Train by John Mayer had this effect for me. In the song, John sings. "Stop this train/I want to get off and go home again/I can't take the speed it's moving in/I know I can't but honestly/won't someone stop this train." I listened to this song so many times that it became ingrained in my mind and taught me about the continuum of life. The song also helps me to reflect on that time period in my life when the song was first released and I listened to it repeatedly. John sings, "So scared of getting older/I'm only good at being young." This part of the verse reminds me of the fear I had of getting older when I listened to it when I was younger. Stories like the one told in Stop This Train by John Mayer can become associated with a certain time in our life and allow us to reflect on them later.

Outside Reading #6

Stories can help us to dwell in place and appreciate your home. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden feels at peace when he visits his home. After he gets home, he enters D.B.'s room, "I went around the room, very quiet and all, looking at stuff for a while. I felt swell, for a change. I didn't even feel like I was getting pneumonia or anything any more. I just felt good, for a change" (159). The sense of relief that overcomes Holden shows evidence of the healing powers of one's home. This feeling is similar to those felt in familiar places. When Holden visits the Museum of Natural History, an important part of his childhood, he goes over to look at the mummies. He says, "I was the only one left in the tomb then. I sort of liked it, in a way. It was so nice and peaceful" (204). Holden is overcome with peace when he revisits a core part of his childhood because he is so familiar with it. The Catcher in the Rye teaches us of the importance of familiar places.