1st Memoir Post

I chose to read Christina Sell’s “Yoga from the Inside Out” for my first required post about memoirs.

I’m not sure what I was expecting before I opened this book, but I certainly wasn’t expecting to learn, in the first few sentences, that the author was sexually abused as a child. This shocked me and I had to set the book down for a few minutes after reading just the first paragraph. I can’t even imagine what an impact such a traumatic experience would have on someone’s life.

I want to focus on a few things that really jumped out at me throughout the book. First, the internalization of feeling judged at all times. Not only did Sell feel judged at all times, she felt that anything less than perfection was horrible and that everything was a competition. I think this is an issue more common than most people would think.

Many children that play sports feel this way, whether it be from judges, coaches, parents or their teammates. Everyone on the Little League basketball team knows who the good players are. I remember when I played basketball as a kid; I was under no illusions that I could even be considered decent. I was horrible at basketball and teammates/coaches made that clear at practices and as I sat on the bench during games; I was only played the minimum amount that the league required each kid to be played. I don’t think this experience scarred me, but it certainly had a negative impact on my self-esteem as a kid.

Further, the feelings of being judged and believing that everything is a competition are not limited to sports, it also happens in the classroom. In 1^st grade, my teachers began picking out the ‘smart’ kids and putting them in different English and Math classes. I was always in these classes and I liked knowing that I was smarter than other people, even at such an early age. Looking back, I think that I was also given a leg-up over ‘normal’ students because the teachers that taught the ‘smart’ classes were much nicer and better at teaching, so in addition to being smarter, we also got better teachers, which furthered the gap between the ‘normal’ and ‘smart’ students. In addition to the ‘smart’ classes, there was even a sort of secret club where the really smart students got taken out of classes to go learn more interesting/difficult material. I think it was called the GT (Gifted and Talented) Program and you had to test into the program. I was in this too, but the only things I recall learning in it was doing multiplication earlier than other students, the metric system and Roman numerals. It was nice to feel superior to almost all of my fellow classmates; the only ones that were my true peers were in the GT Program.

However, as a downside, I – and many others that were in similar situations – see the classroom as another arena for competition. Look at Ivy League students; their entire lives, they’ve known they are smart. They’re 4.0 GPA students, valedictorians, volunteers, mission-trip workers, musicians, and all number of other things. They’re used to being better than everyone around them because, from kindergarten to high-school graduation, they probably were the most gifted/intelligent/etc. person in any given classroom. That all changes once they’re in a classroom of other Ivy League students; it’s fairly well documented that these students are extremely competitive and a surprisingly large number end up dropping out of college, not because they cannot do the work, but because they no longer feel like the smartest person in the room. If it wasn’t a sad phenomenon, it would almost be funny. These are Ivy League students doing well in classes – and are all but guaranteed a great, high-paying job – but they drop out because they no longer feel special compared to their peers, but in reality, they are still extremely well-off and much more intelligent than students at state schools. These are people that constantly compare themselves to others and only see their own shortcomings instead of noticing the areas in which they personally excel.

Sell also writes about the difficulties of seeing someone’s effort instead of their shortcomings. I think this is very interesting and it’s another overlooked quality in today’s society, particularly in religious circles. One of the largest problems I have with today’s Christianity is its condemning nature. It seems more focused on the ‘law’ instead of on Jesus’ love. What good does it do to condemn someone that made a mistake? What if that person is in the process of making a serious change in their lifestyle and has been succeeding most of the time and just happens to get ‘caught’ slipping up a little? Shouldn’t that person be praised for making positive changes or eliminating negative habits instead of being condemned for slipping up on something? It seems like encouraging people would, almost without exception, be the better decision.

One other thing that I thought was particularly interesting was Sell’s discussion about the ‘yoga industry.’ I think it’s incredible how blind corporations can be when it comes to making profit. I understand that they’re out to make money and people need to make a living, but it just seems so dirty exploit yoga as some sort of fitness trend that only the hottest/most athletic people participate in. Corporations that are marketing yoga as some sort of quick route to toned legs or rock-hard abs seem to be completely missing the point of yoga and are just looking to make as much money off of yoga as they can. It’s even stranger when one considers that yoga encourages the renunciation of material goods.

So then, you come to an 8-pronged fork in the road

With all the in-class hype about the eightfold path reading and its importance, I am expecting some fairly heavy material. I had some decent guesses about the content of today’s reading and many of my guesses were correct.

The Eightfold path includes Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyhara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi. I will try to briefly define each of these qualities.

• This seems to be the quality of ‘being a good person.’ It encompasses nonviolence, honesty and general morality in one’s actions. I use the word action because it seems like Yama specifically refers to actions and not thoughts/emotions/intentions.
• This quality deals self-discipline over one’s spiritual/mental self with an emphasis on being devoted to God and the divine.
• This is physically doing yoga, right? That’s why the syllabus lists ‘Asana practice’ every day.
• Does this have to do with the ‘inner winds’ and the ‘becoming light’ mentioned by Friday in How Yoga Works? The wording is a bit strange and I’m not sure I completely understand this concept.
• Seems to be saying that materialism is bad. Cutting ties with frivolous or luxurious objects/material possessions.
• Meditation? Focus? This quality and the next one seem to be the same thing.
• Again, not sure what differentiates this from Dharana. Both seem to say that meditation is good. Does this one just place more emphasis on meditating on the divine?
• I can’t even begin to guess on this one.

Last week, we practiced crossing our legs up in our laps. This was extremely difficult for me, particularly as I finally managed to get one side into the pose, and then utterly failed to get the other side. Even laying down, I was unable to complete both sides. What poses would improve my flexibility in these areas? Also, at one point, I felt a slight ‘give’ in back of my left knee. It didn’t hurt, so I didn’t think much of it until I tried to stand up at the end of class and almost fell back down. Putting weight on it  hurt for the rest of the day, but it now seems fine. I’ve been injured a few times over the years, and this doesn’t feel the same; it went away too quickly for me to be too worried about it. I’m unsure what exact muscle it was that hurt, but once I’m stretching out, I can describe it/point to it. Off the top of my head, it feels very stretched when we have our leg out to the side with the stretch bands.

In my outside practice, I think I have come to discover the root of my difficulties doing yoga. My hips are extremely tight. I can’t even hold my legs straight in the air with my toes pointed. If my knees are bent, it’s easy, but as soon as I start to stretch out, it becomes extremely difficult. Further, in Tree Pose, I find it very difficult to raise my foot any higher than I already can. When opening the knee in tree pose, the hip of whichever knee is up will almost always feel like it is being poked with a needle. Is this normal? If so, how do I overcome it?

The Mysterious Mr. Busuku

My outside practice of yoga feels like I’ve hit a plateau without investing in yoga props. I feel like I’ve just run into a wall. For instance, in Triangle Pose, I’m not quite flexible enough to put my hand flat on the ground, so I usually use a block in class. At home, I don’t have a block to depend on; I’ve tried stacking books or using other similarly sized objects, but they’re either unstable or too inconvenient to use. I’ve also tried just grabbing my ankles, but the feeling in my legs isn’t the same and feels like pressure/stretching is in different areas. Similarly, I would like to try the shoulder stands at home, but I’m not sure how to do it. Rolling backwards and putting my legs on the ground over my head without being up on the bolster/blanket set-up is difficult, and I have no idea how to stay up without the support it gives. I end up just rolling back down or falling to one side.

Head stands are also still a bit of a mystery to me. I’m practicing them up against the wall, but I’ve only been able to put myself up into the pose once or twice. I’m having difficulties with the ‘inversion’ part and getting my legs in the air.

I think the shoulder stands and head stands are very difficult. In the last couple of classes, I’ve struggled with the head stand. Even once I’ve been helped up into the pose, I’m a bit worried that either one of my shoulders or my neck will ‘give out’ and I’ll collapse in a heap. I also don’t understand how to get myself up into the head stand without help; I tried numerous times in class and just ended up kicking the wall/blackboard a few times until someone offered to lift me up into the pose. I tried putting 1 leg and 2 legs up, I just couldn’t get into the pose. I’m assuming that I’m missing something, either some part of the technique, a sense of balance or maybe even mistiming when to fully extend my legs.

The scene with everyone standing around and discussing the expansion of the jail in order to house the young boys is confusing. Did the sergeant and corporal have the scheme planned before making all the ruckus about the boys they must have already known were sleeping under the tree? It seems like an obviously good thing to do – helping others – but the scene was just so sudden that it left me wondering if I missed some sort of prior ‘meeting’ in the book where they discussed this. I suppose it’s meant to show how the ‘good seeds’ are impacting everyone; now that the sergeant and corporal are becoming good, they want to do good deeds.

The exchange between Mata Ji and Friday about the rug loans all but confirms my suspicion that Friday will inevitably end up staying in this village forever, doing yoga and helping the locals dwell in their own true splendor (333). 80 extra rugs, in addition to the normal amount of rugs? It just seems like a way to keep Friday in the village for an even longer amount of time; it’s already been a majority of the year and she still hasn’t been allowed to leave for one reason or another.

Busuku is, at every turn, a mysterious character. In addition to being this sort of noble thief, we now learn that he is also some sort of classically trained genius. It also seems like he has some sort of agenda and hidden knowledge. Why else would he specifically request that Amirta be the one to help teach the boys how to write (344). He obviously has some sort of hidden knowledge/insight into the village. Also, if he’s so smart, why is he a thief in such a small, backwater village? Why isn’t he some sort of civil servant in a more prominent city or working for the government or teaching somewhere? It just seems strange.

Breaking the Habit

Last class, I noticed that, after just a little bit of stretching, I can now touch my toes without bending my knees. At the beginning of the semester, I couldn’t even come close to accomplishing this without bending my knees a lot. Further, I’ve also noticed both in class and outside of class, my heels are getting much closer to the ground in Downward Dog than they were at the beginning of the semester. It’s not much, but being able to see and feel progress is encouraging.

Are there poses in this type of yoga called Pigeon and Lizard? If so, how are they done properly? I had to do them recently in my Lifetime Fitness pilates/yoga class and the position we were in was very difficult and felt unsafe. My knees were at very intense angles and bearing weight; I was worried that if I lost my balance, I might tear up/injure my knee. If these are actually a yoga pose, how should they be done correctly/how can I do them without fear of injuring my knees?

Maybe it’s the cynic in me, but this book is just a little too ‘happy.’ Everything has a bit of a whimsical feeling to it at this point; we know that whatever small ‘bad’ thing happens, Yoga is right around the corner to save the day. It also seems incredibly unrealistic for a young girl, traveling with nothing but a book and dog, would be able to have such a profound and unifying impact on a small village like the one where she is a prisoner. I do like Friday’s advice about helping the Sergeant break his problem with alcoholism; by replacing a bad habit with easy but regular yoga poses and breathing exercises, it might be possible to replace his bad habit (alcoholism) with a good habit (239). This is similar to how some people might break the habit of smoking by eating chips or drinking a lot of water; it mimics the action of moving one’s hand to their face (like smoking) but it introduces something else to break the habit.

I’m not sure how to respond to the small, moral tirade about the evils of liquor. On one hand, it can definitely be abused, but on the other, it should be up to each individual to decide how to spend their time and money. Obviously, I am not advocating alcoholism, but if someone wants a drink every now and then, it seems like a very minor issue and not a good enough reason to police the life of another person.

What is the Lord of the Fish pose?

I’m not sure Friday’s decision to allow Ajit to teach the class was the best decision for him. Sometimes a ‘throw him to the wolves’ approach might work, but here, it seems that Ajit would be more likely to shut down from the pressure. He’s been crippled and secluded for most of his life; it’s hard to believe that he would just rise to the challenge immediately, especially with so little warning from Friday.

Sadness

This part of the story was difficult, emotionally, to read. I had wondered why the Captain seemed a bit too educated and well-mannered to be in such a small town. His mannerisms just didn’t seem to align with the way of life as it was described throughout the novel. With this newfound knowledge of his past, he immediately went from a character that I detested to a character that I pitied. He had to endure some terrible hardships and years of a slow slide into alcoholism that destroyed whatever ‘life’ he had left. He even got the Sergeant hooked on booze, too (167). Even that Sargent becomes a pitiful character; his alcoholism caused him to drunkenly maim and disfigure his own son in a fire (194). It was a very sad reading, overall.

The Captain’s diction/sentence structure of this section was horrendous. From a narrative perspective, I understand that a person in tears doesn’t always form perfect sentences, but as a reader, I had to reread sentences more than once to understand what he was saying.

I think the conversations about perspective are interesting, if still heavy-handed. Of course a cow doesn’t look at a pen and try to write a letter with it (186). Maybe it’s because of all my philosophy classes over the last few years, but it just seems blatantly obvious that people are impacted by their environment. It’s why people associate certain things with particular emotions/feelings/ideas. For instance, the somewhat recent example of the Confederate Flag controversy. People on one side of the situation see it as a symbol of ‘Southern pride’ while others see it as a symbol of oppression and racism. Both sides could argue that the other is wrong based on their perception of the issue.

The talk of seeds in the book reminds me that, during class, there is almost always talk of us planting the seeds for more difficult yoga poses. With the poses we are doing now, at the pace we are doing them, is there an actual chance of getting into the more ‘extreme’ ones? For instance, will we actually be able to put our leg behind our heads? It seems like an incredibly difficult goal.

In addition to my practice outside of class, I am also enrolled in a Relaxation and Fitness course at Baylor for a Lifetime Fitness credit. Now, this class is billed as being a yoga course, but I am extremely dissatisfied with it. More often than not, we are doing Pilates and on the occasion that we actually do something similar to what we do in this Capstone course, it is very different. For instance, today we did Downward Dog. We were told to keep our feet as close together as possible and, once we were in the pose, to walk our hands backwards until they were as close to our toes as possible. From there, we were instructed to do shoulder presses. This is incredibly different from the Downward Dog we do in the Capstone. This is just one example. Is the R&F instructor doing another branch of yoga or is this just her spin on yoga?

In rabbit news, Orion still attempts to interrupt my yoga practice, but I have found two ways of placating him. First, if I practice while he’s eating, I can generally get about 80% of the way through a session before he comes hopping over. Second, he doesn’t like the smell of rubbing alcohol, and I tried dabbing the corners of my sticky mat with it, which seems to keep him away, too. I think a combination of these two things will allow me to practice in peace.

Week 2 – Reading & Class reflection combined post

Reading such an easily understandable book is still so foreign to me as a BIC student. It’s not a bad thing, just different when compared to the other texts that I’ve read for BIC courses. That said, the story is awfully cheesy. The symbolism is extremely heavy-handed; everything that happens is essentially saying “Friday embodies yoga and yoga is good.” It seems like there is little to critically reflect on. Overall, it seems that the message of the book is “Yoga is good and can be a positive transformational force in the world.” I’m not saying that I disagree, just that the books seems almost shallow in the way it presents this idea.

After practicing yoga during class last Thursday, I am concerned about the way some of the poses impact my physical health. I’ve had bad wrists for a while – my father and grandfather suffer from similar issues and occasionally have to wear wrist braces at night in order to mitigate the pain – and some of the poses leave my wrists extremely sore. I lift weights regularly, so I understand that form is important, so perhaps this pain will go away as my form improves? Further, and more worryingly, is the pain in my shoulder.  A few years ago, I separated my collar-bone and severely fractured my shoulder. It never really healed correctly, but it rarely hurts. From after class Thursday until Sunday afternoon, it was extremely sore. Is this something to worry about? Can I overextend/overstretch my shoulder? I’ve been taking Advil since it started hurting. Even now, it is still sore and I’m thinking about taking Advil before class.

On Sleep and Rabbits

It is interesting that the Yoga Sutras for today’s reading mention sleep. For many years, sleeping has been extremely difficult for me. It takes hours to fall asleep, and if there’s even the smallest noise, I wake up and usually cannot fall back asleep. This leads to many sleepless nights and tired/stressful days. I am unsure why sleeping is so difficult for me; I exercise regularly to the point of exhaustion and my diet is decent enough that it shouldn’t have an impact on my ability to sleep.
The relaxation portion of our class has been extremely beneficial to me. It has significantly contributed to lowering the stress that I feel every day. I’ve always been fairly high strung and it takes me a while after classes to ‘settle down’ and be able to do homework or socialize. My girlfriend has already been telling me that I seem less stressed after classes and after I practice Yoga outside of class. I think it is also helping me fall asleep faster. A ‘normal’ night might take me 4 hours to fall asleep, but the past few nights have only taken ~2.5. It’s allowed me to get a lot more sleep. Before bed, I practice the poses that we’ve learned and then lay in bed in the relaxation pose, making sure to breathe easily and not worry about things. Doing Yoga is the only thing that has changed recently, so it seems possible that it is responsible for the easier time that I have falling asleep.
Does Yoga have any poses named after/based on rabbits? I was thinking about this during class on Tuesday because I recently adopted an extremely large rabbit and think that it would be funny to post pictures of Orion (the rabbit) and I doing yoga on this blog. As it stands, he already likes to lay on my sticky mat while I’m trying to practice and I have to scoot him to the side in order to continue.

Introduction Post

Hey everyone, my name is Hunter Jones and I am a senior Philosophy major and Great Texts minor. I’m from Kingwood, Texas, which is a suburb outside of Houston. I work as a Peer Instructor in the BIC and also in the Baylor Bowling Alley. I really like playing disc golf, so I venture into Cameron Park as often as I can. I also enjoy sailing, so having the Marina closed all summer was a huge bummer. I try to find time for sailing, but it’s a huge time commitment and really eats up an entire afternoon.

I have almost zero experience with yoga. I am taking a Yoga course for a Lifetime Fitness credit this semester. I have almost no flexibility and I’m generally very anxious. I am hoping that practicing Yoga will allow me to be more flexible and serve as a way to de-stress during the week.

(Side Note: I am re-purposing this blog for this class. I used it for a class last year, but since then, WordPress has changed and I can’t quite figure out how to delete old entries. I’m working on it.)

Analysis – Gluttony & Lust

Gluttony

For most of my life, I have spent my summertime Wednesday mornings playing board games with my grandparents and other senior citizens at their church. Every Wednesday, we’ll play various games until around noon, at which time everyone will pull tables together to form a large buffet laden with foods prepared by the people playing games. My grandparents always contributed a few dishes and my grandpa would spend most of the morning in the church kitchen, hand-making dozens and dozens of rolls for lunchtime.

I remember the Wednesday mornings vividly. My grandparents enjoyed my company and the food was generally good. One Wednesday sticks out in my mind for a different reason than others; I always saw one man contribute a single can of peaches to the buffet. However, when he went through the line, he would pile his plate with as much food as he could manage. I would watch him make multiple trips through the line, each time getting as much food as the previous trip. This particular Wednesday, my grandpa must have seen me watching the man because he pointed at the man and said “That’s what you call a glutton.”

Judgmental or not, my grandpa was correct. Gluttony, according to DeYoung, is a habit that gets worn into a person’s character. This man unfailingly showed up, dropped off his can of peaches and then eagerly waited for his turn in line. DeYoung notes that the amount of food eaten isn’t necessarily the issue. Instead, the issue is whether or not eating has become a ‘pleasure fix’ that dominates a person’s life (DeYoung 141). I cannot say for certain whether or not eating dominated this man’s life, but from reflecting on the matter, I know that he rarely spoke with other people, especially during lunch, and I remember that he often went off to sit by himself during the event. Did he attend the event to satisfy his craving for food? I cannot definitively say, but his interactions with others hint that his could be the case.

If it is the case, I pity the man. The entire point of the event was fellowship with other senior citizens. It was a social event for people that would otherwise have little social interaction. This man ignored that entire aspect of the event; he chose to distance himself from others and spend his time shoveling down extraordinary amounts of food. This is the vice; choosing the pleasure gained from food over more important things, like friends and fellowship. I can’t imagine that the food offered long-term satisfaction – after all, he was there every week seeking more – and I wonder if he could have found satisfaction in the company of other people if he had focused on them instead of food. Again, the issue is not the amount of food he consumed, but how he allowed the pleasure from eating to overshadow more worthwhile pursuits and prevent him from socializing with other people: food simply became more important to him than people.

Lust

DeYoung opens the chapter on lust by examining why sex seems to be an uncomfortable subject in both the religious and secular world. Both sides send mixed messages when speaking of love or sex. God created humans with the capability to engage and take pleasure in sexual activity, but the church utterly condemns anything related to the topic and generally leaves adolescents confused and ill-prepared to combat the vice of lust. Conversely, secular culture seems to think that sex is primarily for pleasure, but people that regularly engage in sexual activities are shamed if their ‘dirty little secrets’ are exposed. Neither side seems to openly offer a complete view of the subject and that leaves people feeling insecure, uncomfortable and unprepared for the difficulties posed by lust.

Lust parallels gluttony, but the focus is on a different subject. The glutton becomes unable to appreciate or be satisfied by food and the lustful person becomes unable to appreciate sex in the way that God intended. The lustful person only gets a shallow, corrupt view of sex from sources like one-night stands or pornography. Instead of the intimate, devoted union that God intended for lovers to share, the lustful person just picks their clothes up off the floor in the morning and walks home.

It is interesting to think that acting on lust is a vice of weakness, not a sin of intention. This is how Aquinas views lust; he thinks that people act on lust when they are caught in the moment and unable to stop themselves (DeYoung 162). However, this seems like a bit of a cop-out. Sure, I agree that people can get caught in the moment, but this view doesn’t account for the overwhelming numbers of people that regularly act on their desires and have made lust a casual habit. Habitual occurrence certainly seems like intention, doesn’t it? Perhaps it started by giving into weakness, but then became a habit? Obviously, the answer depends entirely on the individual, but I think that it is hard to attribute lust entirely to weakness.

Lust is poorly handled by the church. Years of Sunday school have informed me that sex is bad and a major “no-no.” Abstinence is the only option until marriage and – to use a bit of hyperbole – any other sort of sexual action will land you in Hell. Such an absolute and unforgiving stance seems incredibly severe and doesn’t seem to account for God’s infinite grace. How small are we, as Christians, making God if we claim that He cannot forgive a particular sin? Further, consider the message that this sends to young people in the church. Imagine being a teenager that fell into temptation and already feels guilty about their actions, then hearing how absolutely terrible lust is, how much God condemns pre-marital relations and how people that engage in such actions have their hearts and minds in the wrong place. It could be extremely disheartening and drive people away from church forever, all because they were made to believe that they had committed some unforgiveable sin. Why preach the fire-and-brimstone message instead of the loving nature of God? Lust – and acting on lust – is a sin, but God can forgive any sin and I think the church loses sight of that fact more often than not.

Analysis – Avarice & Anger

Avarice

Avarice, more commonly known as greed, might be the most widespread vice, at least in America. Almost every form of media, from television, to music, to movies, praises wealth and living a lavish lifestyle. Commercials that last longer than television shows constantly inform viewers of the newest ‘thing’ that they need to buy.

Given the time of year, avarice is particularly prominent. Christmas commercials started playing the day after Halloween and Black Friday sales now start during the middle of Thanksgiving dinner. That’s not to say that buying or receiving gifts or getting the latest gadget is inherently wrong, but it says something about a person when they are willing to forgo Thanksgiving dinner with their family to spend the day shopping at Wal-Mart, waiting outside BestBuy until midnight and spending the rest of the weekend preparing for Cyber Monday. At some point, it seems like possessions become more important than people.

This vice directly relates to our class discussions on consumerism. As seen in the “Stuff” video, society is persuaded to buy things through advertisements, trends, peer pressure and the desire to acquire more possessions. These things are easy to see in real life. For instance, my laptop is two and a half years old. It runs perfectly, looks great and does everything I want; I can do my homework, listen to music, browse the internet, play games on fairly high settings, run graphic design programs without waiting for hours of loading and perform all manner of tasks that a lot of laptops would struggle to complete. I’m perfectly content with my laptop, but for some reason, I still catch myself looking at new ones. I don’t need one, but seeing advertisements makes me wonder what it would be like to have a laptop that is just a little bit lighter or slightly faster than my current one.

Avarice is a difficult vice to master. Personally, I did not think I struggled with avarice until writing this. As I started writing, I remembered my extensive collection of video games and gaming consoles. With the exceptions of the PS1, original Xbox and the three newest consoles, I own every gaming console since the NES. As for games, there are probably hundreds tucked away at my house. It is likely that a vast majority of these old games will never be played again, but at this point, what do I do with them? For one reason or another, I cannot bring myself to get rid of them. I have them all for nothing other than the sake of owning them; there are games on the shelf that I haven’t even opened. DeYoung says that recognizing the issue is a good first step toward overcoming avarice, and the more I think about it, maybe I have gone a bit further than just recognizing it. I have not bought, or been given, a new game in a long time – I’ve been too busy with school and other pursuits – but maybe not getting a new game is okay. I recognize that I do not need more. However, I’m still in a strange in-between situation with avarice; I haven’t had the urge to buy anything new, but I also can’t get rid of what I already own.

Is that avarice? If so, does that mean I have to get rid of all those possessions to completely overcome avarice? Would getting rid of all those possessions be going too far?

Anger

According to DeYoung, anger only becomes a vice when directed at the wrong person or when taken to an extreme. That seems fair, especially when she cites MLK and Jesus as people that expressed anger in an appropriate manner. Is it better to use anger in moderation or eliminate anger altogether? DeYoung does not offer an answer, instead choosing to note that both sides have appealing qualities (119).

(Disclaimer: Because of the nature of the events that occurred, I will not be touching on the role of race in the following example. The roles of race are very complex, and instead of attempting to give what would be a poor understanding of such complexity, I will just focus on the topic of anger).

The events in Ferguson, Missouri seem to be filled with anger. Riots don’t usually begin when people are happy and enjoying life. In this case, there are a lot of reasons people are angry. It could be the decision from the grand jury, a lack of transparency, racial issues, the militarization of police forces or the way the media has made the event a complete circus. All of these contributing factors – among others – have created citizens that are angry enough to riot. Are people rioting for the correct reasons and using their anger appropriately? Regardless of one’s opinion on the court case or the decision of the grand jury, it is clear that the rioting is neither anger-free or channeling the anger appropriately.

Since it is clear that the situation is not anger-free, it is more important to look at the other beneficial option: channeling the anger in a way that produces good. People are destroying property, looting and committing arson, all against people that have nothing to do with the case. Storeowners, property-owners and other citizens are suffering and having their livelihoods put at risk because of the rioting. The rioters have taken anger to an extreme and are directing their anger poorly. What would it look like to use anger appropriately in this situation? Rioting could be an effective means of achieving an end, but it would need to be free of looting and violence and should have a clear purpose. For instance, people could be advocating for mandatory cameras on on-duty police officers. Cameras could help prevent situations like these from happening in the future and provide essential evidence. Anger at the verdict could be utilized for progress. However, instead of doing anything beneficial, people are using this opportunity to steal and light buildings on fire. That is, objectively, an improper use of anger that will only make the situation worse by causing more problems for the city and the people that live in it.