Journal Six: Lydia Freudenberg

Part One:

Virginia Belle Brewer was the last profile in Holding On and before I read this profile I wondered why this profile was last. By the photo, she just seemed liked another eccentric person who had a deep love for something, who dedicated most of their life too their passion. (Which is wonderful, we need people who hold onto their passions) As I began to read the italicized introduction, I was very disappointed in Isay at first, he was so caught up in his own interest that he didn't even realize this women wanted people to know that she would give up anything for her bells. That is why Brewer is the last profile. She was so passionate and yet so under appreciated, which that is a huge theme throughout the entire novel. We have to relax sometimes and listen because people do have amazing things to say.

The profile was short and bittersweet though. Brewer talked about how she opened her bell museum in 1973 because she was collecting so many bells and thought people would enjoy seeing her collection. Unfortunately, she was wrong. Brewer explains how no one would visit, and how she was loosing a lot of money, and instead of selling her bells, she started selling other items and eventually ended up on welfare. I'm not sure if this is economically correct... But Brewer was quite determine to keep her bell collection in tack. But what really struck me about Brewer was her sadness. Throughout Holding On a lot of the people who were interviewed about their business, and how it may be struggling, seemed to brush off the fact that as time has moved forward their business has declined. Brewer on the other hand was genuinely discouraged that her dream never seemed to touch the hearts of other people, people she wanted to share her dream with. And I wonder, did the other profiles feel this way too? Or did they just realize that times are different? Maybe they were putting on an act to seem strong and thus proud of their lonely business? We may never know the answers but we should learn to realize that our dreams are just as important as anyone else, no matter how big or small the dream.

Part Two:

A wonderful value I took away from this book was that you have to follow your dreams. I still am not 100 percent sure on what I want to do when I graduate college, and some of the jobs I find so interesting seem to be becoming obsolete. But I can't let this affect me. I much rather chase after something that I am passionate about then sit behind a cubical all day and claim a pretty paycheck. A lot of the people in Holding On, if not all of them, were such dream chasers. They did was they loved, they have hopes and great stories, and meaning behind why they chose to do what they love. And I believe we all need to learn to chase after what we love, even if it's scary. Plus it is bound to bring long term happiness, which is what really matters because life is way to short to be miserable.

I also learned a very helpful and interesting skill, how to listen. I was watching Forrest Gump the other day with my friend and I announced how I thought it was rude that the first lady who sat on the bus bench with Gump seemed to be ignoring Gump and constantly reading her magazine. My friend turned to me and said something like, "Well wouldn't you ignore a person like that if they were just ranting on and kind of strange." And thought, no. I much rather listen to someone who has something interesting to say, something they're passionate about, stories are the best. Stories help the person who is telling the story to go back in time and recall something they feel compelled to tell about. Stories also allow the listeners to learn and experience something they never have/did experience, which ignites their imagination. Listening is such a strong skill that is really important in so many aspects of life. Of course we all know how to listen, but do we really know how to listen?