Connectivity. Since the first week of school I was noticed that despite having seven drastically different classes, they are all connected in some way. The central class seems to be theater, which relates to karate because the motions we go through during practice are essentially acting. Theater relates to the Law classes because of all the court room drama. In karate the teacher talks about the legal aspect of defending yourself against an attacker. Aristotle had significant findings in the study of theater and also in the field of psychology, law, writing and astronomy.

 Death has been a common theme in all of the classes. My Law professor often tells stories about people who are now dead, to remind us that someday we will be dead to, as he says, “This isn’t rehearsal.” My Astronomy teacher says it is the most depressing science because there is no happy ending.  An asteroid will hit earth, the sun will burn out, and we are all going to die. In psychology we learn the stages of life, which of course will end with death. Stories we read in college composition have a central theme of life and death, whether it be a person or a creature as insignificant as a moth. There are few things more theatrical then death; in fact he is the main character in a play we are doing. In karate the high level self defense movies will result in, what else…Death.

Everything and everyone is connected in some small way. The choices each of us make effect not only the people who are directly involved in our life, but they also could have consequences for people we have never met. It is so easy to believe each of us are an island of ourselves and we can do anything we want without intervention from others. While it is true that each of us creates our own destiny, we need to step back and look at the big picture.  The path you blaze for yourself will cross the paths of countless other people. Tread lightly.