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Richard, where do I start! Everything you said was so powerfully expressed that I could go on and on! You have spoken about some of society’s biggest themes where change is desperately needed and expressed them in such a way that that they seem doable…if we would take a step back, look within ourselves, and think in terms of love not distain, distrust, and other preconceived thinking we may  have taken from society or our backgrounds, we could change the world!   It seems so simple but yet so difficult…   Richard, we need writers like you who can get these ideas across, not just here at Dominican, but outside of it!  I have said my generation has made a lot of mistakes and it will be up to your generation to fix them…to accomplish this we need people to get the word out in a powerful way…Richard, this is you! Keep going on the journey and continue seeking the answers…you will find them! I wish you the best and look forward to reading more of your work! Be sure to share it with me!        Your responses were well thought out and presented! I put my editor’s hat on and included edits at the bottom of each window…let me know if you have questions.  Did you know that a writer goes through a minimum of seven edit rounds before publishing?  

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Richard, where do I start! Everything you said was so powerfully expressed that I could go on and on! You have spoken about some of society’s biggest themes where change is desperately needed and expressed them in such a way that that they seem doable…if we would take a step back, look within ourselves, and think in terms of love not distain, distrust, and other preconceived thinking we may  have taken from society or our backgrounds, we could change the world!   It seems so simple but yet so difficult…   Richard, we need writers like you who can get these ideas across, not just here at Dominican, but outside of it!  I have said my generation has made a lot of mistakes and it will be up to your generation to fix them…to accomplish this we need people to get the word out in a powerful way…Richard, this is you! Keep going on the journey and continue seeking the answers…you will find them! I wish you the best and look forward to reading more of your work! Be sure to share it with me!        Your responses were well thought out and presented! I put my editor’s hat on and included edits at the bottom of each window…let me know if you have questions.  Did you know that a writer goes through a minimum of seven edit rounds before publishing?  

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We live in a world where people can hold a grudge for the rest of their life. There's even a theory that when people die and still have a grudge in their heart, they become an earthbound ghost; damned to walk the Earth angry and bitter for eternity. Why can't we learn to forgive and love? I believe that segregation still exists to this very day and it's not just limited to skin colors. Everyday, a kid gets bullied and ignored by his peers because he's book smart; a person of Arabic decent gets treated different and called a terrorists; and a fully qualified person for a job doesn't get hired because they didn't go to college. Labels exist in many different forms and while they aren't inherently evil, we've used them to separate ourselves from others. We create reasons like faith, jokes, etc. but the reason why we cling to them is because we don't want to face the reality of how alone we are. There is nobody on this entire Earth that is like me or you. We all have different minds, different beliefs, different dreams, and we're all different people. If you take two people who are the same religion and ask them what they believe, even though they'll say the same religion, as you dig deeper into their beliefs, they'll begin to give different answers. This is because they're two different people and labels give the illusion of unity. But all it is, is a bubble that people are trapped in because they were taught to believe in them since birth and accepting the reality that there's nobody else on Earth like them is hard. But Gregory said that we're going to have to be uncomfortable sometimes. And when you can look passed the fact that everybody is different, you'll see that it's beautiful to be able to love somebody that's different from you. Being different is not a bad thing, it's what makes us human. When you can see past other people's differences you'll the unity, for though we're all different, we all have the ability to love. That's what unifies people and distinguishes humans from humanity; love. Imagine if we could learn to love each other and stop hiding behind labels. There would be no more wars, poverty, neglecting, etc. That's what I want to do with my life. I want to spread love to the whole world and knock these labels down. I want people to not be afraid to be themselves. I know that it'll be slow work but the end result, even if I don't live to see it, will be worth it. This semester has impacted me in such a deep way anf given me a Tattoo that will never fade away

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This semester, my mind has opened more than it ever has before. Everybody is unique in their own ways yet, society looks at it, as a bad thing. When my class talked about being uncomfortable in the Buddhist Temple, it made me question why. The answer can be found by reflecting on the texts we read this semester; Starting with Living Buddha Living Christ. In this text, we see that these two religions aren't as different as we've been led to believe. Not to say there aren't differences but both bring up having an open mind. In the Bible, Jesus never questioned other peoples religion's when helping them and Buddhism has been speculated as more of a philosophy than religion, meaning having open mind is essential for being Buddhist. Yet, many Christians are strongly against anybody else being Buddhist, saying they'll go to hell, even though some Buddhists perform Christian values better than some Christians. When you make assumptions based on somebodies religion, you're judging them which the Bible says is wrong. The point is, there are a lot of Buddhist values that Christians share and vice versa, yet, many of us are raised in a bubble, with parents who won't even listen to somebody else if they're affiliated with different religions. We grow up with this as a part of our environment, like when Eric grew up in the shelter. Eric's environment influenced the person he became at the end of the book and no matter who tried to help him, he never changed. This shows just how much the environment you grow up in plays a role in who you are, your personality and beliefs, as you grow older. But after this semester, we learned from Gregory Boyle that compassion and love for each other is essential; no matter who we are or what we label ourselves as. That's why my classmates went to the temple despite how their parent's may have felt about it. It's also why we've been able to enjoy our CBL because we've learned to love one another unconditionally. Sometimes it's hard, but for me personally, hating somebody is even harder.

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I have big dreams of becomin a well respected writer; many people don't think will come to pass. I've dedicated hours to creating stories, songs, and poems, promoting them on social media, and even creating videos for them yet by the end of the day I see that I've barely made any progress. Barely anybody has read my stories, listened to my songs, or watched my videos and it gets very frustrating. Sometimes I just want to quit and have come very close to on numerous occasions. But after reading Slow work, which is a chapter from Tattoos on the heart, I realized that though the road is long, hard, and challenging I need to be patient, consistent, and keep my positive attitude. In Slow Work Greg depicts times which his plans don't initially work but after long periods of times, the situations work out. An example is when he tried to help a drop out student named Leo. He tried to help him for months but every time Leo would bail at the last minute. Eventually, Greg saw that Leo was selling drugs even though Greg had been working tirelessly to get him a better life. Greg said “Tonight, you taught me that no amount of my wanting you to have a life is the same as you wanting to have one. Now, I can help you get a life- I just can’t give you the desire to want one. So, when you want a life, call me. (Tattoos on the heart)”. At this point, Greg could've gave up on him and told him not to come back, but he left the door open and eventually Leo came and with, Greg's help, got his life together. I learned that I need to be as patient as Greg was with Leo. I have big goals and they will take time to develop  but I need to stay patient and not let my lack of success thus far make me close the door; because if I close the door, I won't see who's on the other side of it

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Living Christ with Fire Ashes Tattoos...(Living Christ Living Buddha, Fire in the ashes, Tattoos on the Heart

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Living Christ with Fire Ashes Tattoos...(Living Christ Living Buddha, Fire in the ashes, Tattoos on the Heart

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What I've learned from each book I read this semester has deeply impacted me. In Tattoo's on the heart I learned that everybody is human, no matter how much you try not to be. In the book, Greg describes some of the gangsters, or former, as people with tattoos, dreadlocks, pants sagging, etc. Usually, when someone who is not a gangster see's a group of people walking with that description, their instinct is to avoid them; why? Society has taught us that their not humans, their "bad people" or "villains". How many cartoons, shows, etc. have you seen where the African American antagonists has one or more of those descriptions? I've seen a lot and even if they mean it in a humorous way kids watch it and grow up actually believing it. And honestly, when was the last time you called a "villain" a human? Greg has shown that, misguided as the people he works with are, they're still just as human as anybody else. They want to be loved, cared for, and happy the same as everybody; though they go about it the wrong way. In Fire in the ashes I learned that an environment plays a big role in the development of a person. In the beginning Jonathan talks with Vicky who has a daughter named Lisette and a son named Eric. Both were exposed to the dark environment of their shelter; where there were drug deals, murder, and other things a kid should never see. Eric was never able to grow out of that environment, for even when Vicky moved him and Lisette into a better home he still, eventually, ended up making bad decisions and died. However, Lisette ended up going to college, moving in with her spouse, and having a baby. The difference between the two is that Eric was already 11 years old when he experienced the dark side of the shelter. He was able to process what was going on and be influenced by it, never able to grow out of it. Lisette, on the other hand, was younger and didn't really remember it that well as she got older. But she saw how her brother and her mother acted and decided that she didn't want to be like them. The environment they were both raised in had completely contrasting results. One ending in tragedy and the other in new life. Living Buddha and Living Christ taught me that labels separate and most religion's religious texts don't even use them. For example, in the Bible Jesus says nothing about people worshiping him having to call themselves Christians nor does he really try to convert people to his belief the way people do in now. The term Christian is a label constructed by society designed to separate those who believe in God and those who don't. Yet, at the core of most of these religions you see that all they really ask is for people to love one another and support each other through life.

“If you love someone but rarely make yourself available to him or her, that is not true love. (Living Buddha Living Christ)"

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Upon arrival to Freshman Seminar I didn't know what to expect. I took Senior Seminar in high school for one semester but doubted this class would be anything like that; for my Senior Seminar didn't really teach my classmates and I much, just forced us to sign papers and apply to colleges we didn't want to go to. Then, I found out about CBL and became unsure if this was the class for me (even though it's a requirement). I needed to find a job if I wanted to stay enrolled in college and I thought CBL would interfere with my job hunt. After the first week or so we began reading a book called "Tattoo's on the heart"; this is what changed my opinion about the entire class. In the book, Gregory Boyle helps people in gangs or bad neighborhoods begin a new and better life for themselves. I was born and raised in the South side of Chicago and have seen these neighborhoods and encountered gangs before. The fact the Gregory doesn't let them intimidate him and helps them regardless of what they did is amazing. Yet in his book, most of the experiences he discussed end in tragedy or things not going the way he planned. I believe this intentionally because he wanted people to not be afraid to fail. In out journey through life there will be many times when we fail, yet there's something good in the midst of the chaos. Whether it's knowledge, experience, or impacting someone life. He's showing his readers that failure isn't really failure, but another step on your path to reaching your goal. This really resonated with me because I've messed up more times than I can count. Each time, people criticized me, belittled me, and I ended up feeling like I was less than the people around me. After reading this book I realized that failure isn't a bad thing, for there's always something good that can be drawn from it and I learned that everybody fails, I'm not the only one. This ignited my new perspective on life and after read Fire In The Ashes and Living Buddha Living Christ, they both furthered showed me the unity of people. People segregate because of skin color, "failure",class (hi, low, middle), even religion; but these texts showed me that no matter any label you use to define yourself there's a still unity among people as a whole. If the world stopped defining itself by their labels and dismissing all others who don't agree with their label, then instead of a humans, we could be humanity.