Friday, October 23, 2009

Ethan's Response to "The Iguana"

I know we’ve all heard that curiosity killed the cat, but did you know that envy killed the iguana? Now I’m not saying that the iguana was envious, but the guy with the gun was, so there you have it: if you’re envious you’ll start killing animals, which just so happens to be the first sign that you might be a serial killer. Who knew that envy caused mass homicide? Next time little old Betsy sees you and wishes aloud that she were young again, you had better check her knitting basket for an AK, she might be out to get you.

All lame jokes aside, The Iguana is a pretty good read, and not only because it’s so short, but because it has several good messages, including:

• Live and let live.

• You can’t come out of life with everything, and you shouldn’t try to.

• Some things are only meant to be appreciated or admired.

You shouldn’t try to capture everything pretty that you see; live and let live. Beauty is seasonal, in most every case. The young get old, the flowers wilt, the spring runs dry, and your hamster dies. It’s inevitable, and you can’t change it. Also, zombification isn’t the answer. I know you want your boyfriend back, but he will literally love you more for your brains than for your looks. That’s a bad thing in zombie-land. So let beauty last, and enjoy it while you can.

You can’t come out of life with everything, and you shouldn’t try to. Envy causes envy; you’ll never be satisfied with just one butterfly, you’ll have to have them all, and that would only cause frustration for yourself and for the rest of the world, especially since they would experience hurricane-force winds almost incessantly (if a butterfly flaps its wings…). People get so caught up in the world, that they forget the most important parts of life, yes there’s God, family, and the gospel, but they forget that life results in death, and you can’t bring a suitcase to the judgment bar.

Some things are only meant to be appreciated or admired. We all have our talents, whether it be something musical, artistic, or the fact that our skin gives off a rainbow-like luminescence, we all have something special that is ours. None of us have every talent, and none of us are talentless. What joy would life contain if we had every admirable thing to ourselves? There would be no joy. If everything around us was beautiful, would beauty even be? No, it wouldn’t. You see, joy and beauty are subject to our ability to share.

As Dinesen put it, “take measures to find out whether things will be keeping their value when dead.” From the worldly perspective, this means when “things” are dead, but it if we interpret it to mean when we are dead, the meaning is much more profound. If you won’t enjoy it in the world to come, why care about it? I know it’s an awesome iPod and I know it’s a cute dress, but there are more important things in life, and a more important Rock to build on.

10 comments:

  1. This article is beautifully written. I particularly enjoyed the emphasis on the beauty of the soul. As I walked to class yesterday, I was enraptured by the beauty of fall. The sky was a clear, morning blue, and the colors of the leaves seemed to sing. It was one of those moments that fills you with wonder and joy. If I took a handful of leaves back with me to my dorm, they wouldn't have been nearly as glorious. Their beauty came from being in their element, a part of a spectacular harmony.

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  2. Wow! Catherine’s comment reminded me of a poem I wrote when I was nine about putting beautiful, shiny leaves in storage to protect and keep them. The leaves were not happy and asked to be released. When they were put back in their original environment, they cheered and made merry for their return to their purpose. This is just as we read in 2 Nephi that there is nothing that God has made that does not have purpose. If He were to go against this, He would contradict His ways and would cease to be God. Therefore, it is godlike to have purpose. When we hold to that purpose and the purpose of ourselves, we follow his plan and live in happiness. We will have value, even when dead.

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  3. This article really hit hard with me. Too often I've found myself stuck at a pity-party, wondering why I can't sing, act, draw, be musical, be pretty, be athletic, etc, etc. I've often felt that I had nothing going for me, and become envious of those who do. But I quickly realize how unhealthy that is. I'm sure I have a lot of talents - I just have to seek them out and find them. And I can enjoy everyone else's, be it at a sporting event, play, concert, etc. Everyone has something unique to offer the world, and if we all appreciated everyone's talents can you imagine how diverse this world would be!?

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  4. On the other hand, being unsatisfied with something is an amazing source of motivation. Ethan states that two of the lessons from The Iguana are not being willing to accept "that you can't have everything" or that "some things are only meant to be admired."

    It's not very often that we accept that; typically what we can't have just drives us crazy. Most people don't take no for an answer. I would rather be unsatisfied than feeling complacent or apathetic about life. However, I can see how this is taken much too far, or people stress out about the wrong things.

    Like Chelsey said, we are all unique. Everybody has their own strengths and weaknesses; we have our accomplishments and our trials. We're always comparing ourselves in the areas of our life where we think we fall short. we never think about the opportunities we've been given or the talents we have.

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  5. This is something I think I need to work on. I always seem to get caught up doing homework and studying. I feel like I seldom have fun or enjoy the company of my friends. For me it is a matter of prioritizing my time. It is hard to choose what to do when we have such little time. It seems at BYU everyone is so talented, its good to appreciate others. Back home, there aren’t any mountains and there certainly is no snow. It’s supposed to snow this Tuesday and Wednesday. I am so excited. I need to enjoy the smaller things in life and not get so caught up in school.

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  6. The author's account of shooting an iguana for its beauty reminded me of having a handful of sand-if you squeeze too tightly it all slips out between your fingers. Sometimes I'm glad I don't get what I want; I've looked back at certain things and realized that if I had gotten what I desired at the time, it wouldn't have been the best thing for me. Sometimes Heavenly Father lets me learn the hard way; I get what I want and find that it wasn't really what I wanted after all. This is one of the article's messages; we must be careful what we wish for and pursue, because it may not be worth the effort in the end.

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  7. Dinesen’s article, The Iguana, surprised me in its complexity. To me, it seems like short anecdotes only have one or two points to make, and yet, this story had many different themes, as I found out when I read the comments. I also thought the symbolism in the article was beautiful.

    I think envy is one of those inevitable human traits. As hard as we try, we will, at one time or another, find ourselves jealous of someone else. I think the distinction is what we do once we have that feeling of envy. Do we realize we are all our own unique individuals, with our own trials, talents, and blessings, or do we wallow in our own pity? I think we have to realize our own strengths and rely on them.

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  8. I agree 100% with this article. Envy and pride go hand in hand. Ever since I taught myself to drop the envy/pride act I have been pretty happy. I do not let unnecessary things get under my skin. Why let others ruin your happiness or change your emotion? One of my mottos is "Live it up. Let it go." It helped me step out of the world of envy. My attitude is kind of a non-shalon or indifferent state of mind. They have always said "It's mind over matter!" Well....I say, if it don't matter, I don't mind. We do need to adapt to the brushing things off our shoulders. We are not all the same for a reason. We are all unique and should learn to be happy with that.

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  9. I like that the bracelot only looked good on the little girl. This could represent that each of us have things that look good on us but not on others. We have talents that make us shine that other people don't. We should appreciate other's talents and try to make ours shine too. We don't need to steal other's talents just make ours beautiful.

    Also the idea to observe and admire is very cool. I can imagine seeing the iguana and being stunned. I feel that same way when I am in the outdoors.

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  10. This is a great article!!! I love its message that we should all chill out a little and enjoy the beauty of life. There are so many great things in this world and we need to take the time to stop and appreciate them. Declutter your life a little to enjoy the small things like the smell of rain or a baby's dimple or the sound of children giggling, as cheesy as all of those sound.

    But seriously, this article reminded me to not be so stressed out, because if I follow God and keep his commandments and try my best, it will all turn out great in the end.

    "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get."--Forest Gump

    Realize that life has its challenges and things usually don't happen the way you expected them to. That's life. Embrace it and love the surprises, even if they may seem bad. God didn't send us down here to fail. He loves us and we can all succeed if we follow him and our Savior. Breathe, live, love people and love God.

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