This is my RUT!

My rut is watching too much Netflix. With thousands of movies and episodes to watch instantly at a click of a button, it turns from a habit to an addiction very fast. I spend hours after school watching Netflix. I hope that once I give up netflix for a week that my grades will improve as well as using my time more efficiently. I am also a great procrastinator which is a bad habit and usually leads me to hold off homework to the last second. When I get bored I usually turn on my game console and watch endless shows and movies on Netflix. The only good thing that has ever come from netflix is that i spend almost no time at all anymore watching T.V. unless theirs a football game on. Netflix has really held me back from finishing up homework and transfer tasks and i hope to change all of that during this week. With the time saved I hope to complete missing homework and maybe even picking up that book I have been ignoring for my blog posts. As a wise man once said,  “Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen” (Ralph Waldo Emerson). Therefore not using netflix for a week is my decision to better my life.

By definition, all ruts hold us back in some way. Yet, in looking at the ruts of my life, I found myself making a nearly innumerable list. Why then, knowing these ruts keep me from living life in the way I have imagined, do I continue to pursue them, even add to them? The answer, I suppose, is that I fall into the grooves that are easiest, most readily available. Nothing is easier than falling into my enveloping leather sofa, flipping on the television, and watching hours of my life disappear to meaningless mind-numbing faux reality.

My rut is television.

For one week I will give up this rut and see what happens. I am excited by this difference, this chance to get off the “dusty highway” of my normal day and live differently (Emerson). By no means will this week be a breeze; so much of my post-work routine is dominated by cable programming. This will mean I take a significant departure from what is habit and find some new way to spend my time. I could grade, or exercise, or read, or spend time talking to my friends who live far away. Compounding the difficulty I anticipate having is the fact that I do not live on an island all-alone with only what pleased me to concern myself. I live with my husband, and it is playoff season for Fantasy Football. In the Dietz household this means our televisions are blaring ESPN of the NFL Network constantly. I will either have to convince my husband to see the benefits of a week inspired by Transcendentalist ideals, or find somewhere to hide out while he parks it in from of the television (the former is the more likely of the two seeing as if my husband had to choose between me or Fantasy Football, it would be a tough call). 🙂

I will report back in two days on the status of my attempt to rid myself from the habits of daily life. Wish me luck!

Gregory Benjamin
Due: 12- 11-12
My “rut” is the fact that I drink way too much juice and soda. But not enough water. It makes my life less simple because this doesn’t let me be as healthy as possible. That is a very important thing in my life. The most difficult thing about breaking this habit is that I am so used to drinking juice and soda all the time but I think that I would eventually get the hang of it. This can help me achieve the goal that I want to and to be the best person I can be because it would make me a much healthier person. This was not really a time consuming activity. I would like to gain the courage to actually beginning to be healthy. The words from Thoreau that inspired me was when he said “ the ice in the pond at length begins to be honey – combed. This inspired me because to me, this meant that at the end of the fasting, there will be something good.

My rut is cursing. I don’t curse as much but when I do it is not good.  The things that make me curse is when I’m mad annoyed or something goes wrong I don’t like. It makes my life less simple because I should not be cursing since I’m only 17 but I cannot help it when I get mad or irritated. This will be difficult because I get easily annoyed especially when its something or someone I don’t like. This experience will help me be a better person because when people do hear curse I probably leave a bad impression. If I curse less then I will leave a better impression. I will learn that I can use other words to keep me from cursing  and explain how I feel in a different way. I might find other words to use instead of using cursing to explain how I feel.

The problem in which I am facing is not doing everything my mom tells me to do. As well as respecting her the way she would like me too. It makes my life less simple because of the fact I have to hear her complain, and I know that I am letting her down. In a way I feel as though this is going to be a little difficult for me to do. The fact that I am not use to some of the things she wants me to do, I feel as though sometimes she is not being fair with me. Most of the things she want me to do, is pushing me too much, and I feel as though she can possibly ease up a little bit.

This experiment might bring me and my mother close together. It also might, and im hoping will help make me a better person. By a change like that happening I can focus more on school, and go home being stress free. I might spend more time with my mom if this little experiment works. As well as catch up on some T.V shows. Because of the fact I am not able to watch as much T.V with me going to school, then work, and having to do my homework. I hope to change the person I am. Meaning try, and better myself to show the real person I am.

The quote I look up too “All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better”. I chose this one because of the fact that it makes a point. Making a change in your everyday life can open up new doors, and oppurtunitys. As well help teach you things along the way. Myself personally will use this quote in my everyday life. Because of the fact in my opinion it is stating that I need to be my own person, and dont blend in with others. That right there inspires me because of the fact, I dont see myself as wanting to fit in with others. I like to stand alone, stand out.

Blog post 9

Raven and Nikki go to this club in the city. Nikki is Raven’s best friend, they’ve been best friends since elementary school. They went to this small urban club that they weren’t suppose to be in. Raven meets this boy name Mizan. Raven really thinks he’s cute and Mizan meets all of Raven’s standards on her “list”. When they’re about to leave the club somebody starts shooting. So Mizan tells Raven to go with him and he will bring her back to her car after this whole thing calms down. Since the first Raven met Mizan she’s been falling for him really hard.

The rut that I have the most problem with is going on Facebook.  I spend too much chatting with people over the internet while I just go out and hang out to them face to face more often. The difficult thing about not going on Facebook is that when I board I like to go on to see what everyone else is up to. This experiment will help me because it will help me to have fewer distractions in the way and work to out more. I want to try to learn that I should be more active outside of the internet world. I want to be more active instead of starring all day on Facebook. Whenever I will feel tempted to check Facebook I will refer back to Thoreau, “Let us spend one day as deliberately as Nature, and not be thrown off the tracks by every nutshell and mosquito’s wing that falls on the rails.”

Lia Niebauer

I have the bad habit of becoming violent when I am angry. I have a good control of it at school but with my family it is harder to hold back, I don’t know why. It makes my life less simple because after I get over my anger I realize what I have done. It is difficult of breaking this habit because my brothers sometimes don’t listen unless I get violent. Another reason is because I don’t realize what I am doing some times till its done. I will not lie, I have been trying to get rid of this habit before this project. I feel that getting rid of this will help bring more peace into my life. I have been improving and hope that my random acts of violence will not ruin me in some way. When I escape those moments full of anger not only will I save myself time I will save myself money from the things I have broken. Like Thoreau said, “Head is hands and feet.” I must control my emotions and thoughts which control my limbs that do my bidding.

My rut is going to bed late. I am always so tired in the morning. Going to bed late prevents me from giving my full attention to school because I have no energy most of the time. I am not even staying up late to do homework I mostly stay up looking at television and am on my laptop. I believe that this will be a very difficult habit to break because I am so used to go to bed late. I am also very used to being sleepy and having no energy. Going to bed late also causes me to take naps when I come home which is also bad because I have less time to complete my homework. This experiment will help me become the person I want to because I wll be able to devote more time to school. With the time saved I can complete my homework. From this project I hope to learn to go to sleep earlier. I just hope to learn that staying up for television and my laptop is a “waste of life” and I could be using that time to sleep (Thoreau).

My rut is listening to the radio while doing my homework. Whenever I listen to the radio i get side tracked and I start paying attention to the music instead of focusing on my homework. When it comes to tests I never remember the information because I was listening to music the whole time. This is going to be hard for me because I love to listen to country music. Country relates perfectly with my life. I really want to follow this project to see if i can actually do it for a whole week. By following this project it will help me in my studies and achieve better grades. If I have consistency “a great soul has simply nothing to do”(Emerson 366).

Laura Lee McHugh