Freewrite Responses to the "I Believe" Essays

I found that A Grown Up Barbie and Leave the Identity Issues to Other Folks to really be similar in theme. Both spoke to identities that we learn in childhood and how those identities effect us as we grow in to adulthood. I too wanted to be Barbie, and like Jane, I looked nothing like her. It didn't take long to figure out either that I never would. As an adult, I look back and I am glad that I am an individual, not a carbon copy of something else. Phyllis spoke of labels that are attached to us and how only maturity allows us to throw those labels away and be who we really are. It reminds me of the poem, When I am Old, I Shall Wear Purple. It speaks of an older woman wearing a bright purple outfit just because she can get away with it. She feels this way, because she thinks that at her age, she has earned the right to be who she wants to be. By the way, that poem is also the basis behind the Red Hat Society, a group of older women who wear red hats and bright purple outfits and get together to socialize  with other older ladies. I want to wear a red hat someday. I really liked reading Shitty First Drafts, because it reminds me that however good the finished product, there was a process behind it that involves many not  so good products. It gives you the right to make mistakes and to keep trying and to be able to pick and choose the best out of everything you do. Final drafts are only a reflection of the entire writing process, which is what I am beginning to learn through all this writing we are doing. I will have to keep this essay in mind as I write my own. To start early, and just keep writing and then pull together the final product from the best of everything. Be Nice to the Pizza Dude  was a lesson in humanity and humility. Just because the job you do may be low on the totem pole of life, doesnt diminish you as a person. I look at it like this, the pizza dude is performing a service that helps me, and they are being a productive member of society, and maybe the pizza dude will be president some day, or develop a cure for cancer, or facilitate world peace, or just learn good work ethics that he passes down to his children..I did disagree with Always Go to the Funeral. It is my personal belief that visitations are the time for giving condolences and showing your support for the family. I believe that funerals are a time of final goodbyes for those closest to the deceased, like family and very close friends. I found the concept of always going to a funeral to be a bit creepy.