Finding Beauty in the Ugly

    A poem I came across last week was “Trees” by Joyce Kilmer. It was one of the websites I scoured when looking for our Poetry Panel poem a couple of weeks prior.

    In it, the speaker shows their appreciation for nature and creations of God, praising its perfection and beauty to be something no man can replicate. The speaker states that “Poems are made by fools like me, / But only God can make a tree” (11-12). Essentially, they believe that only God can create such perfect entities that are pure and stay true to their purpose. No matter how talented a human is, they will never be able to achieve such perfection. The speaker emphasizes religion throughout their poem.

    But I also thought the poem could be interpreted in a way that focuses on how people struggle to find satisfaction and inner beauty, being too distracted by what we can physically see or feel. Although Christians believe God always knows best and has the greatest plan, humans tend to lack the ability to be patient and wait for their rewards, often lashing out and struggling with their faith. Even outside of religion, people often struggle with envisioning their end goal and destination, with their thoughts being muddled with the present, and feelings of doubt and stress.

    Sometimes I wonder how I will deal with this in the future. One of my biggest goals in life is to become a medical doctor. I am well aware of the blessings that are to come if I am able to turn this dream into reality. Helping others, saving lives, and pursuing a field that I am heavily interested in are only some of the many benefits. But the road there is going to be quite possibly the most difficult journey and process I will have to undertake in my life. Almost a decade of schooling. Very possibly not getting into medical school. Not getting set up with residency after I graduate. Not getting a job after 12+ years. There are multiple hurdles that I will have to inevitably face head on to get to where I want to be. Although it’s easy to look ahead now and dream, my thoughts and motivations may falter 5 or 10 years into the future. I can only hope that mid 20s me will remember the innocent, pure dreams of my childhood and trudge ahead.

 

 

Event of the Week: 

 

 

Reigning UFC Champion and widely considered one of the GOATs of the sport, Alex Periera, was recently dethroned by challenger Magomed Ankalaev, who defeated him by unanimous decision.