Megan Lee Pre-AP English 9 Process Essay Assignment December 8, 2011

Learning to Breathe
The little impact of one single life is something to be considered, dont you think? It is astounding that something so precious during its most active state is destined to be buried and virtually forgotten within some 20 years of said burial. The approximation of that progression is of course only in the most uniform of cases, as it is well known that prominent politicians and illustrious movie stars are not soon forgotten. This is exhibited in the circumstances of George Washington types and Marilyn Monroe-esque icons. I must admit, however, that this is not so much about the process of which one is to breathe, but more or less, the moments throughout the course of ones first breath until their very last. Steps of a life are regularly divided into what I like to call the heptagonal process. Aforementioned process begins at birth, progressing into childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, fully developed adult, senior, and finally ending with the white curtain of death. Before you read any further, though, I need to also introduce to you the idea that the words below are not sugar-coated. You may take what I have to say gravely, but I speak a truth that is seen through my own eyes on the general course of life within America. In your beginning there is a home of soft darkness. Youre connected to the one being on earth that made the idea of you possible; that made your soul a living entity. And then light, and hands, and breathing, and the cold outer limits of the world that is not in your mother. The first sight your young eyes digest is destined to be the smile of your previous home; that lovely being who housed you in delicate, constant night. Soon after, there is the apparition of mother and father looking down at the bundle of supposed joy and envisioning a life of laughing, family road trips, and tears as you head off you to lead a life all your own. For now though, there is just happy; just the solid feeling of being entirely content. All of a sudden, within some blink of an eye, there you are in all of your youthful glow and full of smiles. Beliefs of Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny, and other fictitious characters bounce against the walls of your engrossed skull, fueled by young innocence. Soon, there is the first day of school, and the other children who are ignorantly assumed to be just like you in every way but appearance. Sadly, the illusion of innocence is shortly to fade as you aware yourself with dying, and sickness, and the notion that not everyone is okay; not everything in this world is of enjoyable conditions. The stage of adolescence is a complex thing to consume. Each being is very much unlike another. There are similarities in the fact that much knowledge has been devoured and things have been seen. Distinctly, however, it must be said that being a teenager and the things you do within that period of time shape the likely frame of your future. This is not to imply that experimenting with drugs, and alcohol, and sex in high school will land you in AA, on probation, with 3 separate sexually transmitted diseases and infections. Actually, in the most honest of words, trying things like that is how one is to learn about the ways of the world. Not everyone does those things, of course, but trying them doesnt make you a bad person, it makes you

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human. The life of a teenager is something I cannot sum up into a single paragraph, or explain within the baring of seven sentences. It is at this period of time that the flood gates shall open and the waterworks shall fall, presumably, well, almost certainly, from your mother. We shall revisit the thought that you lived inside of her, and at one point in time, you and she were one, because those are the thoughts that run thought her mind when you are packing your bags for the college of your choice. Now, lets not fool ourselves into a false deception of sainthood during these moments alone. Youre 18, or somewhere close to that; an adult (unless you ask someone older, who would be very tempted to call you a youngin, or something to that effect)! You can legally buy cigarettes, enlist in the military, get a tattoo, gamble, hell, you can even be sued. The powers of being out on your own also play a key role in framing the future, and just like the teenage years of your life, experimenting probably enters itself into the realm of possibilities. Welcome to the phase of livelihood in which many beings look forward to their entire lives; that is until they actually reach such place in life, and realize that all the responsibility isnt as empowering as it seems. Just because mommy-dearest yelled at you, and youd like to do the same to your own offspring, doesnt ever quite prepare the newlywed, new parents for the bills, and work, and work, and the bills again. All of these stressful events typically end in the volcanic rise of a huge occurrence that many Americans like to call a midlife crisis. During which enchantment of stupidity, hilariousness, or whatever you may call it, many people develop seemingly absurd passions, or revulsions, to seeming ridiculous things. Mostly, though, this factor is weighed by regret over various careers, relationships, and children, among other nerveracking events and happenings. And with much respect, I must give a metaphorical round of applause to all companies that specialize in the design and marketing of materials used for repairing skin done away with by age; these companies thrive off of your insecurities and wrinkles. Also, at this point, I must familiarize you with what is known as the old people smell. It likes to hide in your clothes like lice to a homeless child, and it is notorious for lingering in the crevices of your furniture. Yes, like many grandparents, you have grandchildren, and like many grandchildren, they make this scents dreadful presence known. Much more than the smell of being old, or being old itself, you shall wither away from such thoughts by investing every second, every dollar, to the precious gold that is a grandchild. Ideas for gifts: knitted sweater that will soon be complete with moths, stocks that will probably be ignored within the moment of presentation, and how, of course, could we ever forget the infamous gift of sock, ruining childrens Christmas hopes since the beginning of time, it seems. Yes, being old is quite a blessing, you may think. What with all of that fixed income, you might be able to afford two gallons of Orange Juice at the market as opposed to the regular one. Reaching the final stage at perfect timing, I would like to proudly present to you, the way out. Death has yet again reared its ugly head, only this time it is not a distant aunt, it is you; your life, your soul. Whats it like to die? Thats a question I cant yet answer, and neither can anyone, really. I suppose its like reading a book, in the sense that everyone reads differently and has different feelings and thoughts while reading. So, when you die, Im sure youll draw your own conclusions.

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Really though, in the time of a life, what has been accomplished? What has been changed that otherwise without you would not have been? This is not to say that your life was useless, because every single living person is special, and everyone has their own way of weaving though the world, leaving some sort of cross-stitch-signature. But ultimately, in the grand scheme of things, when youre gone and this world has forgotten about you, what will have been left? The impact of a single life is something to be considered.