(note the title of this journal is inspired by the song title by Jack Johnson, UCSB alum)
Hi! It’s Lila, again! This week I noticed that I have been getting better at some things I have been working on since quarantine started. For example today, when we started our yoga class, we slowly moved into core exercises and usually, if I try talking, it will just make it harder. But, words just floated out of my mouth without me even trying. It was like magic! I wasn’t even breathing too hard! That shows that when you practice hard and have a goal, you can always achieve it if you try. My goal was to get really good at yoga and to finally do the splits. Well, I still don’t know how to do the splits, but I am pretty close. I also can’t wait until I can move into a one-handed hand stand. Which, by the way, I might never achieve, but it’s never good to give up on anything, even something difficult.
If the Coronavirus wasn’t happening, I probably wouldn’t have had time to start doing yoga with my mom and brother right now. I also get to play more games like Scrabble, which is a really fun spelling game with lots of words! This week we played scrabble and filled up the whole board. This entry begins with a picture of me looking at the scrabble dictionary at the beginning of the game.
During Zoom school this week, a teacher asked us what our how-to goals were. Lots of kids said that they want to learn how to play certain instruments, like the piano, guitar, or the ukulele. Two kids said that their goal was to learn how to drive (electric cars, of course!). A few people even told everyone in that they wanted to learn how to jump out from an airplane! I will personally never do that. I can’t imagine being willing to jump from an airplane and basically fall or float down to earth. Now that we all have more time to stay at home, everyone can work on some of their how to goals (well, maybe not the one about jumping out of an airplane!). I wonder if, when the quarantine is over what people will have learned. Will someone master playing the ukulele or electric guitar? Will someone learn how to compose a song? Some people will reach their goals. Maybe I will too, especially since I really want to master painting.
I was painting a lot this past week in preparation for Mother’s Day. On Mother’s Day, we woke up early and decorated the whole house with a Hawaiian theme. I even dressed up in Hawaiian print clothing. We started cooking so that my mom woke up to the smell of pancakes, eggs, and bacon. We yelled “Hau’oli la makuahine!” which is Hawaiian for ‘Happy Mother’s Day!’ It really felt like we were on a vacation in Hawaii. When my mom went to sit down on a chair at the dining table, she found the note card with the first clue for a scavenger hunt. The scavenger hunt commenced immediately -- the food would have to wait. After the last card, my mom found her prize: all the presents that we had hidden for her, including several paintings I had made. Spending time at home these days gave me enough time to make presents, and do all the little, extra details on the paintings, pictures, and cards for my mom. After breakfast, we had fun outside. We went to Alice Keck Park and saw some turtles and took a photograph under a beautiful, blooming tree. The other two pictures are from our relaxing, happy day.
Did you know that we are going to do another play at school this Friday? This time it is called The Revenge Of The Gods. It is based on a Greek Myth. It is a love story about a fairy named Echo who loves herself too little. Then, she meets a boy named Narcissus who is very good looking and loves himself too much.
Right before she found him, Echo had been cursed by Hera, who thought Echo talked too much and made it so that she could only echo the last words of people who speak. Echo quickly hid because her friends were looking for her, and she felt too embarrassed to see them. Her friends asked Narcissus, who was focused on himself, if he had seen Echo. He said no and didn’t show much care. Echo’s friends told him that he was simply awful and left. Narcissus heard her coming and started to ask her questions. However, because of her curse, Echo could only repeat the last words of what he said, so he couldn’t get any answers. Then, Echo gathered up her courage and leaped out at him with open arms, hopeful that he would love her. But instead, he got mad at her because he didn’t think she was equal in beauty to him, and he left her in tears by a cave.
Two gods looked down at them, the god of love and the god of revenge. Aphrodite, the god of love, thought that Narcissus was just lonely, waiting to find his one true love. However, Nemesis the god of revenge, thought that he should learn his lesson because of all the people he rejected. Now it was Narcissus’ turn to get cursed. The curse made him fall in love with his own reflection and his reflection always stayed right there in the lake. So, Narcissus always stayed right there by his own reflection. Narcissus was so deeply obsessed with his reflection because of the spell that he didn’t eat, drink, or sleep. Neither did Echo who watched him constantly and would repeat the last word of whatever Narcissus would say to his own reflection. After a month, Echo died in the cave and all that was left was her everlasting voice, now known as an echo. Narcissus also died, and turned into a gorgeous flower, now known as a Narcissus.
I am so excited to do the play on Friday. My part is going to be Echo. I think that my teacher wanted us to perform this story because of the lesson in it is to never love yourself too little or too much. This reminds me about how in quarantine we should care about ourselves just the right amount, and we should all be grateful for our health. We should also do more than just stay hidden in our living rooms. We should do things for others, like putting up signs, writing people cards, and calling people we love. Did you know that yesterday, there were Eagle fighter jets flying by to thank all the healthcare workers? Isn’t that nice? Also, today (May 14) there is going to be something called Light It Blue, where some buildings are going to be light up with blue lights in the evenings in May to thank all the healthcare and essential workers who are saving lives (#lightitblue). Anyone tonight will be able to drive by and see all the blue and think of how hard doctors and other healthcare workers are working to protect people from the virus, and how important all the essential workers are to helping support everyone. My neighbor told me about it and I might have missed it if she didn’t stop to let me know it was happening. Just like the story of Echo and Narcissus, the blue is reminding us how everything works better when people are unselfish, and take care of others.
Happy quarantining! Until next time, virtually yours, Lila
Lila Kia-Keating is a 4th grader who lives with her family in Santa Barbara. When she isn't reading or writing, you can probably find her riding bikes with her brother or making friends with the neighborhood animals.