Journal Entry 1: Common Experiences

     I agree with Willa Cather when she says "There are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened before". In our lives, we all experience interesting events. We tend to think that what has happened to us is so incredible that few, if any other people have been through the same thing. This, however, is not the case. If you think about it, all the interesting stories we have to tell have all probably been told millions of times by the people before us who have already done it. For example, the first time we like a girl, and get our heart broken, we think that no one has ever felt as strongly as we did, and no one understands the pain we feel, when in fact almost every teenager has. Another example would be depression. At one point or another, almost every teenager will have experienced depression. Its just part of growing up, and when you think back later, you will realize how dumb you were. At the time though, you feel like you are alone in the world, and you are the only person who ever felt the way you do. These examples show how Willa Cather was correct in saying that humans have only few stories to tell, but tell them over and over to people for whom it is new.