Notes

Honey, I'm house!...Ah, who am I kidding? It's just not the same. You see, a house is merely a building that you can live in, but a home is personal. You don't need to have family to have a home. As long as you feel at home, you are. What's important is feeling comfortable, and a great part of that is having fond memories there. A home is a place that's familiar, and that you feel welcome in. Even a house that's not your own can be a home--When I'm around some of my best friends, I truly feel "at home." As the saying goes, "home is where the heart is."

A utopia may just turn out to be a horrible idea. "Wouldn't it be great to live in a world without any difficulties?" you might think to yourself. The answer is a surprising no. I think that hardships build personality and educate us. "Suffering builds character!" you might hear a slave driver say in the back of your head. While I certainly don't think that hardships are always justified by the experiences we take away from them, without them we would just be innocent and foolish. I can see it now--Imagine a novel about a dystopian future without difficulties. The protagonist is about to buy an engagement ring for his girlfriend when he's stopped by some man in black who looks like Agent Smith from the Matrix. "You're going to regret that," he says. And out of an act of rebellion, our hero runs off with the ring and begins his rebellion. You may be able to see how a utopia is not just a bad idea but nigh impossible--in any world with choices, there can be mistakes. A world with those sharp edges removed and conformity is forced upon you is a world where you can not truly live.