2 Response to Find Your Howl

To read the story, Finding Your Howl, here is the link: http://changethis.com/manifesto/show/51.01.YourHowl

The first story, which is more a poem, is about a wolf who has lost his howl. At least, that's what it appears to be about on the surface. The wolf's search symbolizes our own search for what we're passionate about, what sparks our imagination, what drives us, what our purpose on this earth is. At first, Mumon feels disgraced because he is a wild animal and because he has no howl. When he kills a deer in the woods, he feels guilty because of it. He does not want to kill to survive, even though he is a wolf. I think this might mean that we as people might have to do things that we do not want to in order to be who we have to be. We need to make sacrifices to reach a goal because we are humans and these are the steps we must take. A raven talks to Mumon and tells him to listen to the bones of the animal he just killed, and don't listen with your ears, but listen with your soul. And Mumon does and he is transported into the past when a tribe worshipped him and he finds his howl. My favorite line is, "Captivity is the dream and freedom was the real experience." I think Flaum's main point is that to find your own howl, or purpose, you need to listen further than your ears, you must search every part of you, even memories that are drenched in shame or embarssement or sadness. Sometimes, the memories that are soaked in the most emotion hold the key to unlocking our true selves. Maybe that is what Flaum is saying.

The poem I'm using for the audio portion is: http://hidden-release.tripod.com/perks_of_being_a_wallflower_poem.html . However, the audio is not working so I'll just write out what I was going to say. This poem is really Emo, I know, but I like it because I love that book and this poem is a pretty influential part of the story. When I read that we had to read a poem, my mind jumped to this because I recently reread the book over break and it was one of my favorites when I was younger. I always thought the book was about pain and hatred and how much being a teenager sucked, but this time I read it and I thought differently. It’s about finding out who you are, and what a great and exciting and awkward time that is. Anyway, this poem kind of follows those same lines. You read it and it’s awful and you know it’s about suicide, but it’s not just about suicide. It’s about how easy life seems at first and the more you think and experience and do, the more challenging it becomes to live. I don’t know, I sound pretty morbid in this post…