Log 4, Flipped

 

Hello, this is Carolyn again. In my free time this week, I finally ushered in the end of this book, and the most important thing is that this is the first English original novel I have completed in this study process. After reading this novel, I was deeply indulged in Juli. From the beginning of the book, we know that Juli has been approaching and adoring Bryce since the first sight of him. However, Bryce has always avoided her as a "plague" and believes that Julie has deeply affected his life. However, after reading the entire novel, I discovered that Julie is a near-perfect existence, even perfect that I am very envious. Next, I will present a few points that I have observed for a brief exposition.

 At first, we were offended by Juli's crazy behavior towards Bryce; however, as I said in Log 3, the incident about the sycamore tree taught me to get to know Juli deeply. From my perspective, she is very self-confident and bright in learning, which shows in comprehending the notion beyond her ability.; Also, she is brave and dares to approach the people she likes. Moreover, she is kind and knows how to take the initiative to apply to her father to visit her uncle, who is mentally disabled. The most appealing thing is that Juli loves and is eager to be close to nature, and she knows how to appreciate the beauty of nature, who will talk to sycamore trees and chickens that she has cultivated. As mentioned above, those show that she has an intense curiosity and enthusiasm for everything, and also the drive that she had are qualities that most people lack these days. Obviously, she still retains this quality, which makes me believe she is completely attractive. Likewise, we can find in the novel that the sycamore tree incident also seems to be the turning point in Bryce's discovery of falling in love with Juli. From the incident, he may have discovered the advantages of Juli, such as freedom, bravery, kindness, firmness, and so on. To my knowledge, Julie was also full of magic for Bryce, and he began to be deeply attracted by Julie.

Nevertheless, he felt despondent when he found out that Juli didn't like him as much as before. Thus, this is the evidence that revealed Bryce fell in love with Juli. Although he initially only avoided and feared Julie, when Julie continued to show her charm and kept her enthusiasm for life and love for various things, he finally couldn't help but fall in love with her.

Therefore, what I want to share with you in this reflection is "the importance of having one's own charisma." In today's society, we will find that everyone is pursuing the so-called "standard beauty" regardless of gender. Still, they gradually lose their original self in blindly following "standard beauty." Imagine that is such beauty really attractive? When there is only one form of beauty in the world. Back to my experience, I used to try to change my image and behavior under other people's opinions, which led me to lose myself in the process. It is no exaggeration to say that I don't know who I am at that time. In my opinion, we can accept other people's suggestions to us. Still, we can't be attracted by a person's partial charm all the time, such as the handsome and beautiful face, fashionable dress, and so on. Thus, we should respect our individual nature traits because there's useless to change ourselves with one word. As mentioned in the novel, "the whole being greater than the sum of the parts." We need to cultivate our own charisma, maintain curiosity and enthusiasm for life, and even constantly invest in ourselves to make ourselves more valuable. Thus, instead of trying hard or making the other person like you, it is better to cultivate your abilities, build your own personality charm, and form a certain degree of irreplaceability when you have someone you are attracted to. Finally, the person who suits you will come to you and maybe meet someone better.

From my perspective, a good relationship should be two people who appreciate each other, make progress together, and continue to become better people for each other. Of course, the focus of cultivating your charisma is not only for a good relationship but also to make yourself more robust and more confident. To sum up, everyone is unique. Only when we find our personality traits and show them in time can we enjoy our belonged life.