Perceiving Part 2

Prompt: Once you have perceived your topic in a new way write about 500 words: a) discussing briefly your understanding of the cognitive tool of perceiving (approximately 1 sentence), b) your original observation, c) your re-imagination, and finally d) how this new understanding impacts your topic.

Original: “The Circle of Life” Sequence from Disney’s The Lion King
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwSKkKrUzUk

Re-imaged: The Journey Home, a poem

a) To me, the cognitive tool of perceiving is the ability to take in all the stimuli of an environment and respond to it honestly: taking what appealed to our sensory network and analyzing how it was understood, categorized, correlated, and appreciated.

b) The first scene of the movie The Lion King is legendary in film and theater.  “The Circle of Life” effectively sets the tone for a story that teaches us the value of family and our part of the big world we live in.  My initial observation of this scene is colorful and warm.  The animals and scenery grow in variety and number as we move through the number, juxtaposed with beautiful backgrounds of the African savannah with its golden grass and crystal blue skies.  As the female singer begins, the noise of the animals interestingly is still heard, growing and growing as we move closer to Pride Rock.  However, before the expected huge finish, the song dips into the most intimate moment with the arrival of Rafiki.  His travels, as well as those of all the animals, foreshadow the magnitude of such an event.  As Rafiki steps forward to the ledge, the singer returns in a full belt with a full symphony and roars out a final chorus.  The animals explode with energy but then bow sincerely and ceremoniously, as if this ritual has been done before.  We feel their respect for one another and their placement in this African circle of life.

c) For my re-imagination, I created a poem that possesses a similar energy and theme to this film sequence. I recalled the senses that were stimulated, what felt important to me, and what I appreciated most about this sequence and attempted to condense the 4-minute sequence into a succinct poem.  As I created this poem, I wondered why I felt such a pull to these animals in this moment. From my historical and cultural background, I don’t exactly understand Rafiki’s ritual with Simba, or the whole sequence for that matter. Why, as a culture, have we become so attached to this opening number in children’s film? My solution to this inquiry is the power of home in the literal and metaphorical sense.  Home involves our role in the community, our love of our family members, and our respect for the elderly (just to name a few) – this sequence includes and illuminates all of these elements.

d) A new understanding that I have learned from this experience is open-mindedness to stimuli.  I would argue that one of the reasons that I find the Circle of Life sequence so popular is because I was introduced to it when I was a child.  From a cognitive standpoint, I could not filter what was important, make a bias about the music, or relate it with my own experiences because I was still in the realm of concrete thought at that age.  I simply believed in the animals on the screen as if I was standing on Pride Rock next to them.  I understood their journeys, their environments, and their goals.  I feel that perceiving is mastering this ability to purely take in all stimuli without distraction or bias.  We can make assumptions, conclusions, and inquiries later, but it is the initial opportunity to listen, see, feel, hear, and smell as much as we can to attain the best observations possible.