Communication and Conflict Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Communication and Conflict - Essay Example It is hot and pounding and threatens to deform our lives. Conflict is a blacksmith’s forge. It is the process of going through searing fire and being hammered and pummelled and twisted into shape. It is struggling at the hand of the blacksmith but being helpless to defend oneself. It is undergoing tribulation to the point where one feels he could go no further, and then getting his second wind and finding he could go a bit further. But there is something good about going through the forge and suffering the blacksmith’s blows. The searing heat burns away the impurities to expose the glowing metal beneath. The blows shape and the grind sharpens until a metallic masterpiece materializes from the shapeless clump of matter. The challenge is to be brave enough to go through the forge. In this sense, conflict is good because it brings out the best in us. It makes us aware that we can go as far as we can, and then a bit further. It tells us that to be shaped into a work of art or a samurai sword, we have to first be malleable and compliant, and allow change to happen. Finally, conflict is beneficial, because it means we trust the Blacksmith to create a thing of beauty out of us that initially only He can see, and trust that He shall not pass us through the forge more than is necessary to bring out the remarkable strength hidden within us.

The Travels of Marco Polo by Colin Thubron Essay

The Travels of Marco Polo by Colin Thubron - Essay Example Thus, the author provides reliable information about the various aspects of the city and the descriptions are highly factual and realistic. There are important descriptions of many towns, castles, and villages and the readers are given factual descriptions about the people, the kings, and the currency in the city. â€Å"At the end of three days, you reach the noble and magnificent city of Quinsai, a name that signifies ‘the celestial city’, and which it merits from its pre eminence to all others in the world, in grandeur and beauty, as-well as from its abundant delights, which might lead inhabitants to imagine himself in paradise. In all seasons there is, in the markets, a great variety of herbs and fruits, especially pears of an extraordinary size†¦ Each of the 10 markets squares is surrounded by high dwelling houses, in the lower part which are shops, where every kind of manufacture is carried on, and ever pre-eminence trade is sold, such as spices drugs trinkets and pearls...† (Thubron, 209) Therefore, the book provides great details about the various aspects of the city and the readers are able to gather some essential factual data regarding the cities of ancient China. Two other articles which deal with the great cities of ancient China are â€Å"The Attractions of the Capital† and â€Å"Recollections of Northern Song Capital†. A reflective analysis of these resources in comparison to each other provides an enlightening understanding of the great cities of ancient China.