Daunting. Emotionless. Segregated.
There are all ways we isolate ourselves. Many people blame others for everything, right down to nit-pickin little things. The poem, "Invictus," states there are pits as black from pole to pole that can surround even the strongest of fighters.
Alcatraz was created to hold the most violent of all criminals or those of highest escape attempt. It was a natural island in the bay, yet transformed to something useful for as a way to isolate risks to society.
The tour of "The Rock" is fascinating and educational. However, as the survivors - staff and criminals - note in this article, time and other motivations changed fact into fiction. It's not only the media that can do this - our minds change memories, too.
In many ways, this is good. If you have experienced something painful, your mind doesn't remember the pain of your broken arm, for instance, only the experiences around your medical emergency. If you have a traumatic event, frequently your mind renders you nearly incapable of speaking the horrors of that time, such as being trapped on your roof in New Orleans ten years ago while waiting and praying for evacuation after Hurricane Katrina.
The resiliency of a community depends on the strength and cooperative abilities of its people. Each person is a link in a chain - from the smallest things (pride in a well-kept lawn and shrubbery) to the larger interactions (mentoring at an after-school program for disadvantaged youth).
As the infamous criminal even realizes in this article, "everything I realized I’d done was by my own choice." You may have taken fourteen steps toward a literal isolation like Luke, or erected a mental separation from the community by not interacting with neighbors and opportunities around you.
Your rock, however it formed, can also be chiseled away so that you aren't an outsider, so that you aren't the end of the song, "The Farmer In The Dell"... The cheese stands alone. If you wake up to realize one day it's just you and your cheese all alone, you better start making changes in your life. Transform your barrier into something productive. Reach out sincerely to people and ask how you can help them - it will be the best improvement for you and pay dividends immediately.
And, you will realize that cheese is much better when shared with wine and real friends.
https://www.yahoo.com/travel/confessions-of-alcatraz-former-inmates-and-126515796702.html
