Final Reflection

     Greetings again, fellow bloggers! I am pleased to announce the ever-closer end of this project! Though 'pleased' might be too strong a word. This will be my last official blog post, but I expect that I will continue this in the near future. Just for the novelty of it.

     Now then. It has been around two months since we all began this project, and I can honestly say that I'm glad that it is about over. Not because I did not enjoy it, but because I will finally be able to feel a sense of satisfaction when all these bunnies have been sent away. Oh, but I will not be sending them in a box like originally planned. Instead, my mom will take them with her when she drives up to U.C. Davis for cancer treatment next week. Admittedly, the aforementioned sense of satisfaction will most likely also be accompanied by the inevitable, sinking "what now?" feeling. Which is exactly why I would not be surprised if I soon find another project to pour my heart into!

     I would like to thank a variety of people for my continued progress in the 20% project, including April, who assigned it in the first place; Audra, my mentor, who was willing to put up with and help me through it; and all of my classmates and followers, who have provided me with invaluable feedback and encouragement! 

      In case anyone has forgotten, needs a refresher, or simply doesn't care to read my earlier blog posts--which is perfectly okay--here is the gist of what I did for my 20% project. I made 20 stuffed bunnies of varying colors and fabric, each about the size of my hand, and will be donating them all to the U.C. Davis Children's Hospital. Furthermore, as much as I care for the children, I did this for my own benefit as well. Before this project, I was rather inept at sewing. I figured that with this, I would be able to develop my skills as well as help children in one goal! I know, I know. So noble.

     I enjoyed my work during this ordeal far more than I had previously expected, And I can easily see myself undertaking similar projects in the future. While my first several bunnies were asymmetrical and full of little mistakes quirks, it was entertaining to see how I improved as I continued. By the end, I was able to put bunnies together in less than half the time it took me originally.

     Once again, I am grateful for all the help I received in the last two months, as well as for my faithful readers! I've no clue how you can suffer through these posts, but congratulations nevertheless. I hope to continue hearing your feedback in the future as well. Thank you!

Narration At It's Finest

The Average Day At Leporidae Elementary

     "I love cats, but anyone that possesses fondness for a canine is nothing but an uncultured swine." The girl, Amelia, declared. The boy sitting across the table in the cafeteria disagreed, though.

     "No, it's the other way around! Cats are the spawn of evil, evil demons!" Pierre argued hotly over his tray of meatloaf.

     "They are not!"

     "They are too!"

     Amelia huffed, exasperated, and sat back in the hard, plastic chair. "We're not getting anywhere with this."

     "Um," came a small voice from the other end of the table, "I know that it's hard to choose between cats and dogs, but..."

     "But what?" Pierre pressed, causing the owner of the small voice to gulp and gather it's cloak around it in defense.

     "What about... Bunnies?"

     There was a moment of silence between the three students, until Amelia narrowed her eyes and slammed her hand down against the table. "What about bunnies?"

     "Well," the voice continued, gaining confidence as it went, "Nobody hates bunnies. People can pick favorites between cats and dogs, but bunnies are above that."

     "Wait, who even are you?" Pierre asked, eyes alight with curiosity.

     The person giggled and replied, "A loyal advocate, of course."

     Amelia eyed the 'advocate' skeptically. "Loyal advocate of what exactly?" she demanded.

     "Of bunnies!" the figure replied easily. It stood up and folded its arms. "Now, are either of you familiar with the Tale of the Bunny Who Found his Fluff?"

     "You made that up just now." Pierre accused, meatloaf utterly forgotten.

     "Nope! And now I'm going to tell it to you!"

     Still standing, the strange person's voice took on a tone similar to that of Morgan Freeman.

     "Once upon a time, in a land far away, there was a small, pink bunny--"

     "Bunnies are not pink." Amelia interrupted.

     "Shush Amelia, I want to hear the story!" Pierre chided.

     "Sorry..."

     "Once upon a time, in a land far away, there was a small, pink bunny. His name was Joe. Joe was almost a very happy bunny. His only problem was that he had no fluff. 

     "Now, fluff was a very important part of a creature's life. It was a rite of passage, the one and only way to fulfill one's lifelong goal: to make a child happy. The children had no interest in a bunny that was not stuffed with fluff. Joe should have gotten his fluff many years ago, but the Regent Cat (who controlled the King Dog who was too young to rule) suddenly declared all bunnies unworthy of receiving their own fluff, for no apparent reason.

     "One day, when Joe was feeling particularly unhappy, he decided to confront the Regent Cat on the subject. After hours holed up in his house procrastinating mustering his courage, Joe found himself in the throne room, in front of the regent and the young king. 

     "Upon inquiring about his fluff, Joe found that Regent Cat was in fact jealous of bunnies and dogs, because it seemed that the children loved them more than they loved cats. However, since Regent Cat was not allowed to ban dogs, she took her insecurity out on bunnies. 

     "Joe was horrified at this revelation, so he promptly rounded up several children who loved cats, and brought them to the throne room. Immediately, each child attested to their love of cats, and Regent Cat felt better. So, with the help of King Dog, the law that prevented bunnies from having their own fluff was revoked, and Joe was able to receive his own honorary pink fluff. Even though no child could see his fluff, Joe knew it was there, and he was finally a very happy bunny.

     "The End!"

     "That... was wonderful." Amelia sniffled. "I love bunnies!"

     "That didn't even have much to do with anything..." Pierre mumbled, but was silenced by Amelia's glare.

     "So, now will you tell us who you are?" Amelia questioned, and both children looked in the direction of the figure at the other end of the table.

   

     The person however, was gone, and in it's place was a small, pink, stuffed bunny.

Stuffed Animals, as Opposed to Toys

     I have been asked why I chose to make stuffed bunnies for children instead of making toys, or writing a book; the reason is almost relatively simple. Most children, especially those in failing health, are naturally drawn to animals. Common house pets in particular have been known to hold significant sentimental and therapeutic value to their respective owners.
     While toys and books are excellent gifts as well, my aim in this project was less to provide entertainment, and more to evoke calm and soothing feelings in people. While books are capable of producing the same effect, they are not very practical for my own use. Toys also are more likely to cause excitement in a child rather than calm.
     In a journal titled "Psychosocial and Psychophysiological Effects of Human-Animal Interactions: The Possible Role of Oxytocin" by Andrea Beetz and others on Frontiers in Psychology, the effects of human-animal interaction (HAI) are summarized as follows:

• – improvement of social attention, behavior, interpersonal interaction, and mood
• – reduction of stress-related parameters such as cortisol, heart rate, and blood pressure
• – reduction of self-reported fear and anxiety
• – improvement of mental and physical health, especially cardiovascular health.
  Limited evidence or very few publications exist f or positive effects of HAI on:
• – reduction of stress-related parameters such as epinephrine and nonepinephrine
• – improvement of immune system functioning
• – improved pain management
• – increased trustworthiness of and trust toward other persons
• – reduced aggression
• – enhanced empathy and
• – improved learning.

     While these effects were tested only with living, breathing animals, stuffed animals can play their part as well! Stuffed animals can have the same effects on children, improving both physical and mental health. Furthermore, real animals pose health problems themselves, even domesticated ones. A person with a weak immune system typically cannot come into contact with most animals anyway.

     Now that the benefits of animals has been established, the benefit of bunnies themselves can be discussed. While not every child loves bunnies, there are few people who hate them. A bunny is a safe animal. Cats and dogs, on the the other hand, often elicit stronger emotions. Most people will say that they either hate cats and love dogs, or love dogs and hate cats. For these animals, there is a higher chance of finding a person who hates one of the two. Most people are "okay" with bunnies. I am also "okay" with that. 

     My decisions may or may not have also been influenced by simple convenience. However, that was not the point.

In Case of Dire Need of Update - Reflection

     Greetings again, my fellow bloggers and friends. I will admit, it is hard to not to enjoy oneself when immersed in the world of blogging, even for me. Since the whole idea is still relatively new to me, I find it simultaneously exciting and mystifying. I love possessing the knowledge that there are other people reading my posts and witnessing my actions through my words. I hope that by the end of this project, I will be able to produce a distinguishable result that can help someone, somewhere, in some way.
     Today I finally met with my mentor, Audra, to work on my project. I was admittedly a little further behind than I had previously meant to be, but I also fully intend to return with flashing colors. Possibly literally. We will see, I suppose. Anyway, we were able to pin down a few designs that we would like to use, as well as gauge what materials we need that we have and do not have, With this, I will be able to continue to work more independently so as to maximize efficiency. Because let's be honest, neither of us live in such leisure as to be able to spend extended periods of time together to work on a project for which I cannot accomplish the most basic of tasks.
     Now then, it has been decided that those ambiguously addressed "objects" I will be making will, for the most part, take the form of bunnies. Audra found an adorable design on My So Called Crafty Life that will be very easy for us to utilize. She was also able to provide me with a sufficient amount of fabric to get started, as well as some fluff to stuff in the bunnies! The only things I need now are some buttons for eyes, and some pom-poms for the tails. I also need to fish a sewing machine out of a closet. Besides that, I have thread and the like.
     I am so excited to get started on the brunt of my project, especially now that I have a serious goal and plan in mind. I feel the need to inform everyone that from this day forward, there will likely never be a blog post in which I do not mention in passing my eternal gratitude towards my mentor and her putting up with me.
     I fully plan on posting pictures of my first few attempts, and I really appreciate all the positive feedback I have been getting from the very beginning of my endeavor. Thank you all for sticking with me this far! See you in the next blog post!