Red Revealed: A Portfolio

The term Americanism reflects an approach that does not maintain an attitude of mediocrity when dealing with the principles that it encompasses. The translation of passion into this ideal is rigorous, yet there is no other way to describe the multifaceted story that is the history of this nation- a place that offers so many cultural relevancies in the facade of varied perspective.

The concept of Americanism has translated itself into varied languages, customs and cultural applications. What once was an ornamentally Anglo-Saxon country has stretched open its arms over the centuries to reveal an entire host of diversity, as America remains the changing face of political policy, democracy, and freedom.

Americanism intangibly defines unrestricted patriotism, as well as a zest for pushing the envelope. If one accompanies a desire to achieve the extraordinary, Americanism augments the definition of a dream. In many ways, being an American can be described in simple elements from one’s childhood within the relativity of the senses:

In the clamoring of school locker... the burn of the sun after a day on the beach...the stickiness of an ice cream cone on one’s skin when it wasn’t slurped fast enough.

The ideas surrounding Americanism are much like my childhood experiences. Within the education that our government tries to keep available to each American citizen also comes a vast array of policy that frequently make one feel “lost in the noise” of a democracy whose intention is grounded by a strong moral compass, however internally and logistically macerated it may occasionally become. Similarly, an opportunity as an American to “make it” must be seized at the precise moment, or one may find themselves sticky with regret, when they should have tasted the chocolate while it still sat invitingly on the cone.

Over the years, my simple perceptions of the world in which I grew up has come to expand into the country that I am grateful to have been raised within. The understanding that I have as an American citizen is a more internal realization, as I have now absorbed that the true meaning of my place in this society possesses an uncanny similarity to elements of the “American Dream”. Alongside this accomplished ideal” walks a determined mindset, a fervent spirit, and a passion to make a difference in the world. In this way, Americans are all, if they choose, living out their lives as a translation, however culturally and religiously carried out, of what it takes to find stability and identity in this ever –changing, intricate society that has come to represent the very essence of what it means to be human.

What is Americanism to me? It is the fire of human condition doused in the flag of our forefathers; the pressing on of passion in the face of the changing tide….The struggle to thrive in unity as we each tackle our riveting journeys, eager to find our places as individuals…standing together as Americans to embrace the awaiting sun.