Although Camus argues that there is no meaning in the actions of life, I would have to disagree. Everything that I do means something to me. It may not have an effect on the universe as a whole, but why does that really matter? As long as I'm satisfied with my actions and they have an importance to me, I'd say there's a meaning behind them.
One thing that I do that means a lot to me is learn. Just recently, I have developed a great desire to learn. I'm not sure if I am simply maturing or if its the fact that I am finally taking classes that actually interest me, but I now love to learn. It is meaningful to me because my interaction with people has now changed, and it will help me with my future plans.
My interactions with people are now based around learning from what they have to say. I realize that everyone has a different opinions on different topics of life, an I love listening to those different opinions. Although I do not agree with many opinions I come across and I also have my own core values, I still like to expose myself to different ways if thinking. This has helped me strengthen my relationships with many people and will help me continue to learn about the world in a broad sense.
I also have future plans I becoming a pediatrician. I realize that there is a lot of schooling that comes along with this goal, and because I've opened up to learning, the experience will be a positive one. I cannot wait to learn all about humans and then use that information to help others. Just thinking about it makes me giddy.
Because learning has and will continue to help me throughout my life, it means a whole lot to me. Relevance to ones life equals meaning. I agree with Camus on the fact that we, as humans, will probably contribute nothing to the universe by ourselves, but I believe that meaning still exists. Meaning is one of the most subjective terms though. This is because it differs between every person you chat with, as it should. Nobody leads the same life, making it inevitable that different things will hold a different importance in different people's lives.
Friday, October 26, 2012
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Candide's crimes
Candide's first crime (loving Cunegonde) had an extremely unfair punishment. Why should someone have to face exile from the "best of all worlds" simply because they fell in love? That will never make sense to me.
Even though it was an unfair punishment, it helped Candide grow as a person and experience places and people that he never would have if he wasn't exiled. Another reason that Candide should not be upset that he got exiled is because if he wasn't, he probably would have been slaughtered along with the rest of the residents of the castle.
All in all, Candide's punishment for loving someone of higher class than he was extremely not qualified, but it all worked out in the end, so there's really nothing to complain about.
Even though it was an unfair punishment, it helped Candide grow as a person and experience places and people that he never would have if he wasn't exiled. Another reason that Candide should not be upset that he got exiled is because if he wasn't, he probably would have been slaughtered along with the rest of the residents of the castle.
All in all, Candide's punishment for loving someone of higher class than he was extremely not qualified, but it all worked out in the end, so there's really nothing to complain about.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
How do I know what I know?
Many people have come to many different conclusions about life: what is right, what is wrong, what is success. Sure, I've thought about those things, but my main focus has been on why things happen the way they do.
For starters, why was I born into the family I was born into? Well, it's because I needed the culture to be brought to me, and I needed to be surrounded by it too. Both of my parents are musicians, so it was inevitable that I'd be introduced to music and other art forms. these things have altered my life forever, but art, family and how art has impacted me is not what this post is about. This post is about why everything happens for a reason.
Some may say I'm only searching for a comfort level; I would disagree with them, to an extent. I wouldn't disagree fully because a certain comfort level is established, but I would disagree because that's not what I'm searching for. In fact, I wasn't searching for anything when this realization fell upon me. I was actually extremely upset that I had missed my bus and would in turn not get to class on time (I still worried freshman year).
I used to take the Kimball-82 to the Belmont Blue Line everyday to get to school. I had already woken up late so my schedule was all off. After I washed my face and brushed my teeth, I sprinted for the bus. Getting there a millisecond too late was the second bad start to my day, and I let it show. I was angry, upset and annoyed at every aspect of life. I couldn't understand why the bus driver couldn't wait the extra 10 seconds to let me on the bus, but I soon would.
After waiting for another bus, I was still enraged. As we approached the Belmont Blue Line stop, I see a surplus of city vehicles outside of the station. The platform is underground, so I couldn't see what had happened, if anything. After paying my fare, I see police and paramedics surrounding a person. I soon after found out that this was a man that was hit by the train as it passed; he got off the last Kimball-82 bus.
After waiting for the train to clear up, I realized how lucky I was that I didn't have to witness that horrific event. My anger disappeared and turned into gratitude. I realized that it wasn't that bad that I missed that first bus, because then I would have witnessed a traumatizing event. This is just one experience that I have analyzed, but there have been many more instances that have led me to believe that everything happens for a reason.
For starters, why was I born into the family I was born into? Well, it's because I needed the culture to be brought to me, and I needed to be surrounded by it too. Both of my parents are musicians, so it was inevitable that I'd be introduced to music and other art forms. these things have altered my life forever, but art, family and how art has impacted me is not what this post is about. This post is about why everything happens for a reason.
Some may say I'm only searching for a comfort level; I would disagree with them, to an extent. I wouldn't disagree fully because a certain comfort level is established, but I would disagree because that's not what I'm searching for. In fact, I wasn't searching for anything when this realization fell upon me. I was actually extremely upset that I had missed my bus and would in turn not get to class on time (I still worried freshman year).
I used to take the Kimball-82 to the Belmont Blue Line everyday to get to school. I had already woken up late so my schedule was all off. After I washed my face and brushed my teeth, I sprinted for the bus. Getting there a millisecond too late was the second bad start to my day, and I let it show. I was angry, upset and annoyed at every aspect of life. I couldn't understand why the bus driver couldn't wait the extra 10 seconds to let me on the bus, but I soon would.
After waiting for another bus, I was still enraged. As we approached the Belmont Blue Line stop, I see a surplus of city vehicles outside of the station. The platform is underground, so I couldn't see what had happened, if anything. After paying my fare, I see police and paramedics surrounding a person. I soon after found out that this was a man that was hit by the train as it passed; he got off the last Kimball-82 bus.
After waiting for the train to clear up, I realized how lucky I was that I didn't have to witness that horrific event. My anger disappeared and turned into gratitude. I realized that it wasn't that bad that I missed that first bus, because then I would have witnessed a traumatizing event. This is just one experience that I have analyzed, but there have been many more instances that have led me to believe that everything happens for a reason.
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