The principles I
lived by before entering this course were being kind to others, being
empathetic with others, working hard for the people who put me in the fortunate
position I find myself in today (at college) and exercising personal freedoms
to create a peace of mind within myself.
The ideas to help people out and empathize with them have come from my
parents who have worked very hard for my sister and myself. By observing them I
believe that a better life is lived when it serves to help others live happy
lives. Through observing them I have learned to apply these principles to my
life.
Living with a lot
of personal freedom is something I discovered by myself. I realized that, the
less I did what I was told to do and the more I embarked upon personal
projects, the happier I became. This path has also lead me to seek out
philosophy because reading philosophy has helped me understand the significance
of living with personal freedom and exercising my choices.
Existentialism is a
philosophy that I have lived by for a long time but was unaware of it until I
read about it. For example, all my life I’ve been taught that the more I pay
attention in class the more I will learn, but, living by my own principles I’ve
discovered this does not necessarily work for me. By choosing to write during
certain classes that I don’t care about instead of paying attention, I’ve developed
a better sense of who I am. The significance of freedom and personal choice in
existentialism is something I gravitate toward and the more I read about it the
more I realize why I live the way I do; freedom of choice inspires me to live
happily and strive toward having many experiences in life.
Aristotle’s views
are interesting as well, as he uses reason and virtues to live a happy life.
This is something I find useful because it’s a practice in which people can exercise
and strengthen the choices they make through using philosophy. To live a happy
life one must make choices that help the individual understand how to live
happily. This makes a ton of sense to me logically because the better one is at
using reason, the better one can consistently find and use proper means to
reach the human’s ultimate end; happiness.
Taoism, so far is
the most intriguing philosophy we’ve gone over in class. The Taoist’s view that
nature is divine and in essence is ‘God,’ appeals to me. While spending time in
nature I feel enlightened, refreshed, and alive, this being said, nature is my
heaven. Taoist philosophers use a lot of poetic language and metaphor to
describe their philosophy, and this is something I can empathize with and
understand very well. Through the analogy the Taoists used relating swimming in
a river with life, I have an enlightened understanding of life’s nature. One
cannot control his or her life with goals, expectations and desires because a
river (life) is always changing and moving. When a swimmer wants to go down the
opposite way of the natural current, they run into many difficulties as the
current’s flow pushes them away from their desires. Therefore desires create
unnecessary and disruptive movement. On the other hand if one goes with the
current without desires he or she has an easier time going down this river,
when it inevitably changes. These ideals give me a peace of mind in knowing I
can put a smile on my face easier, by living within my needs of adjusting and
adapting to life instead of spoiling my wants and desires. A swimmer needs to
adjust and adapt to water in a river as the water so naturally adjusts and
adapts to him, the swimmer then becomes one with the river, and one with life.
To fight this philosophy leads to struggle and anxiety. To live a more enriched
and wise life, I believe I need to become free of desires and intertwined with
the natural course of life, just as a swimmer must be wise to the river’s
tendencies to become an enlightened swimmer.
This week I will be commenting on Lachelle Rouse's blog.
This week I will be commenting on Lachelle Rouse's blog.
