Integration III Conway 1 Professor Pruitt Moreau FYE 4 March 2022 Living in Harmony Describing a life well-lived is tough because it differs for every person and changes throughout each individual’s life. I can’t presume to know the ultimate best way to live, I don’t even really know what the best way to live for myself is yet; though, based on my existence thus far, I have come to a conclusion of what that might look like. I believe that a life well-lived is one where a person experiences both inner and outer harmony. I believe that the beginning of this journey starts with building the foundation of the self. The first thing we learn as a kid is how to be kind to others, but in that noble pursuit, we often forget to be good to ourselves. One of the most important life lessons, and also one of the most challenging, is learning to live with yourself. You are, after all, your own companion for the entirety of your life, and the only one with that special relationship. This being said, if you want to live well, then learn to love being yourself. I believe that one of the ways you can do this is by trying to experience all of your emotions as they come. In Week VI of Moreau, we watched a video about Dr. Kim, a man who has faced countless, seemingly insurmountable, challenges during his life. One thing I took from his experience is that all emotions are worthy emotions and everything we feel is allowed to be felt (“5 Minutes” by Grotto - Moreau FYE Week Six). It is easy to think that your emotions are invalid or that you have no right to be feeling them. The classic “everyone else has it worse” thought is a dangerous and consistent one. Even Dr. Kim, who has genuinely had it worse than many people will ever have it, feels the same way https://grottonetwork.com/make-an-impact/transform/why-does-god-allow-suffering/?utm_source=moreau&utm_medium=class&utm_campaign=spring_2022 Conway 2 sometimes. Though, just because others feel doesn’t mean that you can’t and I believe that simply allowing yourself to experience emotions is a major first step in building the self. Another important aspect of self-discovery, in my opinion, is learning to just live. We discussed in Week I of Moreau this semester how fast life can get. With school, extracurriculars, friends, and everything else on our plates, the class agreed that sometimes life is just a lot and that is precisely why we need to slow down from time to time (“Why we need to slow down our lives” by Pico Iyer - Moreau FYE Week One). This lesson reminded me of one of the best books I’ve ever read, A Little Life, by Hanya Yanagihara. It portrays, in many ways, the radical claim that just being alive is enough. You can work and succeed, find love and a family, or do anything you want. Though at the core, just the acts of waking up every morning, taking 22,000 breaths a day, and going to sleep at the end of it prepared to wake up again are worthy of praise. We must learn to be proud of ourselves for the little things as well as the big ones and I think that doing so is the key to the art of living. With this, as I reflected on in the Week IV Moreau reading, “Navigating Your Career Journey,” I also believe that one of the most wonderful things we can learn to do is to really experience life (“Navigating Your Career Journey” by Meruelo Family Center for Career Development - Moreau FYE Week Four). I feel like I’ve said this in so many Moreau QQCs but I can’t overstate how important it is to find happiness in the small moments and beauty in the fine details. For example, I had my International Relations midterm today and wanted to treat myself, so I got Starbucks and, because it was so nice out, went for a small walk. All it was was tea, a blueberry scone, the sun, and the fact that I didn’t need to zipper my jacket, but it was absolutely wonderful. Remembering to love the small things is a part of my continually renewing appreciation for life. Overall, I believe that a life well-lived is founded on a deep love of self and a true understanding of what it means to just live. https://ideas.ted.com/why-we-need-a-secular-sabbath/ https://ideas.ted.com/why-we-need-a-secular-sabbath/ https://undergradcareers.nd.edu/navigating-your-career-journey---moreau/ Conway 3 Though, I also think that work, especially if in alignment with your passions and used as a vessel to do good, can be an incredible way to live well. It was so inspiring to hear the excitement with which my classmates spoke of their futures during Week II of Moreau. Everyone seemed so invested in their career journey and it seemed like so many people were truly following their calling. I had a similar experience when I was on the phone with my dad recently. He told me that he could hear the excitement in my voice as I was telling him about what I was learning. This was so good to hear because I haven’t really experienced this since I was younger, and it's nice to have the feeling back. In the movie “Hesburgh,” one distinctive theme that I took away was how passionate Father Hesburgh was about his work and how his dedication was one of the main driving forces of his success (“Hesburgh” by Jerry Barca and Christine O’Malley - Moreau FYE Week Two). So many of us want to chase success directly, but maybe simply living with purpose and meaning is a better way to achieve it. My dad had a similar understanding when I talked with him on the phone for the Week V Moreau assignment. He explained to me that one of the most important tenets of having a good life is to live in a way that would make you proud (“Week 5 Discernment Conversation Activity” by Pete Conway - Moreau FYE Week Five). You have to be able to take pride in what you do, both at your job and outside of it, because it is your life to own and you deserve to be satisfied with it, to love it, and to cherish it. A major part of this, as I have learned from my parents, is living for others. Living for others provides a wondrous added dimension to your life that you cannot experience alone. In all, I think that one of the most impactful Moreau readings we did was “Three Key Questions” by Father Michael Himes because it revealed to me what it’s like to really live. Fr. Himes explained that to live well, we must live until we die (“Three Key Questions” by Fr. Michael Himes - Moreau FYE Week Three). We must find joy, test our limits, and discover https://notredame.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=10159379-7eca-4549-8581-ab9500c9ecd9 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yZ7hqvx-u4EuW2nlK-fRbWFiurQm1mZv_KpoeeiN4So/edit https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/38593/files/470631?module_item_id=145531 Conway 4 meaning up until our death and, if we do so, we will be ready for it. I honestly think this is beautiful and I am comforted by the idea that we are meant to grow, mess up, love, hate, work, sleep, and live right up until the moment when we can’t anymore. In summary, I believe that living a life well-lived involves finding internal and external balance by respecting yourself, finding purpose, experiencing life, and cherishing others. Now that I’ve discussed what I find important in living a good life, I want to mention how this mindset can, and must be, scaled up. If we can appreciate our existence, our unique life, our purpose, and our value, we must learn to respect that in others. In the Week VII Moreau assignment, Pope Francis discussed how we must love everyone and everything with as much depth as we do ourselves (“Why the only future worth building includes everyone” by Pope Francis - Moreau FYE Week Seven). It seems so easy, but we have yet to figure it out and people are still being marginalized, disrespected, and forgotten. Though, I believe that if we can look past our own lives, apply the love we have fostered for ourselves to others, and consider the complexity of each person’s life in the way we understand our own, then maybe we have a chance at getting along. https://www.ted.com/talks/his_holiness_pope_francis_why_the_only_future_worth_building_includes_everyone/transcript