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FindingAPurpose 5 - 06 Apr 2012 - Main.DevinMcDougall
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| | After discussing John Brown’s life and the thoughts of Martha Thauraud, it has become increasingly clear that we need to be more introspective and perceptive. Law students learn to ignore the fact that their quality of life has plummeted and they are spending countless hours and huge sums of money on an intangible and unknown goal. Afraid to break the mold for fear of falling below the curve, we mindlessly follow.
We have the option of taking the route of Mr. Wiley—numbing our minds with substances to keep billable hours up and emotions down. Work is good. Money is good. Comfort and acceptance are paramount. However, we have the other option of learning what we really want to do by developing a purpose and redirecting our enthusiasm toward it for a life of genuine, long-term fulfillment. | | | The late David Foster Wallace offers a helpful story in a speech he gave at Kenyon College: "There are these two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, 'Morning, boys, how's the water?' And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, 'What the hell is water?'" In this speech, he discusses how challenging it is to be "present". Wallace posits that many of us go through much of life automatically--on a default setting--and instead we should go through life intentionally and consciously. How? To be present, I think it is important to make some of the lifestyle changes which Eben has suggested (meditation, sleep, etc.). This means making concerted effort to keep our brains from drifting too far into the future and out of the now. Wallace claims that if we are able to be present, alert, aware, conscious and deliberate, we will be able to see, to really see, what is out there and where we can help.
-- TomaLivshiz - 06 April 2012 | |
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> | As an aside, if any of you are interested in learning/practicing meditation, I go to a young adult meditation group in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh (very interesting "engaged Buddhist"; see his wikipedia article) that meets at 8:10 pm Fridays at a place near Union Square (Atmananda Yoga studio). You can email me if you're interested in checking it out or have any questions; they have an email list (regrettably their only website currently is a facebook group).
dpm2128 at columbia dot edu.
-- DevinMcDougall - 06 Apr 2012 |
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