Happiness and Meaning
Essential Questions:
1. What is the purpose of your existence?
2. What is happiness and what makes you happy?
3. What does it mean to live a meaningful life?
4. To what extent can literature shape your personal philosophy on happiness and meaning?
Project Description
1. What is the purpose of your existence?
2. What is happiness and what makes you happy?
3. What does it mean to live a meaningful life?
4. To what extent can literature shape your personal philosophy on happiness and meaning?
Project Description
Personal Philosophy and Art Piece
Being asked “what my philosophy for happiness is”, it got me thinking. I keep getting different ideas of what I could decide is happiness, but they all seem so scripted; you create your own happiness and I am happy when I make other people happy. Thinking about happiness, I stare at my computer screen with back-to-back episodes of Supernatural, I have realized that happiness depends on your destiny, but you cannot let your destiny control you. With the choices we make, we change our future just a little bit. Growing up, the questions that we are asked have stayed the same but the answer has changed.
Starting in 1st grade, we get “what do you want to be when you grow up?” which is usually answered along the lines of “astronaut” or “fairy princess ballerina.” I was dead set on being a veterinarian by day and a superhero by night. Fast forward about five years, just starting middle school and faced with hitting puberty surrounded by people who are doing it so much more gracefully than you. Going to social gatherings are more embarrassing than anything. Just being awkward in the corner and unsure about what to do. A stranger walks up and asks, “So middle school, huh? Got any ideas for your future?” I would stutter out zoologist just because it seemed like an intelligent and successful job. Realizing that being a vet would include operating on the animals and sometimes even euthanizing the animals, I decided against that job. Being such a big animal lover, I can barely see animals at the Humane Society without getting sad so operations are a little out of my comfort league. Passing along another five years, puberty has been slightly nicer now with clearer skin (hopefully) and everything developing correctly. Now the question have been turning more from what do you want to be into more where do you want to go for college and major in? In 2011, my sister started to look at colleges and so did I. My sister didn’t like college and dropped out, but now it’s up to me to be the college graduate. I was raised knowing that the education choices that you make will be what makes you “successful” or not. On a chilly February night, I was walking home with my sister from wedding. As the snow began to fall, I began to cry, slightly startling my sister. The pressure that my family was pushing on my shoulders had finally cracked. Because my sister hadn’t followed my family set plan, all the eyes were on me to do the right thing and go to college. Standing in the middle of the street, my sister told me something that changed me forever. “You need to stand up for yourself, even against our family and your friends.” I have now made my own choices that changed me. Just a month ago I finally got my drivers permit. My mother had been pushing it on me for months, but I would stand up and say that if I didn’t feel comfortable driving why should I be forced too. But now I have decided that everyone has a destiny given to them at birth. But just because you are given something, doesn’t mean you need to take it. You can change what the future holds for you. |
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