Letter to My Parents

Dear Mom and Dad,

I can't even imagine what my life will be like this time next year. I'm actually really scared for college and  failing doesn't seem so far fetched. Obviously I'm going to do my best to ensure that doesn't happen, but even so, I don't know how hard classes or tests will be, and you know how much I procrastinate so I don't know how well that's going to work out.

I have been pretty indecisive during this process and I wished I hadn't been. I didn't have a top school (and I still don't) and I don't know what major I want to pursue. Unfortunately, it's only the beginning of all the major decisions I will have to make--and you know with these things, I tend to push them out of mind until I absolutely need to face them. Yeah, I don't want to choose the major and end up having to study a subject I'm not interested in, and I don't want to choose the wrong school and then have to transfer the next year.

I've gotten into schools that I didn't think I would get into, and you both were definitely angry that I applied to so many, but I wanted to make sure I would get into somewhere. I realize that you guys believed in me when I didn't, and I hope you still will for these next four years.

On another note, you guys definitely worry too much about my safety and what not, so I'll be glad to get away from that.

Thanks for everything and I'll miss you.

                                                                                                                            Love,
                                                                                                                            Nambi

Frankl-y Speaking

It took me a while to read Man's Search for Meaning, and I considered it as hard to read. Overall, I didn't really like the book because of the constant connections of a life event to a meaning. I think after some years from now, I'll revisit the book to see if my perspective changed.

In the book, Frankl talked about how the concentrations camps changed people psychologically, and  through that, he explains logo therapy and how he survived the Nazi camps. From previous books that I  have read about the Holocaust, it was mostly said that survivors were lucky. Here, Frankl says that it was luck but also more of the prisoner's attitude. The quote that I like that relates to this idea is, "…it did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us." (pg. 77)

This quote was used to explain how someone should view the meaning of their life, but instead I interpreted it as the mindset someone should have while going through life. Frankl suggests for people to be proactive about decisions they can make rather than feeling helpless. Even though optimism isn't regarded as a practical, Frankl's idea is optimistic while still reasonable. He explains that although we may not have control over our circumstances, we do control our attitudes towards them. It's a positive way to view life, and I think it brings hope.

Also, this quote reminded me of the whole mind over matter "phenomenon". In the book, Frankl explains it as the will to live. Specifically on pages 74-76, he talks about prisoners who had died because they had lost hope and essentially their will to live. He also gave examples of how "fear brings about that which one is afraid of..." (pg. 124) Even though most mind over matter instances usually demonstrate positive outcomes, I still think the book provides examples showing how important our dispositions are. Yeah...I don't know if it's generally realized how much one own's mind can manifest.

Life Quote

“Life has to be given a meaning because of the obvious fact that it has no meaning.” 
― Henry Miller

I find this quote humors just because everyone seems to have their own theory on the meaning of life and how to find it and well, life may not have a meaning at all.

Aside from looking at life's basic general function (growing, procreating, and dying), all other ideas become subjective. There are two main ideas that I assume most people agree with to some extent or to  a similar variation. The first idea is brought by religion in the most basic and general way: the purpose of life is to do this or that to obtain some positive outcome after you die. The second idea I consider to brought upon by society which is to [find and] follow your passion and to contribute to society how you like.

Of course I would like to think there is more to life than just having kids, pursuing a passion, or being a good person. I think that most people want life to have greater significance than just pure existence no matter what faith (or lack of faith) they have. This is definitely what Henry Miller is saying. I guess to get through life and to feel as if we have some importance, we need to give our lives some type of meaning that it probably doesn't have.

I definitely do not know what the purpose of life is and even on my deathbed I still may not know. However, I don't think I agree that separate purposes exists to each individual. I think that saying my life's purpose is different from your life's purpose just proves that perhaps we give meaning to where there really is none.

Into the Wild - Alone

Personally, I don't mind spending time alone. I actually like it. However, deciding to be alone as Chris did, seems a little scary to me. I'm still trying to realize that being alone doesn't necessarily mean you are lonely, but to purposely remove yourself from society for an undecided amount of time is just like the ultimate step to loneliness.

Why would anyone want to live completely alone anyways? I understand that the journey everyone takes to find themselves is alone but not always actually alone. Besides, Chris didn't have a set amount of time that he wished to stay in Alaska, which meant he could have wanted to stay there forever. His goal was to make it to Alaska and I'm happy for him that he completed his goal, but he also thought that living alone would make him happy. I don't necessarily agree with this because his happiest moments were with people, not by himself.

Comparing this story to Siddhartha, Siddhartha completed his journey alone (as he made his own decisions and didn't follow other people), but at the end of his journey he stayed with the ferryman. When he found happiness, he didn't find it from isolating himself from people but by accepting the presence someone else.

Thankful for a Classmate

I am thankful for my classmate, Deja Jenkins. We've been friends for a while and I'm glad that I have a class with her considering I haven't for a long time. She's really goofy, and half the time I can't take her seriously, but in this class she has said some pretty insightful things. I've learned from her that sometimes you don't have to care about everything. We both say stupid things to each other, so I would like to think we have a similar sense of humor. She is really talented at the things she loves like theater and writing (even though she may not admit it), and she has this admirable sense of "I don't care". At the end of the day, I'm thankful that I met her and I will miss her next year.

We Still Haven’t Figured This Out Yet

We still haven’t figured out that education is the best investment we can make as a country. As smaller communities and individual families, we realize that education is one of the best choices to make for success. However, American society doesn’t demonstrate that.

Honestly, if America valued education over capitalism and profit growth, college wouldn’t nearly be as expensive as it is now. If more people could afford college, more people would graduate with degrees and such, and be certified for careers and even further specialized studies. I really wouldn’t be surprised if our universities have the highest tuitions in the world.

If America put more value on education and learning, perhaps more people would aim to become teachers and researchers rather than business people and doctors. It’s clearly evident that our country implies that the best way to become successful is either through being a business person or a doctor—and let’s be honest, even the healthcare field is a business itself.

It seems so selfish to believe that success is wealth, and that wealth is what leads to a progressive country. We should contemplate about how we want society to be like generations from now, and how we can contribute to developing it as a better place to live in. Advancement doesn’t come having more capital, it comes from having more knowledge.

How Do I Know What I Know?

Most of the knowledge we get comes from learning and experience. What we learn can be something taught at school or an idea drilled into our heads by society or even our families. This kind of knowledge, the knowledge that is passed on to us, maybe not necessarily be “true” or “right” but it’s still what we know. The knowledge we gain directly comes from experiences we have.

I think the knowledge we get from learning and experience is only half of what we know. The other way we come to know things is through assuming. Again, our assumptions may not be (and most likely won’t be) true, but it’s still a part of what we know.

Assumptions come from both learning and experience, so really, the way we come to know things is through the ideas that we already have. From previous knowledge, every person has their own sense of “logic” to create and reason their assumptions.

Just for an example…

I think it’s safe to say that most Americans haven’t been to the Middle East recently, yet most will assume that it’s not the safest place to be in right now. We haven’t actually been to these countries, but from watching the news, reading articles, and hearing about all of the current conflicts in the region, “logically” it would seem to be an unsafe in environment to be in.

This isn’t something I know to be true, but it’s just something I know…