Have no fear comrades, this isn't my last post. I'm going to get those extra credit points. But I'll continue on more so because I've become addicted to blogging when I should be doing other things. That being said, let's get to the meat of things. Or the veg of things. For vegetarians. I'd hate to alienate anyone.
Candidly speaking, sometimes you're on the ball then life happens you fall off the ball. In the words of my friend Lilia, "then life happens again and the ball is on you". The ball has been on me for a while now, to be honest. And this isn't the first time the ball has been on me.
In the spirit of making things overly personal as usual, I've mentioned in previous posts that I left my last university in D.C. to attend to family matters. While I was thinking about the ramifications of leaving the life I'd established there (albeit I was already on the plane back to Texas), I remember thinking to myself, "Why is this okay for me? I love learning and I'm leaving it". The answer surprised me given how much I worship the pursuit of knowledge: I love wisdom more. Wisdom is not gained solely from "regurgitating" the information in books, as some colleagues have put it. Rather wisdom is gained largely from life experience. In the face of life and death (because nothing makes us think so strongly of life as our own mortality and the mortality of loved ones) memorizing the per capita income of Argentina or the year that Augustine was born or even the effect that the U.S. embargo against Cuba has on Cuba and neighboring countries becomes markedly unimportant. In that moment, I realized what is truly important: our relationship with God (if you believe in God) and our relationships with others. Learning was not on my list. Which surprised me.
Fast forward four years and I found myself in a similar boat, trying to choose between my institute of learning and making the most of relationships before their mortal end. My Aunt passed away last week, a friend of the family passed away over spring break, and my grandmother barely pulled through around Easter. But my pull here was stronger. Which led me to ask myself: "what changed?"
The answer is in philosophy. Religious beliefs aside, I've been looking for more. An answer to how to lead a good life. Through Plato, Aristotle, and the Presocratics (note I'm not such a fan of the atomists or the sophists), I feel that I've gained more tools to do so. The fact that PHI 3310 is ending is bittersweet; I'm excited to continue my journey up the philosophical mountain but I'm going to miss all the comrades that have challenged my thinking or presented new views of old topics or shocked me into wondering why I'm offended or reaffirmed that I believe what I believe for a valid reason.
I'm also going to miss the patience of Dr. Bowery, and the analytical eye of Mr. Carson while we collectively attempt to figure out what we believe in the face of others' prescriptions for leading a contemplative life. I'm a little relieved that perhaps the class will forget some of those ridiculous questions that I've asked or toes that I've stepped on. I'm exceedingly grateful that through our blog postings and delightful class discussions, we have all gotten to see some sort of essence of ourselves and of others. As strange as this sounds, my classmates and instructors have instilled in me a new found hope for the state of the world. Watching others grow while growing alongside them is an earth-shaking experience. I'm going to miss those "ah-Ha!" moments as the lightbulbs go off in our heads. Or those subtle little thought bombs or blatantly obvious contradictions are poured out in front of us. Most of all, I'm going to miss this class because for the most part, we struggled together up the philosophical mountain and have tried to apply that wisdom to our own lives.
There is no more valuable lesson than how to live well. Forever will I be a student of this lesson.
"An unapparent connection (harmonia)is stronger than an apparent one." --Heraclitus
7 comments:
I've appreciated being in the class with you, because I too am going through a bunch of family issues, but you have dealt with yours in an admirable way and you remind me that we must be observers of life...meaning that we can't let the downfalls of life grab us by the ankle and pull us into darkness, but instead, we must take each day and each situation as it is and grow from it by doing the best we can as a person.
previous comment was from Lauren Norrell by the way, it didn't say my name on there...
I can certainly relate to your notion that “Wisdom is not gained solely from "regurgitating" the information in books, as some colleagues have put it. Rather wisdom is gained largely from life experience.” Over the course of the year I have developed a confidence in myself due to the my grades in classes such as physics, when I have come to realize knowledge is so much more than memorizing these trivial concepts. I yearn to gain wisdom that can help me with my day to day activities, and with the help of philosophy I hope to continue my growth. I have also enjoyed class with you, and I believe that our trip up the philosophical mountain has been a delightfully eye-opening event.
Love your writing, Britt. Couldn't say it any better. I share in your sentiments totally....with the exception of morality, of course. :)
Oh, and I truly loved having class with you
Ah yes, how often I have been so foolish as to think I could discover more about life by studying it, rather than living it. But then, I suppose making mistakes is part of living as well. I don't believe time spent studying life is wasted, but I cannot deny that that time would be better spent experiencing it. Seeing a sunrise firsthand trumps even the most professional photograph. Smelling spring wildflowers outdoes any fragrant literary description. Damn...now I want to go outside.
Ahh, you guys are my kind of people. Thank you for all the comments
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