Throughout this project, my ideas of meaning and happiness have been challenged and changed and in the end, still remained true. When I started this project, I wasn’t sure if what I had previously thought made me happy (God) was really the thing that made me happy or kept me going. When we learned about existentialism, I discovered that I disagreed with the idea that the world is meaningless and that the universe is indifferent, because everyone’s perception of the world is different, and really, our perception is all that we have. And we can choose what we believe, because the reality that we make is what matters to us in the end. I realized that all realities and perspectives are absolutely true, yet not one of them is the only truth, which for me, is a hard idea to accept. When we moved into reading “A Tale for the Time Being”, I learned so much about the concept of time and how we can choose how we experience time. While most people believe that it’s a linear thing, that time passes rigidly, the book really explored the idea of how time is fluid like water, using science to explain and support the idea that our idea of time isn’t really real. It gives me a sense of freedom to realize that my life isn’t a start point and a finish point and a straight line in between. I can choose to experience every moment and every second that passes.
Through many of the ted talks, articles, and resources that we read in class, I learned that really, our happiness can boil down to a few key factors like drive, purpose, community, giving, nature, etc. But really, so much of our happiness is what we choose to do to make ourselves happier. When we consciously decide to do things that make us happier or give us more meaning, then we get them. We can decide how to think and how to live. This freedom is exactly why I can choose to believe what I believe. I believe that I have the freedom to choose God and by doing that, I make myself happier and give my life meaning through living in him and experiencing the things that I do. What matters is what we truly gain our happiness and meaning from, and that is a decision that each individual person can make.
Part 2: Further Questions
How will having expressed myself and letting people know something personal about me change the way that I live? Will I own up to it? Will I forget it?
Does this change what I think I’ll do in my future?
Will my idea of happiness and meaning change one day to something different? Is it enough to last me my whole life?
How can I continue down this road and go deeper into exploring what makes me happy and gives me meaning?