- Week 8 Defining a Life Well-Lived Week 8 : Defining a Life Well-Lived Word Count: 1056 Carolyn eventually learned how to live a life full of passion and lived it every day following her learning. Throughout her early life, especially around the years of elementary school and high school, Carolyn struggled with loving herself and realizing that she was all needed and her love was going to be enough for her. She realized that after experiencing trauma and heartbreak in all the senses of the word. Following what happened, especially the events in the early summer after her senior year of high school, Carolyn was constantly confused and trying to figure out the whys of life and searching for support and love in all the wrong places. Towards the end of the summer, Carolyn began to realize what Pico Lyer explained in his Ted Talk. “Half the confusion in the world comes from not knowing how little we need” (“Why we need to slow down our lives” by Pico lyer TED - Moreau FYE Week 1). Carolyn struggled to understand that she only needed her own love to love her life. The beginning of the summer of 2021 completely changed her life. Her mindset was at one of the //lowest points it had ever reached. Her best friend helped her and stood by her through the entire healing process. A quote from Pope Francis is similar to the mindset that her best friend Bridie was able to instill in her. “Each and every one of us is irreplaceable in the eyes of God. Through the darkness of today’s conflicts, each and every one of us can become a bright candle, a reminder that light will overcome darkness, and never the other way around” (“Why the only future worth building includes everyone” by His Holiness Pope Francis - Moreau FYE Week 7). Bridie was Carolyn’s rock and helped her learn to love herself. Although Carolyn realized that everything she needed was right there with her and in front of her, it still took her a long time to let that concept help her to live her life the way she eventually lived it so passionately. She began to learn that loving herself would lead to a life of fulfillment and therefore a life well-lived. Carolyn thought her college decision was going to be very difficult, but it actually was very simple. The second she got accepted into Notre Dame, she knew that’s where she was going to end up. As displayed through the movie about Father Hesburgh from the week 2 assignment, Carolyn has Father Hesburgh to thank for being the first reason that she could attend Notre Dame because he is the reason females were first admitted into Notre Dame. Carolyn knew she wanted to go into the nonprofit sector and after having the experience of working at a thrift store that supported NOVA, which is a nonprofit that supports victims of sexual abuse by a number of services, including counseling and providing teaching for both victims and non-victims to help prevent sexual abuse and to help people heal from experiences with sexual abuse. Father Michael Himes wrote, “The things we are most comfortable at and the things we are most natural at are often our vocations” (“Three Key Questions” adapted from Fr. Michael Himes - Moreau FYE Week 3). Carolyn found that the things she was most comfortable and happiest doing were baking and helping others. She found her passions in the kitchen and while https://ideas.ted.com/why-we-need-a-secular-sabbath/ https://ideas.ted.com/why-we-need-a-secular-sabbath/ https://www.ted.com/talks/his_holiness_pope_francis_why_the_only_future_worth_building_includes_everyone/transcript https://www.ted.com/talks/his_holiness_pope_francis_why_the_only_future_worth_building_includes_everyone/transcript https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/40299/files/467258?module_item_id=143051 working in the thrift store. She fell in love with the work and being able to support and help victims of sexual abuse and those who share their lives with victims. Carolyn was all about doing whatever she could to help and provide for others. Notre Dame’s career center development believes that “...the best career choices for a person are those that allow him/her to implement as many part of his/her self-concept as possible” (“Navigating Your Career Journey” by the Meruelo Family Center for Career Development - Moreau FYE Week 4). A major part of Carolyn’s self-concept was service to others and connecting with others on deep levels. She loved nothing more than being able to connect with others and being able to bring some form of joy into the lives of others, which is what led her to her career. She started out as a banker to do what she believed was her vocation: to start a nonprofit. Her love for baking gave her her most favorite idea when she was just beginning her college career. She dreamed of opening a bakery to satisfy her love of baking. However, her bakery has a twist; it is a nonprofit supporting victims of sexual abuse by helping to provide them legal services or any form of counseling or therapy. One day, while talking to her best friend, Bridie told her that a time when Bridie saw her at her best and fullest potential was when Carolyn was running a clothing drive for that thrift store that she loved so dearly (“Discernment Conversation Activity” - Moreau FYE Week 5). Bride had never seen Carolyn so passionate and happy about something than when she was putting together the clothing drive and then later sorting through all of the clothes. The women at that thrift store had changed her life, and she wanted to do anything she could to make their lives better and easier. The women who worked there were all much older than Carolyn; she was at least 20 years younger than the next youngest employee or volunteer, and she quickly began to view them as older sister/mother figures rather than just simply coworkers. They took her under their wing and made her feel so welcomed and cared about. Bridie said she saw a new kind of light in Carolyn’s eyes when she started volunteering at the thrift store and forming lasting relationships with the women who worked there and loved her like their own daughter. Carolyn then went on to graduate from Notre Dame and work at a big time investment banking firm. After working on the firm for enough years to make enough money to fulfill her dream. She began her nonprofit and opened the doors to her bakery on her birthday one year. It was the best birthday gift she could have ever hoped for or wanted. She had everything she wanted. She was as happy as can be with her dream job and her little kiddos running around the bakery and engaging with her soon to be loyal customers. Seeing how happy Carolyn felt with how her life turned out to be proved that she learned how to live a life well-lived and that she did just that. When she was at her lowest, she looked into herself, found herself, put herself back together (with the help of her best friend), and made herself happy by following and accomplishing her dreams. Carolyn learned to live out Tash Eurich’s words, “...What better way is there to increase our self-knowledge than to look inward, to delve deeply into our experiences and emotions, and to understand why we are the way we are?” (The Right Way to be Introspective” by Tash Eurich - Moreau FYE Week 6). Carolyn learned how to use her emotions to help her get through things rather than letting them take control of her life. After what was almost too much trauma for Carolyn, she learned how to be https://undergradcareers.nd.edu/navigating-your-career-journey---moreau/ https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yZ7hqvx-u4EuW2nlK-fRbWFiurQm1mZv_KpoeeiN4So/edit https://ideas.ted.com/the-right-way-to-be-introspective-yes-theres-a-wrong-way/ truly happy and how to live a life well-lived. She learned how to love herself, which led her to be able to love others more and harder because of it, and that’s actually how she wanted to be remembered.