Keely McGlone
Father Kevin
Moreau 
26 February 2022
The Method for Manifesting Joy
What does it take to good in the world? If we knew, the world would be a flawless place. Life is too nuanced and too unexpected. There is no exact formula to predict what it takes to do good, for mistakes and faults are human nature. However, we must prevail and form something close to the answer. The world aches for good, and it is my generation that is being tasked with soon providing it. A formula that is close to this goal comes from Pope Francis: “In order to do good, we need memory, we need courage, and we need creativity” (Pope Francis, 2017). I believe this statement is the best we have in present times, and these forces have cumulated into my convictions, all centered around doing good.

 Without memory, we wouldn’t know the experiences that shaped us and what we are grounded in. They provide us a foundation of growth and support; we can grow from negative memories and find comfort in the positive ones. The memories I have from my nineteen years of life are what I hold closest, but they have made me biased for too long. One experience creates one memory, and I tend let the one memory define me. To this idea, I point to a couple core memories in my life. One of lesser significance: My mom made stuffing one night for dinner, and the following evening, I stayed up all night with the stomach bug. Now, I refuse to eat stuffing. One memory has concealed me from an aspect of the world that is possibly worth exploring. One of greater significance, and one of my most prominent memories: an important relationship lost because of the effects of the past. Putting aside the positive aspects of memories, memories can hinder growth. Being too fixated on what happened at one point in your life can prohibit change in a similar instant. To combat this, introspection may be our best answer. Dwelling on why a negative memory occurred and why it is impacting me so much creates a negative stigma surrounding what happened. Tasha Eurich in “The Right Way to be Introspective” notes this idea: “Why questions trap us in our past; what questions help us create a better future. In addition to helping us gain insight, asking what instead of why can be used to help us better understand and manage our emotions” (Tasha Eurich, 2017). By practicing healthy introspection, I can pull value out of negative memories and transform them into positive experiences that shape my future. This idea connections to a conviction. I believe it is necessary to be an ever-evolving individual with the persistence to overcome experiences with reflective optimism. Too much of my life I have submitted to negative memories, when instead, I should be focused on the positive ones and the joy they bring.

Pope Francis secondly identifies creativity as a trait needed to do good in the world. In my life, creativity has been unnatural. I was never creative in the traditional forms; I had no musical or artistic talent, and the traditional school system led me to believe that these things solely defined creativity. Growing up has expanded my mindset and definition of creativity and transformed it into something that I love about myself. It has looked more intellectual in my life. I find myself creatively thinking my way out of situations and problems in a way that others may not think to do. Problem solving is a crucial part of daily life, so discovering this about myself has helped me find the value in creativity. It has given me the ability to solve difficult academic problems but also the ability to fix a fragmented relationship and practice love. For creativity has never been needed solely in an artistic or musical sense; that mindset is elementary. In the same TED talk previously mentioned, Pope Francis says, “Yes, love does require a creative, concrete and ingenious attitude” (Pope Francis, 2017). Creativity feeds into love, and love proposes meaning in the tumultuous, yet beautiful journey life. While I hope creativity can lead me towards an intellectually curious and impactful career, I need creativity more to foster relationships of love in my life. No matter where I end up in my career, I want to put love, and consequently happiness, first. This relates to one of my strongest convictions—that the meaning to life is to love. In my theology class, I learned that God created the world so that we could love. Biblical scholars argue that taking away this creation story and focusing solely on scientific reasoning takes all the meaning out of life. People spend years trying to discover the meaning of life, and I think the answer lies right in front of us—to love. Whether that is extracted from a religious text or from a reflection with creativity doesn’t change the value of this lesson.

Of the last of the three values Pope Francis mentions is courage, and courage is the trait I feel most grounded in. If I were to do good, it would be mostly due to courage. Most serious decisions that come in life take courage because there is always a risk that it may harm you more than it benefits you. You have to be willing to take these risks for the betterment of the greater good, even if it may not be decisively best for you personally. Courage is accompanied by selflessness and compassion, and hence, leadership. In my time as a leader on my soccer teams, I had to make decisions that came down for courage for a whole group that would turn back on me if unsuccessful. But the right decision always is standing for what is right, even if that is not easy. William Deresiewicz defines this critical piece of leadership, “True leadership means being able to think for yourself and act on your convictions” (William Deresiewicz, 2009).  Courage in leadership is not always visible. Many people in my life have been quiet leaders. Sometimes, quieter leaders are most effective because they spend time with themselves in solitude. They know what their convictions are because they are comfortable in thought. It is a courageous way to hold yourself. I believe that silent courage is just as notable as explicit courage. People we identify as courageous typically execute some heroic act like saving someone’s life, but isn’t standing up for your beliefs just as courageous? In a world as polarizing as today, it is inspiring to see people embracing these quieter acts of courage, for they have just as large of impacts.

These three traits together create the potential to do good in the world, and they also create the potential for joy. Father Michael Himes defines joy as, “it (joy) comes from within, and it’s a genuine rightness of how one lives one’s life” (Father Michael Himes). Living to do good is living in genuine rightness, which creates a life centered in joy. I believe living with these convictions derived from memory, courage, and creativity will create a future of joy. It is a refreshing idea. No matter the unexpected nature of the future, joy will be present in my life if I am grounded in these beliefs.