Capstone Integration April 29, 2022 Work + Love = A Life Well Lived After 13 weeks of meticulous discussion of a life well-lived, I think I have a solid understanding of what I want my life to look like. As I wrote in my mission statement, “My life well-lived will consist of building strong interpersonal relationships, pursuing a fulfilling career, and being good to other people” (“Mission Statement” by - Moreau FYE Week 13). This is vague on purpose. “It’s easy to feel as if we’re standing two inches away from a huge canvas that’s noisy and crowded and changing with every microsecond. It’s only by stepping farther back and standing still that we can begin to see what that canvas (which is our life) really means, and to take in the larger picture.” (“Why we need to slow down our lives” by Pico Iyer - Moreau FYE Week 1). Life is big and messy and it is so easy to get caught up in frivolous details that don’t actually mean much in the end. When planning out my life, I will focus on the most important factors that constitute a good life. “We can spend endless amounts of time in self-reflection but emerge with no more self-insight than when we started.” (“The Right Way to be Introspective” by Tasha Eurich - Moreau FYE Week 6). I will not be reflective on minute details to the point that it is no longer productive, like the quote discusses. When I think about goals, the first thing that comes to mind is educational and career goals. “We also view studying what you love as highly practical. If you are in a major you enjoy, you will be more motivated to go to class, get better grades, and overall be happier - all of that leads to better post-graduate outcomes.” (Navigating your career journey - Moreau FYE Week 4). I have chosen to major in political science and peace studies during my four years at Notre Dame. I have been told numerous times that I should be a STEM major if I want to be successful post-graduation. I don’t care that much about the money. One of the Domer Dozen from week 2 was a political science student who used her degree as part of her journey to reforming the education system to be more equitable. (Notre Dame Alumni Association’s Domer Dozen - Moreau FYE Week 2). A career like this seems much more fulfilling than selling out to make money in finance or tech. I worked with my hometown’s local government in high school and loved it. I think that eventually I will work with the local government again in the future. “On the left, there's been this long history of particularly the kind of - the well-educated wing of the Democratic Party pooh-poohing what's happening at the state and local levels - nah, all the interesting stuff's got to be the national stuff.” (“Passion Isn’t Enough” by Eitan Hersh - Moreau FYE Week 11). Local government has the most direct impact on people’s daily lives and above all, no matter what my career entails, I want to help people. With my Catholic faith, I want to benefit people in order to uphold the dignity of every person and grow in community with others. “Our mission is the Lord’s and so is the strength for it. We turn to Him in prayer that He will clasp us more firmly to Himself and use our hands and wits to do the work that only He can do. Then our work itself becomes a prayer: a service that speaks to the Lord who works through us.” (Constitutions of the Congregation of Holy Cross - Moreau FYE Week 12). I want to find my work so meaningful that doing it is like a prayer. My life well-lived will rely on positive, meaningful relationships with the people around me. In the last integration, I wrote that love is not only for the people closest to us but needs to be shown to all people (“Integration 3” by - Moreau FYE Week 8). I do not find it difficult to be loving to my close friends and family. They know me better than I know myself. My friends are able to pinpoint areas where I can improve and are dedicated to helping me be better, a fact that was made clear to me during my week 5 conversation (Moreau FYE Week 5). “But the future is, most of all, in the hands of those people who recognize the other as a "you" and themselves as part of an "us." We all need each other.” (“Why the only future worth building includes everyone” by Pope Francis - Moreau FYE Week 7). I need to be better at recognizing myself in strangers. We are all a part of the human family, so I must love each person as I love my family. “Socialized into a deeply internalized sense of superiority and entitlement that we are either not consciously aware of or can never admit to ourselves, we become highly fragile in conversations about race. We experience a challenge to our racial worldview as a challenge to our very identities as good, moral people.” (“Why It’s So Hard to Talk to White People About Racism” by Dr. Robin DiAngelo - Moreau FYE Week 10). I will do the work to recognize my biases and shortcomings. I will educate myself on the struggles that others who are less privileged than I am face every day. If I do this work, an ever ongoing process, I will be able to empathize better with others so I can truly show them love and compassion. I really liked the principles of accompaniment we learned in week 9. “My life has been enormously enriched through those relationships, and the concept of accompaniment has given me a new lens through which to understand my own experiences, teaching, international development, and much more.” (“Teaching Accompaniment” by Steve Reifenberg - Moreau FYE Week 9). Building deeper connections through accompaniment will help me pursue my version of a life well-lived because I believe strong interpersonal relationships are the foundation of a good life. “We try to suppress the thought of death, or escape it, or run away from it because we think that’s where we’ll find happiness,” she said. “But it’s actually in facing the darkest realities of life that we find light in them.” (“Meet the nun who wants you to remember you will die” by Ruth Graham - Moreau FYE Week 3). Memento mori, the mindset Sister Aletheia promotes, will help me orient my life. When I reach my deathbed, I want to look back on my life and be able to confidently say that I did everything in my power to live my life in the best way possible. I want to be able to look into the eyes of my loved ones and tell them I am proud of how I lived and the relationships I have with them. If I pursue a meaningful career helping others and show love and care for each person I encounter, I will be able to do just that. These goals will be my markers for living my version of a good life.