Moreau Capstone Integration 2.0 Led by Love, Not by Fear One of the fundamental truths I’ve learned about people is that they always want what they think is best for themselves, but they are not always willing to put in the work to get it. For instance, I think everyone wants to be able to look back on their life and confidently say that they lived it well. Yet, our daily experiences make it clear that many people are not willing to go through the discomfort that must precede growth and do what is necessary to achieve that good life. As someone who greatly values silence, I believe we can blame part of this on the fact that our society very rarely allows individuals time to think about what this would look like. “The need for an empty space, a pause, is something we have all felt in our bones…” ("Why we need to slow down our lives" by Pico Iyer – Moreau FYE Week One) During my first year of college, I found that Moreau helped create space in my life for that pause to think about my life. Granted, it can be scary to embrace this pause, especially when “... research suggests that self-analyzers tend to have more anxiety, less positive social experiences and more negative attitudes about themselves.” ("The right way to be introspective (yes, there’s a wrong way)" by Tasha Eurich – Moreau FYE Week Six) While these unsavory results seem to disincentivize the type of self-reflection we went through in our Moreau classes, I believe it is simply a matter of learning how to engage with the empty space effectively because “... 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 Three) One of the biggest lessons I have learned about living a good life this year is that the best lives do not allow themselves to be limited by fear. (At the very least, they minimize the constraining effects that fear can have on an individual’s decisions.) This truth can be seen on a grander scale when we ask the question, “Has there ever been a good society built on fear?” ("Hesburgh" by Jerry Barca and Christine O’Malley – Moreau FYE Week Two) I do not believe that any good entity, ranging from an individual’s life to the existence of a nation, has its roots in fear. As such, I think the rest of my life, or at least the next three years during my time at Notre Dame, will be something of an exercise in learning to overcome fear. After all, “the only https://ideas.ted.com/why-we-need-a-secular-sabbath/ https://ideas.ted.com/the-right-way-to-be-introspective-yes-theres-a-wrong-way/ https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/14/us/memento-mori-nun.html https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/14/us/memento-mori-nun.html https://notredame.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=10159379-7eca-4549-8581-ab9500c9ecd9 way to know more about yourself is to test the waters…” ("Navigating Your Career Journey" by The Meruelo Family Center for Career Development – Moreau FYE Week Four) As I step out of my comfort zone for the sake of growth, I will be guided by the principles laid out in the following revised mission statement: It is my goal in life to leave all the spaces I enter better than I found them. I believe the most tried and true way to achieve this is by structuring my life around the teachings of the Catholic Church and focusing on becoming a force of love through accompanying others down life’s roads. I hope to prioritize relationships as the key qualifier of a life well-lived and to expend the best of myself in this area. I desire to treat every person I meet with love, especially through the lens of dignity, compassion, and support, while learning to accept that it is reasonable and good for others to help me in the ways that I try to help them. I hope that whatever work I undertake will serve to improve our collective life and leave an impactful legacy and example for others to follow. In all that I do, I aim to achieve my ends through honorable means, to view obstacles as an opportunity for growth, and to embody agape, or unconditional, love. While this is a nice, abstract standard for living my life, it seems to me that the value of most things is seen in the concrete, observable effects of any entity on the world around it. With that in mind, I decided to ask myself the following question, in order to ensure that these ideals are applied on a practical as well as theoretical level: “What three things can you do to make the world a better place?” ("Dean G. Marcus Cole: 'I am George Floyd. Except, I can breathe. And I can do something.'" by Dean G. Marcus Cole – Moreau FYE Week Twelve) I think the answer, both for the short and long term, lies in the ways I will handle relationships, mission, and legacy. From a memento mori lens, it seems that the best lives are also defined by quality relationships as well as overcoming fear. Relationships have an incredible power to bring out the best in us and encourage us to improve, as I was reminded in my Discernment Conversation with my dad. (Discernment Conversation Activity – Moreau FYE Week 5)* It is my goal to always place my relationships with God and others as the focal point of my life. As a committed Catholic, my goal is always to act in agape love, so https://undergradcareers.nd.edu/navigating-your-career-journey---moreau/ https://undergradcareers.nd.edu/navigating-your-career-journey---moreau/ https://law.nd.edu/news-events/news/dean-g-marcus-cole-i-am-george-floyd-except-i-can-breathe-and-i-can-do-something/ https://law.nd.edu/news-events/news/dean-g-marcus-cole-i-am-george-floyd-except-i-can-breathe-and-i-can-do-something/ that others can always see Christ through me, even to the extent of thinking “She is Jesus in an apron.” ("Tattoos on the Heart" by Fr. Greg Boyle – Moreau FYE Week Seven) I thought that the accompaniment method we talked about was a beautiful way of going about this, especially since it emphasizes that the actor also needs help, which is something I often struggle to remember. “This requires a great deal of humility. Not only is it important to walk together with somebody, but one must also learn how to be accompanied — to participate in the reciprocity of accompaniment.” ("Teaching Accompaniment: A Learning Journey Together" by Steve Reifenberg – Moreau FYE Week Nine) Furthermore, I have always been a strong believer in mission, especially thanks to my identity as a Catholic. I believe we each have a duty to try to impact the world in some way and that how we want to do that provides some much needed direction for our lives. It seems that those who go through the motions without a higher goal, “They’re not trying to move anyone. They’re not trying to empower anything. They’re really just trying… to engage in a pretty frivolous way.” ("Passion Isn't Enough" by Hidden Brain – Moreau FYE Week Eleven) Finally, I believe that having a life full of meaningful relationships and directed by mission leads to an individual leaving behind a legacy for others to uphold and an example for them to follow. Just as Notre Dame and the Moreau course helped me determine what I want my legacy to look like, I believe that it will help me create it. This school offers me the opportunity to cultivate relationships that will last a lifetime. It offers me space to determine my mission and the tools to achieve it. It provides countless opportunities to overcome my fears and to become the person I want to be, and for that I am grateful. I know it will not always be easy. In fact, times fraught with obstacles will probably be the ones that prove the hardest to continue fighting for that life well-lived. However, I hope that I will always remember that God does not love me “in spite of” my obstacles, but that “He was using… [them] to reach me with his love.” ("Growing up Gay and Catholic" by Jacob Walsh – Moreau FYE Week Ten) At the end of the day, it will be this love that helps me live life well. https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/40291/files/523827?module_item_id=167955 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hZbSdVImfn2hZDqMrdL96dZCNOtHuf6C-lg3sH-Rs30/edit https://hiddenbrain.org/podcast/passion-isnt-enough/ https://grottonetwork.com/keep-the-faith/community/reflective-narrative-about-being-gay-and-catholic/?utm_source=moreau&utm_medium=class&utm_campaign=spring_2022 https://grottonetwork.com/keep-the-faith/community/reflective-narrative-about-being-gay-and-catholic/?utm_source=moreau&utm_medium=class&utm_campaign=spring_2022 *I don’t have a hyperlink or specific quote from this activity, so I hope this suffices for integrating content from Week Five.