mangino_capstoneintegration FYS 10102 Capstone Integration 29 April 2022 Moreau Capstone Integration: Engagement and a Life Well-Lived From the experiences that have shaped me into the person I am, I have come to believe that a life well-lived is a life fully engaged in one's surroundings. The word "surroundings" is intentionally vague, because depending on the person it could mean a host of different things. Some of us may grow up to take on global issues at a large-scale level. At a place like Notre Dame, which attracts so many idealists, a lot of people probably come in thinking they're going to change the world. At the same time, though, I don't think a lot of us are truly aware of the problems in this world beyond an abstract understanding. I'll admit I'm probably someone for whom this is the case: I've had a lot of privilege, and I grew up in a place where social issues weren't at the forefront of everyday life. If you were overwhelmed by the injustices of the world, you could just turn off the news. But this is no way to engage with life, by distancing ourselves from the tragedies our neighbors have to endure on a daily basis. We ought to listen to our neighbors. Listening to the experiences of people in this community, such as Dean G. Marcus Cole, who writes, "and while I can still see the taillights of the car through that bloody windshield, I know that those men will never have to answer for what they did to us. At least not in this life" makes me realize how little I understand the world I am entering. ("I am George Floyd. Except, I can breathe. And I can do something" by Dean G. Marcus Cole, Moreau FYE Week Twelve) We often find it easy to act, but far more difficult to step back and listen. The latter is the key to true solidarity that abandons condescension. "'Solidarity with the poor means not to try to be the voice of the voiceless,” he said at the workshop. “This is NOT the goal. The goal should be that those who have no voice today will have voice and will be heard.'" ("Teaching Accompaniment: A Learning Journey Together" by Professor Steve Reifenberg, Moreau FYE Week Nine) This idea of solidarity is something that every ambitious idealist should adamantly cling to. In a recent speech given for TED, Pope Francis imagines an ideal world in which "solidarity, this beautiful and, at times, inconvenient word, were not simply reduced to social work, and became, instead, the default attitude in political, economic and scientific choices, as well as in the relationships among individuals, peoples and countries." ("Why the only future worth building includes everyone" by His Holiness Pope Francis - Moreau FYE Week Seven) This one word may be critical to the change we dream of. But "changing the world" as the idealists define it isn't the only way to make change. There are problems in our communities. There's state, local government, and issues that affect our lives at every level. There are "ways in which [we] can be in communities where people are depending on them, depending on them to get to a meeting, to show up, to move policy in their direction. If they really care about something like climate change, guess what? The regional transportation system in their state might sound boring, but it's pretty important to solving that problem. And they as a citizen by themselves and the group that's organized locally can have a role to play in that…. your country really does need you to do something. And it's not going to be following Twitter. It's going to be talking to your neighbors, building a community, getting organized, moving policy, doing what Naakh does, trying to get a thousand people to do what you want to do." ("Passion Isn't Enough" by Hidden Brain Media, Moreau FYE Week Eleven) When I've reflected on the things I've done to try and get involved in the past, I've found that "the most gratifying things I think I've ever done have always been hands-on service activities.” (7 Clues Career Survey, Meruelo CCD - Moreau FYE Week Four). Being able to see the impact of your actions and truly understand their importance is a humbling and gratifying experience that everyone should make an effort to engage with. A life well-lived can take shape at the individual level too. Personally, one of my core goals is to avoid any sort of superficiality or shallow judgment in my interactions with others. I've noticed especially since coming here that I tend to shy away from people who are different from me because I'm afraid of awkward interaction. A lot of people here do that, actually. And it's almost worse that this is the case at a Catholic university, because such an attitude goes against the way Jesus lived. "Jesus sought out and welcomed all people into the Kingdom of God — the gentile as well as the Jew, women as well as men, the poor as well as the wealthy, the slave as well as the free, the infirm as well as the healthy. The social teachings of the Catholic Church promote a society founded on justice and love, in which all persons possess inherent dignity as children of God." ("The Spirit of Inclusion at Notre Dame" by du Lac: A Guide to Student Life, Moreau FYE Week Ten) It takes courage to break the invisible barriers that exist across our campus. I also think a key element of a life-well lived, perhaps the most important, is the bonds we form with others. I can't explain it much better than I did in my own mission statement: "I aim to be able to change a person’s life. Perhaps by forming a bond with someone, a bond that changes their outlook on the world. I want to bring hope to someone. My wish for this life is to give, and not to spend my whole life leeching off of others but to give something in return to those whose kindness I have never deserved." (Mission Statement by , Moreau FYE Week Thirteen) Engagement can also mean being aware of the little things around you, the bits and pieces of your everyday life that most people fail to examine past a first glance. It's a common coping mechanism of ours – and a frighteningly easy one at that – to shut everything out at the first taste of discomfort. We can just turn on our phones and bury our heads in the artificial. It seems worth it in the moment, until you realize just how much of your life is being wasted hiding from the real world. The first time I really thought about that, I was terrified. I felt like I was watching time slip like quicksand through my fingers to the bottom of an hourglass. Especially as young adults, I think we tend to believe that we're invincible, that nothing can ever happen to us. But our time in this world is limited, and "remembering death keeps us awake, focused, and ready for whatever might happen — both the excruciatingly difficult and the breathtakingly beautiful.” ("Meet the Nun Who Wants You To Remember You Will Die" by Ruth Graham - Moreau FYE Week Three) It might take keeping that knowledge of our limited time at the forefront for us to truly appreciate what we have right now. Instead of constantly rushing from place to place, preparing for tomorrow, we ought to spend more time reveling in the beauty of today. We all ought to be engaged with ourselves, too; not in a way that makes us self-absorbed, but in a way that encourages growth and helps us to do the most good with the gifts God has given each of us. I often struggle to maintain perspective when I am struggling; I get so wrapped up in what's going on and why things have turned out a certain why and what it means, exactly. This was something we discussed in Moreau; we explored the idea that “if you ask why…you’re putting yourself into a victim mentality …. When I feel anything other than peace, I say ‘What’s going on?’; ‘What am I feeling?’; ‘What is the dialogue inside my head?’; ‘What’s another way to see this situation?’ or ‘What can I do to respond better?’” ("The Right Way to Be Introspective (Yes, There's a Wrong Way)" by Tasha Eurich - Moreau FYE Week Six). What can we make out of our pain? While I hate the idea of romanticizing suffering, there's something to the idea that our pain can help alleviate someone else's. Fr. Ted Hesburgh once remarked that "In my faith, you learn there's meaning in suffering, but to truly understand that you have to first suffer yourself. It tests your faith, but in the end I found strength…I wanted to help others find their own strength, even in the greatest of suffering." (Hesburgh - Moreau FYE Week Two) We can benefit not only by looking at our flaws but the beauty in our souls, the qualities that make us who we are, the things that bring us joy. In this coming year and hopefully throughout my adulthood, I hope to spend more time with the most fundamental and natural parts of myself, because "the places that move us most deeply are often the ones we recognize like long-lost friends; we come to them with a piercing sense of familiarity, as if returning to some source we already know." ("Why We Need to Slow Down Our Lives" by Pico Iyer - Moreau FYE Week One) We are meant to be active participants in our lives, not spectators on the sidelines. At one point in Moreau, when encouraged to reflect on ourselves, I remarked that a trait I wished to embody was "the ability to rise to the occasion in the face of pressure. If I were able to do that in every situation, I think I could be proud of that at the very least." (Moreau FYE Week Five) Whether we come to shape national policy, save someone's life, or just recognize the beauty of the world God has created, we must gather the courage to face the discomfort and struggle that comes with truly living.