Moreau Integration 1


Cashel O’Connor
Father Kevin
Integration One
12 October 2021

Beliefs: The Path to Self-Actualization

Prompt: What do I believe?

What do I believe? Four unostentatious, commonplace words and yet my mind teems with an
abundance of thoughts on them. “Root Beliefs,” as the instructions define them, are “statements
of conviction” that shape my “choices and priorities” in life. Belief, as Heather from week 3
defines it, is simply, “The way individuals come to know God.” With respect to this definition, I
will show you how I strive to know God. This seems like a lot to unpack; however, I have
decided to present my “Root Beliefs” in a concise and easily-digestible manner. Since these “I
believe that…” statements are, in a sense, dimunitions of the motivations, aspirations, truths,
and stimuli that drive me in life, I have elected to present them first as objective statements and
then expound upon them on whatever path my mind elects to take as it attempts to do these
pseudo-ineffable concepts justice. It appears it is time to cross the Rubicon and begin my
conquest of the Root Beliefs; let us begin.

Firstly, a statement of conviction to bolster my “ethos” as I commence my campaign on these
complicated concepts: I believe that root beliefs are essential in my quest for self-actualization.
Simply put, in order to self-actualize, an intransitive verb meaning “to realize fully one's true
potential” (Merriam Webster), I must explicitly define my beliefs. Moving forward, these objective
beliefs will serve as cornerstones, foundations if you will, as I go about realizing my full
potential. At the end of my journey to self-actualization, I see myself as a vintager in the
vineyard of my mind: happily harvesting the sweet, succulent fruits of my labor as I reflect
blissfully on the journey of self-actualization I have just completed. Yes, this ideology is mildly
Utopian - I intended it to be so. A critical idea in Week 7 of Moreau was the question “how do I
pursue the truth?” To be frank, this question stumped me. Thankfully, in week 6 I learned about
implicit bias extensively. One memorable quote from that week is the following: “Stories matter.
Many stories matter.”  Specifically, I realized the benefit of hearing or seeking out more than one
story about a singular topic. Logically, from this quote I determined that the best way to pursue
the truth was to seek out more than one story. Thankfully, with these root beliefs I hope to
provide you with several different, disticint, and unique beliefs (stories). However, all that glitters
is not gold. In other words, to quote week 2, “You have to give to receive.” In this sense, I give
you my thoughts so that you can, hopefully, glean something meaningful from them - this is
about you understanding what motivates me as much as it is about me understanding what
motivates me. Together we will see what motivates me to strive for self-actualization - my
glorious purpose. To conclude, in this first “I believe that…” statement I have revealed, to draw
on my finance major, the bullish case for my future: self-actualization.



Rightly so, this sanguine dream has a worthy adversary: the draconian (bearish) case. I believe
that I am inherently flawed. Simply see my poem from week 6 - miniscule in magnitude
compared to the masterpieces of my classmates. Clearly, my abilities as a human are restricted
and the possibilities of what I can achieve in this meager life are inherently limited. I am fenced
in, restrained - thus is human nature. Conceding that I am imperfect; however, is the perfect way
to address my inherent imperfections. My USEM class read and discussed Genesis; many of
my peer’s interpretations differed from my own. This is not to say that they were wrong and I
was right, or that I was wrong and they were right. On the contrary, the discussion opened my
eyes to what it means to have differing perspectives on the same topic.  In Week 1, the focus
question was, “in what ways may courage, vulnerability, and belonging be a part of my search?”
In her commentary, Dr. Brown pointed out that we, “cannot selectively numb emotion.” The
ideas of emotion and vulnerability stood out and still stand out to me the most. In my eyes,
emotions are what make us imperfect. However, emotions are also what make us human. To
understand this duality we must become vulnerable, accept that we are flawed, and appreciate
our nature. By introducing this second “I believe that..” statement, I have purposely discredited
the first “I believe that… statement” to a degree - these conflicting hypotheses each show one
side of a wide spectrum. Now, with my next statement, I hope to show where my beliefs lie on
the spectrum I have created.

Alas, how can I hope to achieve self-actualization if I am inherently flawed; how can I fulfill my
potential if I am confined by preconceived limits? The answer I have come to is a simple one: I
believe that the only thing that defines me is the amount I apply myself. To quote my QQC
response from week 4, “Life is not always perfect.” Honestly speaking, I was a floater in high
school. Rarely did I apply myself and I regret it immensely. Reflecting on my highschool
accomplishments, I am not filled with pride or the satisfaction of a job well done, but instead a
sense of regret as I think of what could have been. You see, I have come to realize in my short
time here at Notre Dame the joys of applying myself. Throwing myself into my work and
emerging with a sense of satiety is a new, beloved passion of mine. That is largely the reason
why I decided to write this paper in the way I did with all the big words and stuff - I wanted to
imitate the style, syntax and vocabulary of the readings I do for class to challenge myself
(omitted the Oxford comma there, felt kind of strange but I figured why remain in my comfort
zone after coming this far). Being inherently flawed, it makes sense that the scope and scale of
this paper are limited - extremely limited. This applies to my potential as well; however, if I apply
myself on my quest for self-actualization similarly to how I have applied myself on this paper I
believe that everything will fall into place. That isn’t intended as some egotistical celebration of
this paper, but rather as an acknowledgement that I am embarking on a challenging process
both by writing this paper and by aiming for self-actualization. The only metric by which I can
hope to measure my progress on this odyssey is application: if I applied myself and gave it my
all, I grant myself the right to be content.

After a quick re-read, I am content with what I have produced, I just wish I had more time and
more words. However, I also have a sense of apprehension about what I have created; I think
that, given more time, I would be able to produce a more comprehensive and thorough belief
statement. I implore you to view this, financially speaking, as a balance sheet - a snapshot in



time. The income statement will come later, perhaps on the next integration. To reiterate, I
believe that root beliefs are essential in my quest for self-actualization, that I am inherently
flawed, and that the only thing that defines me is the amount I apply myself. The spectrum has
been defined and the measurement stipulated - the onus is mine to bear moving forward.
Earnestly peering into the future, I see myself achieving self-actualization, satisfied and content
like Thanos in the garden (Avengers Endgame). I aspire to be as content as Father Soren in
week 5: “I love the work of the Brothers, as much, I think, as one can love it.” Yes, right now I
am, as the Joker said, “like a dog chasing cars… wouldn’t know what to do if I caught one.”
However, soon I will be next to Thanos in the garden, fulfilled and sated… However, I petition
you to remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day.