Capstone Integration Follet 1 Moreau FYE 29 April 2022 Our Life Well-Lived A burning question that always comes up frequently in our lives is how we can live a life well-lived. It seems like a simple question but this is something that all of us struggle to find the true meaning of throughout our lives and something that we must figure out ourselves through experience. Throughout my experiences in my life and at Notre Dame, I have found the answers to this question and learned the important steps to living my life well. First off, an important step to living a life well-lived is finding out what you truly enjoy in life and finding the difference between joy and happiness. Just because you might like something one day, it does not mean that it brings long term happiness. This quote reflects this point and states, “What’s the difference between joy and happiness? It’s not a matter of whether this makes you happy or not because happiness is affected by many external factors (sleep, illness, hunger, loneliness, etc.). Happiness changes from moment to moment, day to day. Joy, on the other hand, is much deeper and much more central, it comes from within, and it’s a genuine rightness of how one lives one’s life” (Himes). This quote shows that most of the time we act on happiness and think that it is joy but happiness is only short term. This can cause us to make long term decisions that do not actually align with our goals. You must learn to recognize this difference through the experiences in life and make sure to really pay attention to this as you go through life. This will ensure that you find what brings you long term joy in life so that you can live a life well-lived. Follet 2 Another important key to living a life well-lived is knowing how to accept help from others. A quote that talks about this is, “Accompaniment is a path to help waken those dormant dreams. With respect and intelligence, humbly and without arrogance -- with humble confidence or confident humility -- we can be ambitious for making meaningful change.” (Reifenberg 10). This quote stood out to me because it talks about how interactions with others and the world through accompaniment help us awaken our dreams and better achieve our goals. We can open our minds and ourselves up to the world to continue to grow and let others help accomplish our goals. I really agree with this quote and how accompaniment helps you reach your goals and discover things about yourself that you would not have been able to if you just shut yourself off and tried to take on everything in your life alone. You cannot bear all of the challenges and suffering you encounter in your life alone, you need help to get through these times and accomplish your goals. I realized this throughout my life too and had to learn this for myself because I thought once too that I had to overcome these challenges with my strength alone. Once you accept this, you will be able to accomplish more feats than ever before and help you live a life well-lived. Another important aspect of a life well-lived is being able to look past people's differences so that you are able to make connections with the others around you. A quote that shows this is, “We prize the uniqueness of all persons as God’s creatures. We welcome all people, regardless of color, gender, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, social or economic class, and nationality, for example, precisely because of Christ’s calling to treat others as we desire to be treated. We value gay and lesbian members of this community as we value all members of this community. We condemn harassment of any kind, and University policies proscribe it. We consciously create an environment of mutual respect, hospitality and warmth in Follet 3 which none are strangers and all may flourish.” (UND). This quote stood out to me because in order to embrace humanity we need to accept everyone no matter what opinions or characteristics they might have. I agree with this because in my experience, it seems that the things that usually separate people and tear them apart are the things that do not truly matter in life, like physical characteristics or opinions on politics for example. This is an important attribute to have because you never know which people you meet will end up becoming close with you and leaving an impression on you, so it is very important to reach out to everyone you meet no matter what differences they might have. Another key to living a life well-lived is expanding your social horizon beyond your usual norms. A good quote for this topic is, “First of course, we should be intentional about the information that we expose ourselves to. Seeking out intelligent people with whom we disagree and attempting to fully understand their arguments.” (Blaschko). This quote spoke to me because it basically says that in order to protect ourselves from social bubbles and echo chambers, we need to be intentional and careful about the people we surround ourselves with and the information we choose to absorb. If we only take in biased information from the same type of sources, we will never learn or grow in our lives and become more wise. I agree with the dangers of social bubbles and echo chambers in society and if we are only exposed to biased information that consists of our own opinions then we will never be enlightened or be able to grow as a person. We will only ever think we are right in our opinion about everything and only know how to dismiss others thoughts and opinions and this will end up steering us in the wrong direction. If we want to grow and become wise then we have to broaden our world and keep an open mind and we have to avoid social bubbles and echo chambers. This is one of the keys to living a life well-lived and is something that has helped me grow over the past year. Follet 4 Before I came to Notre Dame, I thought that success was measured by possessions and things that were physically attained. I thought things like money, fame, position, strength and skill were the things that measured success in life. In fact that was the reason I came to Notre Dame, to attend a prestigious university to pursue a professional degree and play high level Division-I college lacrosse and make a name for myself. I came from poor circumstances and did not have many people that believed in me so I was constantly trying to gain approval through these advancements. But once I got to Notre Dame and met my team, I became surrounded by people that believed in me and loved me more than anything. Even though I had not even gotten the chance to prove any of my skills to them, they already believed in me and showed kindness and love towards me from the very moment I got there. It was after this I realized that there is more to life than just possessions and status, it was about these people. The people that brought me up and loved me without needing reason. The people who stayed by my side and gave me memories more valuable than any physical worldly possession. These people are what give my life purpose and I will continue to live through them just as they do for me. They are the reason I am able to live a life well-lived. Follet 5 Works Cited (“Why we need to slow down our lives” by Pico Iyer - Moreau FYE Week One) (“Hesburgh” by Jerry Barca and Christine O'Malley- Moreau FYE Week Two) (“Three Key Questions” by Fr. Michael Himes - Moreau FYE Week Three) (“Navigating Your Career Journey - Moreau First Year Experience Course” by Undergraduate Career Services - Moreau FYE Week Four) (“The Right Way to be Introspective (Yes, There’s a Wrong Way)” by Tasha Eurich - Moreau FYE Week Six) (“Why the Only Future Worth Building Includes Everyone” by Pope Francis - Moreau FYE Week Seven) (“Teaching Accompaniment: A Learning Journey Together ” by Steve Reifenberg - Moreau FYE Week Nine) (“The Spirit of Inclusion at Notre Dame” by University of Notre Dame - Moreau FYE Week Ten) (“How to Avoid an Echo Chamber” by Dr. Paul Blaschko - Moreau FYE Week Eleven) (“I am George Floyd. Except, I can breathe. And I can do something.” by Dean G. Marcus Cole - Moreau FYE Week Twelve) https://ideas.ted.com/why-we-need-a-secular-sabbath/ https://notredame.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=10159379-7eca-4549-8581-ab9500c9ecd9 https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/41039/files/476425?module_item_id=149885 https://undergradcareers.nd.edu/navigating-your-career-journey---moreau/ https://ideas.ted.com/the-right-way-to-be-introspective-yes-theres-a-wrong-way/ https://www.ted.com/talks/his_holiness_pope_francis_why_the_only_future_worth_building_includes_everyone/transcript https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hZbSdVImfn2hZDqMrdL96dZCNOtHuf6C-lg3sH-Rs30/edit https://dulac.nd.edu/university-mission-and-vision/spirit-of-inclusion/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaIVxQcqnLs&t=1s https://law.nd.edu/news-events/news/dean-g-marcus-cole-i-am-george-floyd-except-i-can-breathe-and-i-can-do-something/