Happiness and Meaning Project:
Essential Questions:
Link to Project Description Handout:
http://docs.google.com/a/animashighschool.com/file/d/0B5ktO3NLUDlcems1NU1kbjZudWM/edit
Personal Reflection:
Part 1:
Throughout this project I learned and thought a lot about what living a meaningful life is to me personally, and how I can find happiness through that. In class we read the story of 'The Ambitious Guest,' it shows two ways of living life, the first, you live a simple life with deep relationships wanting to be remembered by few as a good person. The the other, where you want to do big things in your life and be known and remembered by everyone. I decided that it is more important to live for what makes you happy rather than everyone else, this means living a more simple life doing what you love even if not many people will remember you because of it. This project also helped me to see things from other people's perspectives. In class I was able to listen to everyone sharing their perspectives on living a meaningful life and was able to think beyond my own life and understand others points of views. The quote by Andre Gide said, “ Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose site of the shore” I take this as you will not discover new things and gain new insights in living life unless you step out of your comfort zone and explore new things. I can also see this as trying things and ideas out from other people's perspective. So not just listening to other perspectives, but actually taking them seriously, going into an idea with a mindset other than, “I will be okay with other perspectives but really my way is right.”
Part 2:
Link to Project Description Handout:
http://docs.google.com/a/animashighschool.com/file/d/0B5ktO3NLUDlcems1NU1kbjZudWM/edit
Personal Reflection:
Part 1:
Throughout this project I learned and thought a lot about what living a meaningful life is to me personally, and how I can find happiness through that. In class we read the story of 'The Ambitious Guest,' it shows two ways of living life, the first, you live a simple life with deep relationships wanting to be remembered by few as a good person. The the other, where you want to do big things in your life and be known and remembered by everyone. I decided that it is more important to live for what makes you happy rather than everyone else, this means living a more simple life doing what you love even if not many people will remember you because of it. This project also helped me to see things from other people's perspectives. In class I was able to listen to everyone sharing their perspectives on living a meaningful life and was able to think beyond my own life and understand others points of views. The quote by Andre Gide said, “ Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose site of the shore” I take this as you will not discover new things and gain new insights in living life unless you step out of your comfort zone and explore new things. I can also see this as trying things and ideas out from other people's perspective. So not just listening to other perspectives, but actually taking them seriously, going into an idea with a mindset other than, “I will be okay with other perspectives but really my way is right.”
Part 2:
-
Do you need to be happy to live a meaningful life, and live a
meaningful life to be happy? Can you have one without the other?
-
How do you find a balance between living a deep, meaingful life and
doing things just for the fun and happiness of it?
-
Is there a common theme for what makes people happy? Is it similar
for most people?
-
Is living your life in a certain way with a certain mindset what
brings happiness and meaning? Or is it the things you do in this
life?
Written Documents:
The Stranger Seminar Prep:
Phoenix Jones believes that the purpose of his life is to fight crime and protect the people around him. When talking about his crime fighting he says, “I got tired of people doing things that are morally questionable, everyone's afraid. It just takes one person to say, 'I'm not afraid.' and I guess I'm that guy (p.237). He lives his life to protect people, he believes that this is the purpose for his existence. Many people feel like they are useless when they feel they have no purpose, or are not able to live out what they think the purpose of their life is. When Jones is not able to help people, he feels very useless. He says, “two or three people are being hurt right now and I'm stuck here. It bothers me”(p. 2) By saying this, Jones shows how he feels when he is not able to live out the purpose of his life.
In 'how to buy happiness,' the speaker believes that buying/doing things for others and showing gratitude leads to immense happiness. He says during his TED talk, “Buying things for others or a team makes you feel happier because it is helping a larger group of people and not only yourself.” He talks about happiness gained from buying things for yourself and how that may create a short-lived happiness, but doing things for other people creates an inner happiness from making someone else happy. He also talks about how doing things for a group of friends or a team you are part of will bring them all together more, and make them closer friends. It is worth so much more to do something beautiful for someone else, and gives people a sense of fulfillment. The speaker says when talking about this, “Happiness is not using money to make your life better, it is using it to make those who are less fortunate or even still wealthy happier by spending things on them.
In the story of the moth, there are two very different perspectives stated and explained. One is the perspective of the moth, the moth says, “It is better to be happy for a moment and be burned up with beauty, than to live a long time and be bored all the while” (p.1). The moth believes that it is better to be extremely happy and in awe of life for a very short time and then die happy. Living a very meaningful life to him is very important even if it is only for a short while. The other perspective stated here Is that of the (other animal). The (other animal) says, “I would rather have half the happiness and twice the longevity but at the same time I wish there was something I wanted as badly as he wanted to fry himself” (p.3). This perspective says that he would rather live a very long life, even if it is not so full of meaning and happiness. He wants to live as long as possible, this is meaning for him, not living a short, meaning packed life. However, this perspective from the (other animal) seems to be wanting more, he wishes in the poem that he had something so beautiful to live for where he would be fine with being burned up for.
TED Talk: The power of vulnerability
Main Points:
Reaction:
This was a very cool, very deep talk on vulnerability and how it affects our lives. The lady giving the talk said that by being vulnerable your life will be better because you will be able to feel more deeply and love more deeply, and live a more meaningful life. She found through research that people who are whole hearted have courage to be imperfect, are able to be kind and compassionate. Most of all they are able to be these things to themselves first, and then to other people because you cant be compassionate and everything to other people without first being these things to yourself. I loved this talk because she was so real about everything she researched and felt. She was able to look at the root of shame and vulnerability and see that the people who have vulnerability do not have the shame and no belonging that people who are shameful of themselves have.
Seminar Question:
Why do people feel shame? Why is it that people don't want to be real and show who they are without putting up a wall?
Literary Analysis Essay:
Coming soon...
Personal Philosophy Project Proposal:
Part 1:
Andre Gide said, “Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose site of the shore.” The purpose of life is not to live a comfortable, 'within the bounds' life, it is about stepping out of your comfort zone and living your life in the unknown. Only in this way can you discover new things and find who you are as a person. I believe in God so I think that everyone has a purpose for why they are alive, and will live that out. Everyone has a different purpose they were put on earth for, but to discover these purposes and live your life to the fullest we need to “lose site of the shore” and move into places which may make us uncomfortable, but will grow us as a person and help us to find the reason for our existence.
Ben Sweetland said, “Happiness is a journey...not a destination.” Happiness is not about the present things that you have, but is about the life you live and the accomplishments and memories you've made along the way. If you chose to make every moment count and follow your dreams, you can find real happiness that is more than the shot-lived excitement of getting something new. Happiness is not excitement, memories made that have shaped you may have been exciting, but it is the actual memories and successes which will give you true happiness, not the moment of excitement that disappears when the moment is gone.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” Meaning in life is defined by who you are and the moments in life that have shaped you. Living a meaningful life is not about looking at the past and future and going through moments in your life, it is about the state you are in, and feelings you have when you go through life. The things that happen to you could mean absolutely nothing if you are not choosing to live each of these moments discovering new things, making memories, and finding happiness in them.
Part 2:
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
Part 3:
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose site of the shore.”
-Andre Gide
“Happiness is a journey...not a destination.”
-Ben Sweetland
-
I think that Camus is trying to show what a life of meaning does
not look like to the extreme. He shows this character who seems to
have absolutely no meaning or joy in life to show the readers that
a life without meaning is not a life at all. It is many times hard
to see what you are missing in your life when you are in the
middle of it. This book helped to inspire people to not live the
way Mersault did in the story did. From M way of living throughout
the story, the readers can learn to try to live for something and
to have some purpose in their life, rather than just going through
each day without caring about what is happening or what comes
next.
-
I think that M has a transition between the beginning
and end of the book. He starts out by not really seeming to care
about anything, he just goes with whatever is happening in his
life. He accepts Marie's proposal but says he doesn’t love her
but that neither one matter to him. He says he is going to die
eventually so why would it matter at what time. He doesn’t even
think twice about taking someone else's life maybe because he
doesn’t see the meaning in his own, he cant see that other may
be living fulfilling and meaningful lives. The transition happens
when he is staying in jail for a very long time, he has time to
think and begins to think about his death. He sees the skies
changing and is able to relax when dawn passes and he is not yet
dead. A sort of relief comes over him which shows that he may be
starting to care about his life and know that there is some
meaning in it. When he says he wishes people would greet him with
cries of hate, I think this is a part of him acting more on
emotions that just not caring. He wants to have emotion in his
life in any way he can, whether that is love or hate, he seems to
want to leave the world with more than just indifference leading
him out.
-
What is the purpose of your existence?
Phoenix Jones believes that the purpose of his life is to fight crime and protect the people around him. When talking about his crime fighting he says, “I got tired of people doing things that are morally questionable, everyone's afraid. It just takes one person to say, 'I'm not afraid.' and I guess I'm that guy (p.237). He lives his life to protect people, he believes that this is the purpose for his existence. Many people feel like they are useless when they feel they have no purpose, or are not able to live out what they think the purpose of their life is. When Jones is not able to help people, he feels very useless. He says, “two or three people are being hurt right now and I'm stuck here. It bothers me”(p. 2) By saying this, Jones shows how he feels when he is not able to live out the purpose of his life.
-
What is happiness and what makes one/you happy
In 'how to buy happiness,' the speaker believes that buying/doing things for others and showing gratitude leads to immense happiness. He says during his TED talk, “Buying things for others or a team makes you feel happier because it is helping a larger group of people and not only yourself.” He talks about happiness gained from buying things for yourself and how that may create a short-lived happiness, but doing things for other people creates an inner happiness from making someone else happy. He also talks about how doing things for a group of friends or a team you are part of will bring them all together more, and make them closer friends. It is worth so much more to do something beautiful for someone else, and gives people a sense of fulfillment. The speaker says when talking about this, “Happiness is not using money to make your life better, it is using it to make those who are less fortunate or even still wealthy happier by spending things on them.
-
What does it mean to live a meaningful life?
In the story of the moth, there are two very different perspectives stated and explained. One is the perspective of the moth, the moth says, “It is better to be happy for a moment and be burned up with beauty, than to live a long time and be bored all the while” (p.1). The moth believes that it is better to be extremely happy and in awe of life for a very short time and then die happy. Living a very meaningful life to him is very important even if it is only for a short while. The other perspective stated here Is that of the (other animal). The (other animal) says, “I would rather have half the happiness and twice the longevity but at the same time I wish there was something I wanted as badly as he wanted to fry himself” (p.3). This perspective says that he would rather live a very long life, even if it is not so full of meaning and happiness. He wants to live as long as possible, this is meaning for him, not living a short, meaning packed life. However, this perspective from the (other animal) seems to be wanting more, he wishes in the poem that he had something so beautiful to live for where he would be fine with being burned up for.
TED Talk: The power of vulnerability
Main Points:
-
Expanding perception:
-
Research school: If you cannot measure it, it does not exist.
-
Connection: why we are here, what give purpose nad meaning to our
lives, no matter who you are, ability to feel connected, its why we
are here
-
Shame is the fear of disconnection, fear we wont be worthy of
connection(vulnurability)
-
For connection to happen we have to allow ourselves to be really
seen
-
Sense of worthiness, strong sense of love and belonging,
-
Separate people, people who have sense of love and belonging believe
they are worthy of love and belonging and connection. They are
separated from the people who feel they have no sense of belonging
-
Whole-hearted people: were the common thing, they all had courage to
be imperfect, compassion to be kind to themselves and others, cant
be compassionate to other people if they cant be compassionate to
yourself
-
let go of who they thought they should be, and go with you they
really are.
-
Embraced vulnerability: what made them vulnerable made them
beautiful.
-
Research to control and predict:answer is the way to live is to live
with vulnerability
-
vulnerability is the core of shame, also birth place of joy
creativity belonging and love.
-
Why do we struggle with vulnerability? We numb it. We do what we
have to do and don't think about the bad things we do, and feeling
for the bad things done to us that we do.
-
Cannot selectively numb emotion... when we numb based things, we
numb all the good feelings and we are miserable so we are looking
for purpose and meaning so we try to bury it with other things.
-
We pretend that our lives are perfect
-
if the way kids were raised was changed, the world would be a
different place
-
be authentic and real and own up to what we do.
-
Let ourselves be deeply and vulnerably seen, love with whole hearts
even though there is no guarantee, practice gratitude and joy in
moments of terror, and believe that we are enough.
-
When we do this our lives are improved.
Reaction:
This was a very cool, very deep talk on vulnerability and how it affects our lives. The lady giving the talk said that by being vulnerable your life will be better because you will be able to feel more deeply and love more deeply, and live a more meaningful life. She found through research that people who are whole hearted have courage to be imperfect, are able to be kind and compassionate. Most of all they are able to be these things to themselves first, and then to other people because you cant be compassionate and everything to other people without first being these things to yourself. I loved this talk because she was so real about everything she researched and felt. She was able to look at the root of shame and vulnerability and see that the people who have vulnerability do not have the shame and no belonging that people who are shameful of themselves have.
Seminar Question:
Why do people feel shame? Why is it that people don't want to be real and show who they are without putting up a wall?
Literary Analysis Essay:
Coming soon...
Personal Philosophy Project Proposal:
Part 1:
Andre Gide said, “Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose site of the shore.” The purpose of life is not to live a comfortable, 'within the bounds' life, it is about stepping out of your comfort zone and living your life in the unknown. Only in this way can you discover new things and find who you are as a person. I believe in God so I think that everyone has a purpose for why they are alive, and will live that out. Everyone has a different purpose they were put on earth for, but to discover these purposes and live your life to the fullest we need to “lose site of the shore” and move into places which may make us uncomfortable, but will grow us as a person and help us to find the reason for our existence.
Ben Sweetland said, “Happiness is a journey...not a destination.” Happiness is not about the present things that you have, but is about the life you live and the accomplishments and memories you've made along the way. If you chose to make every moment count and follow your dreams, you can find real happiness that is more than the shot-lived excitement of getting something new. Happiness is not excitement, memories made that have shaped you may have been exciting, but it is the actual memories and successes which will give you true happiness, not the moment of excitement that disappears when the moment is gone.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” Meaning in life is defined by who you are and the moments in life that have shaped you. Living a meaningful life is not about looking at the past and future and going through moments in your life, it is about the state you are in, and feelings you have when you go through life. The things that happen to you could mean absolutely nothing if you are not choosing to live each of these moments discovering new things, making memories, and finding happiness in them.
Part 2:
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
Part 3:
-
My credo is based off of these three quotes, they best explain it.
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose site of the shore.”
-Andre Gide
“Happiness is a journey...not a destination.”
-Ben Sweetland
-
For my visual project I want to create a collage of pictures and
words all representing happiness, meaning, and what it takes to get
there.
-
I am not a very artistic person so this allows me to create a work
of art that does not require having a ton of artistic ability. Also,
I love art through pictures so this is a great way to work with my
strengths and create something interesting.
-
I want to tell the audience to go out and do new things and not to
live in the routine of life. Through stepping out of your comfort
zone, people can find who they are and will create new memories
which will last forever and shape them.
-
I will find pictures online and take some of my own pictures
possibly all to incorporate into a collage showing happiness and
meaning and living a meaningful life. Incorporated into the pictures
will be words showing what it takes to get to these pictures and
what, in my opinion, leads to a happy, meaningful life. I may try to
make all the pictures look like one bigger picture, this could be
interesting but very difficult.
-
It may be very hard to find the exact picture I am visualizing to
cover a point in the collage, so having to set up my own pictures
and take them may be difficult. Also trying to find the right words
that encapsulate everything I want to say may also be difficult.
-
I will need...
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A hard surface to create the collage
-
Paper for printing pictures
-
my camera
-
Something like mod podge to make the collage look refined and
shiny
-
A computer to type out and print pictures from.
-
I have no idea how long this project will take me, it will be a few
days of finding all the pictures I need and compiling them. A few
more of taking my own pictures. More days of actually putting the
collage together. I haven’t made a full collage before so I don’t
know all the time it may take.
-
I would love a any suggestions you have to offer to keep me
realistic. Also if you have mod podge I could use so I don’t ave
to go buy any I would greatly appreciate it.