I’m not going to lie, I had completely different plans for this next entry.
Yet, I was really inspired by a question set given to me by my new Humanities teacher. As a writing sample I was assigned to answer some “really hard” questions; they weren’t as hard as they were thought-provoking.
I’m attending my first year of college, and with a new environment and upcoming adulthood, this question took me quite a sum of time to answer. In my defense, it was blunt.
- What is the meaning of life?
What did I tell you? blunt! I wasn’t sure how to answer this; whether I should go the fancy biology route or the moral and humanistic route. You can probably figure out which I chose from my answer:
I believe the purpose of life is to find a balance where one is completely comfortable and maintains constant equilibrium between the positive and negative aspects of their experiences. Branching from this, a fulfilling life would be one full of the fruitful experiences the world offers: trying new things, traveling, succeeding, and reaching self-actualization. Overall, I view life as the medium through which a person can expand their horizons and meet or surpass their potential.
I could go far more into depth about this (if it weren’t 1 a.m. on a Thursday) and perhaps I will in the future.
The second question was just as vague as the first, yet the initial shock from the rigidness of the first question was subsiding and I found this question easier to vouch for,
2. Define what “valuable” means to you
Simple enough, right? Yet I still think I delved far too much into it:
“Valuable,” to me, can be defined as something that is scarce or has a very applicable purpose. In another light, I see it on more of a supply/demand scale; if a resource is diminishing or hard to excavate it gains value because it is rare. Although that example is concerned with resources, I can see value in people and their qualities as well. People with applicable information or genuine characters are valuable in a sense, because they are rare and hard to come by. Value, in my eyes, is centered around quality and quantity and can be recognized in characteristics, objects, and experiences.
This last question was something I feel I did have a grasp on, and I hope that I did! For expression and art I’ve always been an advocate, hopefully that is clear here after this last *very hard* question:
3. What does “art” mean to you?
Simply put:
“Art” is anything that conveys a message or an identity through creation. I see art as a projection of the mind of the artist, it can include the hardships they have seen, or the beauty they have encountered. Art is something beautiful whether it be aesthetically pleasing or poetic. If someone can derive expression and emotion from a piece and acknowledge that it has value, that piece is deemed a work of art.
I truly do see art in that light, hopefully others do as well!
Although this was a short entry, I encourage others to ponder over these questions and form answers for themselves. Just a thought (: