What is it?
Every freshman in Honors at the University of Cincinnati is required to take a Gateway to Honors course, which describes some of the resources and opportunities available to Honors students. During this course, we had to take time to ask ourselves, "what do I believe?" This was inspired by the "this I believe" series found here. My essay from my freshman year was quite philosphical in tone, perhaps a reference to my still uncertain self. I still believe in its message though: that our relationships to other people are what gives us value in our lives.
This I believe: that value in life is found in people, and we must never shut our minds.
Life is complicated. As a good friend put it, “life is never black and white, but shades of gray.” In issues regarding life, politics, religion, morality, etc. there is never a completely right answer. I believe that there is some objective truth, some final goal in which truth emanates, but that we as humans can never completely find this goal neither as a whole nor in any single discipline. Some answers may be “more” right, but no answer is ever completely perfect or completely "right".
I believe that other people and our interactions and relationships with them are the sole source of value or fulfillment in life. When I explain this to others I bring up a painter’s example. The painter paints an image, but the image itself is not of any value. What is of value is the effect the image has upon the painter his or herself and those who view the artwork. Similarly we cannot fulfill a life by having things or stuff; in order to get the most out of life we must focus on our relationships and attitudes.
But we cannot obtain value if we refuse to keep an open mind and the deepest respect for the human experience. We listen to each other’s opinions and stories, we respect them for who they are and we learn from them, we analyze our own thoughts and behaviors, we question ourselves and others and we build friendships in the broadest sense. A friendship should not be limited to people we have fun with or reveal ourselves to, but rather it should be a general term for those people we know and interact with. The more we “know” other people the more value we recieve and the more value they get out of the relationship. This relationship does not have to be a happy stress-free one; in fact we grow most when we are challenged and when we are struggling.
Therefore all interactions we have with ourselves and other people have the potential to bring value and fulfillment. It is also through these valuable relationships that other important concepts and ideals such as but not limited to knowledge, wisdom, justice, love and respect, are born from. Each of these concepts in itself requires further debate; my definition will differ from another’s, but neither is completely the right answer but we can get closer to the truth by modifying opinions, which brings us to our final point.
I believe value comes from people and we can gain further value out of struggle. But in order to grow at the fastest rate it is of utmost importance that we know and foster relationships with those different from ourselves. We must encounter different cultures, ethnicities, political factions, sexualities, religions, languages, and perspectives on life if we are to branch out our growth and value into multiple dimensions. We have to leave our comfort zone. It is imperative that we do not judge these different opinions up front, but rather try to understand where each is coming from and the reasons they believe and do what they believe and do. If we do not, we become blinded by stereotypes and judgments and we miss out not only on value, but everything else.
This I believe: that value in life is found in people, and we must never shut our minds.
Life is complicated. As a good friend put it, “life is never black and white, but shades of gray.” In issues regarding life, politics, religion, morality, etc. there is never a completely right answer. I believe that there is some objective truth, some final goal in which truth emanates, but that we as humans can never completely find this goal neither as a whole nor in any single discipline. Some answers may be “more” right, but no answer is ever completely perfect or completely "right".
I believe that other people and our interactions and relationships with them are the sole source of value or fulfillment in life. When I explain this to others I bring up a painter’s example. The painter paints an image, but the image itself is not of any value. What is of value is the effect the image has upon the painter his or herself and those who view the artwork. Similarly we cannot fulfill a life by having things or stuff; in order to get the most out of life we must focus on our relationships and attitudes.
But we cannot obtain value if we refuse to keep an open mind and the deepest respect for the human experience. We listen to each other’s opinions and stories, we respect them for who they are and we learn from them, we analyze our own thoughts and behaviors, we question ourselves and others and we build friendships in the broadest sense. A friendship should not be limited to people we have fun with or reveal ourselves to, but rather it should be a general term for those people we know and interact with. The more we “know” other people the more value we recieve and the more value they get out of the relationship. This relationship does not have to be a happy stress-free one; in fact we grow most when we are challenged and when we are struggling.
Therefore all interactions we have with ourselves and other people have the potential to bring value and fulfillment. It is also through these valuable relationships that other important concepts and ideals such as but not limited to knowledge, wisdom, justice, love and respect, are born from. Each of these concepts in itself requires further debate; my definition will differ from another’s, but neither is completely the right answer but we can get closer to the truth by modifying opinions, which brings us to our final point.
I believe value comes from people and we can gain further value out of struggle. But in order to grow at the fastest rate it is of utmost importance that we know and foster relationships with those different from ourselves. We must encounter different cultures, ethnicities, political factions, sexualities, religions, languages, and perspectives on life if we are to branch out our growth and value into multiple dimensions. We have to leave our comfort zone. It is imperative that we do not judge these different opinions up front, but rather try to understand where each is coming from and the reasons they believe and do what they believe and do. If we do not, we become blinded by stereotypes and judgments and we miss out not only on value, but everything else.
This I believe: that value in life is found in people, and we must never shut our minds.