Third Integration Yerania Serrato-Bucio Maria Finan Moreau First Year Experience 26 February 2022 Third Integration - Alternate Prompt (Describe a Life Well-Lived) What is a Life Well-Lived? There are many different definitions for what it means to live a well-lived life. Everyone has their own values, morals, and priorities in life which would impact what one thinks a life well-lived means. Some factors are more important to some people than others but there are a few broader overlapping factors of life that a majority of people seem to share when it comes to living a well-lived life. Overall, they are to have times of pause and reflection to stay sane and keep doing better, making an effort to do something impactful in the world and have meaningful experiences. To start, it’s important to stay healthy, both mentally and physically in order to live out our well-lived lives. Our lives get busy with work, school, and other responsibilities that we can’t escape from. Sometimes things can get very overwhelming because things pile up and everyone needs a break at times. There are moments when we don’t even know we need a break but others see how it’s impacting our wellbeing. For example, during my conversation with my friend Mariela, she mentioned that I need to sometimes take a break from my school work, take a breather, go back to work and make sure to give myself grace if I don’t get the desired score ("Discernment Conversation Activity" by Yerania Serrato-Bucio - Moreau FYE Week 5). I knew she was right because I had been cramming Calculus into my brain and I was struggling to solve simple problems. I ended up taking a break, going to sleep, and coming back to it the next day during office hours and ended up not needing help. I knew how to do it but was just overwhelmed. The lesson in this is that if we just keep working without taking time away from it, we will end up being burnt out and the quality of our work won’t be its best. Also, taking mental breaks is important to make sure our mental health is okay because we won’t be living a life well-lived if everything else is okay but internally we are struggling with finding happiness in our work or being able https://docs.google.com/document/d/1S0kbx0pQvEeklkrEmyBwpL5KBWe0hR4Y6n6IItnQFH4/edit?usp=sharing to enjoy its completion. Our mind must be in a good place to fully live a well-lived life. Additionally, taking time for ourselves helps us to reflect and think about things from a different perspective. Sometimes we need to conceptualize where we are in our lives to make sense of it all and make sure things are going in a way that we are comfortable with. As stated in Pico Iyer’s TED talk, “It’s only by stepping farther back and standing still that we can begin to see what that canvas (which is our life) really means, and to take in the larger picture” ("Why we need to slow down our lives" by Pico Iyer - Moreau FYE Week One). This means that by analyzing what we’ve done in our lives we can see if we are satisfied and ask ourselves if we are living a good and well-lived life. It allows us to see what we would like to change and how we can learn from our mistakes. There’s a lot of potential for growth if we sometimes just take a step back from everything we’re occupied with. We should also strive to improve the world as best we can for the sake of others and ourselves to live a well-lived life. There are many examples of people who have made an effort to do good in the world and impacted the lives of many. We can learn much from their life missions and continue through with their work. For example, Fr. Ted Hesburgh did a lot of work for the civil rights movement and a lot of influential work for Catholic Universities. Current university president Fr. John Jenkins said, “Ted was a bridge builder between people and God and among people” ("Hesburgh" produced by Jerry Barca and Christine O’Malley - Moreau FYE Week Two). This speaks to Fr. Ted’s work as a priest in which he did God’s work here on Earth and helped people but also speaks to his character in which he helped people connect with one another. The ability to bring people together is a very strong trait that we must be open to. I think that our lives will be better well-lived if more people respected each other even if we hold differences of opinion. It allows for more peace of mind and less unnecessary conflict. We can at least make an effort to get along and if it doesn’t work out at least be civil. Fr. Gregory shared a similar message in Chapter 8 of his book Tattoos on the Heart in which he said, “We seek to create loving communities of kinship precisely to counteract mounting lovelessness, racism, and the cultural disparagement that keeps us apart” ("Chapter 8: Jurisdiction" by Fr. Gregory Boyle - Moreau FYE Week Seven). Shared hardships can bring people together and it’s important to come together to combat certain https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/40306/modules/items/149141 https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/40306/modules/items/149193 https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/40306/modules/items/167901 situations which can sometimes only be done if we put our differences aside. This form of community building leads to living a more well-lived life because you know people will be there and you’ll be there for others. I hope to become a person that people can come to for support because I have many people here at Notre Dame who have made up my support system and are there to listen to me and I want to pass on that kindness to others. There are times when it is difficult to try to change the world when there is so much going on and many situations are out of our control, especially global issues. That can be hard to grasp and it can negatively impact our mental health which is why it is important to realize that one person doesn’t have to solve everything alone and to remember to focus on what is in our power. Sometimes knowing we did our best to make a difference is most important. As mentioned by Aria Swarr, “ Focus on what we can do for others or what we can do already instead of what we cannot do and what we do not have yet” ("5 minutes" by Aria Swarr - Moreau FYE Week Six). We should prioritize what we can do in a given moment and figure out how we can help rather than thinking about everything we can’t do. It helps in maintaining a more positive mindset which is part of living a well-lived life. I tend to overthink things and it’s easy to fall into a spiral where one feels useless. Last semester, my sociology class ended with how society is destroying the planet and it’s going to end in around 50 years. We all felt so useless but I talked to my mom and she said that even if I die in 20 years as long as I did my part to try and help I should be able to die in peace which is the goal. Finally, to live a life well-lived, we must have some meaningful personal experiences. It’s important to help others and do the most for those around us but there are times when we must have some moments for ourselves. Our time here is limited and we must make the best of it for ourselves. Like Sister Aletheia said, “Remembering death keeps us awake, focused, and ready for whatever might happen” ("Meet the nun who wants you to remember that you will die" by Ruth Graham - Moreau FYE Week Three) We’re all going to die which is somewhat sad and scary but many use that as motivation to try and live the best life they can and enjoy as much of it as possible. Also, “every experience shapes you in some way, whether you realize it at the time or not!” ("Navigating Your Career Journey" by Meruelo Family https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/40306/modules/items/149414 https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/40306/modules/items/149414 https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/14/us/memento-mori-nun.html https://undergradcareers.nd.edu/navigating-your-career-journey---moreau/ Center for Career Development - Moreau FYE Week Four). When having moments for ourselves and doing things we want to do we can grow in different ways like figuring out our passions, our dislikes, and having moments of inspiration. In sociology I learned how everything impacts our perspectives and attitudes, including environment, society, and other combined factors, so it’s best to take chances and have fun in life. That’s how we develop as people and end up living a well-lived life. In conclusion, I feel that a well-lived life involves service, having personal meaningful experiences, and times of reflection. I try to implement these things in my life as much as I can but it’s difficult at times to find the balance between obligations, responsibilities, and working on having a well-lived life because not everything aligns perfectly. Here at Notre Dame Handbells is what I’m passionate about and enjoy the most which helps contribute to making my time here meaningful but classes are hard and I’m struggling but through balance and support I’m powering through. I’m a part of Matriculate so I help serve high schoolers which I think is fun and is helping change other students' lives. I think I am living a well-lived life right now. I have everything I could need and I’m grateful for all of the opportunities I’ve had. I hope to continue living a well-lived life because it hasn’t always been this way. I’ll end this by saying that my definition of a well-lived life is that you did your best. You learned from your mistakes, grew, and continued to do better because our best is all we can do and there’s nothing wrong with that.