Moreau Integration 15 October 2021 Aesthetics and Aspirations of the Everyday To feel loved, believe you deserve love. Brene Brown said that “people who have a strong sense of love and belonging believe they are worthy of love and belonging” (“The Power of Vulnerability” by Brene Brown - Moreau FYE Week One). Through Dr. Brown’s years of extensive research, she discovered that the answer to feeling a connection or a sense of community boiled down to feeling worthy of it. The more one aims to be perfect, the more he undermines his ability to feel self-confident. Those who trusted in their self-worth possess the courage to not only be imperfect but also to act compassionately towards others. Her advice offers comfort to me because I lost a huge sense of community when coming to college. Initially, I knew nobody on campus, and that frightened me for the longest time. Although I was shy at first, after becoming more vulnerable and believing in my inherent value, I was able to make great friends in no time and now consider Notre Dame as one of my homes. This isn’t to say that I don’t miss living in Guam, where I’m from. George Lyon in her poem wrote, “I am from those moments”, and I couldn’t agree more (“Where I’m From” by George Ella Lyon - Moreau FYE Week Six). My experiences in Guam have shaped me to be the person I am today, so I can’t and won’t ever forget the impact I’ve had growing up there. My identity is tied to Guam, so taking the time to remember that relaxes me and helps me open up to others a bit more. There are still times when I still find it hard to become vulnerable around others, and many times I find myself hesitating in fear of failure. However, David Brooks provided me hope when he said, “You have to surrender to something outside yourself to gain strength within yourself” (“Should You Live for your Resume or Your Eulogy” by David Brooks - Moreau FYE Week Two). David Brooks explains that to truly grow with self-confidence, one must allow themselves to be vulnerable to someone or something out of their control. Many people struggle in mustering up their self-confidence which leads to them preventing themselves from being vulnerable to other people. As a result, they have fewer connections with others which leads to further diminished self-confidence. This cycle continues and can often worsen as time goes by. I experience this when around a crowd of people who seem to all know each other so well. Therefore, I sometimes leap of faith to allow myself to be vulnerable and in turn grow and develop internal resilience and confidence. Although I haven’t experienced a toxic relationship yet, I’ve become better prepared to properly handle one. The One Love Foundation made a video where they continually repeat the phrase “because I love you” (“Because I Love You, Double Whiskey” by One Love Foundation - Moreau FYE Week Four). Even though I’m looking to make new relationships at every turn, I also must take great caution in ensuring that I carefully pick the right crowd to hang out with. This sometimes leads me to overthink social interactions. There are some days when I feel very self-confident, and unfortunately, there are also other days when I feel lonely and uncertain about myself. I need to keep jumping into an opportunity without hesitation to truly grow and sustain confidence in myself. I also often find myself a bit judgmental, so I have been working on being completely open-minded and vulnerable to others. I also hope to love others openly so that I can experience the best relationships with https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4Qm9cGRub0&feature=youtu.be https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4Qm9cGRub0&feature=youtu.be http://www.georgeellalyon.com/where.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlLWTeApqIM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwQ5ur9OZ-g them. Father Kevin sums it up by saying, “that we cannot love the God whom we do not see, if we don’t love the brother whom we do see” (“Two Notre Dames: Your Holy Cross Education” by Fr. Kevin Grove - Moreau FYE Week Five). Father Kevin draws our attention to the connection between how we act and how we think. Man was made in the image of God, so by extension, every person we see and interact with should remind us that we are all children of God. On Wednesday during lunch, I saw someone sitting by themselves at the Dining Hall, so I decided to sit next to him. We ended up having a great conversation about our life plans as we were both pre-med students. What was even more interesting is that Lukash, the student I met, was a senior with 8 weeks left of school. He was talking to me about how he found friends in his dorm, Knott, with who he was able to have deep and meaningful conversations with which helped him grow as a person. I was admittedly a bit overwhelmed by this because he seemed to have his whole life figured out which pressured me a bit to do the same. I realized though that life journeys, whether physical or spiritual, shouldn’t be rushed. I do identify as a Catholic; however, I don’t believe that I’m as devout as I could be. This concerns me because I see this unwavering peace and confidence in people who have traveled much further in their faith journeys than I have. It’s sometimes troubling to wonder whether my journey has even taken off yet. Father Pete’s words can be applied to comfort me: “Take another look…First, be patient. If you’re in a hurry faith becomes so much harder to understand. Second, each faith journey is unique…Third, remain hopeful” (“The Role of Faith in Our Story” by Fr. Pete McCormick - Moreau FYE Week Three). Now I know to be patient and am confident that I will find my way on my journey. Unfortunately, there have been moments where I’ve hit obstacles during my life journey. A sophomore recently told me about a story last year at our dorm involving race wars. He made it seem as if this was a big deal and that the tension permeated even into this year. At first, I was immediately concerned and even believed him for a bit, but then I saw Chimamanda’s video where she said, “Stories can break the dignity of a people, but stories can also repair that broken dignity” (“Danger of a Single Story” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – Moreau FYE Week Seven). This is when I realized I only heard one account of the incident and made incorrect judgments based on that one story. I later verified with his roommates who clarified that there was an altercation between two people last year that didn’t extend to their races or anyone else. I felt foolish for believing Patrick’s words without guessing that he heavily embellished his tale. This helped remind me to stay more vigilant and aware of the stories I hear which also helps me to use stories for the better. https://notredame.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=859bc1a8-0d0f-4eb4-a1c1-d0a45c429187 https://notredame.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=859bc1a8-0d0f-4eb4-a1c1-d0a45c429187 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcZMeqWWOIs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcZMeqWWOIs https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story