Integration 3 Integration 3 Moreau FYE Spring 2022 Spreading Her Lessons To Everyone always knew that during the time which she passed, she would want people to recount her root beliefs and describe how she inhabited a life well-lived. We all know she believed in creating authentic, vulnerable relationships with others to allow for stronger connections and friendships. With these friendships, she was able to spread her messages to others to overall make the world a better place. What exactly were her messages? Sofia wanted these lessons to be shared one last time so everyone could finally hear where she got them all from. She thinks it is important to share who and where she learned the way to live a life well-lived to hopefully show them how to do the same. To begin, we can all acknowledge that Sofia knew this day would come. She always knew it was inevitable. With this being said, she always took time to pause. Life can move a million miles per hour unless we stop to breathe. The need for a breath in time was an item Sofia was always sure to follow. “The need for an empty space, a pause, is something we have all felt in our bones; it’s the rest in a piece of music that gives it resonance and shape” (Why we need to slow down our lives by Pico Iyer- Moreau FYE Week One). Obviously, Sofia strongly connected with this quote due to her love for music. She always said that without the rest in music, there would be no rhythm or character. Still, there is a particular motif that she always tried to spread to others that stems from this quote. Sofia believes that people don’t understand how little we need. It is true…there is so little that we need but our minds are always in a rush to think ahead to everything we must accomplish or what we think we need. We want so many https://ideas.ted.com/why-we-need-a-secular-sabbath/ https://ideas.ted.com/why-we-need-a-secular-sabbath/ things, we think that we need so much to happen at rapid speed. Nevertheless, especially during this time, Sofia would want us to take a break, a pause, a breath, in order to slow down and appreciate everything that is currently in front of us in our lives. Continuing on to other lessons Sofia wants to spread to others for prospering a life well-lived stems from a place closely connected to where she attended college at the University of Notre Dame. A quote from a movie she had to watch all the way back to when she attended this university says, “...it’s impossible to have a complete and honest human story if one doesn’t speak of human failings as well as human successes” (Hesburgh Film , produced by Jerry Barca and Christine O'Malley- Moreau FYE Week Two). Everyone knows that Sofia was proud of her failures. Anyone that attended school or worked with her would know that she used her failures as a place where she could learn the most. Whenever she would see others be down on themselves, she was a constant reminder that failure is success. Through failure, you learn more about yourself while teaching how to be resilient. With this being said, Sofia was always sure to teach others to teach themselves rather than be down on themselves with failure. She was always a place where anyone could go to discuss how to grow. I am sure everyone can also say that helping others grow, made her grow as well. On the topic of failure and how Sofia viewed them, it can be said that she also found obstacles to be just as important as failures. It is funny to say that obstacles and failures are important, but this is exactly what she believed. In the beginning of her life, Sofia did not master the art of responding to obstacles. Over time, she learned how to navigate through them. However, there were many times where she found herself thinking it was the end of the world when encountering a simple problem. She was a very futuristic thinker which resulted in believing that every single decision she made would affect her entire future as a whole. She has https://notredame.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Auth/Login.aspx mentioned that her perspective shifted after realizing that your problems only have the effect your responses create. In other words, a problem is only a problem if you make it one. She learned to obtain ways of coping and responding to challenges by Dr. Kim (5 Minutes , by Aria Swarr, Grotto - Moreau FYE Week Six). He learned how to change his disadvantages by looking at what he could do in the present. Sofia experienced times where her problems forced her to ruminate on pure negativity rather than allowing herself to see what is in front of her. Additionally, everyone knows that she made a huge change in her life at Notre Dame. Being a part of the RCIA program, she was able to grow in her faith. With this being said, she aspired to use prayer the way Dr. Kim did. He prayed for others if he was not for himself and in her experience, praying for others always made her end up feeling better. When you pray, hope, and wish good things onto other people, you feel better in the end. Discussing Sofia seeing the growth in others also sparks her ability to see what others do well. In college, Sofia had a difficult time deciding a major. The Moreau First Experience Course says it well: “ “There seems to be this commonly held belief in our society that a major equals a certain career path” (Navigating Your Career Journey, by Undergraduate Career Services - Moreau FYE Week Four). As Sofia was able to show us in her lifetime, your major definitely does not define you to one specific job the rest of your life. She bounced around all over and covered a wide variety of different occupations! She showed us to understand patience and how to have trust that everything will work out. She constantly reminded her friends in college there is no “best major”, instead, she helped them discover what was the “best major for them.” Always giving her best to help others discern was where she got her joy. Speaking of when she received joy from others, a specific moment from her past left a mark on her soul and always acted as a constant reminder of who she was in others eyes. She had https://grottonetwork.com/make-an-impact/transform/why-does-god-allow-suffering/?utm_source=moreau&utm_medium=class&utm_campaign=spring_2022 https://undergradcareers.nd.edu/navigating-your-career-journey---moreau/ a conversation with her mother where her Mom showed her the role an outside person plays in discernment (Week 5 Discernment Conversation Activity). Sofia was the type of person where self awareness was always being stretched, but after her mother told her she always saw her “in the zone” when participating in community service or being a student, Sofia’s eyes widened. From that point on, she was able to truly see that she did indeed flourish in these aspects. She noticed the importance of the role others play when going down the path of life. Therefore, she made it her priority to help others on their path as well. She understood the impact her Mom made on her that day and she was committed to playing that role for others as well. Relationships that fill you with confidence and build you up are ones you should keep. For Sofia, some specific characteristics to a relationship well-lived is acceptance, tenderness, and the ability to communicate. When you can communicate well, you are able to express how you feel and discuss your jurisdictions and feelings to the ones you trust. Afterall, she believed that “Life is not time merely passing by, life is about interactions.” (Why the only future worth building includes everyone - Moreau FYE Week Seven). The need for others' creativity and surrounding ourselves with others provides a sense of hope. Sofia knows that every individual can have hope but a group of people who have hope creates the idea of “us” having hope. This “us” creates a revolution and it is this revolution that is able to guide us down the path of humility. She always believed that with humility and tenderness, people have positive power to change the world. Sofia wants us to make relationships where we are able to surround ourselves with others in order to have the power to create a kind and good future. Obviously, this has been a lot of continuing on about what Sofia has brought to the world. With this being said, to end her eulogy, it must be discussed how she viewed the end. “We naturally tend to think of our lives as kind of continuing and continuing” (Meet the Nun Who https://www.ted.com/talks/his_holiness_pope_francis_why_the_only_future_worth_building_includes_everyone/transcript https://www.ted.com/talks/his_holiness_pope_francis_why_the_only_future_worth_building_includes_everyone/transcript https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/14/us/memento-mori-nun.html Wants You to Remember You Will Die, - Moreau FYE Week Three). There once was a time where Sofia did indeed think that everyday, we as humans must simply push through and get through our hours in order to get through our days, weeks, months, and years. In other words, she used to think our lives were just “continuing” on some imaginary timeline. Sofia became a firm believer that having the ability to intentionally think about our own deaths every day, slowly allows for the appreciation of the present and focus for the future. With practicing death, we eventually will be able to find meaning and focus on what really matters to us as individuals. The “excruciatingly difficult and the breathtakingly beautiful” fate of death was something Sofia found to be life changing. While talking about the true meaning of joy and how to pursue that joy, one must know their horizons and perceptions. Sofia viewed the inevitable fate of death to provide a more positive and more focussed view on what exactly those perceptions and horizons are. With this all being said, Sofia lived a life well-lived because she was happy. She may have had to learn what makes her happy or ponder on discernments in order to get there, but once she began to live by the values stated here today, everything became more clear…and I am sure she is happy that everyone else can hear these values today too. She would want the rest of the world to know how and what makes a life well-lived. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/14/us/memento-mori-nun.html