A Dae In the Life

  When asked the question “What does it mean to know yourself?” there are two types of responses that come to mind, as I believe that our perceptions and knowledge of ourselves may be divided into two categories. The first is the individual sense of who we are: our ambitions, goals, perceived weaknesses or strengths, personality traits and anything else that makes you, you. When we are in touch with this individual self as I’ll call it, we are completely aware of our unique and personal identity. The second type of self we become familiar with is who we are according to our place in the world. I believe this worldly self includes who we are in relation to others and the values instilled in us from other people; think of the groups we consider ourselves a part of, like sports teams, clubs, online meeting places/forums, or any sort of social circle. It may include your place in your community, such as being an active member/organizer or being more reclusive; your fellow employees a...

  One of the similarities that stand out most to me between the events that transpired in Genesis and the ones of Emily Dickinson’s poem is the sense of naiveness and innocence, and how quickly those feelings are lost in both stories. Dickinson references the blind familiarity one feels in their place of living if they never leave, and how they live “. . . without suspecting [their] abode.” It is true that if someone has one ever known only one environment then they have no others to compare it to, and thus are unaware of the blessings or dangers they may experience in this one environment; they lack the knowledge of these positive or negative parts of life, and live in their own bubble of unawareness and naivety. Additionally, after the narrator's departure from her home, she tells listeners she can “. . . discover it no more,” referring to how once one has left a place, they cannot ever experience it the way they did the very first time. Other parts of life they encounter continu...

  The meaning of life is a topic that has been debated as long as time itself. Some argue it is to be happy, some argue it is to form a healthy relationship with God, some argue it is being truly grateful for what you have, and some spend their whole life searching for this meaning. I believe many would be shocked at the statement there is no meaning of life because it’s such a direct contradiction to what we’ve been taught our whole lives. When we examine the meaning of life through a scientific viewpoint, we see just how little purpose there is in the human being. We were not put on this Earth by any omnipotent, supernatural, all knowing creator, but science tells us that we evolved from our primate ancestors. All the life that Earth has known began as a lonely single celled organism; from there, other life forms developed, humans being no different. There was no guiding spiritual factor in the development of humans either: cells simply continued to reproduce and weak traits got...

  Humanity has never been able to stay the same for very long, and is constantly evolving. Since the beginning of time, humans and their lifestyles, environments, and cultures have been changing and adapting to these new situations. This concept is most accurately summed up by Utnapishtim when he tells the anxious Gilgamesh “There is no permanence.” This notion of impermanence would continue on for all of eternity. But what does living in impermanence even mean? When looking back at human history, no two eras or time periods are too similar; advancements within technology, society, politics, and more help to rapidly change the environment we exist in, therefore affecting the cultural and social reactions that spring up in the wake of such events. Take the beginning of human history, for example; we were once nomadic hunter-gatherers who roamed entire continents, having no one place to settle down. Our food supply was obtained on a day to day basis, and groups of natives traveled al...

  Storytelling has been a part of human history since our beginning. From cave art made by the first peoples, to plays performed at the great Globe Theatre, and to the movies we binge watch on Netflix today, a common element has been present over all the eras of narratives: stories about heroes. But why are these narratives so attractive to us? For starters, they serve to inspire us more than anything. The feelings characters experience course through us, like adrenaline and fear, but also excitement and splendor. We want to feel this same rush of feelings heroes do, and get us thinking about what more to life there is. We're encouraged to discover things individually, about the world and oneself. Furthermore, they allow us to take a break from reality; more often than not, these fictional characters are appealing to us, and we love getting to know them from an outside perspective. It gives us another world to live in for a while, full of places and creatures and people we would ne...