This project was given to us to create out own philosophy of our own lives happiness and meaning. We were given the task to create an art piece whether it been a painting, a song, a drawing, or a dance with an artist statement. Along with the art piece, we needed to create a written piece also displaying our philosophy, whether it be a poem, essay, or short story. This project was pretty open ended in the direction you wanted to take it. As long as you illustrated your own happiness and meaning, you were in the clear.
In the beginning our happiness and meaning unit, I had a lot to say. I responded to all the videos we watched and I felt strongly about everything I said. But when this project was presented I found it really hard to put into words what my philosophy was. Explaining my happiness and meaning in both an art piece and a written piece seemed nearly impossible. In the end I was able to jot down some simple points that I felt where important to my happiness and meaning. The unit I think inspired me and gave me a lot more insight than the actual project. I think it was because we were discovering lots of other peoples happiness and meanings and that was interesting to me. I could easily pick from the words they presented and agree with them or disagree with them. But when it came to creating my own words I froze up and went with simplicity that got my main point out. Specifically ‘Harold & Maude’ was the piece of media that influence my thinking the most. The ultimate message of the movies was so beautiful and it really touched me regardless of how odd the movie was. Seeing the way I would ultimately like to life at 79 years old on screen was something so interesting to me.
Intellectually, happiness and meaning will be something you learn more and more about each day of your life just by living. So I hope that I can continue to live life and be taught by the universe in the way I’ve already been for the last 16 years. After this unit I wonder the mindset of people that make their religion and spirituality their happiness and meaning in life. I wonder how they go about that and how different they live life compared to a free spirt. How do i discover more of who I am as a person? A question I have for my self is definitely, “Do you think you can create your own eudaimonia?” I would like to challenge myself to live the most fulfilled life I can live, and at the end of it all be content with the way I lived my life.
PHILOSOPHY -
I believe the purpose of our existence is to merely exist. We have solely been put on this earth to experience and live life. There is no exact way a person must live their life. There is no handbook of instruction manual on how to live life. Who knows the exact reason why we’re here? Living life trying to look for those answers is only going to consist of too much thinking and not enough doing. What gives my life meaning is the ideology of mindfulness, the act of living in the moment and enjoying yourself, of relishing in the moment you are living RIGHT NOW. My happiness is defined by the risks I take in life, by the people I meet on my journey. My happiness all depends on the moments surrounding the meaningless things that somehow become the reason of my contentment. My happiness comes from the beautiful balance my life seems to make of itself. It’s enough for me to say that I was alive and I lived, laughed, loved and enjoyed my time.
It’s enough to say I had the chance to exist and I know that if I continue to feel this way for the rest of my life I will live up every moment of my life to it’s exact potential. I will experience and see things that are unbelievably gorgeous, I will use my senses and I will go out there and be a beautiful human constantly growing. I will create memories with people I love,I will have different humans come in and out of my life. I will experience a plethora of events and each will contribute to the seconds that make up my life. My life is a temporary time on this earth filled with experiences and people. And for some reason a temporary time on this earth is the most beautiful concept I have ever endured. I don't want to be immortal, I want to live now and until my health runs out, beyond then is selfish and unneeded. I’m not scared of the inviability of dying, I’m not nervous of what is bound to come, and meant to be. I welcome it with open arms because it’s part of living. I ponder the way I may die, and how those in my life would celebrate me. I sometimes smile thinking about my death, thinking about the end and having my final bow.
ART PIECE -
" Inevitable Balance "
RHETORIC PROJECT -
VOICES FROM THE ANIMAS REFLECTION -
The Voices from the Animas project was a project based on the sole purpose of sharing the ideas and perspectives of the many community members and their experiences with the river spill. We wanted to give people that don't regularly have a voice in society a chance to speak up and share their opinions. We got all different types of people sharing their perspectives and stories on what the river meant to them. From indigenous native people, farmers, community members, and tourist, we got all different types of perspectives from all different types of people.
During this project a lot of it was based solely on getting the perspectives and ideas of different people and that in itself was educational, but overall we learned a lot about the possible harmful effects. Throughout this project we read many articles and also simultaneously worked on some chemical analysis of the river water we collected in Silverton. A very popular perspective we came across in all platforms was that this incident was the EPA’s fault and they were the ones to put the blame on. Some perspectives were a lot more emotional than others, so more resentful, some even being less concerned than others. All perspectives we got were valid responses to this incident.
My interview with Denyce was an amazing experience for myself, hearing her talk about her personal experience and the way this spill affected her really just opened my eyes up. Getting to know her and her culture what her beliefs were was like stepping into a new world. I loved just listening to her talk, the way she would fluctuate her voice while talking to exaggerate the parts she felt needed to be exaggerated. Denyce is a good person with a heart of gold and I am so thankful to have talked to her and have gotten her perspective.
This being my first exhibition ever here at Animas, I was very happy with the way things turned out. I listened to a few fellow classmates interviews but mainly greeted at the front door. The atmosphere of the exhibition was so cool, I loved how people just walked around at their own leisure and listened to countless interviews. It felt good to have our work be on display in that way. Also having those interactive posters where people could put post-it notes on was very fun and interactive too. The most important lesson learned from this project, was the idea of understanding and accepting others perspectives. Many peoples bias come from their experiences and culture and I just think it’s so beautiful with people's beliefs mirror their perspectives. Hearing out the people who feel as if their voices are rarely heard was an experience I’m very glad I was able to experience. It felt as it community members were willing to listen to each other which is so special.