Tuesdays with Morrie

The book Tuesdays with Morrie brought up many of the conflicts people face during a life time. Finding serenity in helplessness was a struggle that Morrie had to conquer every day of his last weeks of life. The way he coped with his pending death was spreading wisdom he had gained over his lifetime. Mitch gained the most from these lessons about money, society, and family by learning not that he has become one of those people that are stuck in a meaningless life but by learning that love is the most important aspect of life. Morrie did not want pity for his disease he just wanted love, which Mitch slowly begins to understand through the progression of the book. He begins to take over Morrie’s physical therapy because he notices that Morrie just wants human contact. At the end of the book, Mitch incorporates this into his own life, when he contacts his brother and expresses love rather then pity. Sometimes people who are going through a hard time, whether a terminal disease or just a bad day, get frustrated and angry with people who feel sorry for them. Love and a listening ear are all they want.

Tuesdays with Morrie ties into our Paideia group we understand human behavior through Morrie’s gain of wisdom. He would rather spread the word of what he understands from his life then to coward away because of a disease that is slowly killing him. He could have easily lived his last days hidden away feeling sorry for himself. Morrie gained knowledge about life through death. He wanted to share it to the young so that they could live while they were still alive. One of my favorite quotes was “So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half asleep, even when they are busy doing things they think are important. This is because they're chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning." I have been trying through my own life to create purpose and meaning. Being in college it is hard to determine what is important. I feel like I get caught up in grades and stressful classes. It’s hard to appreciate the little things in life when looking at the big picture, the future. I feel like Paideia is helping me find importance in my life. Devoting ourselves to our community, one of the ways to create a meaningful life.

Boys and Girls Club

Working with the girls and boys club is hopefully going to be a very exciting experience. I am really glad our cohort finally agreed on organization that we can work together to help. I am looking forward to getting to know the members of our cohort even better in a non-classroom setting, what better way to get to know a person’s true character then working together to help others. As for the specifics of the project, I think it would be best to have structured activities. This way there is some control in the group and the kids would be easier to handle. Having structured activities, even if its only for the first couple of visits would allow for us to get to know the kids better which in the long run could lead to more flexibility and unstructured activities. As for me I would enjoy going to the boys and girls club in a group, even if it’s just one or two other people. Just because I am a shy person it is easier for me personally to adjust with other people. I do not think every one has to go in a group but I like to at least have the option. It might also make it easier for the cohort to relate in the issues and experiences that occur during our visits. If more people experienced the same issue then it would be easier to talk about with the rest of the cohort, leading to better discussions and a better understanding of human behavior. What also would lead to better discussions is if we all make at least a once every two week commitment to the club. It would be ideal for everyone to go once a week for a couple hours but realistically speaking every other week would work just as well. Working with a group of kids I believe would be ideal. From what I gathered the last time we talked about this was that not every kid goes every day. If that is the case then it would be very disappointing if a member of the cohort shows up and the kid does not. With a group of kids, there is a better chance to have something to do when we go. Also in a group it is easier to learn social behavior between the kids.

One concern I have is not knowing what to expect from this experience. I am not sure what exactly I am going to gain from working with kids but I am very anxious to find out. I am a little worried about the time commitment but I am sure we will work it all out.