Personal Philosophy Essay

Personal Philosophy Essay Seeing the beauty and good in my surroundings has improved my life exponentially. Why look for negative things unnecessarily? I believe that humanity should place more emphasis of the beauty of the fact that we are all interconnected, and we all come from the same place. What does anyone get out of constantly being cynical? Although I can understand this perspective, I don’t believe it to be the most accurate or useful way to think of or go about life. As a kid, my mom always taught me to treat others nicely and she always stressed the Christian idea of “treating others as you would want to be treated. She also always took us to museums. She wanted me and my sister to not only be compassionate, but to see the art and beauty in everything within the world around us and beyond and ask questions about how the two intertwined. Although when I was younger I would complain about going to the High when I would rather be at Chuck E. Cheese, I realize now that I needed that exposure to the arts at such a young age in order to become who I am now. Thich Nhat Hahn discusses how all of nature is intertwined, and one part of nature cannot exist without the other, or “the clouds are in [his] paper”, as said in The Heart of Understanding. I believe that this way of thinking should be practiced my more people and especially myself. Highlighting our interconnectedness to the world around us gives us more accountability for how we treat one another and our surroundings and fosters a greater sense of empathy. Empathy is a characteristic that I find imperative to insure that people are being respected within their relationships and even in everyday interactions. Kongzi’s Golden Rule states: do not impose onto others what you would not want imposed upon you”. This thought places more focus on human relationships, specifically. It suggests that treating others “nicely” is not enough; people ought to treat one another with respect and consideration as well. Kongzi’s rule also emphasizes the idea of thinking outside of oneself in order to help or benefit others. This is another mode of thought that is similar the Hanh’s– it fosters and emphasis on empathy and accountability. Mozi’s Impartial Caring discusses many beliefs and values that I share. Mozi discusses the “great harms” that plague us, stating, “It is things such as great states attacking small states, great families wreaking havoc on lesser families, the strong robbing the weak the many doing violence to the few, the clever deceiving the ignorant, and the noble acting arrogantly towards the humble” (Ch. 16). I firmly believe that there is a pattern of abuse of power within the world. All throughout history it has been obvious, and it is clearly still evident in today’s society. People with more power, in pretty much every society, take advantage of the less powerful group. Within everyone, I believe there to be inherent good. Something within us attempts to point us in the right direction. A direction that helps us all guide each other and ourselves. In my perspective, that instinctual guide is the closest we’ll ever get to a god or higher power. It is something innate, almost uncontrollable, and rather divine. Kongzi discusses ritual propriety and how it affects how we act. Kongzi defines ritual propriety as proper conduct that is necessary to preserve social and cosmic order. The theory of Forms, as discussed/argued by Plato. The theory of forms suggests that ideas are created Humans were meant to live in groups and support each other. I believe societal expectations have made people more cynical and thus created a blur around this inner compass for many people. I was raised in a Christian household, and although I know longer believe in Christian ideology, I do believe it helped morph my current beliefs and shaped some aspects of my character. Short snippets of verses like “treat your neighbor as you would want to be treated” always stuck with me and my life’s philosophy developed around them. Compassion and understanding have always played a big part in my life. At my core, what I find myself longing for most is to be understood, myself, and for others to understand each other to create a more positive universal wellbeing. In this world, it seems that no one even wants to understand one another. This lack of understanding creates nothing but hatred, chaos, and confusion. I wish to gain knowledge about people that are unlike myself in order to try to bring more compassion and understanding into this world, no matter how miniscule it may seem.