Letters From the Heart // Pt. 1

What is life? What is the purpose of life? Why do we do the things we do? Why are we the way we are?

These are the questions that I wrestled when I first set foot on campus,

and frankly, from time to time, still struggle to define and make sense of

But over the past few weeks, the words of the now deceased philosopher and activist Jean-Paul Sartre have helped comfort and guide me in battling those queries

It all started with a passage that profoundly resonated with me in arguably what was his most famous work, Existentialism is a Humanism.

In it, he states “ If I am a worker, for instance, I may

choose to join a Christian rather than a Communist trade union. And if, by that

membership, I choose to signify that resignation is, after all, the attitude that best

becomes a man, that man’s kingdom is not upon this earth, I do not commit myself alone to that view. Resignation is my will for everyone, and my action is, in

consequence, a commitment on behalf of all mankind. Or if, to take a more

personal case, I decide to marry and to have children, even though this decision

proceeds simply from my situation, from my passion or my desire, I am thereby

committing not only myself, but humanity as a whole, to the practice of

monogamy. I am thus responsible for myself and for all men, and I am creating a

certain image of man as I would have him to be. In fashioning myself I fashion

man.””

From that moment on, I no longer had an excuse to live blindly, to live without accountability, to live without a sense of devotion or purpose even; for now, I had a responsibility to be the best that I can be in any and everything I do.

From that moment on, I wore a responsibility to be fiercely aware in my choices and decisions, active in my actions, and to do all I plan to with diligence and carefulness.

Why, you may ask?

Simple- My actions not only affect me, but play an even bigger role that that; they affect society and the way in which it moves forward over time.

And it’s with that realization,

it’s with that state of mind,

it’s with that now keen sense of awareness,

that I now strive to live by.

Your actions go beyond just affecting just you

The seeds you sow go beyond affecting just you