CHAPTER ONE: MAKING OUR LIVES COUNT
"When we shrink from the world, our souls shrink, too," writes Loeb. Do you agree with this quote? Explain. Are there times when you have stayed silent over a public issue? Do you think it's always better to speak out?
CHAPTER TWO: WE DON'T HAVE TO BE SAINTS
We "wait our entire lives to find the ideal moment" to get involved, Loeb writes. What do you think? Has the "perfect standard" discouraged you from getting involved in your community? Did it surprise you that King got a "C" in his philosophy class? Why do you think Loeb included this detail?
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I agree with Loeb that our souls shrink when we shrink from the world. I believe that the "souls shrinking" part comes from a feeling of not being heard, and this is a result of a lack of speech. There are many occasions where I have stayed a silent listener over a public issue being discussed. When you only listen you are essentially not there. It doesn't matter what you think, because no one can hear you. It isn't until you speak that you become relevent in the conversation. When you can I believe it is better to voice your opinion, so you can show others that you are there.
ReplyDeleteI concur that most of us wait until the perfect time to get involved. Many put community activism on a pedestal, leaving it as something almost unnattainable. The issues that are discussed in the news often seem untouchable, and they often stay that way with that train of thought. It has stopped me many times before from giving help.
It didn't really suprise me that Martin Luther King got a "C" in philosophy, but I knew it was there for a point. In chapter two, it was described spot on to how most people think of political activists. We either label them crazy or superhuman and don't take the time to really examine them. Loeb included this fact to show us that the people that make the largest changes in our communities are just regular people like you and me. The only difference is that they decided to get involved. For all we know the next Martin Luther King is out there, but unless they get involved, the world will never know.
When we shrink from the world, our souls do not shrink with it. I think of it two different ways: following the way of the world and disappearing all together. From the first point, it is like keeping up with the Jones’s, and following what the media says what it is right. For example, they say ‘be the skinniest’, ‘party like the celebrities’, and ‘buy those expensive cars and clothes’. Shrinking away from those things will not cause our souls to shrink. It causes them to grow, be more vibrant, and do things that are morally and ethically right. Your soul will no longer be hidden behind the insecurities of the world. The second point is disappearing from the world. When I read the quote, I substituted ‘shrink’ with ‘disappear’. So Loeb’s quote would go, “When we disappear from the world, our souls disappear, too”. It made me think. Our souls are not attached to the world. Whether we shrunk or disappeared from the world. Our souls would stay constant. When we die, our physical body will be gone and incapable of doing anything, but our souls will prevail. Our souls do not die with us; they live on.
ReplyDeleteI have stayed silent over many issues. I have never spoken out. I feel the need to be nice all the time and I will not speak up if I think it may hurt someone’s feelings or cause disappointment. Then, I read the story about Virginia, and it said “We simply do not know we have it in us”. I believe I am at that stage where I just figured it out, now I have to do something about it. I never thought speaking up about something is holding people accountable. It is my chance to make the difference and be the instrument in the situation.
This comment is directed toward Jordan's post.
ReplyDeleteI liked what you said about "when you only listen you are essentially not there. It doesn't matter what you think because no one can hear you".
A very true statement and very well put. We often think that just showing up makes us involved. Truth is if you aren't giving anything or leaving anything behind you might as well have stayed home.
For the mass majority of Americans today and the world around, I would agree with Loeb's quote, "When we shrink from the world, our souls shirnk too," but for most of the SLICE members that I have met I would disagree. As pointed out by Paul Loeb most Americans beleive in the perfect standard and see themselves as unworthy or incapable of helping their communities, and so encouragement to simply engage in community efforts is needed. Yet seeing how most of us in SLICE have not yet graduted, nor secured our future careers, and are still involved in this program, I would say that most of us do not follow this philosophy. Instead we are here giving back to our community as a collective group during a time that is neither easy nor convenient for any of us. Beacuse of this I have no worries of any of us shrinking from the world, but of being too apart of this world. I beleive the soul expands just as much with others as it does in solitude and meditation. We need to make sure that we don't become so wrapped up in what others are doing and thinking that we forget what we set out to do ourselves. We should all take time to pause and reflect by ourselves to make sure we are still deciding our goals and opinions rather than simply following those of the organizations we follow. All of history's greats, including the often refered to Martin Luther King Jr., set aside time to personally reflect on their goals and actions. While SLICE provides us with an excellent class room setting to expand our minds and souls by voicing our own opinions and hearing the ideas of others, we need to remeber who we are as individuals. We wouldn't remember today the great acts of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. had they simply been part of thier organizations or another face in the crowd. Instead they found and stood by what they believed in first, so that they could find the strength to stand beside and in front of those around them.
ReplyDeleteTo Taylors comments
ReplyDeleteI like how you addressed current media trends and how they portray what should be sought after and idolized. While Americans could do with a little more guilt about our current obeisity issues, the glamour and hype we give to cars, wealth, and power shows how shrinking from the world can actually help us protect our souls from shrinking.
To Mike's comment:
ReplyDeleteI really like how you bring up how each one of us instead of being one with the crowd and doing whatever the crowd does, but instead we should stand out as an individual. That is definitely what it takes for an individual to become a great leader of many. Keep up the good work.