Brien Hartung
Course: English 101
Instructor: Mr. Paul Crawford
Assignment: Literacy Event
You just got out of the shower. You glance at the clock as you see your roommate sleeping across the room; the clock reads 11:48 p.m. You still have a paper to write on the theory of music. Fatigue hits as you drop into your chair in front of the computer. All you hear is the monotonous sounds of keys clicking page after page of homework. Finally, the finished product glares on the computer screen just as the clock on the computer changes to 4:23 a.m. Bed is only ten feet away, but you fall asleep at your computer. You wake up to the sound of your roommate leaving. Wiping the sleep from your eyes, you glance at the computer; it’s 9:15 a.m. Not only did you miss your English class, but your biology class started fifteen minutes ago.
Have you ever had those days where you feel like the world is out to get you? Nothing seems to go right. We want to quietly surrender to the problems of life. But as we all know, that’s not possible. Everyone has these moments. A simple book helped me through times just like those. The book is called The Meaning of Life. When I first saw the book at Borders, I expected to get answers from it. In actuality, it’s a book of questions. The prologue of the book states: “Halt! Whoa! Stop right there! Before you read any further there’s something you really should know. You may have opened this little book expecting it to be filled with answers, but it’s actually a book about questions.”
The book begins by questioning human nature and human functions. It explains how we are made up of the same matter as mountains and even stars, but so are potatoes and snails. It questions why we try to excel individually and then accept a level of conformity. The book even questions why children believe in fairies and “grown-ups” don’t. The answers to these questions are rather simple, love. Love is what drives humans to seek those things. I’m not talking about the romantic love between two people. The love that the author portrays is the determination and desire to live life with passion and for a reason. It’s the fire inside every person that melts away despair. It shows that some things are worth dying for, but more is worth living for. This love of life leads us to help others, to embrace opportunities, and to express ourselves in a positive manner that makes us glad we exist.
I’ve had one of those “I hate my life” days. I was working a late shift at Arby’s, and left around 11:30 p.m. After an exhausting night, all I wanted was to hurry home, take a hot shower, and pass out in bed. I cranked the music up as I made my way home. Not even a quarter mile away from work, red and blue lights appeared behind me. Realizing that I was speeding, I pulled to the curb. As a new driver, I wasn’t quite sure what to do. I called my mom to tell her what was happening and began digging through my glove box for my insurance and registration. Just as my mom was fussing at me about how I need to be more responsible, there was a tap at my back-seat passenger window. The cop had me at gun point through the window! I became anxious and hung up on my mom. I quickly stepped from the car. The cop bolted to me, frisked me, handcuffed me, and dragged me to the trunk of my car. He then began to interrogate me with questions, suspecting I was intoxicated. I responded by assuring him the only reason I did not hear him was because my music was loud. The next twenty minutes went by slowly; he left me handcuffed in the cold as I watched him search my car. The whole time, I heard my mom’s familiar ringtone going off in my pocket.
As you can probably imagine, the whole experience was traumatic. If I saw a policeman any time after that, my brain automatically returned to that horrible experience. I avoided police at any risk. It got so bad that my everyday life and moods were affected by the encounter with that one officer. I went through a year of these feelings. Reading The Meaning of Life helped me through my rut. I realized I needed to get past my fears in order to live my life. Now I have the ability to tolerate being around police. Not only that, but I have a positive manner towards life and try to seize every opportunity to better myself.
Right now, I bet you are expecting me to explain just how to achieve this greater enlightenment and knowledge. Like I said, this book is not about answers. People are different in their unique and individual ways. This epiphany will appear at different times and stages of one’s life. No one is going to tell us about it. We must discover it for ourselves. It’s unlikely that one day we’re going to be flooded by light and our lives’ purposes will be given to us in a vision; this isn’t a movie. So how do we get answers? Simply by doing what we don’t want to do; asking the tough questions, such as “Can I get more out of life?” and “What can I do to make my life better?”
Generally, people do not want to change, especially if it requires any form of effort on their part. For some, it will only involve finding moments in life and building a plan from that. For others, it will feel like staring into a deep, empty chasm. If we ask the questions and listen carefully, we will hear the answers. A voice—our conscience, call it what you will—tells us the truth. Our only job is being prepared to hear it and accept it when it happens. The next step is simple; do it! Take a wild leap in the dark if you have to. Then hit the ground running and take off.
Place a hand over your chest and feel your heartbeat. That is your life clock counting down. We do not have time to waste. Individuals have the tendency to feel invincible and immortal at times, when in fact our existence is rather delicate. Go after your dreams with passion, with enthusiasm. We can’t afford to wait even a second. Everyone is born with potential greatness and opportunities that will help us move up in life and succeed. Now, it’s our job to go out and do our own thing to the best of our abilities. The only thing that matters is that we feel satisfied about what we’re doing. Mistakes are part of life; so, keep in mind that whatever you do, don’t waste time thinking about the past. When we set out to live our dreams, people will try to hold us back. Don’t stress over whether you’re doing the right thing.
Following your own path is rewarding, but it definitely isn’t easy. Everyone will have days that are better than ours. Occasionally, everything may seem like a disaster, and we’ll start to doubt ourselves, “Why, oh why, didn’t I keep my job selling hot dogs?” Just remember that everybody struggles at times, so just hang in there! By doing something you enjoy, you will inspire others to go after their dreams. And that, my friend, is the meaning of life!
Mr. Crawford’s Comments: The assignment was to compose an essay which addresses some literacy event in the life of the student. Essentially this required Brien to think of a time when reading or writing something—almost anything—impacted his life in a memorable way. Brien’s strength in his narrative is the vivid details associated with his essay.
