...Joan Didion: What is Home? In Joan Didion’s essay “On Going Home” she writes about leading a double life. She feels like one person when she’s with her husband and daughter in Los Angeles, and a completely different person when back “home” surrounded by her childhood family in the Central Valley of California. During this particular trip, she begins to reflect on her life in Los Angeles. Didion contemplates the fact that she often feels uneasy around her husband, just like he feels uneasy being around her family. At a crossroad, she must decide not only who she is, and the life she wants, but also the kind of life she wants for her daughter. Her life in Los Angeles has cleansed her from her youth—one that was dusty and full of useless trinkets. She ponders the time her husband wrote the word “D-U-S-T” on those useless trinkets and she remembers her feelings of sadness and indignation. She says, “We live in dusty houses…filled with mementos quite without value to him” (139-40). The dust-covered trinkets signify what is important to her, or what needs to be addressed in her marriage. Yet, these objects just lay there waiting for someone to see them—for someone to dust them off and care for them—not unlike how Didion wishes her husband would see her and nurture her in their marriage. Didion wonders which of her two homes is normal or if they are both flawed. When she and her husband are with her family, he becomes apprehensive about her behavior, “…because once there I fall...
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...Being a manager is hard. Throughout his book, “Defining Moments”, Joseph L. Badaracco Jr. explains the challenges managers face when making decisions on a daily basis and provides a framework for how to tackle those challenges. Early on, Badaracco explains how decisions between right and right (as opposed to right and wrong) are often the most difficult. Decisions like this can be seen as ‘defining moments’ because, according to Badaracco, they reveal, test, and shape a manager’s personal values as well as those of their organization. They also cause managers to come away with ‘dirty hands’, the unfortunate side effect of choosing one ‘right’ option over the other. It is how Badaracco puts these decisions in perspective that sets this book apart from other ethical decision-making books. ‘Defining Moments’ goes on to introduce a few real world cases that exemplify right versus right dilemmas. These examples demonstrate certain challenges that manager’s face, as well as serve to impress upon the reader the idea that there is almost never a clear-cut solution. The first case is that of Steve Lewis, a black analyst asked to represent his company’s diversity at a special presentation. The issue lies in whether he should sacrifice his personal values to satisfy his company’s request. Lewis’ case reveals how conflicts of personal integrity and moral identity shape one’s ultimate decision. A lot of thought must be given to choices that involve a matter of personal values in terms of...
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...question their purpose in the world. These questions were designed to be simply that; questions. They have no answer and once the answer seems to become apparent, it changes into a defining moment, according to Jim Tilley. These defining moments that were once questions are the things that document our lives and how far we have come. Jim Tilley wrote the poem The Big Questions to talk about and parallel these things with everyday life. “The big questions are big only/ because they have never been answered (line 1/2).” Jim Tilley begins his poem The Big Questions, by posing a philosophical statement in which the audience begins to ponder what these questions might be. A typical big question that people face is what is my purpose here? Before reading the poem, I expected an answer to this question or at least another philosophical statement for afterthought. However, Tilley uses philosophy as well as humor to convey that there is not a concrete answer to these “big questions”. These “big questions” are only circumstantially large and will in time become unimportant. These big questions often have more depth to them than their philosophical nature. They can in turn be used to determine survival instincts and maturity. The example he uses is encountering a grizzly bear in the woods while hiking a trail. In most cases, when someone encounters a bear they have three options. The first and foremost being to run away as fast as you can from the bear. The second would be to try to appear...
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...Life Defining Moments My friend & I were in the car, on our way to Glorietta 4 to catch movie with the rest of the group. She then asked me if some life-defining moments ever occurred. I wasn’t sure what she was talking about & I didn’t have a quick answer for that. I remember her telling me that one of her life defining moments was looking at a framed picture by her bedside, a picture of her and her gorgeous boyfriend, her arms around his neck, in a candid pose. Or something like that. I remember laughing, sine I could have thought of that too. She then explained that a life-defining moment was something you’d like to happen in the future no matter how far-off or crazy it might be. It was like a goal of some sort, but it’s just something conjured up to tickle the imagination. We didn’t dwell on that for long, for the conversation reverted to Harry Potter’s new adventures and the movie that were about to watch that afternoon. I totally forgot it, until a kabarkada now based in Seattle shared her own life-defining moment through e-groups, after that friend of mine (whom I watched the movie with) shared a brand-new one. They were all seeing themselves as successful IT Professionals in power suits rushing from their pad to their office in Manhattan’s Upper West Side. They were either carrying Loius Vitton bags or their slim Compaq notebooks, while talking with a client on their top-of-the-line mobile phones and the, most expensive Armani shades protecting their...
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...When thinking about the most defining moments of history from 1920-1990, there are so many events that come to mind. Although I was not born until a few years after, we are all living in the effects of those times. To be honest, that period was really one that defined America as we are today. From events such as the civil rights movement to something seeming as simple as our technological advances, that was a pivotal period in time. The first of many defining moments in United States history was that of The Great Depression. In 1929, America experienced one of the greatest financial hardships that lasted for ten years. Some like to credit the start of this sad period to October 24, 1929 better known as “Black Thursday.” On this day, 12.9 million...
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...Moral Compass Essay Yuebo (Grace) Zhu I. Introduction A moral compass is the moral guide on which a person bases his/her decisions and distinguishes what is right from what is wrong. With our moral compass, we know what rules we should play by. When I was a child, I learnt Chinese traditional wisdom, Confucianism, from my parents and elementary school. The core of Confucianism is humanity, to be altruistic, upright and courteous within the society, from which I got to know the rules I should honor. Never cheat. Be kind and honest. Don't do anything that will hurt others. These become the foundation of my moral compass. As I grow older, I have been introduced to other theories which cast light on the formation of my moral compass. According to Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill’s philosophy of Utilitarianism, the measure of right and wrong is to maximize happiness of maximized number. But when I tried to make decisions based on this theory, I met some problems. First, sometimes it’s impossible to transfer all the values into numbers to make comparison. Second, to achieve the maximized overall pleasure, I had to sacrifice the minority’s interests, which was unfair to them. As I was exposed to “Liberalism”, I found my answers. Every individual in the society deserves respect. Everyone has the right to choose freely, to live our life in the way we like, and to respect others for doing the same things. This part of Liberalism goes along with Confucianism; therefore I set...
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...What does happiness mean to you? Defining happiness Defining happiness can seem as elusive as achieving it. We want to be happy, and we can say whether we are or not, but can it really be defined, studied and measured? And can we use this learning to become happier? Psychologists say yes, and that there are good reasons for doing so. Positive psychology is “the scientific study of the strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive.” These researchers’ work includes studying strengths, positive emotions, resilience, and happiness. Their argument is that only studying psychological disorders gives us just part of the picture of mental health. We will learn more about well-being by studying our strengths and what makes us happy. The hope is that by better understanding human strengths, we can learn new ways to recover from or prevent disorders, and may even learn to become happier. So how do these researchers define happiness? Psychologist Ed Diener, author of Happiness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth, describes what psychologists call “subjective well-being” as a combination of life satisfaction and having more positive emotions than negative emotions. Martin Seligman, one of the leading researchers in positive psychology and author of Authentic Happiness, describes happiness as having three parts: pleasure, engagement, and meaning. Pleasure is the “feel good” part of happiness. Engagement refers to living a “good life” of work...
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...Every mother has a moment in her life where she remembers every detail. She remembers the date, time, and place for the rest of her life multiplied by how many children she has. It is the moment when she gave birth to her child. At that moment, she makes a promise to herself and her child that she would be a good mother. A good mother has many defining traits, unconditional love, support, and being a good role model. A good mother has a never-ending supply of unconditional love. A child could destroy her most prized possession, but she will still have a smile on her face because her child is safe. Often, when a child gets upset one says and does hurtful things, and yet a mother forgives and forgets. A mother's child grows and becomes an adult, and one might make decisions she might not agree with, but she will still love her child and be there when needed. No matter what, a good mother will always have unconditional love for her child. A child needs support in a variety of ways, and a good mother is there to offer all of the support needed. Of course, a mother is there to support her child financially as best she can; she will always provide for her child to the best of her ability. A mother also provides the emotional support that her child needs; she is always there when her child may need a kiss on an injury, or simply an extra hug as they get off the bus. In addition, it is important for a mother to support her child's interest in extracurricular activities; sometimes...
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...a job! He started at American Family as a Claims Adjuster and was soon promoted to Claims Manager. He later moved to the Southern Region as a Consultant before being selected for his current role as Regional Manager. When asked about his career success, Leon advises that he was always the guy with his hand raised. He volunteered for every opportunity that came along, more so out of a desire to learn and gain new experiences than it was to get himself noticed. He stresses that the best way to stand out, at American Family or in any organization, is by doing a great job at whatever it is that you’re currently doing. This is still true for Leon today. He states that he strives to be the most effective, most collaborative, and most results-driven leader that he can be. A defining moment of Leon’s career was when he began his first leadership role as a Claims Manager. It was then that he realized that it wasn’t about him and what he could do. What really mattered was how he could influence his team and bring about results through others. He...
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...Tragic Hero. Creon represents the characteristics of a morally sound man who is nonetheless subject to error. His fate is evidently greater than the error committed, and in spite of his pride, he comes to the realization that the curse of his fate was brought by his actions. These defining traits establish Creon’s significance as the tragic hero of “Antigone”. One of the most compelling factors to prove that Creon is a tragic hero as opposed to Antigone is his depiction as a noble, or “good” person, in the context of his fate. As described in Poetics, “Concerning "character" there are four points to aim at. The first and most important is that the character should be good. The play will show character if… the...
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...him all the way to the Olympics. He was eventually drafted in the army once WWII had started, since the U.S. was in dire need of more soldiers. In the book Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand Louie’s defining traits are rebellious and determined. Louie was determined to stay alive. “Louie, Phil, and Mac clawed for the raft walls and threw themselves overboard. They swam under the rafts and huddled there, wincing, watching bullets cut bright slits in the water around them.”(p.118) Louie, starving and weak, still had it in him to get into the ocean to evade the bullets taking a chance with the sharks. On page 186 it says, “The Bird beat him...
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...Throughout human history there have been defining moments that were the reasons behind many of this world best and worst times. These moments, often involve either to loving or tormenting nature of mankind. The Jewish holocaust is an example of the latter. What took place in the early 1940s in then Nazi Germany, has effected the world in dramatic ways. More importantly, its impact on those who survived it can not be ignored or forgotten. The millions of lives lost during that time often are simply remembered as a numbers. In reality, these were mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers. Most of all, they are innocent people being killed because of their ethnicity. So, with the holocaust being a stand out moment in 20th century it is important to examine a few things. Its impact on those who were there, what it says about mankind, and how it shaped history. To properly understand the topic at hand, it is important to first discuss the impact of...
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...with a record 10 national titles as the [head] coach of [UCLA basketball] and the distinction of being the first person to be voted into basketball’s Hall of Fame as both a player…and coach,” John Wooden is a great leader to take a look at and examine (Leadership Lessons). Coach Wooden believed that “leadership itself is largely learned [and] most of us have a potential far beyond what we think possible” (Wooden 4). Furthermore, John Wooden stated, “those who aspire to be leaders can do it [and] those who wish to become much better leaders can also do it” (Wooden 5). Coach John Wooden falls within the category of a much better leader and his leadership skills were learned through a variety of experiences. John Wooden’s journey to becoming a great leader can be traced back to the single most important person in his life, his father Joshua Wooden. Wooden stated multiple times that his father was “at the core of [his] philosophy of leadership (Wooden 6). More specifically, the “character and achievements of John Wooden can largely be traced to a piece of paper his father gave him on the day he graduated [grade school],” a “defining moment” if you will (Williams and Denney 26). Joshua Wooden handed a young John a small card with a seven-point creed to which he asked his son to live by. The seven points contained on the card were: “1. Be true to yourself. 2. Help others. 3. Make each day your masterpiece. 4. Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible. 5. Make friendship...
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...strength and guidance. Lame Deer has a brightly colored star quilt that his grandmother made, and forty pieces of her own flesh to help him be strong. He also has with him a ceremonial pipe to help ease his fears and communicate with the Waken Tanka or “Great Spirit” in the spirit world. Being alone with only his small tokens, the earth and night sky are all part of the path he must take to find his “calling”, to become a medicine man like his grandfather before him. This is his path to becoming a man. Rites of passage are different for everyone, and although my rite of passage isn’t as elaborate or even as ceremonious, I do relate to Lame Deer. I felt the connection of being scared and of being alone, and although we weren’t alone, in the moment it sometimes feels that way. Just like Lame Deer was afraid of failing and not having a vision to become a medicine man, I too was afraid of having a baby and even more...
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...of wealth and depression are positively related. It is clear, as shown by the previously stated statistics, that money does not always lead to happiness. To others, success may also be defined as “the fact of getting or achieving wealth, respect, or fame” (“Success”). However, the true definition of success does not include any of these things listed above. Success does not include material goods but it is rather tied to expansive, more meaningful perceptions such as happiness, persistence, and overcoming hardships. One way to measure success is by how happy a person is. For some people, they might feel their happiest when they have lavish items. However, this is not true for everyone and is not a correct scale of success. Happiness for most people is a joyful and affectionate family. If this is what success means to someone, then one’s family is what outlines one’s success. Dr. Dennis Kimbro, author of multiple best sellers, interviewed many successful people about their definition of success. One woman he interviewed, Terrie Williams, founder of her own PR firm, said, ‘Success goes beyond the dollar sign’ […] ‘I deal with a lot of people whom society would label 'successful' […] In a few cases, I wouldn't be so quick to agree. While chasing the brass ring, they have allowed joy and happiness to slip through their very hands.’ Terrie’s account of other people’s chase for...
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