Morrie's Aphorisms - Final Project

“So many people walk around with a meaningless life.They seem half-asleep,even

when they’re busy doing things they think are important. This is because they’re chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.” (p. 43)

1- Explain the aphorism in detail. what was Morrie's main message?

     He is trying to tell the world that we get caught up in our work too much and focus too much on things that aren't as important. For example like jobs and our reputation within them can deprive you from being able to have experiences that are so much better. To Morrie the people you love are the most important things and he feels that work often distracts you from them. Another part of this has to do with money. Morrie feels that our society is so focused on money and expensive items that it often distracts us from what has real value in life. His message is to not focus and devote ourselves to our work or material items, but instead to those who we love, to our community, and to our passions that actually help us. He probably realized for himself as well that he wasted some time or close people did because they were too involved in work or personal business. I believe his main message is to not get distracted from our family and things we love by jobs, money, and materialistic items because these things could disappear at any moment while family and love does not.

2-     Relate the aphorism to a movie, song, historical event, current event, personal experience, etc. and explain in detail how the example you have chosen relates to the aphorism.

     In my personal life I have experienced periods of time where I spend very little amount of time with my family over homework, being on my phone, or doing other things. Towards the middle of the year of this past 8th grade I remember coming home from school or a game and starting homework, then not finishing up until 10 or 11 o'clock at night. The reason this relates to Morrie's aphorism is because throughout the week I would get caught up in school work and personal life that I didn't get to spend much time with my family. I would do things like be on my phone, which is far less important than spending time with family. I also think that it relates to a lot of movies, not just one in which the children aren't paid too much attention to. There has been several movies and even friends I have had whose parents get so wrapped up in themselves and really don't bother to go to any of their child's events. Some of the kids are stars at whatever they are doing but their parent's are so stuck in their own world that they miss the opportunity to witness a special moment of their child's. 

3-     Evaluate the aphorism by explaining why you agree/disagree with it. Give specific reasons for your position and specific evidence from the text to support your position.

     I agree with the aphorism because of my personal experiences and the way Mitch was living before he once again reunited with Morrie. For example in the book Mitch is so caught up in work that he didn't have time for his wife or time to start a family. In fact he was so caught up by the way he described it that I thought that his wife had left him but that was not the case. He instead wasted his time on material items such as money or cars which didn't give him the same joy that being with Morrie did. The part I am going to focus on in my personal life is the part about devoting ourselves that gives us purpose and meaning. For me this aspect of life is basketball because although I can say school, I feel like school is different because it is an obligation to start with. Basketball has always been a passion of mine that has helped me, introduced me to new people, and gives me purpose. The feeling you get when you see how much practice has paid off is something irreplaceable. Not only this but the people I have met through the sport have been such a large influence on my life. 


     I am creating a separate paragraph because this is a combination of numbers 2 and 3. There is this song called Wesley's Theory by an artist named Kendrick Lamar in which he expresses his ambitions before blowing up in the music industry. This song proves Morrie's aphorism wrong in a way because Morrie says that the most important things in life are family and love, that money often blinds us. Yet this song and the rest of his album shows that sometimes money is the only way out and only thing that can make a family happy. Especially for those who grow up in poor, dangerous communities that need to get out. Sometimes the only source of happiness is making it out and being able to buy your mom a new house. So Morrie for the most part is correct but I feel as though Morrie doesn't think people should care about money and clothes but I think everything is based off of how you grow up. 

4-     Take a picture of your aphorism to use as your graphic. 

My Aphorism: Mentality is everything. Your mentality will be what puts you ahead or leaves you behind.