Morality

In the essay, “The Good Enough Life” by Frank Bures the balance between right and wrong is brought into question. The essay begins with a quotation, “Aspire to high principles. Just don’t go overboard.” The author continues by telling of one of his first college courses that was structured around the life of Gandhi. Bures found himself quickly thrown into a lifestyle where he tried his hardest to model himself after Gandhi. After it was brought to his attention that he may be going overboard with the lifestyle change, he was faced with questions of ethics and trying to decide what is right and wrong. Bures quotes author Arthur Kleinman, “Ethics is frequently taught as black and white, but the world we live in is always gray.” I find this to be interesting and accurate. We’re taught what is right and wrong in black and white terms, but the world we live in does not function in a black and white way.

Bures mentions the “classical ethical dilemma” of “is it better to steal food to feed your family, or to let your family starve?” Most people would agree that it is wrong to steal, but when you add a starving family to that equation, things become gray. Jean Valjean from Les Miserables steals a loaf of bread for his starving family and spends his whole life running from the consequences of that choice. I feel like this essay concludes that ethics of right and wrong are wrapped up in our own definition of what we consider to be right and wrong based on the circumstances. There is no black and white answer to what is right and wrong. 

Link to essay: The Good Enough Life

Musical Stress Reliever

Music has been used for thousands of years as a means of expression and the influence that music often has on those who come in contact with it can be significant. Listening to prerecorded music can be useful in helping to reduce stress levels but nothing beats being able to sit down with an instrument to create your own music. One of my biggest passions is the art of performing music. I began piano lessons when I was four years old, and continued taking lessons until I graduated from high school. I am most decidedly not the greatest musician, but I have found that there are few things more enjoyable than just sitting down with an instrument and giving it everything.

            Over the years I have dabbled in a few other instruments including flute, acoustic guitar, and bass guitar. I say from experience that just because a person is physically able to play an instrument, does not mean that they were meant to play it. During the few years that I took acoustic and electric guitar lessons, I never enjoyed it and because of this I had doubts when I was asked to learn bass guitar in order to play in the worship band at my church. Despite my doubts, I learned how to play bass and discovered that I loved it. The ability to play music on an instrument is important to me because I found that it is one of the most effective ways to release stress. There are countless days that I come home from a particularly stressful class, and sitting at the piano reduces the stress.

My Piano