I've never been disappointed with where my life has gone so far or how I've been raised. I am perfectly happy and excited for where my life is headed. Of course I have had the occasional low points in my life but all in all the positives overweigh the negatives. All in all, if my life remained like this until I die I would be esctatic. But should I be aiming to better my life? Make my happiness reach a new level?
In AS class this week we read a lecture of Kurt Vonnegut. He was describing the life paths of people/characters using a "life graph". Cinderella's life graph started at the bottom, she worked her way up, it dropped low again, but then she got her prince and the line of her graph climbed straight to the top. This is the rags to riches story that American's are captivated by, the story that we constantly see in movies and in storybooks. Another situation we read about was that of Franz Kafka, whose graph never led to the high point in his life but instead started, stayed low, and ended at the lowest. Its seems as if most people want their lives to be like a Cinderella story, even if they never start at the very bottom. Her graph became the way it was with hard work and good luck. My question is: what does it mean if my life graph is a straight line?
Alex,
ReplyDeleteIt's an interesting idea you have about what does it mean if the line is straight? I never really considered a line being straight before and I liked that idea. I think that it would differ if your life was a straight line toward the bottom or a straight line towards the top of the graph. The thing is, with a straight line graph, one never really knows a different lifestyle. They are born into and die in the same place that they started essentially.
Also, I think that a what makes life interesting are the ups and downs on the graph. But then again, I see the graph differently than Vonnegut. I don't think that a graph can possibly be only one line. I think it is a mish mosh of many different intersecting lines. Maybe the line for wealth decreases, as the happiness line increases. I don't think every aspect of a person's life can be crammed into one measly line. Therefore no one is a straight line, only.