Austin Scholar #142: My essay on “The Good Life”

& creating your “good life”

Hey, y'all!

This week from Austin Scholar...

1. Austin’s Anecdote: My essay on “The Good Life”

2. Creating your “good life”

3. Scholar’s Sources: What I’ve been thinking about…

Happy Thanksgiving break! I truly have so much to be grateful for and am going to make sure to keep that in the forefront of my mind for the entire week (instead of stressing about my math final at the beginning of December). Stanford has brought me so many incredible opportunities and beautiful new friendships.

And really, I just have to say thank you to y’all for being here every week. I’m grateful for each and every one of you and wish you the happiest of holidays!

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Austin’s Anecdote: My essay on “The Good Life”

One of my required classes at Stanford is called Why College: Your Education and the Good Life. For my final exam, I wrote an essay about how my perspective on the good life has changed throughout the course.

I feel like the essay, while specific to college, is relevant to anyone thinking about what a good life is, so I thought I'd share it here:

Most people come to a university to set themselves up to have a “good life” in the future, and I am no different. I arrived at Stanford excited to explore the possibilities of my life, meet incredible people, and (hopefully) learn something along the way. I hadn’t yet given much thought to what I wanted my life after Stanford to look like or what would make me feel fulfilled – what the “good life” means to me.

Throughout this “Why College?” course, we have interacted with many different thinkers, philosophers, and change-makers, all of whom have something to say about what the “good life” truly means. The four that stuck out to me the most are Zadie Smith, Epicurus, Jenny Odell, and Seneca, so I will be exploring each of their ideals of the “good life” and my own perception of them in this paper. Hopefully, by the end, I will have developed a clearer idea of what it means for me to live a “good life” and what I want out of my time at Stanford.

Firstly, I’d like to begin with Zadie Smith. When I saw Smith on the syllabus, I was immediately drawn to her, as I won the “Zadie Smith” superlative award for writing in middle school. Despite my apparent resemblance, I hadn’t ever read any of her work, so I was excited to dive into “Notes on Attunement.” A surface-level reading of this piece reminded me of my own experience with musical attunement in enjoying Lana Del Rey’s music. But a further exploration of the ideas represented in the piece indicates a meaning far deeper than with just music. 

In describing her current relationship with Joni Mitchell, Smith states that “the effect that listening to Joni Mitchell has on me these days [is] uncontrollable tears. An emotional overcoming, disconcertingly distant from happiness, more like joy–if joy is the recognition of an almost intolerable beauty.” So often in today’s culture, we view happiness and joy as synonyms, and Smith implies a distinction – one that I believe is a critical part of the “good life.”

Instead of trying to live a happy life, I believe I want to live a joyful one – a life filled with “intolerable beauty” and that can keep me fulfilled in both the bad times and the good times. And I feel that a major part of this joyful life is my job; I want work in some area or on something that I am attuned to, something that brings me joy. However, finding that thing that I am attuned to is not easy. In order to find this thing, I believe an open mind is critical.

Smith states that she experienced “a sudden, unexpected attunement” with Joni Mitchell. While I do believe that her attunement might have felt like a sudden moment, it was, in reality, the work of years of listening to Joni Mitchell with an open mind – being willing to love her music. Smith says that “faith involves an acceptance of absurdity,” and this acceptance of what she believed to be absurd is what allowed her to eventually become attuned to Joni Mitchell the way she is.

Thus, a major part of me living a “good life” is keeping an open mind and accepting areas of study or potential careers that I wouldn’t have given a second thought to. I must explore and try as many different things as I can (even subjects that I didn’t like in high school, such as chemistry and history) to see if I can find attunement – if I can find joy.

This discussion of Smith flows nicely into that of Seneca, as Smith herself describes her interaction with Seneca’s philosophies. She highlights the idea that we can “choose whose children we would like to be” and names artists and musicians that have shaped the way she views the world. I do have to agree with Smith that it “would be [a delight] to have so many parents!” In the musical sense, I suppose I would say that I am the child of Taylor Swift and of Billy Joel, with a special shout-out to Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car.”

In a more intellectual and professional sense, though, I learn from and admire David Perell, Steven Strogatz, Sarah Hart, and both of my parents every day. I mold my perception of and interactions with the world based on their philosophies, actions, and ideas – they make up a big part of who I am, and I’m all the better for it. Something I hope to get out of my Stanford education is to find more people to add to this list of “parents” – to learn from and about intellectuals who can help me make better choices and figure out what my “good life” looks like.

Another aspect of Seneca’s philosophy is this notion that he believes that men don’t value their time as they do their material possessions, and that this is a mistake. Seneca states that “the life we receive is not short, but we make it so, nor do we have any lack of it, but are wasteful of it” and that “in guarding their fortune men are often closefisted, yet, when it comes to the matter of wasting time…they show themselves most prodigal.” I find this to still ring true today. So many people will guard their material possessions so closely, but not give a second thought to wasting their time on meaningless, even harmful pursuits.

I find myself guilty of this, too. I’ve saved every cent I’ve earned from my newsletter, yet scroll on TikTok for an hour every day without batting an eye. Thus, I feel that, in order to feel more fulfilled and get more value out of my life, I must learn to value my time and spend it on things that will bring me joy, such as learning new things, exercising, and having discussions with friends.

Seneca not only encouraged becoming the “child” of great thinkers, but to also become friends with them. He says that “they alone are engaged in the true duties of life who shall wish to have Zeno, Pythagoras, Democritus, and all the other high priests of liberal studies, and Aristotle and Theophrastus, as their most intimate friends every day.”

Despite the grandness and veneration of these philosophers and thinkers, Seneca still urges us to treat them like friends – people we can converse with and learn from, but not blindly agree with. Interacting with the greats long after their death can lead to fulfillment and personal understanding of the “good life.”

Now it only makes sense to discuss Epicurus, as Seneca seemed to find himself in sharp disagreement with many of his philosophies. However, Epicurus also identified friendship as a key part of living a “good life.” Epicurus states that “of all the things that wisdom provides for the happiness of the whole man, by far the most important is the acquisition of friendship.”

I believe that Epicurus, here, was talking about the physical, in-person friendships, not the intellectual ones that Seneca admired. Epicurus thought that one could get the most value out of life when engaging in a lively discussion with friends; I have to admit, there is no other place that would be better to do this than Stanford. 

Already, I’ve stayed up much too late discussing morals, the political climate, and beliefs with the women on my floor. My roommate and I constantly talk about our opinions on the things we’ve learned in class or videos we’ve seen online. Class discussions often end up truly deep and impactful. There are so many opportunities here to make friends and to have heartfelt discussions with them, which is absolutely a priority of my “good life.”

Although I don’t believe I can ever fully agree with Epicurus’ entire philosophies as I do believe in life after death, another tenet of his I’ve found valuable is this notion that a truly pleasurable life is one where you can find pleasure in small things. Epicurus states that “we speak of pleasure as the starting point and the goal of the happy life because we realize that it is our primary native good, because every act of choice and aversion originates with it, and because we come back to it when we judge every good by using the pleasure feeling as our criterion.” And if the goal is to feel pleasure, then wouldn’t it make sense that the most pleasurable life would be one where even the smallest thing – like a piece of bread – brings you pleasure? Thus, another important piece of my interpretation of a “good life” is that I can find pleasure and value in the little things in life.

Everything from sunsets to pretty flowers, to cold water, to a place to sleep should all bring me joy – make me feel fulfilled in life.

Epicurus’ garden (which is where he taught his students his ideas) also reminds me poignantly of Jenny Odell’s rose garden and her ideas of “doing nothing.” After my first read-through of her piece, “How to do nothing,” the quote that stuck out to me the most was when she said that “there is nothing to be admired about being constantly connected, constantly potentially productive the second you open your eyes in the morning – and in my opinion, no one should accept this, not now, not ever.”

Ever since I was in the fourth grade, my education took place through online, adaptive, artificial intelligence-powered apps. This meant that as long as I had my laptop with me, I was “potentially productive.” This caused me to feel constantly guilty and stressed if I was not working for one moment from the time I woke up to the time I went back to sleep. I recall my anxiety being particularly bad in the eighth grade, so I would start my lecture videos at 6:30, the very moment I woke up and would do school work until 9:00 at night, when I had scheduled “family time.” Despite that productivity, I was certainly not happy or fulfilled.

Even though I know that lifestyle isn’t healthy, it’s extraordinarily easy for me to fall back into those patterns. As Odell says, “...time [became] an economic resource that we can no longer justify spending on “nothing.” It provides no return on investment; it is simply too expensive.” Thus, an important part of ensuring that I am living a “good life” is setting strict boundaries – giving myself time to “do nothing.” And on this notion of “doing nothing,” Odell states that “to do nothing is to hold yourself still so that you can perceive what is actually there.”

For me, this involves being outside and practicing mindfulness grounding techniques – utilizing all five of my senses to appreciate and feel gratitude toward the world around me. Stanford is such a beautiful campus, so it is important for me to schedule time to be grounded outside.

Odell also says that “with effort, we can become attuned to things, able to pick up and then hopefully differentiate finer and finer frequencies each time.” Not only is this a beautiful call-back to Smith, but it also connects to this idea of finding joy in and being fulfilled by “doing nothing.”

Now that we’ve reached the beginning of this circle again, I will attempt to pull all of these thoughts and philosophies together. Thus, my “good life” is one where I’ve found attunement in my work, I’ve found a set of “parents” to guide my decisions, I guard my time well, I have deep, meaningful friendships, I find pleasure in the little things, and I have scheduled time to “do nothing.”

Stanford will be, I believe, a fantastic place to work towards these goals and live my “good life.”

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Creating your “good life”

I’ve spent the past nine weeks refining my idea of what my “good life” is, but obviously it can be hard to figure out what “the good life” means to you and your kid if you don’t have that kind of structured time to do it.

So, I’ve come up with a few discussion prompts and activities (based off of my Stanford class) to help you and your kid connect and better understand each other’s goals and values.

Your “intellectual parents”: This is one of the core ideas from my Why College class – getting clear on who your intellectual influences (our professor called them “intellectual parents”) are, and how they’re impacting you.

Talk to your kid about who influences their life. Is there an author who they love? A celebrity? A TikTok influencer?

After you learn about the types of people your kid looks up to, spend some time researching them – you’d be surprised at the things you can learn about your kid from doing this.

If you find yourself liking the influence the person has on your kid, encourage it and talk about that person with your kid. If you don’t, I think it’s worth having a sit-down with your kid and explaining why. Because of social media and the internet as a whole, it’s so easy for your kid to have access to their “intellectual parents” and absorb their mannerisms and beliefs – even if they aren’t good influences. 

Your values pie chart: In order to figure out the best way to guard your time, you have to know what time you find the most valuable. That’s where a values pie chart comes in. Check out this article and this article to learn how to make one and what you can learn from it.

Time to “do nothing”: Schedule time with your kid to “do nothing” together. Once per week, sit outside with your kid and have them write down the things they notice. You may have to bribe them for the first few times (you only get your dessert if you do this with me), but eventually they’ll be able to enjoy this time you spend together. 

This is an important exercise for all ages – for younger kids, having time to be “bored” and be creative is absolutely critical. For older kids, their lives can be incredibly stressful and it can be hard for them to know what they want out of life. Thus, this time to be on their own can help clear and calm their minds.

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Scholar’s Sources: What I’ve been thinking about…

1. 70% of students are not proficient in math in Illinois

The results are in: only 28% of students in Illinois are proficient in their grade level math. 

28%.

We are failing these kids.

And even the reading results – of which the Chicago Sun Times states is “encouraging” – are depressing. Only 39% of students are proficient in reading at their grade level. 

And the title of this article is not a call for change. It expresses excitement that the proficiency is back to pre-pandemic levels. 

Pre-pandemic levels are not good. When 60% of your students cannot read at grade level and 70% of students cannot do math at grade level, something is wrong.

2. The Legend of the Capitoline Venus

I’ve read thousands of pages of Mark Twain’s work for my class “Mark Twain and American Culture,” but “The Legend of the Capitoline Venus” has to be one of my favorites. In this short story, Twain raises questions about so-called “historical” artifacts and the notion that humans give an inflated sense of value to items or buildings that are perceived to be “ancient.” 

In the beginning of the story, an artist can’t sell his sculpture for even one hundred francs; at the end it’s worth over ten million francs. The sculpture was said to be “the most faultless work of art the world has any knowledge of.” What changed? Well, the artist’s friend cracked the sculpture and created a story that the piece was made by an artist who lived thousands of years ago. 

This story really makes way for questions about the types of things we assign value to – is something more valuable just because it’s old? Is a perfect sculpture less valuable than a cracked, broken one? 

I highly recommend reading this piece – it’s extremely funny and enjoyable and makes you think about what you think of as valuable.

3. A new way to journal

Although I believe the title of this video is misleading (it doesn’t exactly tackle ways to stop scrolling), I love this method of journaling – super low stakes, yet you can gain valuable information on your lifestyle.

There’s one more caveat I’d like to add: for at least the first few months, do not skip a day. Make journaling an integral part of your day. Not only will your entries be more accurate, but it will get easier and easier to do.

Habit, sleep, mood, headache, and stress trackers have all helped me identify patterns in my life and ways I can improve it.

For example, the less I slept over a week, the more headaches I had. Which means, to have fewer headaches, I need to prioritize sleep. It might seem basic, but having concrete evidence can really help you feel motivated to make the change.

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Thanks for reading. Go crush the week! See y'all on Sunday.