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Thursday, September 29, 2016

The Meaning of Life

For the first Action Project of the Journalism course, we were tasked to interview someone about what they thought the meaning of life was. We had to compile all they said and write 1,000 words. We then had to take a picture of the person. In this unit we talked all about photo journalism. Something that was difficult for me in doing this project was figuring out what questions to ask. Something I enjoyed about this project was how open it was. We were able to ask so many different questions and get some very thoughtful responses.
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The Perks Of Being A Wallflower is one of my favorite movies/books. It’s all about love, friendship, sadness, and heartbreak. One of my favorite quotes from the movie is “Enjoy it. Because it’s happening.” The quote was said by Charlie--the main character in the film/novel. I love this quote because I think it speaks to everything that happens in life, good or bad. It shows that no matter what is happening in life, you have to keep your head up because it’s happening and you can’t change it. Life is a vast space full of opportunities so “What is the meaning of life?”

Mary is your average mom. She was born in Texas and raised in a suburb of Illinois. She moved to the city to become a grade school teacher. She currently teaches at a CPS language school in Old Town. She has taught many grades from eighth all the way down to third. She is a horse- loving prankster who loves her daughter.

As I lay on a blanket on the roof outside my bedroom, I look at all of the planes soaring through the sky. I hear my mom calling me “Maddie? I’m ready for the interview. Where are you?” I turn around, “On the roof, I’m coming in.” I grab my blanket and walk slowly back up to my window and climb through. I sit cross- legged on the white couch in my moms room while my mom sits down in front of me on her bed. “So mom, what is the meaning of life?” She sits and ponders for a couple minutes. “Mom?” I ask, checking if she is still listening. She finally breaks her silence.

“Do what you want to do, say what you wanna say, love who you wanna love and don’t worry what people think.” She says the last part with a smile. She stares down at my dog Lily who is making an unnecessary amount of noise and lifts her onto her bed. “You can see even with Lily that she's always smiling no matter what and her life is meaningful.” She walks across her room and looks in the mirror.

“Why do you think life is meaningful” I ask looking up from my computer. She looks to the ceiling, thinking about the question. “Not only do I get to do things that I want to do without worry from other people but I also get to give meaning to other people’s lives. A big part of it is to do things for other people and I think making other people lives meaningful is as important as making your own life meaningful. So doing kind things for others and treating all people with kindness is extremely important for making your own life happy. Doing kind things and being good to other people makes my life better but that's not why I do it…” She pauses, “It just goes along with it.”

She walks back over to her bed. I look through my prep sheet and pick another question. I turn to her, “What is your favorite thing in the world that makes your life better?” She thinks for what feels like hours. “You I guess…. Well really horses.” She sighs, “When I had you my life became 100 times more meaningful. It changed everything. It was another person that I was responsible for. To make happy, to feed, to love, to teach. I think having children is one of the best ways to, well for me, made my life meaningful. It wasn’t not meaningful before, but I think having kids changes people's lives. You are no longer only living for yourself you are now living for someone else.”

I took many pictures of my mom that evening. Some from close up, some from far away. It was too dark and cold to take them in the garden, so we took them inside the house. As I adjust the focus, she continues to move positions. I continue to snap pictures of her on my Canon camera. After careful consideration I chose this photo. I chose this one because I think it captures her in her best state: calm. I took it with the portrait setting on my camera so that everything in the background would be blurry so the photo would just focus on my mom.

MF. (MOM) 2016
Once the picture had been chosen, I started thinking long and hard about what my mom had already said. Besides the fact that she jokingly not jokingly said horses made her life go ‘round, she said some pretty true stuff. She got deep down into my questions and was able to give me thoughtful answers. “Did you think about this question all day or something?” I asked her. She started laughing, “Actually, I asked my 3rd graders what they thought the answer was. They gave some pretty 3rd grade answers, but then they started giving interesting ones. I thought about their answers and was able to gather some new ideas from what they had said.” She smiles, “To think I got advice for your Action Project from 8 year olds blows my mind,” she starts laughing. We sit in silence for a few minutes. “Alright. I have another question for you.” I say. “What came first, the chicken? Or the egg?” She groans, “Ugh you know I hate this question” She lays on her bed with her eyes closed, hopefully thinking about the incredibly annoying question I just asked her. She finally answers quietly. “I don't know. I was raised catholic, and to believe that God created everything in the world, including the world, but as I grew older, read more, and went to school more…” she begins to whisper. “I stopped believing in all that stuff, like creationism and realized that evolution is how humans came to be.

As the interview drew to a close I had just one more question for my mom “What is the best part about living?” I ask. She turns slowly to me. “Sleeping. Laughing. Making people smile and making people happy.” She asks me to repeat the question. I do. “Waking up after getting a full night’s sleep. That has to be the best feeling ever.”

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