Balance in Life

In Woolf's piece The Death of a Moth, the moth is characterized as a creature with "enormous energy" flying "vigorously." He flew back and forth and back and forth until suddenly, he tried to fly once more "but seemed either so stiff or so awkward that he could only flutter to the bottom of the windowpane." The moth's life was going perfectly well and smoothly until suddenly, it wasn't.
Starting from the small tasks in life like taking a test to something monumental like a wedding, these are all things that people plan. So, although death is everyone's inevitable fate, it is one of the few things in life that we cannot prepare for. This leads to quite a paradoxical mindset. There all these motivational quotes I constantly see on social media about "living in the moment", but in our society, today, is that really possible?
It seems that sometimes I am just blindly walking through life- doing things because I feel that I am "supposed to" or because others are doing it too. The purpose of each step in life seems to not really exist- you only do things to get to the next level. For instance, middle school teachers were always saying things like "this is to prepare you for high school!" and even when you get to high school, half your time is devoted to taking college-level classes and practicing for standardized tests that can get you into college.
There's a tough balance in life- choosing between living your life in the moment, but also preparing for your future. In a more morbid perspective, because death can be so very unexpected, if you were to die tomorrow, would you regret your hours of studying for the SAT last night instead of doing something more spontaneous? To me, the only way to balance this struggle is to find ways of enjoying the little steps of preparation. Discover how to find happiness in even the small, seemingly insignificant parts of life.

Comments

  1. Abby DangremondMarch 24, 2019 at 9:33 AM

    I loved this post! You did an amazing job of relating this piece to everyday life, and the idea of balancing spontaneity with preparation is extremely relevant to this generation. It can be really mind boggling to think of how 'good' our choices really are, and your message at the end was great too:)

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  2. Isabella SmithMarch 24, 2019 at 10:51 AM

    I really enjoyed reading this and seeing how you connected everything to something we can all relate to as high school students. I liked the message at then end too, it was something I think all of us should do!

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  3. Jason LoucksMarch 24, 2019 at 11:25 AM

    I loved how you talked about a balance between living spontaneously and preparing for the future. Coincidentally, this is very similar to what I wrote about in my blog this week (although I think you said it much better than I did). I spend a lot of time with theatre kids and, although, in general, many of them may not make the best decisions for their future, I do have to commend them for their ability to live in the moment and not worry too much about it. They have, in many cases, helped me live more spontaneously, which I feel that many kids, especially AP students, desperately need.

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  4. Connor LevittMarch 24, 2019 at 1:42 PM

    I love how you managed to relate woolf’s piece into high school of all things, keep up the great work!

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  5. Richard LiMarch 24, 2019 at 5:52 PM

    Great post, Sophia! I'd be inclined to concur. The struggling of finding balance between living life in the moment and planning for the future is something that's always plagued my thoughts. I, honestly, feel guilty every second that's not spent doing something productive. However, at the end of the day I hate myself and feel exhausted. I've become accustomed to a constant pounding headache, and I'm not sure that's a status quo I enjoy. Describing your struggle in the context of high school was very effective, and I think your advice is something that certainly needs to be kept in mind. If we cannot find joy in the little things, then we're going to live very sad, stressful lives.

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