living deliberately

I had an incredible conversation with a far-away friend this morning on the concept of living deliberately, and felt compelled to write of it. The idea comes from an article by Maxine Green entitled "Toward Wide-Awakeness: An Argument for the Arts and Humanities in Education." In order to live deliberately is to become aware of one's personal existence; to wake up to the necessity of diverting our attentions to the purposes and requirements of our own lives.

Being aware, conscious of the fact that we are alive and moving (with or without direction) is one thing, but I will argue for living deliberately--planning, nourishing, nurturing and growing the life that I deserve to live. We deserve more than we give ourselves credit for, I think. Why shouldn't I aspire to be able to feed my future children home-grown vegetables from our garden? or be able to buy the organic foods from our local co-op, supporting not only an important trade but also my fellow community members? WHY shouldn't I aspire to give my family the best education I can? or hope to give them the multitude of opportunities that I have enjoyed in my growing up?

I will not settle for less than what I want; it seems brash to say so, but when all of my goals are holistically driven, not for the betterment of just myself but my community, my lover, my family, I realize that I should expect nothing less of myself. We should live in recognition of the profound solidarity that communal betterment provides to us!

I am awake and conscious of my presence in this beautiful world.

Am I living yet? Perhaps; I lack much direction except for the day to day of graduate school. I am slowly changing my mindsets and goals to suit a more sustainable future in my place in the environment, my relationships and my body. I am aware of my learning to live with purpose, and know that my contributions to the world are growing with each new day. Most importantly, I need to live knowing that I gave it my best shot, that I didn't settle and that I didn't forgo opportunities that would have contributed to my life in some way. I need to live so that every day I can go to bed proud of what I did. I need to live with meaning, and with love, knowing that I have lived the best life I could for myself and others. One of my favorite quotes is from Paulo Freire, author of Pedagogy of the Oppressed:
"I like to live, to live my life intensely. I am the type of person who loves his life passionately. Of course, someday I will die, but I have the impression that when I die, I will die intensely as well. I will die experimenting with myself intensely. For this reason I am going to die with an immense longing for life, since this is the way I have been living."

An immense longing for life, since this is the way I have been living.
How do you feel about that? What are your thoughts?

I don't want to live wistfully, wishing away moments where I could be working with my lover, my family, my community, my world, toward an existence we need and deserve.