Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Being One Who Makes the Difference

There is no relevant being without making. My brother, Rob, made a very significant point the other day: "Just waking up is the lowest level of existence," he said, even though it is waking that is most essential. But it is what we do with our waking hours that is important. It is the making of our lives for others that matters most.

The great philosopher, Jean Paul Sartre, distinguishes between being that exist in-itself (en-soi) and that which exist for-itself (pour-soi). The whole notion of being in itself or for itself is never merely enough because it is still about self; but being of value requires making conscious decisions, as we are all in the world among others, whether in the personal or professional world. Being (existence) is basic.

People make the difference, although the fact that we are cannot be denied--obviously.

6 comments:

CathM said...

“BUT being of value requires making conscious decisions, as we are all in the world AMONG others, whether in the business or personal world.”--- a wonderful and gentle reminder! To be purposeful people we must purposefully look outward and not inward… I wish I did more of the former :) I can be so self absorbed at times and of course as you put it so succinctly, ‘being (existence) is basic’… the goal is to aspire to be MORE PURPOSE (love, light and beauty) and to contribute change to one’s world/community. Thank you for this nugget of wisdom!

James Oh said...

Your message is loud and clear. It is one basic yet supreme important commandment from the Scripture is to love your neighbor as you love God.

To make a difference, it is always begin with the speaker. There is the greatest common mistake among us wanting to change the world without changing himself.

To this connection, please allowed me to link to your noble post so that I may be able to share with the loving readers of my blog.

Thank you in advance.

Grace and peace to you, Judith

Judith Ellis said...

Catherine - It is my pleasure, really. I hope all is well with you. How's the writing coming?

Judith Ellis said...

It would be my pleasure to have you link this post to your blog, James Oh. Thanks for passing through.

May grace and peace also be with you.

floreta said...

great post and food for thought! and thanks for the philosophy.

Judith Ellis said...

Good to see you, floreta. Happy to say something that causes you to think. Sartre does this for sure.