Last Day Reflection
Looking back at my first day reflection, my answers made a lot of sense based on what I knew at the time. I responded in an almost hostile way to the prompt. I never liked people asking me what my central purpose was because I did not have one, at least not consciously. I put down what most people did: friends, family, values, and my future career as a teacher. These made sense based on what I saw meaning as. Even now, I would list these as the most important aspects of my life. But in this class, I've learned a lot more about what meaning is. When looking at this concept through Ford's worldviews, meaning is not the people, objects, and values that one finds important, but the lens through which one sees the world and reacts to it. There is a lot of overlap between the two, but Ford's idea of meaning is much deeper and more complex. The worldviews act as the foundation on which our realities are constructed. I remember writing a paper last semester where I noted that learning about critical thinking (and great ideas) is like opening Pandora's box: once you learn about the worldviews, you cannot unthink them. It is impossible to go back to how I used to see the world. Fortunately, this is a positive concept change. I consider myself a much better thinker and more wholesome individual because of the lessons in this class. It makes me hopeful for the future and what discoveries I will make. My search for meaning is far from over, but at least I know that I am on the right path.