The Philosophy of Life i2

by Naulia Bennett

This week, I had the privilege of interviewing Jacob Morin, an 18 year old from Maine, United States, and his responses were both sincere and hopeful. I hope his words lift people up during this crazy time, as well as allow ourselves to think of the “bigger picture”.

NB: “In your own words, what’s the meaning of life?”

JM: “The meaning of life is to create meaning for yourself, and to live a life based as much as possible on a fusion of what you personally want, and hopefully, helping out others in need. I think if there’s somethin’ you wanna do, life’s too short, so you might as well go for it, so long as it doesn’t impede the experience of anyone else. We’re all in this together, and we all wanna have a good time. Just try and make sure your good time doesn’t restrict that of somebody else.”

NB: “What's your aspiration in life? What do you hope to achieve from it futuristically? Is there someone in your life you particularly look up to in terms of this aspiration?”

JM: “My ultimate aspiration in life is to help others. In the sense of a career, I’m currently thinking about going to college for social work to become a psychotherapy clinician. But sometimes, y’know, I just don’t know, and I feel college is too bourgeois, and that I oughta commit myself to a job of more labor, because who am I to take advantage of comfort and non-poverty, when there are people suffering in my own city? I suppose I’ll have to find a middle-ground. To tie into question 1, the ultimate meaning that I’ve given my life is that of service to those in need. Of course, it’s still human that there are still things I wanna do, just for the sheer enjoyment. I have a lot of them, they vary drastically. Right now it’s learning flamenco. We’ll have to see about that. In any event, I’d like to be a writer with absolute certainty.

NB: “If you could tell your younger self one thing, what would it be?”

JM: “‘Hey, don’t sweat thinkin’ about what others think about‘cha. One day in the future, you’re gonna realize that negativity doesn’t matter, and your life is gonna become good as hell immediately then. If only more people realized that.’”