Quest for Sagacity and the NEW word of the Day: Eudaimonia

He Looks Like He's On Some Type of QUEST....right!??!?
Trying to understand kids is certainly part of my Quest for Sagacity!

So I officially started My "Quest for Sagacity" in March 2009...strangely enough, about 3 weeks before my dad died. See the exciting beginning of the saga of my sagacity search at:

http://sheilasjumpinoff.blogspot.com/2009/03/sharing-serendipity-and-sagacity.html

I've posted other items about my QUEST and if you are interested, then put "sagacity" into the little search button up there to the right in "Search Sheila's Blog".

So today, reading my new favorite toilet book, "50 philosophy ieas you really need to know" by Ben Dupre, I found a new word that I am very excited about....

Eudaimonia

Loosely, it's a Greek word that is translated often as "happiness" but it's really deeper and more complex than that. As Dupre says "....eudaimonia is actually broader and more dynamic than this, best captured by the idea of 'flourishing' or 'enjoying a good (successful, fortunate) life'."

WOW! Isn't that the most incredibly interesting thing you have heard in a long time?? Well, maybe you already knew this beautiful word, eudaimonia, but to me it was "light bulb going off in my head" and "fireworks" all at once!

The section of the philosophy book i found this in was titled "Virtue Ethics". The whole section was amazing and interesting and very helpful on my Search for Sagacity! I'm sure I must've learned some of this information back in the Business Ethics class in college that I sleep-walked thru, so maybe my brain knows a little about Virtue Ethics, but now it is saying "MORE, MORE, please!"

I'm not really good at describing all that I think I'm learning today about Virtue Ethics, so I want to quote some more from Dupre:

"The Greeks often talk about four cardinal virtues-courage, justice, temperance (self-mastery) and intelligence (practical wisdom) -- but a pivotal doctrine for both Plato and Aristotle is the so-called 'unity of the virtues.' Founded in part on the observation that a good person must recognize how to respond sensitively to the sometimes conflicting demands of different virtues, they conclude that the virtues are like different facets of a single jewel, so that it is not in fact possible to possess one virtue without having them all."

WOW! It is really crystallizing in my brain some of the Buddhist and UU studies I have been working on. Whereas, (my humble attempt to explain what I think is true): basically we are good people and we have an innate ability or disposition to be good, but we can also practice being good to get better at being good and doing the right, good thing in most circumstance because we apply the knowledge we have acquired.

There is also a good distinction between morality and ethics in this book. It says that morality focuses on principles of duty and rules of conduct and ethics gives priority to a person's disposition and ability to apply practical wisdom.

just scratching the surface w this new word, eudaimonia...gotta get back to researching it and figuring it all out!

SAGACITY, i'm heading your way, it may take the rest of my life, but this journey sure is interesting!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~peace

Summary of Summer Thus Far....2 WEEKS LEFT!

4 armed Mama getting ready for "Hairspray" Benefit for SRVS (we raised over $5K that day!!!)

Such a busy summer so far...only TWO weeks left til the kids start back to school! And my little Quinn will be going to FULL-TIME Kindergarten and they will now be attending the SAME SCHOOL on the SAME SCHEDULE riding the SAME BUS TOGETHER!!!

OUR last big HURRAH will be a Ferguson Family Gathering at the cabin in Wisconsin. Chris's sister & BIL w their two boys from Texas; Chris's brother & SIL w their two boys from New York, along w Chris' parents (they live there in the summer) will all be there w us for a great time!!!

So here's a little pictorial summary of our summer so far.

Contents include: Visitors, Celebrations, and Outings

VISITORS:

First Visitor: Baby Mourning Dove in our Front Gutter (early June)


Next Visitors: The Moores from Houston, TX (July 5)


Most Recent Visitor: Baby Bewick's Wren in the smoke stack of our smoker (last week, mid-July)

CELEBRATIONS:

FIRST PARTY: Memorial Day @ Taylors

4th of July Party @ Richerts


My 42nd Birthday-June 24


Me & My Bday Bud (Mac was born on my 40th Bday)!


Quinn's 5th Birthday (new outfit from Cheney's)


Dining Room Set up for Quinn's Fancy Fifth Birthday Party!

OUTINGS:


COMEC's Pirate Day @ The Pink Palace (early June)


Georgia Aquarium w Aunt Katie (and Grandma, not pictured) in early June


Memphis Zoo (first time on this ride - Jack did NOT like it, but Q sure did!!)-mid-June


World of Coke w Grandma & Aunt Katie

Redbirds Game late June



Rock N Romp at Mud Island-late June


Wolf River Discovery Day -- Mid-July


Jack at Cub Scout Camp - last week (mid-July)

identity theft

There's A TON to be said about being anonymous and not having everyone in your business (somehow I thought I wanted more people in my business and knowing ALL about me when I started this blog and got so involved on Facebook)--BUT I AM A NEW WOMAN NOW -- you may have to actually subscribe or ask my permission to read this blog from now on (as if you really care)!!

You see.....last week my hotmail and facebook accounts were high-jacked and this person was impersonating me and trying to get my friends to give money.

It was so annoying all the forms and back & forth I had to go thru VIA EMAIL (b/c of course they don't want you calling them to complain...who really wants to talk to a REAL LIVE PERSON THESE DAYS!?!?!) to get these accounts disabled or BACK to me as the rightful owner. Hotmail is not resolved and I will no longer be one of their customers. Facebook was actually VERY easy to work with and they got it settled fairly quickly. But I also had to go around and change my password on LOTS of various accounts (like Netflix and amazon.com) so this scammer didn't try to take over those accounts and STEAL real stuff from me!

I am now super paranoid about what ppl know about me and this blog is probably not such a smart idea if someone can steal my identity....but here's where being a not-so-popular blogger comes in handy, b/c nobody is reading this to want to steal my identity....right?!?!? or at least that's what I want to believe....

OH, big advice, DON'T USE YOUR BEST FRIEND'S NAME AS YOUR PASSWORD ON EVERY SITE YOU ARE A MEMBER -- don't use your graduation year, don't use your birth year, don't use your spouse's name, don't use your high school or college, don't use ANY friend on FB's name, hmmmm...i'm sure I have many more DON'T USE advice! of course, you all knew this, but I was wearing my rose-colored glasses and thought nobody would have a need to hack into my accounts, or nobody would be that MEAN! Well, trick me once, shame on you, trick me twice and shame on me!!

FB and Hotmail were hacked

URGH...i'm trying go to all my stuff and change all my passwords so this jerk who highjacked my accounts doesn'tget anymore!

Thoughts on Citizenship on 4th of July

I am proud and happy and realize how very fortunate I am to be an American. I have several random thoughts on all this and i have captured some of it here.

Mainly, I am tired of people defending their own positions that make ONLY their lives better--the whole self-centeredness of SOOO many folks is about as UN-American as I can see (in my opinion). Why can't people be more open minded and listen to one another and come to a middle ground where the MOST people would be happy? I know I wear rose-colored glasses, but isn't this what our country was founded upon?

Excerpt from the Declaration of Independence (adopted July 4, 1776):

"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

Last night (before reading Chris Peck's editorial in today's CA, see below for link), I wrote in my "Profesional Development Plan" (among other things):

"I feel most productive or happiest when I can find a solution for the greatest good."

I am so fortunate to be in a country that allows me to work toward this goal. I only wish that politicians shared this goal, and were not driven by their own ambition or the special interests who fund their campaigns. The power-grab of the FEW who are running our country is miserably failing the masses. All our country's many "crisis" continue to spiral out of control b/c of the self-interest of those in charge who are not truly representative of the people they were elected to "lead".

Now i'm going off on a tangent, but these politicians are going to continue to ruin our country if WE don't start voting and becoming more active citizens. I don't want to hear one more person complaining until we work harder to increase the miserable voter turnout in this country!!! Boy, i sound more and more like a Tea Partier, but i'm not really sure if increasing voter turnout is one of the Tea Party's platforms? I really feel we need to get back to basics (like being an informed voter, or better yet, JUST plain voting would be nice) before tackling the bigger issues like Immigration and Oil Dependency.

Here are a few things I posted as my status this weekend on FB:

We are so priviledged to be Americans--IMHO, too many take it for granted. Here's a good quote: I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him. ~Abraham Lincoln

The secret of happiness is freedom. The secret of freedom is courage. -Thucydides


And this is a great op-ed piece that was in our local paper, The Commercial Appeal, today by Chris Peck (one of the editors):

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/jul/04/inside-the-newsroom-we-need-to-rediscover/

The questions he asks in the piece are worth repeating here (he is referring to the text that local students will use in their Citizenship Course--Rushworth Kidder's ''How Good People Make Tough Choices.''):

"....But there is another option -- vigorous use of the tools of citizenship.

As Kidder explains it, and as the St. George's students will learn, the dilemmas of modern society need to be analyzed with the help of critical thinking skills.

Questions like these should be posed:
-- How does this issue affect an individual and how does it affect a community?
-- Are there short-term and long-term consequences of this choice?
-- Is this issue about justice, or mercy?
-- Is it about truly seeking the truth, or strongly showing loyalty to one side or the other?

Good citizenship then requires principled discussions about how to make a reasonable decision. A good citizen asks whether a particular choice produces the greatest good for the greatest number. A good citizen weighs whether a decision follows the Golden Rule of doing to others only what you would want done to you. A good citizen tries to anticipate whether others will follow a decision, or simply oppose it forever."

Peace be upon our nation and our people. God bless the USA.