Tag Archives: trial

David- What We Don’t See

I recently took a nine day trip to Italy and it was phenomenal. My family and I spent 4 days in Tuscany, 1 in Orvieto, and 4 days in Rome. We packed in as much sightseeing as we could and saw and experienced tons of art, history, food, and wine. While it was all fantastic, the one thing that stood out and was the most breathtaking to me was Michelangelo’s statue of David.

One of the days we were in Tuscany we took a day trip to Florence where we went to the Duomo, Baptistry, Art Museum, and the Galleria dell’Accademia where David stands. During all of this we had a personal tour guide who was nothing short of fantastic. He was of German and Italian descent and ironically had his Ph.D. in Philosophy, to which we bonded over. It was his words during the tour that have moved me to write this post and that have provided me with some of the insights and facts this post stands on.

The Galleria is filled with some of Michelangelo’s extremely rare unfinished works, however, it is David that immediately catches one’s eye. Crafted in 1501 and standing at 17 feet tall, the sculpture’s level of detail and beauty is nothing short of perfect. While the artistic and aesthetic aspects of the work are truly great, those are not what gives the piece its true meaning, at least in my opinion.

Most know the story in the Bible of David and Goliath. David, a small child and future king of Israel, defeated and killed the ~7 foot tall Philistine warrior, Goliath. With just a simple slingshot and rock, David used his mind and hands to hurl the rock, crushing Goliath’s forehead. It is this character of David that Michelangelo crafted a marble manifestation of.

So what is the significance of David and Goliath? Well, also back in the 1400’s was a philosopher by the name of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (Pico). Pico believed that with the power of God and pure human intuition, anyone can overcome any obstacle by using their hands and their head. In other words, by working and thinking. Michelangelo took this and put it into David, literally. Look at David’s hands and head. They’re out of proportion and much too big for his body. How fitting is it for Pico’s position to be crafted onto David, one of the purest symbols of overcoming evil and tribulation?

“Whatever seeds each man cultivates will grow to maturity and bear in him their own fruit.”
-Giovanni Pico della Mirandola

But this goes further. It is awesome that Michelangelo incorporated so much thought into his sculpture, but the true value is in what David stands for. David; relaxed, triumphant, and confident, stands for everything that is good. The statue of David is the biggest threat to those who promote oppression and evil, because David proudly symbolizes everything they try to oppress. All of these oppressive cultures; radical Islam, racial supremacy, political subjugation, etc.. all base their agendas on the idea that certain people do not deserve rights because of their race, religion, political association, etc.. The statue of David and the ideals it represents, however, says the exact opposite.

David represents the concept that no matter who you are, where you’re from, or what your background is, you can defeat and overcome any evil with just your hands and your head. And if one remembers this, than one can never be truly defeated. This has never been more relevant than today. We the people who believe in what is good must never forget what we have and the powers of which we posses. After all, nobody can take your morality unless you let them.

 

 

 

Tom Fusillo

Work On Your Work

Whether you realize it or not, you have probably heard people complain about and criticize their job or whatever it is they do. This is not just limited to paid work, but extends to schoolwork, internships, and other tasks. Most humans loathe almost all work and believe they are almost always deserving of a vacation. This is the problem: it is one thing for one to say they need a vacation, but it is completely different for one to truly believe that they need and deserve that break from work. Don’t get me wrong, I’m am certainly not saying that we should work every day until we die. Vacations are great, but it is so important to have the right reasons and understanding behind your motives. I’ve narrowed the list of reasons as to why people feel like they need to opt-out of work down to three:

  1. The system
  2. They’re too good for their job
  3. They’ve done enough

The first reason is one that I talk about a lot with my close friends. It’s the thing we all dread….The system. To me, the system is the fall of the American Dream, monotonous helpless cycle many feel they can’t get out of, and to me the system is the long gray line of American manhood. Growing up we’re taught that where you’re from doesn’t have to be where you’re going. That if, “You work hard, you do the right thing, you clean up.” And this is all true, but for many Americans, this society we live in, this system, does everything it can to make the journey to your goals as difficult as possible. Our society, rather than promoting and nurturing creativity and curiosity, rather than encouraging young people to take risks and see the world, and rather than idolizing values and morals instead of money and objects, has trapped us. This system causes us to make career decisions we don’t want to make, do the same thing every day, become stuck in our personal ideologies, become more closed-minded, and become filled with more hate and less love.

The reality is that our society is becoming more and more like this “system.” However, what but nothing is a man or woman who commits themselves blindly to a system that has no true intentions? If you hate this system and think that the right way rebelling against it is to not participate, you’re probably wrong. Boycotting, rebelling, rioting, using entails doing the opposite of the thing you’re upset with, but in this case, we absolutely can not, should not, stop working. Rather, we need to work harder and dedicate ourselves to putting life and goodness into the work we do. Yes, some industries are nasty and it can be so hard to see anything good come from them, just look at American politics right now. However, the very perceived nature of these industries does not reflect their possibilities. We can not avoid this system by withdrawing ourselves. We are to avoid this system by committing ourselves. Committing ourselves to a new work ethic, a new driving force of creativity, a new heart as a society.

Another popular but subtle reason we hate working is because many people think that they are “too good” for their job. This is ridiculous, this infuriates me, and if you think this you are certainly not too good for your job. This is an absolutely toxic mindset and is a reason behind why millennials are thought to be the worst generation to every be (but that’s a different story). It is possible, and even common for one to run out of challenges and interest at their job, but this in no way is synonymous to them being better than that job. I believe this sense of false confidence and entitlement stems from the idea that people are too concerned with living their life and only smelling the roses rather than building a life. These same people think that once they’re around 30 they’ve found the work and job they’re supposed to do for a lifetime, when in fact there are always new challenges. It should be no surprise that when you commit yourself to a long term routine, you may get complacent. However, being complacent does not and never will mean you’re better than what it is you’re complacent o
ver. Challenge yourself to stop living your life and start building it, as anti-motivational speech esque that may sound.
steve-jobs-dont-settle-quote
Finally, the third reason I have identified as to why many people hate working is that they think they’ve done enough. They think they’ve done their time and the day where they hang up the gloves and kick up their feet on a beach somewhere in the Keys for years to come has finally arrived. Before I dive into this let me be clear: I am not anti-retirement, nor am I against those who retire, and I am not against those who retire early (whatever “early” means). Though I do believe that there is a right time to take your foot off the gas and start collecting retirement benefits, this transition is very personal and differs on a case to case basis. CEO Gary Vaynerchuk believes that we shouldn’t be afraid to start a new phase of our careers because of our age, contrarily, getting older is all the more reason to start that new project, to launch your own company, to take on that extra proposal, etc.. I hink that you should ask yourself a couple of questions before you decide to dig your feet in the sand. Ask yourself if you’ve done all you can? Is there anything left to do?  Can I make things better? Where can my curiosity still take me? Evaluate your purpose and how its changed over the past X number of years.
Don’t just look back, look forward.

It’s true that work, whether its a job or schoolwork, can be tedious and just suck, but that one assignment, that one task, or that one job certainly doesn’t represent them all, and you’d be naive to think that. Rather than giving in, kick it up a notch and challenge yourself. Build your life- and you will create crazy things.

 

Thomas Fusillo

 

 

 

Unyielding Hope

It’s three o’clock in the morning and you have work or class at eight. All the while you’re up asking yourself, asking the world, and asking God what the point of going to that class or showing up to work is. All of the sudden things appear to be so distant, so out of touch, and so much more unrealistic then they were just earlier that day. We can ask why this happens, but the most important question to ask is where to go from here? Should we give up, start over, or keep going?

The interesting thing about when people are in the above described situation is that they will almost always continue on the charted course. They’ll end up going to work tomorrow, they’ll go to class, and they’ll keep up with their usual routine. Do they keep going because they’re simply too lazy or believe it is too hard to change their lifestyle? Or is it because deep inside every human being there is almost always piece of hope?

Hope is personal. For some, they may not realize or think that hope has played a big role in their lives, while for others it is all they have. When I was applying to colleges, one of the essays I had to write asked the cliche question, “What is your favorite word and why?” My answer  was hope. I said that my favorite word was hope not just because I had a lot of hope at that time, but also because I wouldn’t have gotten to that point in my life without it. Here I am over two years later holding on to that same piece of hope. It’s that piece of hope that screams in your ear every morning tell you to get up. That voice in your head that makes you stay up an extra few hours to finish the work you need to finish. Hope along with faith is what keeps you going when there’s no earthly reason for you to carry on with your mission.

So why do we keep going? It’s simply a natural human response. We, as humans, are wired to never surrender our goals. We keep going because of that unyielding hope deep in our hearts. It is fair to say that some have more hope than others, but that doesn’t mean that each and every one of us doesn’t have something to fight for. Something to keep pushing forward for. Take a look at what Steve Jobs said in Apple’s Think Different campaign:

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

Maybe we shouldn’t just view hope as a virtue, but also as a challenge. Challenge yourself to take whatever hope you have, and turn it into a physical manifestation through your daily routine and thoughts. Be one of the crazy ones. Because after all, by doing nothing you have everything to lose and nothing to gain. However, by holding on to that hope and just trying to push the human race forward, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” -Jim Elliot

 

Thomas Francis Fusillo

What Do We Have?

The Kubler-Ross Model, otherwise known as the five stages of grief, is something every human being is constantly going through. When first looking at the model one is prone to believe that it is only true in cases of deep trial and tribulation, i.e. the loss of a loved one, divorce, or substance abuse. However, when we look deeper into what our lives and actions consist of, it is clear that we are always in the middle of these stages. When everything circumstantial in this world is taken away it can be concluded that the one thing every human being truly has in this life is their mind.

While some may suppress it more than others, it is the very nature of the human conscience to give us emotions and thoughts that lead us nowhere but deeper into ourselves. The first stage is denial. Deeply, our minds recognize a tragedy, and in most cases we push it away. In the death of a loved one we receive the news, we grieve for a little bit, we hold a service, dress up the dead in clothes to make them look as if they were almost alive, tuck them in a nice box, bury them in the ground, and move on with our lives. However, this is almost never the full story. Our minds will, in its very unique way, chip away at these walls we’ve put up until we are forced to recognize the loss in full. Here we have begun the process of revealing our true self to ourselves. In other words, we start to take in all the little things that we’ve hid from everyone and that we’ve hid from our day to day thought. Just the start.

The second stage is anger. We see this “breaking down” of our defenses quickly approaching and we divert it to anger. We get upset at the world as if just because such a tragedy happened to you it is so much more terrible than if it were to happen to the next person. We blame any supreme beings, maybe we blame a person or group, but in most cases there is nothing reasonable to blame. We understand that grief happens and that it is unavoidable, yet we become enraged when it occurs. It seems that one very logical reason for this is that we don’t want to deal with our thoughts and our mind, and if we can push that encounter [with ourselves] off by being angry, then we will because in the moment it seems like that encounter will never happen.

So why is it that we are so haunted by the idea of facing our own mind? The answer isn’t one that a second year undergraduate philosophy major can easily answer. It’s a broad, theoretical, metacognition. But I can give a partial answer, and that is either; it is just the way we as humans are programmed, or it is how a supreme being has created us in order to cause some greater good later on that we do not currently know of. Of course there is always the Brain in a Vat Theory (ha ha ha). Regardless of the physical (or supreme) reason for this occurrence, I believe that in life it is important to ask the right questions, and the right question here is not “why/what created us this way” but rather “what do we do with this, and how can we use it?”

The third stage is bargaining, aka a last ditch effort to avoid the thing we truly have. After some time, whether it be brief or lengthy, we realize that this anger is either; doing nothing to help the situation, or doing more bad than good. Some people realize this immediately and quickly move from stage 2 to 3, while for some it may take a lifetime. At this bargaining stage we treat the world and God is if it/he is a hostage negotiator. We do what humans do all too well which is pretend like we are in charge, except this time we’re so desperate we’ll offer something up in return. “The third stage is bargaining, aka a last ditch effort to avoid the thing we truly have.” So why is bargaining at this point a last ditch effort? And what are we avoiding by bargaining? To answer the former, it is because subconsciously we know what comes next, and it seems like begging for a revelation is the best option. To answer the latter, stage 4.

Stage four is depression. It is at this stage where my original hypothesis begins to become evident. When we move past the bargaining stage we’ve run out of options. We can no longer tune out the blaring stereo which is our mind. It is as if you can’t stand to listen to yourself anymore, but at the same time that’s all you want in that moment. In this state of depression we tend to become nihilistic and divulge into our mind in what is at first a bad way. We use our mind as an excuse to become anti-social and self-harming. We break into our psyche in a way we never existed. Thoughts flood into our mind. Not necessarily bad thoughts, but thoughts and ideas questioning existence, asking the wrong questions, and driving us insane. Sometimes silence is violent.

These thoughts flood our brain to the point where we can’t turn them off and we feel like screaming but we don’t scream because it just isn’t worth the energy. The stereo keeps blaring in the same room as you, and even though you’re free to leave at any time you can’t help but stay and listen to the sound that you can’t stand. We try and leave this room by getting a hobby or going to a psychiatrist and taking medication, but as Shane Koyczan said, “Sometimes being drug free has less to do with addiction and more to do with sanity.”

What started as a tragedy has turned into something much deeper. With every trial and every tribulation in this life we go just a little deeper into who we are; because after all, there are indeed a lot of secrets we are keeping from ourselves. While the stereo never completely shuts off, in most cases the volume will fade. Maybe just until next time or the time after that, but no matter how brief, we each have our moments of serenity. It is at this point where we come to terms with that original matter.

“Now we are forced to recognize our inhumanity
Our reason coexists with our insanity
But we choose between reality and madness
It’s either sadness or euphoria” -Billy Joel (Summer, Highland Falls)

The fifth and final stage is acceptance. We embrace morality and its circumstances, but more importantly, we embrace the sound. What was for so long a burden has become something else, something different. We’ve come to realize that the one thing we will always truly have in this world to turn to are our own minds. Things will come and go, but as long as we are here, WE will be here. I think that once we get to step 5, everything will be a heck of a lot clearer. Maybe not easier, but clearer.

 

 

Thomas Francis Fusillo