Marissa Tappy mtappy6779
Well-being is an overused term without definition. I see well-being as a three pronged approach to living a life with optimal holistic health infused with passionate expression, spiritual conversation and societal activism. First off, optimal holistic health is the very basis for well-being. If our health is compromised in anyway our well-being decreased initially. I say initially because those of us who have struggled through maintaining our physical well-being through illness have found other ways to forge those building blocks and often give larger focus to the other areas of well-being to make up for what we lack in the physical part. If you visit any children with terminal illnesses you can see this expression at work. Though their bodies are not in a state of well-being it is made up by an increased need for passionate expression, spiritual conversation and societal involvement and activism. Just like a human loosing one of our five senses and seeing the other four increase in awareness. Loosing the building block of physical well-being only means that the other aspects of well-being kick in at a higher capacity and awareness.
Passionate expression simply means that to help us maintain well-being we need a way to express ourselves in an artistic fashion. This can mean any aspect of expression including but not limited too: journaling, motivational speaking, artwork, graphic design, poetry, computer programming, talking to a therapist, cooking, etc. This type of expression in any form is an important way to let the mind and body emotionally re-charge. Just like the body needs a good sleep to re-charge your emotions and passions need any outlet to emotionally release and re-coup. It is a simple concept but one that many people disregard as unimportant and often times put at the end of the list of things to do in a busy week or day. Some lucky people can infuse their passionate expression in their work everyday, but don't let that fool you into thinking they are in a higher state of well-being because our society is so negatively work focused these people need to have another outside source of expression to re-charge in this capacity.
Spiritual Conversation has nothing to do with religion. This is an important distinction for people to remember. I am not saying you need a religion to see your well-being thrive. I am saying that every human needs to engage in conversation about what spirituality means to them and how that is expressed in their lives. Some may find spirituality in religion but others will find spirituality in astrology, philosophy, nature, family, culture, ideas, science or art. Whatever way one finds to engage in this conversation, it is important to have and continually develop by listening to others and creating a safe way to express it within your own capacity. Belief in an idea larger than ourselves has been and will continually be a necessity for basic survival and growth.
The last aspect of well-being is societal activism. This does not mean you have to stand on a picket line or participate in a rally to engage socially. This means that you have to find a way to actively participate in the society you live in. Whether that be by utilizing the first amendment to protest and voice opposition or whether that be to actively run for any office to activate social change. This can also mean being any ally for a population that is struggling in the society to thrive and grow (i.e. LGBTQ). At its most basic level this means to simply know what is going on in your society by watching the news, reading the paper or going on-line. It is simply not an option to disengage from the society that raised you and helped you grow. Being part of a community is essential for the growth of an individual. This why developmentally is so beneficial to live on campus when going to college so ideas, values and ideals can be challenged and voiced in a way which others can hear and understand.This is how our community grows in tolerance and knowledge.
Flourishing Well-being:
Oddly enough, a time that I felt my well-being was flourishing was right after college when my physical health was actually diminishing. After dealing with a senior year filled with headaches and painful sleep my mother took me to a chiropractor to address some of my pain and after that meeting my life truly changed. He engaged me with conversation not only about my physical health but about depression, diet, nutrition, physical activity, etc. I flourished under his care and loved the way he cared for me as a whole person, not just a physical body. I felt better, I thought better and I finally began cherishing my family, degree and social status as a powerful woman that can change the world. This is experience is why I put optimal holistic health as the first building block in a person's journey toward well-being. As my body started to feel and function better I was able to do more, act more and engage in a society that pain and inability took me away from.
Diminished Well-being:
The clearest example of a time where my well-being greatly diminished was when I was diagnosed with cancer. I was young, just out of college and ready to take on the world. I suddenly was thrown into a medical world that I didn't understand and they in turn did not understand me. I became passionate about women's wellness during this time because as I traveled through this medial mess I wasn't being taken care of emotionally, spiritually or passionately. My physical wellbeing was being treated so that I could then work on the other states of wellbeing but that was not going to work. I did't feel well in any capacity and thus did not have the strength to actually help my body heal its self. It was only during a hospital visit for a few days that I talked to a Chaplin that asked me all the right questions and none of them had to do with how I was feeling or my illness. It was only after that discussion that I decided that my health was in my hands and if I wanted to get better I had to find something other than my illness to encompass my life. This was a dark time for me and it took conversation, listening, spiritual connections and social change that encouraged me to make it right.
I liked Marissa’s concept of a three-pronged approach to well-being. Holistic health, spiritual conversation and social activism are definitely important to a woman’s sense of well-being. I agree with her idea that those who have difficulty maintaining physical well-being often make up for it in other aspects of well-being. I have known many people with serious illnesses and genetic disorders who focus more on the aspects of their well-being that do not involve their physical situations.
Marissa focused on passionate expression as a way to express ourselves through art. Although I personally am not an artist, my sister is – and she approaches her sense of well-being primarily through expression in art. I liked that Marissa included many different forms of “art” – including cooking (one of my personal creative pastimes) and computer programming (which many people do not usually consider art).
Marissa raised an important point in her essay – the need for people to engage in a “re-charging” period. Many people, especially in our busy, work-oriented society, neglect this aspect of their well-being. However, I would like to point out that we, as Americans, are privileged in this respect. If we were struggling to meet our basic needs – such as housing, food, and clothing – we would not have the leisure to re-charge our mind and body. In general, we would be forced to neglect this aspect of well-being in order to ensure our survival.
I appreciated that Marissa made a distinction between spirituality and religion. Although they can be closely linked, they also can be completely separated from one another. As Marissa points out, this is an important distinction that needs to be made. Spiritual conversation is an important aspect of well-being, but I don’t agree that it is a necessary aspect of well-being for everyone (although it is for me). I have known at least two people who did not believe in “an idea larger than ourselves” and do not feel that this has had a negative impact on their well-being. But I do believe the freedom to have spiritual conversation if you feel it is necessary and helpful is an important aspect of a person's well-being.
I believe that participating in society is an important part of well-being, especially emotional well-being. I disagree that it is not an option to disengage from the society that raised you. Immigrants, although they do not generally disengage from the culture in which they were raised, do tend to engage in the new society in which they live, rather than the old one. I feel it is important to make the distinction between society and culture in this context. I do, however, agree with Marissa’s contention that being part of a community is essential to the growth of an individual. "It takes a village to raise a child" is cliched precisely because it is so often true. I think this is something that we often lack in contemporary American society.
When addressing her own well-being, Marissa focused primarily on medical issues in both of her responses. This really touched me, especially the part about taking her health into her own hands and finding something other than her illness to encompass her life. I have two friends with serious illnesses that they will be dealing with for the rest of their lives. Both of them are very young, and both have illnesses that generally are diagnosed much later in life. I have watched them struggle and come to terms with the same ideas that Marissa addressed, especially when dealing with doctors who treat you as a "case" rather than a human being. Both of them have found something else which encompasses their lives, rather than focusing on their illnesses. Having witnessed this, I have great respect for what Marissa has gone through.
