Week 9

The definition of individualism is a social theory favoring freedom of action for individuals over collective or state control. My interpretation of individualism is taking the side against the majority vote and not being afraid to share your opinions of the opposite side. It can be strange to think everyone lives a separate life and views everything differently. No two people can be known under the same identity. In the Art of Living, Hanh says, “Although we look the same, and we are still called the same name we are different. No matter how sophisticated our scientific instruments, we cannot find anything in our person that remains the same and that we call a soul or a self.” We are all human, but our souls and identities differentiate us from each other. Individualism means expressing your genuine ideas and feelings even if they differ. Everyone shares a different view of their hopes and dreams. Most people hope to pursue things they find attractive in their lives. They can base a career on their passions and goals that apply to it. When people create these goals, it is a timeline of how they can reach the best version of themself. Everyone shares different goals because everyone wants to follow different life paths. After people learn about their interests and do not follow others, it helps them discover where they want to end up. When people know what they want to achieve and how to get there, they can base how certain they are on if they will get there on their abilities to perform it. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses or how you function best can be very useful and give you good insight into whether you can work up to becoming the version of yourself you dream to be.