The Meaning of Life

For the first Unit of Journalism, we learned about the ideas of an image. In the beginning, we researched on an image that had a big impact on society. This helped us learn about how much meaning can be behind an image, and how pictures really can mean a thousand words. We watched a movie called Spotlight, which helped me visualize how effective Journalism in and of itself can be. For our Field Experience, we visited the Weinberg Newton Gallery, where we viewed an exhibit about the killings in Chicago. Each person who was killed over the summer of 2013 got their place of death photographed and displayed collectively on a giant wall. At the end of our unit, we compiled all the skills we learned and used them on our Action Project.

The Meaning of Life is a question that’s been pondered upon for years. Many people might say peace, money, or maybe friendships. Do we truly know why we’re all here?

Edwina Cowell, my mother and interviewee, defines the meaning of life as a connection through love. “Finding our own special gifts and talents and using them to connect with one another is my definition of the meaning of life.”

Mrs. Cowell lives in the suburbs of Chicago and works as a business owner and interior designer. She co-created a company named Spiritual Playdate with the help of her friends, which helps teach all different types of religion and spiritual curriculum for children. The idea for this sprouted after I was born when she had trouble figuring out how to educate me with her teachings. Mrs. Cowell says that through creating new forms of teaching, she’s making the most of the meaning of life: “I’ve been on a 30-year spiritual journey that has lead me to do what I do now.” Throughout this journey, she’s come to understand and make her own spiritual connections.

“When I was younger I probably didn’t think much about meaning, it was more about gratification, and as I’ve been growing older, I’ve paid a lot more attention to bigger philosophical questions such as “Why are we here?”, I’ve spent a lot of time studying different ideologies of faith, and those studies have lead me to believe that we’re here to learn to love.”

Because Mrs. Cowell runs a company where spirituality is so prominent, I decided to touch on the subject of God. When asked about the idea of God, she suddenly became more immersed in our conversation: “The concept of God may have come as an answer to the question of what happens after we die. My idea of God is more of a force; it is a light and love and energy that connects all matter, a vibration, if you will that’s powerful and runs through everything, but I feel it’s something that you can tap into.” During the creation of her business, Ms. Cowell has dealt with all different types of religious and spiritual beliefs. I thought it was interesting how she’s learned all these different teachings, which a lot of other people follow as their meaning of life. “There are many people that have faith in different things such as a monotheistic God which is a single creator, many Gods, or a force. People call all of these things God and find faith in their beliefs.”

Our interview took place in our backyard on the sunny day of September 28th, 2016. I thought it would be the best location for us so that we’re in a comfortable setting; one that’s a good temperature and not too noisy so neither of us would be distracted. We sat on our patio so that we could admire the trees and the sky. She mentioned how it made her feel relaxed, and that the energy around us helped keep her motivated to carry on with her best responses. Feeling the warmth nature was providing helped us appreciate the environment. I believe the atmosphere truly helped Ms. Cowell when illustrating the meaning of life.

During the interview, being in nature helped us both stay focused. After embracing our surroundings, I ended up changing one of my questions. I asked about whether theology and science can coexist: “We’ve barely begun to scratch the surface of our universe. We may never have an answer to where we came from. All we have are theories, but the discovery process of science is critical and always strives to provide answers for us.”

SC, Cowell, 2016

Out of all the pictures I took, I thought this one represented Mrs. Cowell best because of the naturalistic aura it gives off. Originally, the photo was darker in the background, but I used Photoshop to make some of the plants and trees more vibrant. It’s better to have the environment around her stand out as well as herself because it paints an idea of her character. Also, I blurred the trees farther back to make everything up closer stand out more. I decided to use the sharpen tool to make the bark on the trees more dynamic.

This photo was taken in our backyard. I think it captures an essence and represents Mrs. Cowell’s meaning of life very well. The settings on the camera used was a wide open aperture of f/1.4 and a shutter speed of 1/30. I took a few pictures with flash, but it made her face far too bright; I wanted Ms. Cowell to be represented well, but not the only think you should focus on when looking at the image.

As for my opinion on the photo, I think it depicts Mrs. Cowell’s character and profile extremely well and relates to a lot of stuff touched on in the interview. It would fit really well if this were posted as an article. If I could change one thing, it would probably be the weather, but it was cloudy the day of the interview and there was really nothing I could do except brighten the sky. From this, I’ve realized that I enjoy editing pictures and making things stand out rather than taking pictures themselves.

Plans for the Future

Overview of Unit 1:

For my first Unit in Econ at GCE, I have to say I really enjoyed the concepts we learned. Math has always been one of my stronger suits, so Supply and Demand came to me pretty quick. Learning from both a mathematical and conceptual view was something I’d never done before, and it was interesting understand the mechanics of the economy while also taking in the way people think about money. For our Field Experience, my class went to the Federal Reserve in Chicago, where we were lectured by an economist and learned about how money is dealt with; it was an enriching adventure. For my first Action Project, my class was assigned to formulate two different college paths we might take once we graduate high school. I chose the career of an Information Technology manager, because I’ve always had an insight for hardware and software programs. Not only did this help me pick my college major, but it aided me in mapping out my future financial plans, and how I’m going to pay off my student loans in the future, depending on the path I take. I’m glad we were assigned this for our introduction to the course, because it helped create a future guide that I otherwise would’ve been unprepared for.

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