I am continuing the exploration of my values. The point is to find things that can give my life the kind of meaning it once had.
Last time I came at the issue via my happiest/saddest occasions. This time I am approaching the same topic but in terms of people.
This homework is broken down into familial and professional relationships.
In terms of my relatives, the question is about the values which my family passed on to me and those I want to pass along to my children and my nieces and nephews. I think I’d divide these into: i) warm, ii) responsible and iii) fun. My family, especially on my mother’s side, taught me the importance of being kind, compassionate, and caring. Of being tolerant and forgiving. I try hard to exemplify those gentle values and I have tried to pass them along. Then again, being kind-hearted without the ability to be supportive and generous, both materially and emotionally, must fall short. Meaning well is good, but… So, another core value is being dependable. My family also modeled a balance of all that with spontaneity and an openness to fun and adventure, including a love of the arts (e.g., music, literature, architecture and painting). This “fun” group of values shows up in my love of travel, which I learned especially from my Aunt Ruth, and have tried to pass along to the next generation.
Regarding students and professional peers, first and foremost I’d want to be remembered for those “warm” values. I try hard to be a kind, tolerant, caring, and supportive colleague/teacher. I strive to be reliable as an academic too. I would also like my Chair’s eulogy to describe me as both an academic leader – creative, innovative, knowledgeable, smart, even wise – yet also a hard-working, collaborative collegial citizen. Also essential to my professional values is being ethical, fair, and intellectually honest.
Finally, I hope everyone, family, friends and workmates, will remember me as funny. (There’s something very important in the fact that I am never funny when I’m depressed and anxious.)