The Power of Introspection

   This was my college essay, got me accepted to 5/6 schools. Fuck Northeastern. But not you D-fas, you go have fun kiddo. Anyways, thought it might be interesting. 

 I have traveled to some parts of the world that are well known for the peace and tranquility they bring. I have been to The Swiss Alps, and seen the Matterhorn and its glorious snow-capped peak. I have been to the Vatican, to the Holy Sistine Chapel, where Michelangelo depicted God giving life to man, and I have been to Niagara Falls, where the world falls into the calm waters that lie between the United States and Canada. All these natural places allow me to ponder deeply about people.

  

However, I have never felt more satisfied and at peace in one place as I did sitting on a wooden bench in downtown Boston.

  

 The city may be noisy, crowded, and polluted by all types of transportation, by the trains, cars, buses, bikers, and even pedestrians. Yet sitting on that empty bench at night gave me a feeling of relaxation. Even though 4.5 million people surrounded me, I felt isolated in an area that was all mine. I was free to think for myself and go deeper into a solitude we rarely have time for.

   We are all looking for something. Everybody wants to find something out there that is going to make the world better for him or herself. What is out there, though? Why are we looking for something to add to our lives? I don’t mean that we should just be happy for what we have and be satisfied with who we are. No, I truly believe that we can be happy with ourselves just by looking at how we see ourselves. Introspection is a powerful tool.

   If there is something we truly don’t like about us, why don’t we just change what we do not like? Maybe it’s because we are afraid of how society will judge us, and that we will seem “fake” because either the new or old, personality will not appear to be a “real” personality trait. However, I don’t think it’s society that scares us as much as we scare ourselves. We are looking for something else because we are afraid to see that we are unsatisfied with our own lives. To change ourselves, we must recognize that something within us is a problem.

   Since the bench became my place to think, I used it to help me look at myself. I decided that I had always critiqued the people around me, and always been afraid to truly examine myself. I’ve noticed that I often don’t try to understand other people’s perspectives. Instead of always singling out other people’s mistakes, I should try to understand why they made that mistake, while realizing they don’t necessarily think the way I do. I must try to comprehend that each person has a different view on life and I have to consider this in my actions. It’s there own personal philosophy that drives their actions, and I must be respectful of their beliefs.

   How does all this relate to me or to the bench? I am a person who tries to acknowledge my weaknesses so that I can work hard to better myself. But, I am not satisfied with simplicity. So all this thought is something I do regularly, and has even become somewhat of a hobby for me. As for the bench, it just made me think and wonder.  The bench is my place of solitude, where I can try to understand the world around me, but also understand myself.