by Grace Pappadellis ’29 on October 8, 2026
Opinion
I recently finished a book for my theology 200-level class that left me with a broadened, revitalized mindset, with thoughts and ideas transformed into my own words and descriptions that echoed the book’s philosophy. I hadn’t felt enlightened by a school-assigned book since The Things They Carried when I was a senior in high school. Although that novel was incredibly moving, it did not impart philosophical inspiration into my life as much as it inspired me to become a better listener, storyteller, and observer of the world. However, I believe that both, if not many, insights gained from reading are of equal importance: introspective understandings of the human mind and purpose, as well as the way one learns to approach life experiences in a pragmatic, honest way.
I will not write a book report on The Uncontrollability of the World by Hartmut Rosa, but I will use his writing to inspire my own work and to develop my connections to people, places, activities, and even the deliberate choices in writing that I make almost every day. I hope to consistently infuse my beliefs with the notion that we can all gain something—minute or monolithic—from what we choose to connect with, at all times. We will get the most out of our connections when we are softened by their charms and highlights, even their vicissitudes, which can be the most hardening. To be softened by something is to allow it in, to give it a fighting chance, and to exist alongside it, rather than stand against it, authentic and truly ourselves. Even when we know that life does not promise a new connection with an entity at every corner.
My parents have drilled into me that open-mindedness is the key human trait that will guide me toward a multitude of opportunities and insight. They repeated that everyone I encounter deserves, and will inevitably have, a fair shot at meaning something to me, as we learn from all the people that either glide or trudge through our lives. They have told me that my everyday routines are chock-full of new developments, deeper avenues, and more unique outlooks. However, if I turn a blind eye to what initially feels unnatural or disjointed, I may never learn what it’s like to feel suddenly inspired when it is unexpected or awakens a latent stimulus within, which can be all the more gratifying. It is no easy task to feel impartial, never mind excited, about what we truly fear, what grinds our gears, or what leaves us confused but somehow keen to learn more. An open, accepting mind and spirit is nevertheless integral to an authentic representation of ourselves, and even more so a nest for our innate identities to feel comforted in, while also convincing us that we can’t stay there forever.
To soften your edges is to approach the world with a pliable perception, without marring your valuable, deep-seated morals. It is to accept that there’s possibility for resonance with just about anything—even fellow humans we never thought would evoke such tantalizing emotions from us. We cannot ignore it when we connect. People, places, music, food, visuals, textures, sensations. We feel it is coursing through us, possibly infiltrating the sentiments we carry everywhere, not damaging them but allowing them to morph and mold to the person we are, the person that changes in a myriad of ways every single day. Soon enough, even the slightest, most intangible changes within ourselves will accumulate, and we’ll see our lives—the world from what we know about it—from a completely different, advanced, but somehow still fluid standpoint.