Eudaemonia

I first heard the word Eudaemonia in Rick Schwier’s keynote presentation at TLT Summit 2008, and it immediately captured my attention. I even mentioned that I wanted to write some more about that keynote. I guess the idea of eudaimonia has been bouncing around in my head ever since and now I’ve finally come to write out that reflection on Rick’s presentation. Of course, since it has been so long, I’ve probably deeply confabulated all that Rick said. Luckily Rick’s slide deck for the presentation is available online as is Alec’s ustream recording of Rick’s keynote.

As an aside, I’ve noticed that I often get good ideas for blog posts at times when I have lots of marking to do. Interesting …

So – back to eudaemonia. It’s a Greek word and often used in the discussion of ethics by Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Rick discussed eudaemonia as meaning a good life. “A good life” doesn’t necessarily mean the materialistic or hedonistic view of the good life – one spent in pursuit of material goods or sensual pleasures. (I can’t wait to see spam comments I get as a result of using that term) It means, according to my fuzzy recollection of Rick’s presentation and a quick skim of the wikipedia article, a life well lived or living up to one’s potential. Even though it is tainted by new age drivel, I think that finding and living one’s purpose in life would be another way to phrase it. Rick asked a potent question in this regard – if you knew that you couldn’t fail, what would you do?

A couple of things this past weekend brought eudaemonia and Rick’s question back into my mind. First, yesterday was father’s day. I like father’s day – my children give me lots of extra adoration and attention (and handmade cards – I love those). I get to sleep in. I get to have whatever I want for breakfast (pancakes and scrambled eggs with cheese, just for the record). But it also brings to mind the idea of eudaemonia. As a father, I want to live in a way that sets a model for my children of the right way to live. I want to do a good job of parenting so they grow up so they have also achieve eudaemonia.

The other, less positive event of the weekend was attending a funeral and wake (of the Irish variety) of a neighbour and friend. He was exactly 10 days older than I am, so his death hit close to home, geographically and emotionally. Listening to stories of his life being told in the eulogy and, more casually, by friends and family at the wake I thought to myself that, although his life was tragically cut short, he had lived a good life. He had been a good husband, father and friend. He had lived a life that not only brought him satisfaction but had enriched the lives of those around him. He had lived, I recalled Rick’s presentation, an eudaemonic life. He will be greatly missed by those who knew him, but our lives are better for having known him.

I find myself getting deeply introspective when I attend funerals. I question if I’m living my life in a way that fulfills my purpose in life. My answer is usually “uh … yeah, I guess … maybe”. I recalled Rick’s question – if I knew I couldn’t fail, what would I do? I’m not sure I’ve ever had an answer but my experiences over the weekend make me feel like I’d better get on with figuring that out. Time is short and precious.

So – I’m looking for a purpose in life. If you have a spare one kicking around, would you consider donating it? Consider this a lazyweb request for eudaemonia.