Blog 1: The Cave and I

     There are certain instances in life where people would rather sit through the comfort of a lie than face the harsh truths of reality. This same idea is portrayed in the text of Plato's Republic, where three prisoners are confined to a cave facing a blank wall. The prisoner's gradually begin to associate with the shadows that are projected on the wall by a flickering fire behind them. The shadows on the wall are the closest to reality the prisoners ever get to see, thus having them create their own sort of "make-believe" world within the cave.

     The situation described in Plato's text can also be made in reference to a personal experience of my own. I had chosen to live out of my "facade of perfection" and face the truth despite how overwhelming it looked among my peers, my friends, and my family. During the process of my high school years, I became an actress within myself. I lived and acted to amuse those around me. I was always sure to keep everyone content at all costs; Even if that meant sacrificing my happiness for their own.

      Being told what to do and how to do it became as simple as breathing with me, and until just a little while ago I didn't come to realize that being told what is the best thing for you to do sometimes isn't the best thing for you to do at all. I always thought that impressing others was the right way to live my life, and that the only way to advance was to make those around me happy and be rewarded for my good behavior.

      I never came to think about what might just happen if I were to look at all of the possibilities I had before me and what would happen if I had a different perspective of what life could be like. As quoted from Socrates in Plato's Republic; "True, he said; how could they see anything but the shadows if they were never allowed to move their heads?"

      According to Plato, the shadows are as close to the real world the prisoner's get to really see. He further explains that the only way the prisoners can come to realizing what reality really is if they are freed from the cave to come to understand that the shadows aren't all there is to life. Knowing this, they can perceive their own form of reality, and not simply one that has been chosen for them by a cave wall and it's shadows.

      I believe that accepting the truth for what it really is is one of the fundamental tools in reaching happiness. Accepting the truth, guilt, and isolation come hand in hand in these situations, but in the end you come to realize who is really willing to stand beside you the rest of the way. If not, and reaching true happiness means sitting outside of the comfort of the cave and out alone in the rain, then so be it.