Tuesdays with Morrie

The focus throughout Tuesdays with Morrie was on life. Many might see it as the story of death, but it is actually the story life. Morrie might talk a little on how he meets death, but what he is talking about is living at the end of his life. Mitch writes, “Now here we were . . . . . . Dying man talks to living man, tells him what he should know.”(Albom, 133) When a timer is placed on Morrie’s remaining days, he obtains a dying man’s perspective on what is truly important in life, and how to incorporate in life this importance. I looked for parts of the book that pertain directly to my life; I focused on this concept while reading this book. My thesis remained elusive. There wasn’t a Tuesday that jumped out at me, and then I came to the chapter of culture. Many of the lessons introduced by Morrie to Mitch, I have already incorporated into my life: Value relationships and value happiness with what you have, instead of the unfulfilling perception of happiness in stuff or status; Love openly with a giving heart, though I struggle with this; Knowing when to hold on and when to let go, in both relationships and megrims of the mind; to understand death as a part of life and not cling to the body as the total of self. Morrie’s “Truth” on culture is my greatest distraction from happiness. The constant barrage of a cynical, materialistic, and entitlement based culture, makes it hard to maintain perspective, and is my greatest challenge. Who we are as people, reflects the culture we are raised in. You can choose your how you live your life and what defines it, and impossible as it seems, you can choose culture.

He listened to the words Morrie delivered in college, but could no longer hear Morrie’s message. The, idealist Mitch, drifted a...

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... it there way” you are naïve. Your pity is scorned, and it is hard to have an open heart to a closed mind. I see Morrie’s light though. Build your community of love and understanding around you, not to cloister yourself from the world, but to support your spirit. When Morrie says, “I’ve got so many people who have been involved with me, in close intimate ways. And love is how you stay alive, even after you are gone.”(Albom, 133) Morrie’s adopted culture and community is the intimate people involved in Morrie’s life. Love going on after you die conjures the idea that the memories and feelings you leave behind with others will influence the culture you built and the culture at large. Like Morrie, I want the friends I leave behind share in the happiness I have found and the joy I helped create.

Works Cited

Albom, Mitch. Tuesdays with Morrie Broadway Books 1997