Definition Essay: What's A Good Life?

Words: 1150
Pages: 5

What is a good life? What does it entail? Many people throughout the course of history have continually pondered these questions and perpetuated their mysterious nature. One cannot achieve a good life without defining it first. This may not be so easy, as there are many different perspectives on what a satisfactory existence is. A general definition is: A good life is one human lifetime that was spent performing activities that reflected positively on the person himself, and those around him. The good life itself can be broken into two divisions: influential and personal. The influential side varies greatly from person to person, and all depends on what kind of mark one wants to make on planet earth. The personal side is fairly concrete, giving scholars and philosophers better …show more content…
One aspect of personal satisfaction would be the concept of a home. Most middle-class Americans would normally use “house” interchangeably with “home”, yet there is a major difference. The term “house” refers to a physical building with various rooms that one family lives in. The term “home” refers to a place of calm, peace, relaxation, and dominion. Although one may achieve a good life without a literal house, some form of a mental, emotional, or spiritual home is vital. Within the idea of “chasing the good life”, there is a feeling of “going home”. Whether this is finding a family member, friend, partner, or even a safe and quiet place (be it physical or not); pursuing the concept of home is extremely common, and may be the core of what drives all people.
Most people find their sense of home in a place, but what makes a place feel like home? Sonia Nazario argues that home can simply refer to family or even a simple thought of a better future. In Enrique’s Journey; the story’s protagonist, Enrique, ventures from his home in Central America in pursuit of finding his mother. Enrique’s mother had left