Such a large question. Perhaps it would be better to narrow the context? Maybe better to find what others have said and cite them based on their ethos and reputation?
For now, I will speak on my own beliefs, which theoretically are the summation of my reasoning of everything i've consumed thus far in my life.
I suppose it would be helpful to answer who I am to add context to the answer that follows. I think I'll add that as a question.
Anyways.
I think it is important for me to 1. identify something greater than myself and 2. contribute to that something.
The first step in that needs to happen quite often so that the 2nd step has direction.
I think something greater than myself is other people. I mean. I think we would all agree that 2>1. Thus to contribute to aid 2 people is better than to aid myself.
So great. We've figured it all out. Help at least 2 people. Now what?
We need to decide more things that are important.
I think lucidity is important. We could call it clarity.
I think what I'm trying to get at is its important to take inventory of ourselves: our intentions, our passions, our tastes, our opinions, our history, our strengths and weaknesses, and who we know.
Knowing these can help us better understand how we can contribute to 2 or more people.
If i'm playing a game, then it is important to win. That is the goal. If the game requires strength, then it is important to be strong, to win the game.
Well in the game of life, it doesn't seem clear what it means to win. So we must pick what it means to win. Thus we arrive back at choosing our greater purpose. Our higher power.
Thus, I think it is important to ask each day, what does it mean to win today? Or maybe we could articulate it, what is good today? or maybe what is God's will today? not that it is needed, but i'd like to point out the similarities between the words "good" and "God".
Though I know this is a dangerous game as both words can come with so much history, and different history, to each reader and thus can distract from the intention in asking the question.
So I've arrived at, I think its important to do whats good, but we don't know what that is, so it's important to regularly ask what is good and then do that. And in asking to find an answer that aligns with our inventory of ourselves.
Well. At the very beginning I noticed it's important to answer who I am first. So it seems we've come full circle.
And to know who I am, I think it is important to know where the things I'm saying have come from. Where did I get each of these ideas. Straight to the source. And then ask those people what they think is important. Or better yet, watch how those people acted throughout their lives and deduce what they believed is important from the actions alone. Words are fickle. Its much easier to say than to do. And I find in myself how easy it is for the two to diverge.
Anyways.
I like band.
Marching band.
Specifically the kind that includes 5 or 6 Rosewood Marimbas and Vibraphones and Synths and a Drumset.
That is to say, I feel Passion or strong positive emotions when I'm around those things. And then I return to those things.
Not necessarily something I think about regularly, but rather something I notice in the way I act.
So as I try and ask what is good and do that, I include in my mind the inventory of this passion. And act in a way that contributes to this domain.
This is Important.
One of the articulations of why I like band that I've made before is the following:
I like band because it taught me how to be good at something, in environment where others were learning and teaching how to also be good, and in a larger context of multiple generations of people learning and teaching how to be good.
In band, I get to be a contributing member, inside a yearly community, inside a generational community.
My HS band director, shout out David Henry, would make us take a leadership test on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. (Not doing any googling for this so I may get this wrong) I'm pretty sure the needs were Physical->Safety->Self Esteem->Social Interaction->Self Actualization.
Then one day years later I saw a tik tok or maybe a yt video that talked about how this wasn't the full list and instead it had two more that followed Self Actualization->Community Actualization->Cultural Perpetuity.
It brings me pride to think that when I'm working on my inside two rotation or my note accuracy that I'm self actualizing, which is leading to my community being better (good), which is leading to "good" for generations to come.
I think this is Important. It's important because its in an environment where we've asked and answered what's "good", in an environment where i'm contributing to something greater than myself, and in an environment where i'm in alignment with my inventory.
Wow. I'm pumped. That gets me so excited. I think thats Important.
I've hit my 30 minute limit, so that's all for now. Thank you for reading.
Nic Farris 1/31/2026