Final Post

The narrator's discrimination against ego leads us into new territory. I have a poster in my room that simply states "life is a journey, enjoy it." I think this statement best captures how I feel. If you lose yourself in your own ego trying to accomplish something, admirable though it may be, you lose sight of whats important. What is the point of looking back at what you accomplished if you can't say "I had fun doing that"? Well, maybe you're one of those people who will say they did have fun. This then goes along with Pirsig's point that an ego-climber will lie to protect their image. They will never admit it, but no one ever enjoys thinking and looking towards the future because it distracts from the present. I think the narrator believes it because of his relationship with Phaedrus. He notes hoe he attempts a pilgrimage, but doesn't make it to the mountain in time. Not because he lacked the physical strength but because he was doing it for the wrong reasons. Phaedrus was one of the largest ego-climbers in the novel. Even in college, he looks to change the system to fulfill how he thinks it should be run. Meanwhile, his students are learning or are they? Phaedrus fails to see because of his farsightedness.
Having said everything I had, I do have a goal of settling down after college. It is an unbelievably stressful process in choosing the size, location, mascot, student body, etc. I take everything seriously when it comes to college but I do my best to live in the present. I try to live one day at a time and have a very "we'll cross that bridge when we come to it" mentality. However, for getting into college thats just not realistic. One has to consider grades and the whole application process which does require some analyzing in advance. So to the narrator I would say that the advice is sound, but is difficult to honor.