Running head: MY RENAISSANCE MOMENT

My Renaissance Moment
Reflection/Essay
Morgan Nelson
BUS 1050 Salt Lake Community College

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My Renaissance Moment

What is realitythe first words and leading question as I began to read the introduction
of Critical Thinking in Business by Edward G. Engh. Followed by, The Universe is everything,
and it exist whether humans know about it or not. It is experienced by all living things through
perception I am perceptions number one fan. Therefore, I new after reading the first sentence
I was going to appreciate this book and this course. My Renaissance Moment Essay, is a
personal perception between my life experiences and those from the book itself. Critical
Thinking included so many diverse and inspirational authors that I found myself continuously
relating to the readings, starting with Alienated Labor, by Karl Marx. The worker becomes even
cheaper commodity the more commodities he creates. As the world of things increases in value,
the human world becomes devalued.
I have always been a modest person living a modest life. I do appreciate a sense of
security which comes in the form of: shelter; paid bills; health insurance; a reliable vehicle; at
least half a tank of gas; food on the table; a little extra under the mattress for emergencies; etc.,
etc. The problem with my modest lifestyle is not the lifestyle itself, but the reality of having to
work three jobs in order to fund it. When modesty becomes un-affordable and health insurance
becomes a luxury, one starts to question things like needs, wants, consumption, society as a
whole, and the American Dream itself.
I was married for over fifteen years, raising a family and running my own retail store
during the Recession of 2009. As Karl Marx put it, man needs to be allowed to live and

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create, which enables us to feel fulfilled and flourish; it is our species essence. I felt
accomplished, proud, and fulfilled. Nonetheless, these feeling were short-lived and I did not feel
like I was flourishing. I came to the realization that, in a sense, I had become slave to my
choices; I no longer felt footloose and fancy-free. Like Mike LeFevre, Steelworker I had
become alienated from the purpose of life. I was not sure what my life purpose was or how I
would find it, yet I knew I could not continue on the path I had chosen.
I walked away from it all. My Renaissance Moment was not born overnight; it
blossomed over time, as I took a new path of self-realization.
I got to a point in my life where I was in constant conflict with my own thoughts. I would
continuously ask myself how I had become like the rest of the world. Why do I continue to
torture myself only to be rewarded by material possessions (if rewarded at all), slaving away at
something I didnt really love and justifying the slavery of my children, family and friends? I
was finally living the dream and it felt like a nightmare. Gandhi told us, Happiness is when
what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony. I always told myself I was
doing what was necessary to live a happy life, but I never truly felt at peace. In fact, I found
myself feeling guilty for not being happy. I loved my family, but I had lost touch with the place
in which I was living.
After my husband and I were divorced, I moved my family to a new house. We had rid
ourselves of the things that had held us back for so long. My store was gone, along with much of
the junk that I had collected, and I felt free, a freedom that I had forgotten or never truly
appreciated. We settled into our new house and transformed it into a home. My children adjusted,

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and we began our new life. As time passed, I felt rejuvenated, clean, and balanced. This was the
beginning of my Renaissance Moment.
I looked at our situation as any follower of Charles Darwin would. I looked at my new
life as a mutation, an accident of sorts. This accident forced us to adapt, and with adaptation
came the exhilaration of strength, opportunity, courage, and love, for myself and my family. We
had lived somewhere for so long, that we had actually been consumed by familiarity. Familiarity
in the form of comfort is a treasure to many but a curse to me. I had become so comfortable that I
had stopped questioning myself, ultimately losing sight of me. We are creatures of habit and
getting by had become a bad one. Then, by chance or choice depending on how you look at it,
we found this new home, a new way to live, and with this new outlook on life came my true
happiness. I ate healthily, became healthy, danced, read books, mediated, cried, learned to
breathe, and I learned to love myself.
This moment carried on through some of the happiest years of my life. My youngest
finished elementary, my oldest was almost a senior and I was getting ready to go back to school
myself, when I ran into an old school mate, James. Our friendship blossomed into something
more. He became part of our life, part of our family and part of a new Renaissance Moment.
Being a marketing major, I had followed the advice of Peter Drucker who once said, The
best way to predict the future is to create it. I am perceptions number one fan. I believe in
perception cycles, by which your life is borrowed for a moment in order to learn and see things
through the eyes of others. When given back, a new ideal you is formed and the drive to create it
becomes intense once more. Therefore, my perception affords me the ability to create passion

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and if there is one thing I took away from the theory of Critical Thinking, passion and charisma
can improve any situation and reality. Everyday I try my hardest, slaving away to support my
family, going to school, trying to create my future, while trying to live in the present by gaining
new knowledge and a new Renaissance Moment.

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References
Driscoll, D. (2015). Tone in Business Writing. Retrieved 2015, from https://
owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/652/1/
Drucker, P. Father of Management. In Critical Thinking readings from the
literature of business and society (3rd ed.). (n.d.). New York, New York: A
Pearson Education Company.
Gandhi, M. Man and Machine. In Critical Thinking readings from the
literature of business and society (3rd ed.). (n.d.). New York, New York: A Pearson
Education Company.
Marx, K. Alienated Labor. In Critical Thinking readings from the
literature of business and society (3rd ed.). (n.d.). New York, New York: A Pearson
Education Company.
Terkel, S. Mike LeFevre, Steel Worker. In Critical Thinking readings from the
literature of business and society (3rd ed.). (n.d.). New York, New York: A Pearson
Education Company.
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