Life is filled with normalcy. As creatures of habit, we are comfortable in routine, in the ability for the mind to satiate its need for similarity. Does this yearning lead to a lack of description about our way of life? Will future scholars lament on the lack of detail presented? Saint Augustine’s Confessions provides an insight on culture, society, and temptations that either uplifted or plagued his human experience up to the year 400. He chose to include or omit details about his way of life, details that have educated scholars, or, if ignored, frustrated them. Saint Augustine’s work leads to a simple question: if I were to present a work about my human experience, what would I choose to entail or erase about modern culture? What did Augustine decide?

First and foremost, if I were to write a story about my life, I would need to decide how personal I would want it to be. Since I tend to be a more private individual, I would agree to share personal experiences, but would not dive into how these made me feel. I am not sure that this omission would be intentional, it is simply how I operate. I would write a plethora about the people that have positively influenced my journey. Since education is a large part of my life, I would include the works that I have read, the teachers I appreciated, and how each changed my thinking. I would purposely leave out any negative experience I had with a person, as I do not find it fitting to slander an individual based on a disagreement. When it comes to less personal subjects, such as travel or culture or technology, I would probably unintentionally omit a lot of details. As stated earlier, we as human beings are comfortable with routine—what may seem significant two thousand years from now is simply normal to us. I would not feel the need to mention what a car is, as I would expect every reader to know; I would not mention what a plane was for the same reason. When it comes to matters of culture, I would mention significant modern movements that were changing the way society operated. This includes the modern protests, the COVID virus, any movie or media that shaped society, as well as why. In matters of technology, I would not feel the need to mention that I am writing on a computer, much less what a computer is. Social media, cell phones, apps, would be unintentionally left out because they are such a staple of modern life. When making this list, it was interesting to view St. Augustine’s work, and how it compared to my way of thinking in terms of inclusion versus omission.

St. Augustine is quick to mention his distaste for sacrilege or sin, in any form. He frequently mentions his mother, a positive influence in his life, but rarely mentions his father. He is quick to delve into his feelings, expressions, concerns, about any experience, temptation, or sin. St. Augustine is quick to acknowledge his shortcomings. He knows where he went wrong, and constantly asks God for forgiveness. He is open about his opinion on culture, plays, education. This is evident with his vocalized disdain for the way that plays expose tragedy and lust. When it comes to less personal matters, St. Augustine mentions little. Similar to my way of thinking, Augustine does not include much information about how he travelled by land. He does briefly mention his and his mother’s sea travels to Rome, but does not provide significant detail. He mentions the cultural differences in Carthage, Rome, and Milan, mostly with the young members of society and their treatment of their tutors. He includes information about Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan who helped his conversion. In matters of technology, he includes little to no information. I wish Augustine had mentioned more about his relationships and how they influenced his life. I especially would like to know more about his relationship with his father.

While St. Augustine does include much more about his personal matters than I would, his experience is written in a similar matter to how I imagine that I would write. While it would be helpful to include information involving informal inquires about society, it is unrealistic for an author to mention these details in an autobiography. As previously mentioned, we are creatures of habit. We include information about unique aspect of our lives, never indulging in the mundane. Any inclusion of such would be seen as nonessential, boring even, for a modern audience. Since works are written for a modern audience, St. Augustine’s inclusions or emissions are sensible.