"Does the moon have a purpose?" she inquired of Prince Charming.
Prince Charming pretended that she had asked a silly question. Perhaps she had. The same query put to the Remington SL3 elicited this response:
Albert Camus wrote that the only serious question is whether to kill yourself or not.
Tom Robbins wrote that the only serious question is whether time has a beginning and an end.
Camus clearly got up on the wrong side of bed, and Robbins must have forgotten to set the alarm.
There is only one question. And that is:
Who knows how to make love stay?
Answer me that and I will tell you whether or not to kill yourself.
Answer me that and I will ease your mind about the beginning and the end of time.
Answer me that and I will reveal to you the purpose of the moon.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
sartres
The basis of Sartrean freedom is ontological: we are free because we are not a self (an in-itself) but a presence-to-self (the transcendence or “nihilation” of our self). This implies that we are “other” to our selves, that whatever we are or whatever others may ascribe to us, we are “in the manner of not being it,” that is, in the manner of being able to assume a perspective in its regard. This inner distance reflects not only the nonself-identity of the for-itself and the ecstatic temporality that it generates but forms the site of what Sartre calls “freedom as the definition of man.” To that freedom corresponds a coextensive responsibility. We are responsible for our “world” as the horizon of meaning in which we operate and thus for everything in it insofar as their meaning and value are assigned by virtue of our life-orienting fundamental “choice.”
-Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
-Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Love's Executioner
Love's Executioner
by Irvin D. Yalom
They are really interesting concepts to think about, and I think some of you would want to read it!
Love’s Executioner is probably one of the best books with which to start my graduate school career. Much of what Yalom references and writes on includes questions I have sought to answer or beliefs I have informally adopted as I have grown as an independent young adult.
The first words that struck me were a mere three paragraphs in: Existence pain. While one normally thinks of extremes when such words are presented—those people completely consumed by the “whys” and “hows”—Yalom is using them to describe a vast majority of people. Most people, I believe, do not think they personally struggle with existence pain, as well as the things that come with it: meaning-seeking, death anxiety, and self-awareness. But, in fact, the things we as humans have instituted in our everyday lives give credit to the fact that we all experience these things and seek to reduce the pain and anxiety. While I have thought about these concepts, I have never put them together in one cohesive symptom/cure-type-model. It was very interesting to read these things in such brevity and connectedness.
Another concept he touches on is the belief in personal specialness. Yalom describes it as a delusion meant to afford the illusion of safety. This is something most people are taught, through religion and societal norms, that can be thought of at a rational level—the concept of a unique life history, special qualities and gifts—or that can be taken to an irrational level—the belief that one is invulnerable, that one exists beyond human and biological law. I have personally thought much about this concept since moving away from the catholic religion and developing a personal belief system based more on existentialism and intrinsic personal development. It seems as though religion not only quells death anxiety through the illusion of an afterlife, but also through ascribing each person a completely unique, ultra important soul that will transcend to that afterlife.
Other concepts that Yalom touches on that were interesting include ultimate isolation, cosmic indifference, Cervantes’ “wise madness or foolish sanity,” Otto Rank’s life stance of “refusing the loan of life in order to avoid the debt of death,” and unrealized potential and how it relates to life perspectives and priorities.
This book leaves a lot of food for thought and incites further exploration—a great beginning to my counseling education.
by Irvin D. Yalom
They are really interesting concepts to think about, and I think some of you would want to read it!
Love’s Executioner is probably one of the best books with which to start my graduate school career. Much of what Yalom references and writes on includes questions I have sought to answer or beliefs I have informally adopted as I have grown as an independent young adult.
The first words that struck me were a mere three paragraphs in: Existence pain. While one normally thinks of extremes when such words are presented—those people completely consumed by the “whys” and “hows”—Yalom is using them to describe a vast majority of people. Most people, I believe, do not think they personally struggle with existence pain, as well as the things that come with it: meaning-seeking, death anxiety, and self-awareness. But, in fact, the things we as humans have instituted in our everyday lives give credit to the fact that we all experience these things and seek to reduce the pain and anxiety. While I have thought about these concepts, I have never put them together in one cohesive symptom/cure-type-model. It was very interesting to read these things in such brevity and connectedness.
Another concept he touches on is the belief in personal specialness. Yalom describes it as a delusion meant to afford the illusion of safety. This is something most people are taught, through religion and societal norms, that can be thought of at a rational level—the concept of a unique life history, special qualities and gifts—or that can be taken to an irrational level—the belief that one is invulnerable, that one exists beyond human and biological law. I have personally thought much about this concept since moving away from the catholic religion and developing a personal belief system based more on existentialism and intrinsic personal development. It seems as though religion not only quells death anxiety through the illusion of an afterlife, but also through ascribing each person a completely unique, ultra important soul that will transcend to that afterlife.
Other concepts that Yalom touches on that were interesting include ultimate isolation, cosmic indifference, Cervantes’ “wise madness or foolish sanity,” Otto Rank’s life stance of “refusing the loan of life in order to avoid the debt of death,” and unrealized potential and how it relates to life perspectives and priorities.
This book leaves a lot of food for thought and incites further exploration—a great beginning to my counseling education.
Monday, October 11, 2010
readreadreadreadreadlistenlistenlistenlisten
i ordered these today. i'm going to order 10 more next week. i can't stop.
started this one a year or so ago and it had to leave, along with one of my best friends. really excited to get back into it. If you believe in peace, act peacefully; if you believe in love, acting lovingly; if you believe every which way, then act every which way, that's perfectly valid— but don't go out trying to sell your beliefs to the system. You end up contradicting what you profess to believe in, and you set a bum example. If you want to change the world, change yourself.
Who knows but that which seems omitted today, waits for tomorrow?
A compassionate heart still feels anger, greed, jealousy, and other such emotions. But it accepts them for what they are with equanimity, and cultivates the strength of mind to let them arise and pass without identifying with or acting upon them
damn
a toi toujours
dans tes grands yeux
rien que nous deux
started this one a year or so ago and it had to leave, along with one of my best friends. really excited to get back into it. If you believe in peace, act peacefully; if you believe in love, acting lovingly; if you believe every which way, then act every which way, that's perfectly valid— but don't go out trying to sell your beliefs to the system. You end up contradicting what you profess to believe in, and you set a bum example. If you want to change the world, change yourself.
Who knows but that which seems omitted today, waits for tomorrow?
A compassionate heart still feels anger, greed, jealousy, and other such emotions. But it accepts them for what they are with equanimity, and cultivates the strength of mind to let them arise and pass without identifying with or acting upon themdamn
a toi toujours
dans tes grands yeux
rien que nous deux
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