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Rethinking Life Without A Narrative Lens
A man is always a teller of tales,’ wrote Jean-Paul Sartre in his novel Nausea (1938), ‘he lives surrounded by his stories and the stories of others, he sees everything that happens to him through them; and he tries to live his own life as if he were telling a story. However, telling a story is not just a powerful creative act. Some philosophers think that narratives are fundamental to our…
I think everybody's weird. We should all celebrate our individuality and not be embarressed or ashamed of it
Johnny Depp
In this brave new world of ours, the greatest problem I know is this: that it is impossible to be an individual. Think about it - there are 7 billion-plus people on this earth right now, and even more have lived and died. Now, I'm no statistician, but I know enough to understand that the probability of there being someone out there who is very similar to me - I don't mean just name and appearance, but personality - is most likely a lot higher than anyone would expect. Of course, I don't mean that there's someone out there who has had the same life experiences as I have, but think about it: with the universality of the internet and pop culture, to what extent can anyone's preferences and personality be determined to be individual, unique? The rise of the hipster and the search for authenticity in either the new and unknown or the forgotten past illustrates this conundrum. How "individual" are you when you're wearing suspenders and skinny pants, a sundress and full-sleeve tattoos? But the same can be said of fashion-bloggers, those chic men and women who can seemingly make any outfit look fantastic. But get them all together in the same room (fashion week?) and how can one be more individual than another? In a high-school cafeteria view of the world, where everyone belongs to a certain "group" like the athletes, the fashion-bloggers, the hipsters, the musicians, how does one distinguish him-or her-self?
I, Myself.
This year, one of the most important lessons of life has been constantly beaten into my mind: Everyone is different; we're not meant to be anything else but ourselves.
As I further my study in philosophy (as a second major which was rather abruptly decided upon), I've found myself getting into some intense subject matter. Analytic philosophy is quite mind-blowing, logic is more difficult than one would think, and everyone is on different levels of understanding. As for me, I find myself somewhere in the upper-middle in comparison to other fellow philosophy majors, respectively. Nevertheless, I have been forced to acknowledge that there are people who are simply mentally stronger than I am. Even in my first major (English), I don't consider myself particularly outstanding. I'm pretty good at it, but I don't think I'm a genius-level student.
This leaves me feeling like I need to catch up with the best of the best. It makes me feel inferior. As a pre-law student, I know that I've got to keep up my game in order to accomplish my career goals. And, truthfully, this often discourages me when I see others performing better than myself.
When I try to form an unbiased, purely honest picture of my ideal life, I always end up picturing myself as more of a domestic, caretaker type of person. I want to support my family; I want to be an encouraging force to my husband; I want to create and maintain our home. If there's anything in life I feel particularly good at, it would be this.
But while I feel that I would make a great and loving homemaker, I know that I do still have other goals. I want a career; I want to use my mind, (which I know to be quite bright); I want to find my niche. The most important thing I need to keep in mind, though, is to be good to myself and trust in my own abilities and talents. Sure, I may not be the greatest thing to happen to the study of philosophy or English or law, but I am myself and I have my own insight to contribute. And I know that I can be one of the greatest things to happen to those I love most.
And for that, I am happy.
I like people who have a sense of individuality. I love expression and anything awkward and imperfect, because that’s natural and that’s real.
Marc Jacobs
