Thursday, May 31, 2007
No Exit
After reading The Stranger by Albert Camus, I fell in love with the idea of existentialism as it is expressed in fiction. So a friend suggested that I read this play called "No Exit" by Jean Paul Sartre. This play vividly underlines the idea of existentialism and is an excellent allegory for the same.
Can you imagine being locked in a room with two people whom you hate the most? Sartre uses this storyline to show that the mind can actually be in hell in a peaceful environment because "hell is other people". It could be anything experienced in excess, be it a chocolate cake or ravenous sex. This whole idea led me to believe that the constant human need for variety, moderation, and instruments of balance exists to counteract the routine, maybe even creating heaven.
After reading that play, one thing stands clear- not that I really believed in it before, but I actually don't have to worry about "going" to hell. :-)
Actually, this whole thing reminds me of the American cartoonist Matt Groening, whose first series of cartoons were named "Life in Hell". It goes along pretty well!
Can you imagine being locked in a room with two people whom you hate the most? Sartre uses this storyline to show that the mind can actually be in hell in a peaceful environment because "hell is other people". It could be anything experienced in excess, be it a chocolate cake or ravenous sex. This whole idea led me to believe that the constant human need for variety, moderation, and instruments of balance exists to counteract the routine, maybe even creating heaven.
After reading that play, one thing stands clear- not that I really believed in it before, but I actually don't have to worry about "going" to hell. :-)
Actually, this whole thing reminds me of the American cartoonist Matt Groening, whose first series of cartoons were named "Life in Hell". It goes along pretty well!
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Parties
I graduated high school on 23rd May. It was a new feeling and I was definitely excited. However, this excitement was far more different than what was being shared in a bunch of graduation parties thrown weeks before the actual day.
My time spent in that school was only about a little more than two years. In that time, I met some wonderful people and shared a great time. And then came along that greedy urge for wanting more time with those people;good and bad, both work for me. After all, people are not just supposed to see and know the good in you, they deserve to know the bad too...and stick around.
And when they do stick around, you've finally found true friends.
I think I digressed right there.
Anyway, before all these parties started (the ones at Carolina Park), I thought that I would enjoy them as I am an extrovert and absolutely love to dance. At the moment, I did enjoy them! I had fun, non-stop fun. But after LPT (i.e two parties), I felt worthless. To elaborate upon that, it was a sense of "wasting" away my time and not being "productive", I guess?
Then, came along another bunch of graduation/birthday parties which were entirely different, and I figured out why- I actually socialized rather than dancing away the whole night/day. And there it was! I wasn't uncomfortable with the whole idea of "should I be partying like this every now and then?"
Since I have been talking about all these parties, I must mention how amazing they were in their own way! I learnt: some cool moves to go with the electric slide; "pop, lock, and drop it" ;SALSA, SHAG, AND SWING; some more cool moves like being a water sprinkler, jumping up and down while pushing a shopping cart; cleaning a sand funnel in a park with the utmost dedication; and being as cool as a three year old on one's eighteenth birthday!
On a serious note, I figured once again that it was alright to go and spend this much time "partying", as I have just begun to explore and analyze the world out there with all of my senses. After all, we can't rely on books to teach us everything. And then, a friend comforted me more by telling me that I would be able to handle the seriousness and the fun perfectly!
Although, I think I'll have to be cautious in college! ;)
My time spent in that school was only about a little more than two years. In that time, I met some wonderful people and shared a great time. And then came along that greedy urge for wanting more time with those people;good and bad, both work for me. After all, people are not just supposed to see and know the good in you, they deserve to know the bad too...and stick around.
And when they do stick around, you've finally found true friends.
I think I digressed right there.
Anyway, before all these parties started (the ones at Carolina Park), I thought that I would enjoy them as I am an extrovert and absolutely love to dance. At the moment, I did enjoy them! I had fun, non-stop fun. But after LPT (i.e two parties), I felt worthless. To elaborate upon that, it was a sense of "wasting" away my time and not being "productive", I guess?
Then, came along another bunch of graduation/birthday parties which were entirely different, and I figured out why- I actually socialized rather than dancing away the whole night/day. And there it was! I wasn't uncomfortable with the whole idea of "should I be partying like this every now and then?"
Since I have been talking about all these parties, I must mention how amazing they were in their own way! I learnt: some cool moves to go with the electric slide; "pop, lock, and drop it" ;SALSA, SHAG, AND SWING; some more cool moves like being a water sprinkler, jumping up and down while pushing a shopping cart; cleaning a sand funnel in a park with the utmost dedication; and being as cool as a three year old on one's eighteenth birthday!
On a serious note, I figured once again that it was alright to go and spend this much time "partying", as I have just begun to explore and analyze the world out there with all of my senses. After all, we can't rely on books to teach us everything. And then, a friend comforted me more by telling me that I would be able to handle the seriousness and the fun perfectly!
Although, I think I'll have to be cautious in college! ;)
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Wisdom: what is it?
A friend of mine showed a really cool link on www.nytimes.com. It was a wisdom scorecard. It contains a series of objective questions and then rates your level of wisdom on a scale of 5. The article is extremely interesting too!
Here's the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/06/magazine/06Wisdom-t.html?ex=1180065600&en=7f3ad2f446983e64&ei=5070
I got a little excited after taking this because I scored higher than my mother! (yesssssss!!!)
I scored a 4.3 and she scored a 3.8
:)
Here's the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/06/magazine/06Wisdom-t.html?ex=1180065600&en=7f3ad2f446983e64&ei=5070
I got a little excited after taking this because I scored higher than my mother! (yesssssss!!!)
I scored a 4.3 and she scored a 3.8
:)
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