As a teenager nearing the end of my adolescence, I am constantly wondering where I fit into things and how I might fit into them in the future. Throughout childhood I was given rules and boundaries set by my parents to follow or else I am considered disobedient. It took me a while to figure out the consequences for not listening aren't as great as they once claimed. That began my revelation that just because my parents said something didn't mean they were entirely correct and therefor I was obviously smarter then them.
In retrospect, even though people in life hold superiority or authority over another, no one can really enforce "ethical" behavior or "code of action" for anyone but themselves. You have your own judgments on whats right and wrong, and for someone to tell you what they should be takes away from your own freedom to be an individual. I believe that being your own person emerges from doing things your own way, not giving in to the norm. We have to set our own standards to meet, because we can only be happy if we set out to be.
Looking back on my life so far, I think of how although I have lived with my parents for 17 years, they don't know me as deeply as I wish they did. We have existed in the same household since the day I came out of my mothers whom and yet I am still misunderstood, nagged and punished for things I don't think I deserve. Even though they ask me about my day and try to sympathize the bad and praise the good, they never completely relate and feel its extreme effect it has on me as like I do. Even though we share the same DNA, we still weren't connecting the way I desired to. The two people who have seen me change can't relate, so who can?
I feel these observations contribute to the idea of absolute individualism. Sometimes, no matter how hard we try we can't get someone to feel exactly the way we are feeling. All we can do is listen and wonder. Like Banach said "Only we feel our pains, our pleasures, our hopes and our fears immediately, subjectively from the inside."
Although I agree with most of the points Banach is proposing, i feel that his views are a bit extreme. Because even though I think no once can COMPLETELY feel ALL or what i feel or see EVERYTHING I see through my eyes, they can still relate to some aspects. When you think about it, who would really want someone being identical to the way you are? Doesn't comparisons and disagreements make life more interesting? Its not that we're all alone, its that we are all free to be our own person and must figure out what to do with ourselves.
So in order to flourish and find happiness we must stop looking into others to figure life out, but look within ourselves. If Banach is right and we all are completely alone in this world, then shouldn't we make the most of our time with ourselves?
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HW # 2 First Comments
ReplyDeleteDear Alicia,
This blog post has definitely been the best of all the ones I have read from both Manley’s class and Andy’s class (finnaly a blog post that’s 100% readable). This post gave me a whole new perspective at which to observe existentialism that I hadn’t even heard in the very very long English Class discussions.
I liked how your blog seemed to flow from the topics of authority, to parent child relation, and finnaly individualism. I liked what you said in the 2nd paragraph, “no one can really enforce ‘ethical’ behavior or ‘code of action’ for anyone but themselves.” This really put into perspective the “ by the book” way people use authority over one another but when you reach the age where you now have the authority you do not have to follow that code of action.
Your final statement out of paragraph # 2 really exemplified how one should live their life, “we can only be happy if we set out to be.” Every individual should have the freedom to be happy, and there are many different ways people will interpret realizing their own true happiness.
After reading your third paragraph about how you can not fully connect with your parents on a specific level, I almost thought you were secretly wishing you maybe have a twin to have someone to relate with. But, after reading your final paragraph you justified your reasons for placing that statement earlier in the post by saying, “who would really want someone being identical to the way you are? Doesn’t comparisons and disagreements make life more interesting”? I’m sure after reading that statement that it would “hit home” too many people who play this game of life way too safely and cannot seem to break out of their shells to embrace the realistic freedom that they have.
Sorry for being so long winded but your post offered up a lot to say. Also, another sign of a great writer is that you were able too start and end with a similar statement to leave the reader (me) thinking. Please build off of this post. Can’t wait for what you have to say next.