Apathy

Apathy bothers me more than anger . When I'm angry, I understand the cause, see it coming on, and see it dissipate. Apathy is more elusive. Sometimes I get stuck in an apathetic mindset and I don't know how I got there and worse - how to get out. 

Apathy ties in with desensitization - and we are desensitized in so many ways. Video games desensitize us to rampant violence. Comedy on TV desensitizes us to racist, vulgar humor and makes us critical of others. Lack of healthy outlets to release frustration and anger desensitize us to screaming at one another to get a point across. Impersonal communications such as text or social media desensitize us to how we really connect with others. 

And a personally poignant one - school desensitizes us to learning. 

I was navigating through 'apathy' in Wikipedia and I came across Robert Maynard Hutchins, who I hadn't been previously familiar with. Aside from become the Dean of Yale Law School when he was 30 years old, he has a laundry list of impressive life achievements. As an educational philosopher, he spoke about apathy and the disintegration of our generation. 

His book, The University of Utopia, speaks about a world where students learn about the intellectual concepts behind their majors rather than just the skills to simply 'get it done' - where children are first taught how to communicate with one another and then given the ability to choose for themselves what their school of thought will contain. He talks about having a full range of educational classes which focus on comprehension, rather than just 'getting through the class'. He talks about giving degrees to students who prove masterful comprehension, not just show their 120 credits. 

Utopian, indeed.

There is no question that while going through school my main focus was on getting good grades and getting through it. Not to say that I didn't learn anything, but I was more interested in the simple achievement of crossing the finish line than I was with gathering a deep understanding of the topic which so fascinated me - philosophy. I love philosophy and I loved it then - but it's only now that I'm devoting myself to getting to know it better. 

I'm sure those reading this can remember taking a class because it was pre-requisite credits you needed and you heard it was easy. Did it matter what the subject was? Minimally. And it never becomes as full of an experience as it could have been, and you never learn as much as you could have. 

There are so many distractions outside of class - video games, drinking, social scenes, social media, TV, movies - it's hard enough in this generation to keep focused on school. If the emphasis to really cherish the ability to learn isn't there in the professors, how will it be in the students?

Our culture needs to re-sensitize. Not that we have to become blubbering babies or anything, but we need readjust our grip on reality. If we keep pulling ourselves farther and farther away from reality, there's only so much we can handle before we shut off and ignore it all. 

I think the digital culture is a major culprit, but it doesn't have to be. Technology can aid in our evolution and connection to one another - but people struggle to see the reality that surrounds them when a device is in their midst. It seems more important to type what they are doing, in Facebook, than to actually live it. And the motto for the media and corporations, who keep making more and more and more, seems to be, "if it makes money, who cares what it does to our human culture?" 

Ah, I get apathetic just thinking about it. 

Slov

Archetype

Which archetypes are present in you?

There are a lot of different studies/books that refer to archetypes and the different elements of our being that can be defined by those specific, universal characters that everyone has within them to varying degrees. It's a wonderful way to help categorize the self, and to personify those elements of your being which are so dynamic and have so much control over you that they certainly may as well be their own entities. 

I've done a lot of work in the study of archetypes, and I find the notion to be a very important and valid one. But the different explorations of the archetype have resulted in a library of different archetype 'sets' from which we can choose how to parcel out our being in the most clarifying way. Doing so makes the idea of the archetype just as varied as other branches in philosophy. 

When is to be made of this? Are we the Fool, the Poet, the Hero? Are we more elemental, as Anger, Fear, Sorrow, Happiness, Disgust, Surprise? Are we the Trickster, the Maiden, the Child? Mother Nature, the Shaman, Night, Day? In essence we are all of these things and the myriad of other archetypes that have been determined to be the 'fundamental' archetypes. But what use does admitting we have these archetypes within us have, since if we continue to expand and agree that we can relate to every archetype handed to us, up through Spirit, we will come to the recognition that we are a little bit of everything? 

People want to recognize their archetypes within themselves so they can call out recognition when one emerges. Then, analysis of the balance of their archetypes can lead to transformation and a healthier existence that transitions smoothly from archetype to archetype. 

As a student of archetypal studies, I'm simply feeling a little overwhelmed by the excess of possibilities. But it's just like my previous post about sickness - with literature and the internet, we have infinite possibilities of what could be the 'true' answer. And I simply find myself overwhelmed, frequently, by the abundance of possibilities for how we can come to self-understanding and transformation. As someone who already has trouble making decisions, infinite possibilities makes it just a little more challenging. 

But hey, that's the fun of it too. 

www.adhk.org

Promote Yourself

The internet world is something else. It's fascinating how you can invent and express yourself, for one thing. On the negative side, you could be a creepy old man pretending to be a 16 year old girl in a distorted attempt at self-expression, but on the positive you could promote yourself in a way that you unveil opportunities you would otherwise not be considered for or not have exposure to. 

For instance, my writing abilities are pretty decent, and songwriting and blogwriting help me to continuously improve myself. I want to get into the writing world more professionally, though, and I have been struggling with how to do so. I earned a degree in Philosophy, not English, so although I wrote a whole lot of excessively long papers I apparently don't have the grammar skills necessary to ally myself with the English professionals. I have been assuring job ads that I am competent, can learn quickly and will be quite adept even though I don't have the preferred background. Unfortunately, jobs have a silly paradox: can't do it unless you have experience, but can't get experience because you can't get a job since you don't have experience. 

Well, thanks to the Internet, this paradox is somewhat re-routed. I decided, instead of responding to ads, to post my own and offer my services. I don't have to lie and say I'm an editing master or a English guru, but I let them know that I can edit their work and offer them professional quality and an efficient job - affordable at that. And you know what? I've been getting responses.

It's a good lesson in creating opportunities for myself. The only way I'll become a part of this world and be seen is by putting myself out there. Thanks to my highly supportive and graphic design-inclined boyfriend, I have beautiful business cards coming my way, as well as a pending website. That's made me really excited and nervous at the same time. 

Of all the things I do, I still don't really seem to have a specific title that defines me. Not that one word should encompass my entire being, but most people know how they would label themselves on a business card. This all just brings me back around to the issue of being able to play freely and allow my creative flow to be unleashed. Once I start focusing and giving myself a break, I'll have the opportunity to create things that can be shared and be able to define what I offer more clearly. And of course, I'm also working towards some great references for a professional writing career. So things are moving, and they are looking up. That eases my nerves and increases my excitement.

On that note, I'll post a few lovely pictures I've taken during and since my move out west. Since it isn't flickr I won't go crazy, it's just nice to see beautiful pictures. 

I accidentally took it upside down, but I like it better this way.

The sunset on the Bay - always unique, always beautiful