Walk and look around, and don't run. Here's some music to observe by.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Stop and Look Around
This past weekend a friend of mine from high school approached me on Facebook (because technology connects us with the world) with some concerns he had about choosing an academic direction in college. He expressed the same panicked realization that so many other students arrive upon when college time comes around. “I have no idea what I want to study…” he writes. What he really means is that he has no idea how to connect—how to connect his past experiences with his future goals to form some kind of definite interest or passion. And how could he? How could anybody at that point in their life?
People these days seem to me to be making decisions far too quickly for their own good and for the good of society, especially ones that have to do with serious issues like, I don’t know, lifelong happiness and satisfaction.
What should guide this kind of a decision is passion—a strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire. Instead, people are guided by money, social mores, and ignorant preconceptions. A university was designed to be a place where one can transcend these vices by exploring new and diverse subjects, meeting new people with concordant and conflicting interests, and allowing their minds to be opened by the learning experiences around them. Instead, universities have become a place from which to obtain a degree a.s.a.p. so that money can be made in the “real world” and where to “stop and look around once in a while”(Ferris Bueller) is a loss of capital. And this mindset only worsens as one enters this long sought after "real world" only to find out that it is, at least for those who pull the 9 to 5 in an office cubical, actually more fake and contrived than any of the many preparatory worlds preceding it. This capitalist, absolutist, one-goal, one-direction-only mindset cuts one off from his or her self and the world and sooner or later disconnection always leads to dissatisfaction.
How can we hammer our thoughts into unity if our minds are so closed that we can’t get at them? The only way to connect with the world and obtain a substantial amount of unity in our lives is first by observation and then by action.
To observe properly one must employ all faculties—the five senses, left-brain, right-brain, memory of things learned and experienced. It is as if you are learning a new language, a new vocabulary, and “a new range of thoughts to which [you were] before a stranger” and then you gain “new faculties, or new exercise for our faculties, by this addition to our knowledge; like a prisoner, who, having been accustomed to wear manacles or fetters, suddenly finds his arms and legs free.” (Newman, 75) Once free, we can then use these new faculties or this new language to form "sentences" and “compositions”. To compose is “to make by putting together parts or elements…” (111) and a composition is only as good as what it frames or is framed against. By “becoming a third-person observer for reflection” (Charlotte Beal) like the great transcendentalist poets one can synthesize frame with framed, foreground with background, similarities with differences, making the connections with the environment and the self necessary for realizing and developing a passion.
Passion is then easily transferred into motivation and motivation into action and action, generated from passion, is the key characteristic of good leadership. Once individuals gain passion they can transcend themselves and help others make the connections necessary for their own “self-actualization” (Maslow’s hierarchy of needs), thus taking on a greater role in society and even history. Everyone can achieve self-actualization, the highest goal in life, if only they take some time to observe, make connections, and develop passions. “Give yourself time to change.” (153)
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
The ultimate goal in life is self-actualization.
People these days seem to me to be making decisions far too quickly for their own good and for the good of society, especially ones that have to do with serious issues like, I don’t know, lifelong happiness and satisfaction.
What should guide this kind of a decision is passion—a strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire. Instead, people are guided by money, social mores, and ignorant preconceptions. A university was designed to be a place where one can transcend these vices by exploring new and diverse subjects, meeting new people with concordant and conflicting interests, and allowing their minds to be opened by the learning experiences around them. Instead, universities have become a place from which to obtain a degree a.s.a.p. so that money can be made in the “real world” and where to “stop and look around once in a while”(Ferris Bueller) is a loss of capital. And this mindset only worsens as one enters this long sought after "real world" only to find out that it is, at least for those who pull the 9 to 5 in an office cubical, actually more fake and contrived than any of the many preparatory worlds preceding it. This capitalist, absolutist, one-goal, one-direction-only mindset cuts one off from his or her self and the world and sooner or later disconnection always leads to dissatisfaction.
How can we hammer our thoughts into unity if our minds are so closed that we can’t get at them? The only way to connect with the world and obtain a substantial amount of unity in our lives is first by observation and then by action.
To observe properly one must employ all faculties—the five senses, left-brain, right-brain, memory of things learned and experienced. It is as if you are learning a new language, a new vocabulary, and “a new range of thoughts to which [you were] before a stranger” and then you gain “new faculties, or new exercise for our faculties, by this addition to our knowledge; like a prisoner, who, having been accustomed to wear manacles or fetters, suddenly finds his arms and legs free.” (Newman, 75) Once free, we can then use these new faculties or this new language to form "sentences" and “compositions”. To compose is “to make by putting together parts or elements…” (111) and a composition is only as good as what it frames or is framed against. By “becoming a third-person observer for reflection” (Charlotte Beal) like the great transcendentalist poets one can synthesize frame with framed, foreground with background, similarities with differences, making the connections with the environment and the self necessary for realizing and developing a passion.
Passion is then easily transferred into motivation and motivation into action and action, generated from passion, is the key characteristic of good leadership. Once individuals gain passion they can transcend themselves and help others make the connections necessary for their own “self-actualization” (Maslow’s hierarchy of needs), thus taking on a greater role in society and even history. Everyone can achieve self-actualization, the highest goal in life, if only they take some time to observe, make connections, and develop passions. “Give yourself time to change.” (153)
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
The ultimate goal in life is self-actualization.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Cluster
Because “the genius of childhood” is a “common human possession” I will attempt to tap into the “spontaneously creative imagination” (Cobb, 710-711) of my inner child via the exercise invented by the author of Writing the Natural Way (191) called “clustering” (example on pg. 197). Clustering was developed “as a way to gain access to the right brain” (199) and “often evokes the emotionally tinged associations interpreted by our right brain” (197). The idea is that, by evoking these emotionally tinged associations with spontaneity, creativity and imagination I will rediscover the genius of childhood and even “the perennial sources of happiness” (Mill, 695) to some degree at least. However, to uphold Ryan’s argument for written text over typed, I will hand-cluster this cluster because it is a truth that a hand-clustered cluster is far superior to a typed cluster when it comes to promoting spontaneity. Also, to further aid spontaneity and because every person has within him children of varying knowledge and intellectual capacities, I will not censor associations with knowledge I’ve acquired more recently than the age conventionally accepted as “childhood”. In fact, I will incorporate the material from the readings and from the lecture in order to “only connect” and just because these issues are fresh on my mind.
I will start with “the Mystery” (167):
I came to the conclusion that one of the instances where I felt the most lost and "left behind" in childhood was when I my lost my faith. Whether I ever had faith to begin with is debatable, but I had never questioned anything, which seems to me to be an aspect of faith. When I began to question myself and others I began to feel extraordinarily lost and left behind by those who did seem to have faith. I have since been able to embrace my beliefs and accept all beliefs as a form of truth.
I will start with “the Mystery” (167):
I came to the conclusion that one of the instances where I felt the most lost and "left behind" in childhood was when I my lost my faith. Whether I ever had faith to begin with is debatable, but I had never questioned anything, which seems to me to be an aspect of faith. When I began to question myself and others I began to feel extraordinarily lost and left behind by those who did seem to have faith. I have since been able to embrace my beliefs and accept all beliefs as a form of truth.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
“Footnote: the [logs] are in your favor.”
I think Charlotte makes an excellent point, probably because it is exactly what I was thinking while reading the testaments of long since graduated and established UT alum. The point being, as I interpreted it at least, that a role model is someone (or some thing or some place or some idea) who has made a personal connection with you.
I always had difficulty choosing a role model to write about for elementary school essays, because “I could never personally identify with any of these people in such a way that I would strive to emulate them” (Margaret Clemons). The reason I have always trouble with these assignments, I now realize, is because a role model is not something that one can just “choose”.
For a role model or mentor situation to occur, two things must coincide: a person with some admirable characteristic(s) (the Teacher) must become involved somehow with another person (the Student) at some crucial time in his or her life.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with claiming that some cliché elementary-school-essay-assignment regular like Abe or M.L.K. Jr. is a role model. However, there is a difference between one of these guys being a role model for society and being the kind of “role model” described in the readings. True, “Honest Abe” is a person to be emulated, but he will never “make an indelible impression on us” like the one made on Margaret Cousins by Dr. Parlin in the 1920’s (942). The reason that it is so often a teacher who becomes the subject of this kind of assignment has just as much to do with the characteristics of a good teacher—wise, cultured, articulate, engaging, honest—as it does with characteristics of a good student—inquisitive, naïve, frustrated, determined, and eager to learn.
After saying all of this, my role model is Abraham Lincoln…or rather a product of his legendary beginnings (quite literally a product). My role model is a set of Lincoln Logs I had when I was a kid. To just name a few of the many admirable characteristics of Lincoln Logs: “[They] never pulled rank…always seemed relaxed and friendly…never afraid of a new idea….[They] climbed on no bandwagons. [They] neither sought nor avoided confrontations with higher authorities. [They] were simply there, like a block of granite.” (Chad Oliver, 956)
This particular set of Lincoln Logs lived in a tall closet in the basement of my grandparents’ home in the microcosm of Tulia, Texas. I had no friends there, no entertainment, no creative outlet except for my own imagination. It is times like these, times of isolation, that, given the right resources, allow for uninterrupted time to think and reflect—the two best catalysts for creativity and mental progress. The right resources, in my case, were Lincoln Logs. Now, ten years and many moments of uncertainty later, is it no wonder that I seem to have decided on spending the rest of my life in the field of architecture?
I always had difficulty choosing a role model to write about for elementary school essays, because “I could never personally identify with any of these people in such a way that I would strive to emulate them” (Margaret Clemons). The reason I have always trouble with these assignments, I now realize, is because a role model is not something that one can just “choose”.
For a role model or mentor situation to occur, two things must coincide: a person with some admirable characteristic(s) (the Teacher) must become involved somehow with another person (the Student) at some crucial time in his or her life.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with claiming that some cliché elementary-school-essay-assignment regular like Abe or M.L.K. Jr. is a role model. However, there is a difference between one of these guys being a role model for society and being the kind of “role model” described in the readings. True, “Honest Abe” is a person to be emulated, but he will never “make an indelible impression on us” like the one made on Margaret Cousins by Dr. Parlin in the 1920’s (942). The reason that it is so often a teacher who becomes the subject of this kind of assignment has just as much to do with the characteristics of a good teacher—wise, cultured, articulate, engaging, honest—as it does with characteristics of a good student—inquisitive, naïve, frustrated, determined, and eager to learn.
After saying all of this, my role model is Abraham Lincoln…or rather a product of his legendary beginnings (quite literally a product). My role model is a set of Lincoln Logs I had when I was a kid. To just name a few of the many admirable characteristics of Lincoln Logs: “[They] never pulled rank…always seemed relaxed and friendly…never afraid of a new idea….[They] climbed on no bandwagons. [They] neither sought nor avoided confrontations with higher authorities. [They] were simply there, like a block of granite.” (Chad Oliver, 956)
This particular set of Lincoln Logs lived in a tall closet in the basement of my grandparents’ home in the microcosm of Tulia, Texas. I had no friends there, no entertainment, no creative outlet except for my own imagination. It is times like these, times of isolation, that, given the right resources, allow for uninterrupted time to think and reflect—the two best catalysts for creativity and mental progress. The right resources, in my case, were Lincoln Logs. Now, ten years and many moments of uncertainty later, is it no wonder that I seem to have decided on spending the rest of my life in the field of architecture?
Monday, September 3, 2007
Quality, not Quantity
I’m not an especially fantastic writer like some of you other fellows seem to be, however this is my best attempt to communicate what I got out of the reading. In response to Danielle’s blog, I would agree that human interaction with other humans, with the environment, and even between the two hemispheres of the brain is certainly important and necessary for happiness and progress. However, I don’t know if I would go so far as to say that we are worse off as human beings because of our technological dependence. “Only connect!” (Forster, 9) To connect to the Internet is connect to the world. Some say direct social interaction is becoming increasingly scarce in a world where more “cowardly” indirect forms of communication such as “the palmtop shrine of the BlackBerry” (Levy, 43) are preferred. But if social interaction remains just as necessary for survival as it always has been for the human species then, like any other species, we will adapt in order to fulfill that need. So, perhaps more important than attempting to increase the instances of social interaction is the importance of increasing our ability to express ourselves thoroughly in these sparser moments of social interaction—using both hemispheres of the brain to “Hammer your thoughts into unity” (Yeats, 125B) and then to express those thoughts effectively. After all, what good is more human interaction when all that is exchanged is meaningless small talk? It’s the age-old argument of quantity versus quality, and quality always wins.
Equally as important as expressing thoughts and perhaps twice as difficult is the ability to express emotions. As an Architecture major, I know I will be forced to consider the emotions that my buildings will generate in its inhabitants. Even more challenging is attempting to convey the emotions in a building design to a client. Just as in Margaret’s plastic bag video and in Ryan’s “text” video, a combination of two dimensional drawings, three dimensional models, the spoken word and many other forms of communication that utilize both left and right brain capacities are employed in order to communicate an idea however complex or abstract. “Color and shape help architects and designers speak to the public in a language they understand, either consciously or subconsciously.” (Silverman, 243) The abilities to detect subtleties such as emotional tone and synthesize feelings, images, sounds and words together with technological resources like the Internet are what allow humans to continue to communicate in a quality, not quantity, unmatched by any other organism.
Equally as important as expressing thoughts and perhaps twice as difficult is the ability to express emotions. As an Architecture major, I know I will be forced to consider the emotions that my buildings will generate in its inhabitants. Even more challenging is attempting to convey the emotions in a building design to a client. Just as in Margaret’s plastic bag video and in Ryan’s “text” video, a combination of two dimensional drawings, three dimensional models, the spoken word and many other forms of communication that utilize both left and right brain capacities are employed in order to communicate an idea however complex or abstract. “Color and shape help architects and designers speak to the public in a language they understand, either consciously or subconsciously.” (Silverman, 243) The abilities to detect subtleties such as emotional tone and synthesize feelings, images, sounds and words together with technological resources like the Internet are what allow humans to continue to communicate in a quality, not quantity, unmatched by any other organism.
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