It’s extremely incredible when a person has a philosophy carries
it around with them, and one day discovers there’s a name for it, that there’s
whole works produced regarding that philosophy.
This is exactly the feeling that struck me upon reading the
introduction to our book. It being just an introduction, obviously it’s not
extremely deep. However, every so often (as in, ever other sentence) I caught
myself nodding in agreement, acknowledgement, and awe.
I have always regarded myself as “different”. I’ve always
thought there was something unique about my deep core traits. And I’ve often
wondered: am I the only one that feels this unique? There’s somewhat of a
problem for me though about this thinking. Example. Let’s say there are 10 people
in a room. We gather around and each and every one of us is unique, we are each
our own different person, we are alone in this world and that we think
differently than anyone else does. If we all have this same mindset, that means
an outsider could come along, say that there are 10 people in the room and that
the majority of the people think this way. But now, those “individuals” are the
majority. The “different” is now the “norm”. At what point can one think that
they are truly and completely different from the world? Because all 10 of these
people who were just so, so completely different, are now “normal” citizens.
Therefore, imagine multiplying this on a large scale, on a world scale. Where’s
the individual now?
It seems that for arguments sake, one could say that the individual
only matters to that one self. But, don’t we want people to KNOW that we are an
individual? Do we not strive for attention for the “strangeness” that some of
us may carry? Now there’s the thought on how to be even more different in order
to stand out. It’s apparent that not everyone may feel this way. I’m not in
everyone’s head, I cannot look at a passerby (as much as I may think I can) and
say what their life is like, what their philosophy is like, or whether they
believe they are different. I can only guess.
And so, Monday rejuvenated me. I sat down with a fellow
classmate/groupmate after having been let out early and we had discussion. We
delved into the superficial aspects of existentialism that we were both
familiar on (I haven’t had much exposure aside from the Introduction). Many
times had she responded to me with “oh, you’re such an existentialist!”, I
never thought those words could bring such a grin to my face. Connecting with
the idea that I am “super unique”, it was fascinating to meet someone with
similar mindsets as I. There’s a great deal of anticipation as to what this
class may have to offer me.
A fallback (maybe) will be my analyzing as an Anthropologist.
Many times I have an urge to take a step back, analyze and observe what the
dynamics are/will be in a given setting. I have already had this feeling
towards this class: how many students are existentialists? How many are open-minded
and curious on what’s out there? How many are merely in it for the credit?
Then, how do the group dynamics fit around that purpose? Who are the group
facilitators? Who allow themselves to be facilitated? The questions can go on
and the research could be interesting. I think this problem is what leads to my
questions that grow broader and become based on a societal scale rather than an
individual scale. In spite of this, I should be able to refocus my trains of
thought. This class will hopefully take me places I’ve never been before, and
for that, I’m extremely excited because not enough classes do that.
