Lately, I've been thinking about choosing a direction for the next few years. I've been thinking of academia, of the skills that I've acquired over the last decade or so, and about where, if at all, I could put them to use with the greatest satisfaction*.
See, that right there is some upside-down, back-to-front thinking. And I'm now especially convinced about Frankl's argument that this business of pursuing happiness as an end goal is, in fact, counterproductive.
At the same time, when Frankl writes that "Everything can be taken from a man but one thing, the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." - I have to stop and ask myself if that is indeed entirely true. What happens when you're not from privilege (even given Frankl's particularly horrendous historical, if not personal circumstance, aren't there more people, even more disenfranchised than he today?)
I want to believe that there is truth to this (psychologically, spiritually - we imprint our brain WTH our attitudes through repetition / practice). But then, as Aditya asks in the video, do you think is this true? Can we really choose the way we react to our circumstances? And can we do this often and consistently enough to actually make a different?
What do you think?
And then I spoke to this guy (in the video).
His talk (oi! the video below) is about Dis-Existentialism; but, really, even if you're not in any way interested in disabilities or disability studies, you should watch it.
The timing of this couldn't have been better, really. Because even while the philosophy that frames his argument is familiar, the content has got me thinking about Happiness And Being.
Particularly Victor Frankl.
Much too often for my comfort I've heard "Life is short. We have to be happy and not. Take things seriously."
See, that right there is some upside-down, back-to-front thinking. And I'm now especially convinced about Frankl's argument that this business of pursuing happiness as an end goal is, in fact, counterproductive.
At the same time, when Frankl writes that "Everything can be taken from a man but one thing, the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." - I have to stop and ask myself if that is indeed entirely true. What happens when you're not from privilege (even given Frankl's particularly horrendous historical, if not personal circumstance, aren't there more people, even more disenfranchised than he today?)
I want to believe that there is truth to this (psychologically, spiritually - we imprint our brain WTH our attitudes through repetition / practice). But then, as Aditya asks in the video, do you think is this true? Can we really choose the way we react to our circumstances? And can we do this often and consistently enough to actually make a different?
What do you think?
*And without living in a box.
1 comment:
The only person you can truly change is yourself. That being said, something really needs to click before you can become consistent in this "change" you are pursuing. So, do I think it's possible? Yes. But it's a rare scenario...
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