This week has been about existentialism, and figuring out what it means to me. Lets look at an "official" definition.

This is from the American Heritage Dictionary. "A philosophy that emphasizes the uniqueness and isolation of the individual experience in a hostile or indifferent universe, regards human existence as unexplainable, and stresses freedom of choice and responsibility for the consequences of one's acts. "

What brings this on is a book I am reading right now about personal tradgedy and how it can affect life. I mentioned the book to a friend and the opinion was "It's likely too existentialist for me". While I was thinking about that it occured to me that all of the blogs, and posts, and comment boxes like this one were basically this kind of fare. No matter how well I was to describe something from my point of view you would never be in the same moment as I am. It kind of makes the idea of writing from the personal perspective a potentially frustrating action!

It made reading this book a different kind of exercise for me. While the story is interesting enough, and it is a work of fact not fiction, I'm now looking at what the author is describing and thinking "Would I react that way? Would I do this?" It is a very different way to read a book for me. Before a story would either feel "real" or not. Now there is another layer. I guess I am looking at whether or not it is a valid experience.

That's my existence for this week.
Unknown "viking" Inspired - 16 years, 5 months, 17 days ago