two months till 23

Wow I'll be 23 years old in two months. Guess that makes me older, but my 23rd year will be a challenge.. a move towards responsibility, choices, and all else that happens after I shake the sands of 'going to school all my life' reality.

There's still a whole lot to do. My last class, thesis, work, and such.

This Sunday, however, I'd like to put forward a thought for you all to digest...

The other day I put forward a very personal perspective on 'the other' concept. Lately I've been thinking that I made generalizations about you and how you think about the other. Our reality today is that the world is very open and that a majority of us know issues outside of our immediate surroundings... and additionally, some of us actually care passionately about issues that do not immediately affect us. Take the matters of Sudan-- A country just under Egypt, whose environment is just as hard as fighting for survival, has come to the forefront of many of our minds. What happens there and what actions the government of Sudan make on its people effects how we behave here, even though a raid on the Sudanese isn't a raid on us physically. It wasn't long ago that Africa was just a continent in our minds. It was a whole, undivided, and issues (some of us thought) were universal issues. Take the generalization of Africa's environment, one could ask a person in 1940 (before the African campaign in WWII) about Africa's environment and they might tell you (again a generalization perhaps) that all of Africa is a desert. We know now (as pop culture in fact) that the Congo is mostly jungle, that South Africa is actually more towards the south pole and that effects cooler weather there, and that Libia has more of a Mediterranean feel. This example shows our globalized view (through education) and proves that our view of 'the other' isn't what it was a decade ago.

Back to the Sudan issues, Sudan is now an independent issue and we know that what happens in Sudan is different then what's happening in Nigeria. Africa, in today's terms, is no longer an unified 'other' but a continent which various issues in various regions are almost as diverse as European issues.

Thus, my comment on Asia should be examined. Asia might be different because, in one sense, it is still very foreign. Their culture still requires study to be understood. They are, in many respects, an other- in the western business world, an other in the arts/entertainment world, and an other in the technology field. They are an other, but a familiar other, one we can, at least, dissect, examine, and interpret. What I called 'the other' wasn't Japan or Asia, but that feeling of them being foreign in their separate arenas (like those I just mentioned). That feeling, of this being an other-than-my-own-reality brought me comfort at times this week, and what compelled me to feel a longing to which I shared here.

Undoubtedly there is an other in all our lives that would make us feel comfortable if we were there, visiting. However, this other reality in our lives is a fantasy that, while we might have experienced in the first person, is still a fantasy (in its worldliness) and therefore that is why we might be prone to like it more than where we live today-- which is a place that just happens to strike us in the face everyday just to say,

"hello you, I'm here-- acknowledge me"

Today, I think a measured dose of both the other in our lives, and the reality we face gives us balance. Without our experiences we would never grow in our knowledge, never have a fantasy to fantasize, never think about what lies beyond the fence. At the same time we should not push away all we have invested here in our own current reality. Our invested time, treasure, and passion; the words we speak, however insignificant at times, was genuine in that moment. To remember only the bad times and bad feelings gives us markers to which to consider change through that experience. Likewise, to only think of the happy times brings us hope and makes our lives livable. Both are necessary actions and do not conflict since they are both common things we do with our experiences.

What we should take home is what I once heard was the best answer to the meaning of life, "The meaning of life is to give life meaning"-- I would only add to that, "and to find love in that meaning."

Pontificate on that and steer your life to this:

live on and prosper;
be strong, passionate, and informed;
love without regret; and...
feel to know you're alive.

~J out