it's always a stunning moment to run into kafka every now and then. his elusive spirit manifests in brief moments, where you least expect it. like people you hardly know or get a chance to talk with. those hours i used to spend with my students at a lone gazebo near the fertility tree just musing about existentialism and the essence of making choices.
"so, is kafka and the rest of the existentialist saying that without choices one ceases to exist." that seems to be so. having choices at the basest level is the least common denominator among human beings in order to call themselves "people" or "person." be it choosing what to wear, what to eat, or if you have to comb your hair or not in the morning before you go to work.
the essentialist would think, "there's a reason why i am the person i am today." thinking that divine intervention or fate would lead him/her to a predetermined situation. the existentialist would think "i am the person i am today because of the choices i have made. so that if i have never had choices before or other people have been making them for me, then my existence does not belong to me. i am pretty much worthless to myself."
anyway, before my nose bleeds, i saw kafka again briefly in a former student's journal entry.
Of course, you could read more of Kafka online.
1 comment:
haha. i found your new blog. now ill be viewing this from time to time.
anyways, i remember once having such deep yet fulfilling conversations with some of my friends.
and yeah, i do recall having those lessons on philosophy. i miss those days.
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