(Untitled)
I am sometimes a complete fool. I initiate theological and political discussions when I haven't the time to see them through whatsoever. I squander a day I should be putting to good university use on watching the Bathurst 1000, though eye fatigue is kicking me in the arse anyway. My apologies; I'll get back to things eventually
( Read more... )
I'll have to disagree with you on that one, André. You're implying that emotions are pointless and that they do not matter in the greater scheme of things; I would argue the exact opposite. Without emotions, we would not enjoy anything, we would not feel outraged over anything, we would not love anything, we would not hate anything, and we essentially would have little reason to do the things that we do. Life is not merely an intellectual excercise -- it is a multifaceted thing.
No-one on your friends list is going to think any less of you for writing about non-intellectual topics or, heaven forbid, what you ate for breakfast. ;) Personally, I enjoy reading your thoughts on day-to-day things just as much as your political/theological commentaries. I'm going to do the literature student thing here and quote Samuel Johnson: "upon the whole, all pleasure consists in variety." And as the individuals above me have stated, we do care about how you're feeling, especially when you're feeling down. We wouldn't be your LJ friends if we didn't. The desire to share personal information with others, and by doing so seek validation or support, is entirely human.
And on that note, I can certainly empathise with your homesickness. Mine usually kicks in during April, which is when we first arrived in Canada. It's also the most physically unappealing time of the year -- the trees are bare, the grass is dead, the lingering snow has usually turned into a brown mess, and it's almost always raining. All of these qualities are amplified ten-fold in the city. I dread it. St. John's has to be the ugliest place in Canada during that period between the end of winter and the beginning of spring. Mind you, it's fairly ugly at every other time of the year as well...
Reply
I don't know. Emotions don't exactly fill academic libraries. And it seems any decisions made based on emotions just end up being all kinds of flimsy and prone to problems. I can't trust emotions like I can trust some fairly detached intellectualism. Shame I can't stop feeling them anyway.
'we would not love anything, we would not hate anything'
This sounds like a good thing to me, heh. Well, wait, I suppose my love of Kiwi history is something I kind of need. Damn.
I suppose when I'm feeling down, it just seems much more desirable to escape into a world of intellectualism than to, well, keep feeling down. That seems like a far more safe and controlled world. A bit more detached, a bit more logical, you know? Being distant is my one coping mechanism ... bit of a pain how it doesn't always work and has the side effect of loneliness. But nothing's perfect.
And you know, I would have assumed Newfoundland would be a rather attractive part of the world!
Reply
Do have a look through your library's English literature section at some point. ;) Or the psychology section, for that matter. Some of the world's greatest academic minds have written extensively on the value of emotion and, particularly, the value of expressing that emotion.
I understand where you're coming from, though. When you're in a funk, it's often much easier to distance yourself from negative feelings than it is to confront them or deal with them in an effective way. Like you said, though, the only problem with doing that is that it doesn't always work.
Now, this is going to sound ridiculous, but hear me out.
Buy a small exercise trampoline. If you find yourself ruminating over negative things, stop thinking, immediately procede to the trampoline, and jump about for five minutes or so - just long enough to get the endorphins flowing. You might feel like a bit of a twit while you're doing it, but trust me, it can help. People always underestimate the value of exercise. It is the one coping mechanism that is almost guaranteed to make a difference, simply because it affects your brain chemistry in a positive way. If you combine physical activity with your intellectual activity, you may find it easier to pull yourself out of depressive patterns of thinking.
Oh, Newfoundland itself is pretty... Just not St. John's. It's a cold, dirty, miserable place. See what I mean?
Reply
Reply
You want me to run screaming from the library once I stumble upon the literary criticism, or worse still, an actual literary critic? Well, I suppose it is an emotional response! ;) (By the way, I wonder if you've seen this xkcd comic before? I'm going to print it out and cellotape it to my lounge door right below this Dinosaur Comics gem.)
But in all seriousness, touche. I am quite sure I could mount a strong historiographical argument about emotion in my own discipline too. I just don't particularly want to at this very moment. I'd rather believe that I could be quite happy if I just picked up all of my sources, trudged off to some quiet, undisturbed place, and could read and write without any transient, fickle emotions around to bug me.
Reply
As I was saying ...
'When you're in a funk, it's often much easier to distance yourself from negative feelings than it is to confront them or deal with them in an effective way. Like you said, though, the only problem with doing that is that it doesn't always work.'
I suppose I should learn from the past. When I was about 17, I lived a very distant and disconnected, apathetic existence, and it bred problems of its own - sure, it avoided serious emotional lows, but it also had no real high points, and mundanity itself like that isn't the best thing on earth. But then when I stepped away from that, I found myself getting increasingly hurt, so ... now I don't know which is really the better option.
'People always underestimate the value of exercise. It is the one coping mechanism that is almost guaranteed to make a difference, simply because it affects your brain chemistry in a positive way. If you combine physical activity with your intellectual activity, you may find it easier to pull yourself out of depressive patterns of thinking.'
Now this is something that definitely would not have occurred to me - thanks! Worth a try, plus I need exercise anyway. The only problem is that I have no idea if even a small exercise trampoline would fit in this shoebox apartment of mine. What's the comparative efficacy of a brisk walk?
'Oh, Newfoundland itself is pretty... Just not St. John's. It's a cold, dirty, miserable place. See what I mean?'
If the cars weren't on the wrong side of the road, you could have just about convinced me that's a part of Brunswick! All my past photos, I've tried to cast it in a good light; maybe I should go and take some photos of what I find less attractive. There's probably some artistic worth in doing that anyway.
Reply
Leave a comment