Wednesday, September 16, 2009

When simple ain't easy


Wikipedia - Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology, proposed by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper A Theory of Human Motivation, which he subsequently extended to include his observations of humans' innate curiosity.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is predetermined in order of importance. It is often depicted as a pyramid consisting of five levels: the lowest level is associated with physiological needs, while the uppermost level is associated with self-actualization needs, particularly those related to identity and purpose. Deficiency needs must be met first. Once these are met, seeking to satisfy growth needs drives personal growth. The higher needs in this hierarchy only come into focus when the lower needs in the pyramid are met. Once an individual has moved upwards to the next level, needs in the lower level will no longer be prioritized. If a lower set of needs is no longer being met, the individual will temporarily re-prioritize those needs by focusing attention on the unfulfilled needs, but will not permanently regress to the lower level.

Reading Leslie's post the other day, my mind became fixated on the concept it raised and launched into this tangent that's affected me for the past 48 hours. I started thinking about "simplicity" and its utopian promise of halcyon days... The thought of it all made me anxious -- the notion that once you are able to reduce something to basic numbers or equations or any systematized routine you will have achieved some finite degree of self-actualization and greater emotional intelligence. I do believe in the restorative power of simplicity, but surrendering oneself to the simple life entirely? What would that be like? If simplicity was the means to our end, surely we'd be bored out of our minds, less interesting, and less in touch with ourselves and our surroundings.

I dug up my last moleskine notebook and started flipping through all the quotations and aphorisms that I'd collected mostly from books and movies for the last couple of years. I got into collecting various quotations and aphorisms, hoping that each one might allow me to better understand and organize the world around me and be more aware of my own potentiality within it. The running list I've collected ping pongs back and forth between skepticism and faith. A recent line: "...but the universe is indifferent..." was uttered by the character Don Draper of Mad Men :). Take that line and it could all be so simple. It would allow one to both accept and reject everything at the same time. It could free one to do or believe as one pleases if one accepts [that]:

"The greatest mystery is not that we have been flung at random among the profusion of the earth and the galaxies, but that in this prison we can fashion images sufficiently powerful enough to deny our nothingness." - Andre Malraux

Life as one big boardgame. Dada life.

But every time I find myself peering over the edge of the existential black hole of nihilism, that instinct for life rises and I once again am inspired to continue exploring the "Practice of Everyday Life" (a positive nihilism?). I'm fascinated by what people are doing, everything that's happening, connections, interactions. I hate missing out. I become obsessed with understanding our modern folklore.

I remember that simplicity does not equal simple-mindedness, rather, it is what we seek as the reward for our persistence and undying curiosity. I guess a little anxiety isn't so bad after all.

A fitting quote that sums it up comes from one of the most famous (positive) nihilists out there:

"To those human beings in whom I have a stake, I wish suffering, being forsaken, sickness, maltreatment, humiliation--I wish that they should not remain unfamiliar with profound self-contempt, the torture of self-mistrust, and the misery of the vanquished: I have no pity for them because I wish them the only thing that can prove today whether one is worth anything or not--that one endures." - Nietzsche

Sunday, September 13, 2009

waiting for autumn

In anticipation of fall I've been really into end of summer tunes -- the ones that just leave you with your thoughts..

like this one!


the album version is less distracting but i love this part of the movie..



and i'll just throw this classic in too...



anyone else have any?!?!

Best,
Viv