Saturday, February 23, 2008

Admittance is the first step to recovery

zerolando said...

"Its funny how each and every lebanese thinks he's got the magic recipe to the lebanese dilemna. So as usual , they all, just like you in this post, indulge in giving lessons in Democracy, a freedom they've never even tasted before. Talk about oxymorons. Your words my friend, are like thin air, they failed cause they've got no weight. In real life time politics ,it simply means your words have got no credibility. And its not because you're an avid supporter of the loyals or the opposition. Its simply because you're a "lebanese political party" supporter. That by itself carries a lot of meanings, the most relevant of which is that you are not Playmakers within the same political parties to which you claim you adher. Not once, in the history of this country, have I seen one lebanese "leader" come up and publicly say something that is against his own personal opinion/interest, but says it anyway because the majority of his party constituents decided so.(Tony Blair and the complete adherence of the UK to the European Monetary union is one such simple example. Tony Blair really wanted it, but people voted against it in the referendum, thus it did not happen). Not once has a lebanese leader made a referendum. Not once those who are actually mobilized to march on the street for this side or that side,in Downtown or Roueiss, been allowed to vote in their respective political party. So do not claim you talk in the name of which you don't understand. Because in this country, you're all sheep. If Lebanon was the NBA, you're certainly not the players, not even those who sit on the bench. You're rather the cheerleading team. You go down the "game court" when you're asked to, you make noise when you're asked to, you entertain when you're asked to, and you leave the court no questions asked.
So if you really care about your country as you would like us to believe, maybe you should admit that none of you actually practice the democracy they preach each other about, not even in your own homes. Admittance is the first step to recovery.
Good Day"

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Existentialism

The reason why I refuse to take existentialism as just another French fashion or historical curiosity is that I think it has something very important to offer us for the new century. I’m afraid we’re losing the real virtues of living life passionately, sense of taking responsibility for who you are, the ability to make something of yourself and feeling good about life. Existentialism is often discussed as if it’s a philosophy of despair. But I think the truth is just the opposite. Sartre once interviewed said he never really felt a day of despair in his life. But one thing that comes out from reading these guys is not a sense of anguish about life so much as a real kind of exuberance of feeling on top of it. It’s like your life is yours to create. I’ve read the postmodernists with some interest, even admiration. But when I read them, I always have this awful nagging feeling that something absolutely essential is getting left out. The more that you talk about a person as a social construction or as a confluence of forces or as fragmented or marginalized, what you do is you open up a whole new world of excuses. And when Sartre talks about responsibility, he’s not talking about something abstract. He’s not talking about the kind of self or soul that theologians would argue about. It’s something very concrete. It’s you and me talking. Making decisions. Doing things and taking the consequences. It might be true that there are six billion people in the world and counting. Nevertheless, what you do makes a difference. It makes a difference, first of all, in material terms. Makes a difference to other people and it sets an example. In short, I think the message here is that we should never simply write ourselves off and see ourselves as the victim of various forces. It’s always our decision who we are.

Philosophy professor Robert Solomon, at the University of Texas at Austin

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

We are the Authors

In this place, life is not a dream. Beware, Beware and Beware.

And so many people think because "Then" happened, "Now" isn´t. We are all co-Authors of this exhuberance where even our inabilities are having a roast. We are the authors of ourselves, co-Authors of a big Dostoevsky Novel , starring Clowns.This thing we´re involved with called the World, is an opportunity to exhibit how exciting alienation can be. Life is a matter of a miracle that is collected over time by moments flabbergasted to be in each other´s presence.

The world is an exam to see if we can rise into direct experience. Our eyesight is here as a test to see if we can see beyond it.Matter is here as a test for our curiousity. Doubt is here as a test for our vitality. Thomas Mann once wrote, that he would rather participate in life then write 100 stories. Giacometti was once run by a car, and he recalled falling into a lucid faint, a sudden exhilaration, as he realised that finally something was happening to him.

An assumption develops that you cannot understand life and live life simultaneously. I do not agree entirely. Which is to say I do not exactly disagree. I would say that life understood is life lived. But the paradoxes bug me, and I can learn to love and make love to the paradoxes that bug me. And on really romantic evenings of self, I go salsa dancing with my confusion. Lorca said that the Iguana will bite those who do not dream. And as one realises that one is a dream figure in somebody else´s dream, that is self awareness.

A Waking Life.

Sunday, February 3, 2008

A New Resolution

So I've finally decided its time to move out. Hold on , Let me explain. I just came back to Lebanon some 6 months ago(feels like 6 years), and I was pretty hesitant at the beginning to just come back home and say "hey folks, I am here, I am getting my own place". I hesitated simply because I haven't seen my family for 5 years, and I didn't want to be seen as an insensitive bastard(which I usually am). So I stayed around, but I feel that I've been paying the price for that decision lately. 10 years of Living alone, becoming totally an independent person makes it pretty hard to get used to the fact that a lot of parents never get that your children are not kids anymore. So this lack of privacy and personal space started chocking me. I became moody, depressed. Then after a pretty aggressive argument I've had with a parent lately, I've decided I've had enough. See the problem isn't really just about "personal space", but also a lot of core issues, character, culture, beliefs. And I realised, my parents are not the best "flatmates" for me to be around. So even though it took that much for me to get convinced, I think Its time for me to move out(again) on my own. I'd like somewhere vibrant, dynamic, where I can get stuck in traffic jams easily, but also walk down and get a coffee cup(black coffee Please ;)) in the morning, and somewhere close to my work place. So I started looking around today for appartments around Achrafieh: its the only place I know how to drive to and from to my work place in Downtown.(silly me). I miss ma "living alone" life. Do what I want, when I want, the way I like. invite friends over, cook for them, have a drink or too and then go out. Jam with a couple of buddies or simply watch a game. To simply be in control of my own environment. and hopefully soon, it will.