motion towards

I was on the way back from the Roadhouse, thinking about Sartre--who, by the way, was apparently a real person but was different than I would have imagined him had I ever thought to imagine him--and I wanted to write a blog post that not only charted but prodded any sort of progress towards self-awareness. I've been reading "Tête-à-Tête" which chronicles the relationship between Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir along with all the tangential relationships that spun off from them. So far, I'm mostly impressed by their level of commitment--not to each other but to an idea, one of self-determining individualism. At least, that's where they are now; I think it all changes after the War when they are forced to wake up from their idealism.

Reading about them is motivating me to remember my own freedom. It's easy to forget to embody the struggle when you're alone much of the week. While we are not as free as they assume in their philosophy, we are freer than we think. I blame the filter in our brain that keeps us from entertaining notions that are too far out of bounds. Like, I am not going to consider joining the Navy. But how many passable notions are we blocking along with the totally impossible? Too many. Free is as free does; free doers are free thinkers.

And just as Sartre, as character in this book, is teaching by example, so does Holden Caulfield. And between the time I got home, thinking of writing this blog post, and now, I found a South Park on tv. I really wish it were more accepted in intellectual circles to cite South Park episodes, but they really do hit some nails on the head--a handful every episode.

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