The one thing that has become evident to me over the course of my life thus far is that there is no way to full know another individual. As social beings, we find comfort in connecting with others who share common interests. By association, we attempt to find these common denominators in factors of personality, interests, or beliefs so that we can feel the communal bond of friendship. This is something that I have found extremely difficult to break away from, for the final eye-opening realization that others do not completely agree to the bounds which you place for your life is quite dejecting (at least that has been my case). Interestingly enough, it has taken almost nineteen years for this to surface, and now, at a time in my life where I feel I am surrounded with others who are more relatable than ever before.
I am constantly searching for the distinctive quality that makes me stand out in a crowd. As naïve and embarrassing as it is to admit, I always secretly hoped to get my letter admitting me to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry on my eleventh birthday, or at concerts I have been sure that I will be the one individual pulled out of the crowd, or even times when I have desperately prayed to be called out walking down the drag by some great film director who wants me in their latest blockbuster. The sad part of it all is that for the great majority of us, none of these things will happen. In addition, I have never felt specialized in a particular area of interest, rather just average in a variety of fields. Throughout this search for self, I have come to a realization: it is the combination of the attributes that I possess that make me s
tand out from every other individual. Statistically, I am a unique individual.
In reading the essays on passion, Brian referenced the scene from the movie Garden State, where Natalie Portman’s character comes up with a defining movement complimented by a ridiculous action that makes that moment in time significant, and unlike anything that has happened before. Now that it has taken me this long to realize that I am sort of unique, I find it troubling that I have no one to share that with, and in meeting new people whom I find a particular connection with, immediately assume that they do stand for the same things as I do. No matter how well we think that we know each other, the truth is that as long as an individual has control over their actions, no one else will be able to know exactly who they are, because we are constantly susceptible to change, and our perceptions can drastically change daily. I am not trying to assert that this is a bad thing in the slightest; it is the root of diversity and this freedom of thought allows us to broaden our horizons, and makes an interesting game in making, and keeping friends.
The topic of this discussion is Sympathetic Imagination, a process by which a person finds “complete identification” with an object. The sect of this idea that I take the most interest in is how it relates to poetry. I do not think that I will ever be able to write elegant poetry, or resounding lyrics of songs that so clearly articulate a sense of feeling that one finds themselves questioning the derivation of those words. I find it difficult to “throw [my] soul into the body of another… and be at once possessed in his sentiments, adopt his passions, and rise to all the functions and feelings of his situation”.[1] I had this discussion with a friend earlier this week as we talked about musicians and lyricists who most correctly portray the emotions of a situation.
Some of the artists that we discussed:
- Deathcab for Cutie / Postal Service
- Iron and Wine
- Damien Rice
- Joshua Radin
There is something within me that inhibits my ability to write out lyrics and poetry, and I find it completely uncomfortable and artificial for me to even try. In referring to the writing process of lyricism, F. Scott Fitzgerald said, “You don’t write because you want to say something, you write because you’ve got something to say”. I think that the majority of these inhibitions strand from the feeling of vulnerability that I am not used to, and constant criticism of something very personal. Furthermore, it is hard for me to find the Sympathetic Imagination that is songwriting. I know the experiences that I have been through, but I still only know the way that my body and mind felt at that moment, and cannot clearly express what or how that felt to someone who has no identifiable experience. It is within this genre that I feel that individuals really see into another’s life, and get the closest glimpse at what the definition of Sympathetic Imagination offers.
There is one other occasion where I think that humans come close to grasping this concept. It is the love of the family. A child’s greatest influence for the majority of their first 18 years is that of their parents. In contrast, the parent then feels that they have given everything they have to offer, whether it be knowledge or resources, to the child and it shall then grow to be an extension of them. Extension is the key. Genetically, we may be 50% of the material of our mothers, and 50% of our fathers, but as we concentrated on in the discussion following the Biology Lecture on Frogs, the human species is the only one whose greatest variable is acquired knowledge. That means that within every contact we have, we are gaining something, and learning the qualities of things that may not be tangential to our daily lives. Most importantly, we have the ability to love. Here, we have a very dangerous concept that blurs the vision of many. To love means to accept the differences within others, and feel compassion and truly care about another individual. Covey says that “love is a verb. Love is something you do, the sacrifices you make, the giving of self”.[2] It does not mean that we have the ability to control others, or act as though another can be influenced by what we have to say. The crucial thing that we must realize is that every individual is entitled to what they believe. We must stop this trend of finding a “correct” mold of a citizen.
As individuals, our greatest asset is to find compassionate and relate to others, it is something that I have made great efforts at correcting the way that I perceive, and treat people who I care a significant amount for. In regards to Sympathetic Imagination and humans, I think that they are two concepts that cannot be intertwined. The not knowing factor provides the stimulus for relationships to grow.
[1] Keats as quotes by Jerome Bump in The Sympathetic Imagination and Poetry. http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~bump/sympathetic%20imagination.html
[2] Covey - The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
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