There Are No Educators

As a thinker, one should only think of self-education.  The education of youth by others is either an experiment, conducted on one yet unknown and unknowable, or a leveling on principle, to make the new character, whatever it may be, conform to the habits and cutoms that prevail: in both cases, therefore, something unworthy of the thinker – the work of parents and teachers, whom an audaciously honest person has called nos ennemis naturels.

One day, when in the opinion of the world one has long been educated, one discovers onself: that is where the task of the thinker begins; now the time has come to invoke his aid – not as an educator but as one who has educated himself and thus has experience.

Friedrich Nietzsche
from The Wanderer And His Shadow

The Journey: First Steps

I am currently about half way through writing a short little book entittled “The Journey” that I hope to publish in order to get this project going.   I want this book to be short, to the point & work as a first step to get Individuals interested in a community whose sole goal & raison-d’être is to help everyone lead an happier & more fulfilled life.  It is the first step to achieving this goal.

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Uniqueness

At bottom every man knows well enough that he is a unique being, only once on this earth; and by no extraordinary chance will such a marvelously picturesque piece of diversity in unity as he is, ever be put together a second time.
Friedrich Nietzsche
The uniqueness of our own Individuality.  It is something to be celebrated.  Something that gives life on this plane of existence meaning.  If we were all the same, would existence not be dull? Continue reading

Angst

Angst means fear or anxiety (anguish is its Latinate equivalent, and anxious, anxiety are of similar origin). The word angst was introduced into English from the Danish, Norwegian and Dutch word angst and the German word Angst. It is attested since the 19th century in English translations of the works of Kierkegaard and Freud.[1][2][3] It is used in English to describe an intense feeling of apprehension, anxiety, or inner turmoil.

In German, the technical terminology of psychology and philosophy distinguishes between Angst and Furcht in that Furcht is a negative anticipation regarding a concrete threat, while Angst is a non-directional and unmotivated emotion. In common language, however, Angst is the normal word for “fear”, while Furcht is an elevated synonym.[4]

In other languages having the meaning of the Latin word pavor for “fear”, the derived words differ in meaning, e.g. as in the French anxiété and peur. The word Angst has existed since the 8th century, from the Proto-Indo-European root*anghu-, “restraint” from which Old High German angust developed.[5] It is pre-cognate with the Latin angustia, “tensity, tightness” and angor, “choking, clogging”; compare to the Ancient Greek ἄγχω (ankho) “strangle”.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angst

I am one who counts myself a part of Generation X.  As such, perhaps I have had a generational predisposition toward “Angst”.  In so many of the cultural endeavours & thoughts of my generation – not to mention the Philosophies I studied at University – this idea of “Angst” has predominated.  From the Grunge music I listened to, to the philosophical ideas of the Existentialists – this idea coursed through my final years of formal education.

So am I filled with Angst?

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Knowing What You Want…

“We do not know what we want and yet we are responsible for what we are – that is the fact.”

– Jean Paul Sartre

About a week or so ago I posted some Sartre quotes & promised to share my thoughts on this famous Existentialist’s words.  The above quote has always sparked deep ideas in my mind.  Let me expand on some of my thoughts…

We are born, creatures in this existence, with endless Possibility laid out before us.  Anything & everything is Possible.  All it takes is for us to decide – to Choose what we want.  Yet the problem is we rarely know what we want.  Sure, we are told a lot of things as we grow up & experience the world around us.  Our parents, our teachers, our friends & society in general tell us all about the good life & what we should expect & want out of it.  Yet do any of these things Truly equate with what we want as Individuals?

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Is Philosophy Dead?

Et bien, tuer toutes les Philosophes!

(Well then, kill all the Philosophers!)

There was once a golden age of thought when men & women would ask those deeper & more meaningful questions.  Those most important questions that seem vital to our very existence.  Various discussions would follow & Individuals would share their ideas & their experiences – hoping to find Truth.

Truth.

That is what it is all about in the end.

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Talking Theology With My Son…

Children have the ability to amaze & to inspire us beyond the bounds of what we think is possible.  Take for example my eight year old son.  We were on our way home from our weekly Beaver meeting & he started asking me about God.  Now, we have talked about God before, a subject that he is keenly interested in.  My wife & I have him enrolled in a Catholic school, even though neither of us are Catholic.  The reason why he is enrolled in a Catholic school is because it was the only school in town at the time that offered French Immersion education.

Anyway, about this Theological discussion.  I can’t quite remember how it all started, but I do know that he brought up the subject…

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The Never Ending Journey…

        Behind every Door is a possibility.

 

        Behind every Fear is a crutch.

 

        Behind every Spirit is a desire.

 

      Behind every Choice is a reason.

    Five more to face.

    Five more to bear.

    Five more to suffer.

    Yet we must acknowledge that there is Suffering & move on…

    Four times ten plus three times two & an extra two…

    Shadows…

    Puppeteers…

    Illusions upon a stone wall…

    I see this.

    Yet I Choose to accept their Validity.
    I give them Authority over me.
    Yet I still have my Will to Power…

    Fresh air & grasslands await me.

    I will return Home.
    I will be where I am meant to be at the moment I am meant to be.

    I just need to take that next step…

    The Journey never ends. Every new corner simply opens up more possibilities.

    Blessed Be.