Monday, March 19, 2007

St. Splatty's and the Self...

I got disasterated this weekend. It was fun to do, but when you vow never ever to drink ever again WHILE you are doing it, it hurts that much more. I met champions and chums, and due to a prolonged period of confidence-incontinence, kept pretty unrowdy and instead served more as a drunkard facilitator (back-patter, oopsy-daisy-picker-back-upper, wallet retriever, 'anyone-know-this-unconscious-guy?' yeller etc.). Er, yah, it was fun to do. The spectator became the spectacle.

Which leads me to the next question.. The concept of the Self is under attack!! Or maybe I've only just noticed it. Either way, I think that's a good thing, considering it is largely a fabrication of the market. I've read various works pertaining to the destruction/realization of the Self, but never from the vantage of an industry (more from an ontological angle) and am salivating at the thought of watching this recently downloaded doc. YAY SELF-SACRIFICE!!

Whomunculus asks: What do you think of the Self?

11 comments:

Indiana James said...

Myself was wishing I was feeling good enough to have enjoyed a St. Patty's like that where I would have to reconsider myself's sense of selfless selfishness.

Eve said...

Hahaha. Way to contribute to the safeness of the party.

Yowza. I think I need to stew and come back with a response re: self.

Anonymous said...

oh st. patty's.......yeah, i got slightly disasterated too....... fell down the steps at garricks head...right into the middle of a group of people trying to have a conversation.
Tried to save dignity, and talk about the weather or somin to distract from my sudden appearance and tears in eyes....... now have bruise size and colour of egg plant on bum.
As for self concept.... the next morning it was almost as bruised as bum..... hahah.....
Silly beck... st. splatty's indead.

Sparky said...

Deconstructing modern concepts of selfhood can give you as much of a headache as the day after St. Pat's. It can also make you a millionaire. Just ask Charles Taylor.

S'Mat said...

OK. So, I was looking out for others' wellbeing because I was so self-absorbed that night.. ha! What I'd like to know, is why was I so that way? Meanwhile, on the Self, I may've well've asked you to've talked about your pets' cutest misbehaviour... what I did not do was detail a platform for contention...

I'll try now:

Cars: a comfort zone you move with you. you have your stereo, your heat, your seat, your drink holder and you feel slightly uncomfortable whenever anyone else is in there with you. you wield a weapon, but treat it as a right. MeWindowThem.

iPod: how insular. how i. you have better tunes than anyone else, because they are yours. upon being seen, you need not take the buds from your ears because you are expressing yourself. to yourself.

Fastfood: you can eat alone. those moments you used to share with other people are now yours, because you need them. more and more than ever. you need not talk when you eat. you are loving it.

Selfphones: i wager the phononym(?) is partly why they've become so popular. they're convenient and liberating. you get to decide when you answer.

Love: sex is easy. best though when disguised as love. disposable love: fall in love often, you'll buy more. you'll buy more when heartstroken/heartbroken.

For some reason, it has become most desirable to distinguish ourSelfs from others'... why? Why do we still have such a fascination with the mob/gathering? Why do people grind with strangers on a dancefloor, but grimace at them on a bus? How can we be so individual if we're becoming so similar?

be your self.

Eve said...

Bah! I just wrote an extremely long comment and lost it somehow.

I'll sum up.

The concept (exemplified by entitlement and concepts like personal space) stems from the (North) American/Statesian value of individual rights as superseding the rights of the collective. Also parents raise their children to believe they are special.

Then I wrote a long thing contrasting it with China, where there isn't any word for personal space. This is changing now though, with the one-child as little princeling thing.

Not as eloquent as before but fuck it.

Lin-Zed said...

The self...hmm...well I'm fairly certain that it's a far cry from the ego, id, and super ego of which Freud spoke...but what did he know anyways? He prescribed cocaine to his mama. Cure-all medicine he thought...especially apropos for treating heroin addiction. Go figure.
I agree that we believe there is a reward for individualism - for distinguishing yourself from your peers in Western society. But at what point does that desire kick in. Because children and teenagers are exactly the opposite. They would rather be lemmings, clones, identical hair and clothes and thoughts and interests. Cool is identical not individual.
And another thought...why is self the biggest critic of self...and not the biggest proponent. Though I suppose I've met people who are the opposite...but even then I'm fairly certain that it's just a mask. Inside, even the most confident, individual person beats themselves up.
So who is mySelf? Not sure yet...but I'll keep looking. I'm finding it easier to determine what self is not...as opposed to what self is.

Anonymous said...

k.... been thinking bout the self.... and agree ... we are being sold 'self'. and can pretty much deduce any ad on tv too saying "buy this product and be a better you" plays on N.A. societies fallacy of perfection.....
heres an idea...(probably a result of a heavy psych course load this semester but meh).......
we have many sense of selves.....our desired self to which we aspire to be, our strong self, our weak self, our fearful self..... etc. (go psycho babble)
It is possible that our ego's kick in when one sense of self starts dominating another sense of self. for example the nicest guy in the world can become a complete asshole when someone challenges his integrity... because he is then incongruent with his desired sense of self and falls into his most dreaded sense of self... the one filled with the fear of not being nice enough.
and thus, though we all have different songs on our ipod we are all still conforming to our own ideal self... which is mostly a fabrication of what is deamed "normal" by society and is being sold to us in the form of clothes.... ipods, cars......etc. but ask me on a sunny day and my answer'll be different...(a lil sunnier)..as will my sense of self.

and that being said maybe we just need to find our most honest sense of self.. flawed, weak at times but consistent. if possible.....
k... gonna stop writing now..and ranting.. and thinking........i dunno....... so many possibilities????????

S'Mat said...

Eve- blogger's starting to choke methinks. yes, I've often wondered why Eastern forms of spirituality focus on inner transcendence as if in direct correlation with concepts of pop. density/personal space.

Lindz- the point about self being its biggest critic seems so valid. especially when you realize that someone's attempting to seize a moment to promote themselves without consideration of others.

Bex- very Sartrian observations! You nail the head on the hammer! Go Beckyo!

Anonymous said...

Hey Man!! that's what st. Splatty's is all 'baut, yo. Wassup with yo time bending, sucka????!!! looks about time for another mind-bending, shirt-soaking, panty ripping entry!! about elephants or some such topic!!! Yo.

Ani di Franco rocks, Sing it brutha!!!! yeah.

Anonymous said...

how many elephants can you fit ina yellow volkswagon?

2 in the front an' 2 in the back -yeah!

How do you know an elephant's in your house?

By the yellow volkswagon parked outside, DUH!!!! Yo

How can you tell if an elephant's been in your fridge??

By the pawprints in the butter!
Whhaaaaatt!!!! ye-ah!
Hee ho!