Day 18

My second favorite thing is reflection.

So to consider an authentic self that lacks all semblance of reflection is hard for me to do. And to accept that a human being without consciousness is experiencing an ideal human existence -- even harder.  Right now, I’m sitting on a park bench under a Southern Live Oak tree trying to translate my feelings into words in order to submit my blog post.  I am content.

I am conscious of the construction around me, I am conscious that the bench I’m sitting on has bird poop on one side, I am conscious that the temperature is starting to increase and I may have to go inside soon to be comfortable.  And I think that if I wasn't, I wouldn't be as happy.  I like having the ability to, in my mind, freeze my surroundings, and as they say take time to smell the roses.

Derrick said in  the class discussion that he thought Heidegger hadn't necessarily intended the term “inauthentic” to carry negative connotations, and “authentic” with positive ones. Maybe not, but when reading it, I definitely added them. If I look at it in that light, then I can appreciate an individual’s ability to transition between the two.

If Heidegger hadn't intended one existence to be better than the other but I (an average reader) found one. Then I can further understand why he refused to use words to avoid the baggage that comes with them.