‘Everyone knows there are forms of cruelty which can injure a man’s life without injuring his body. They are such as deprive him of a certain form of food necessary to the life of the soul.’ - Simone Weil, The Need for Roots
Rootlessness and homelessness, though similar in nature, are also quite different. A person who is rootless may very well have a home, but does not have a sense of belonging, they identify themselves as ‘the other’.
Since the end of World War II, migration has increased significantly with people opting to set up their life somewhere new, whether this be for a job, education, religion, or whatever opportunity this may provide. A person disentangles themselves from the ties and bonds that they have with one place and form this relationship somewhere new… this is now home.
But home for you may not always be home for the new family that you set up. I have mentioned this before in another post so I won’t go into it in too much detail, but when looking at those with extremist and ‘radical’ thoughts, we find that they are often children of those who have migrated. The parents have chosen to build home in a new foreign land and build a relationship with that place, but the relationship is not so straight forward. This relationship is a half way house between assimilating and holding onto one’s culture; the migrant chooses which parts of the new culture to adopt and which parts of their old culture to hold onto. This might vary from eating and drinking habits, clothing, social life, it could be anything.
The child of the migrant however, having not chosen but instead having been brought up with this conflict between the two cultures feels lost. This is something I have thought about for a long time, but Arendt put it into the words I have been searching for for so long.
The child feels a sense of rootlessness.
Arendt argues that those who feel rootless or homeless will seek out a home for themselves at any cost, which can have disastrous consequences.
She states that for an individual who feels rootless and homeless, often with this comes the feeling of having an existence that is not meaningful or fruitful. To find this sense of belonging, individuals often turn to exclusionary movements and groups, which actually only increases the feeling of alienation and rootlessness. Now they are in a group that only contains people such as themselves, perhaps from one place, class, religion, etc. all together feeling like outsiders, because of the absence of others of a different background.
Arendt says that uprootedness has been ‘the curse of the modern masses since the beginning of the industrial revolution’.
Loneliness is a dangerous thing. When a person is lonely, when they feel their roots are not in any ground but sort of drifting from place to place, a person is not themselves. Who are we, after all, without a background against us? Just an entity, perhaps?
‘To be rooted is perhaps the most important and least recognised need of the human soul.’
“I’ll only marry the man who can guess which is my favourite stone on the whole sea-shore.”
— Marina Tsvetaeva, from “Art in the Light of Conscience: Eight Essays on Poetry,”
It felt like we went up and up and up-
higher than I was comfortable with.
My legs started to burn with each step
Until the burn left, no room left for it
And they just slowed, peanut butter steps
And then stopped, too tired to keep time.
Turning around felt like defeat
But good.
On the way down they shook
Bambi knees in jell-o
And every step felt a little bit
like I was falling.
The path ribboned its way
A steady incline
A human paved path
And still my legs
New born, half-set,
Paced a drunk’s gait down
This hill with ideas of grandeur
I did not feel shame or guilt
In my gut
I felt accomplished and proud
Until we spoke later
And then I felt a little bit-
Like I wished I had fallen.
1:50pm 7/1/2021
in
1. coffee mugs, teacups, wine glasses, water bottles, or soda cans?
2. chocolate bars or lollipops?
3. bubblegum or cotton candy?
4. how did your elementary school teachers describe you?
5. do you prefer to drink soda from soda cans, soda bottles, plastic cups or glass cups?
6. pastel, boho, tomboy, preppy, goth, grunge, formal or sportswear?
7. earbuds or headphones?
8. movies or tv shows?
9. favorite smell in the summer?
10. game you were best at in p.e.?
11. what you have for breakfast on an average day?
12. name of your favorite playlist?
13. lanyard or key ring?
14. favorite non-chocolate candy?
15. favorite book you read as a school assignment?
16. most comfortable position to sit in?
17. most frequently worn pair of shoes?
18. ideal weather?
19. sleeping position?
20. preferred place to write (i.e., in a note book, on your laptop, sketchpad, post-it notes, etc.)?
21. obsession from childhood?
22. role model?
23. strange habits?
24. favorite crystal?
25. first song you remember hearing?
26. favorite activity to do in warm weather?
27. favorite activity to do in cold weather?
28. five songs to describe you?
29. best way to bond with you?
30. places that you find sacred?
31. what outfit do you wear to kick ass and take names?
32. top five favorite vines?
33. most used phrase in your phone?
34. advertisements you have stuck in your head?
35. average time you fall asleep?
36. what is the first meme you remember ever seeing?
37. suitcase or duffel bag?
38. lemonade or tea?
39. lemon cake or lemon meringue pie?
40. weirdest thing to ever happen at your school?
41. last person you texted?
42. jacket pockets or pants pockets?
43. hoodie, leather jacket, cardigan, jean jacket or bomber jacket?
44. favorite scent for soap?
45. which genre: sci-fi, fantasy or superhero?
46. most comfortable outfit to sleep in?
47. favorite type of cheese?
48. if you were a fruit, what kind would you be?
49. what saying or quote do you live by?
50. what made you laugh the hardest you ever have?
51. current stresses?
52. favorite font?
53. what is the current state of your hands?
54. what did you learn from your first job?
55. favorite fairy tale?
56. favorite tradition?
57. the three biggest struggles you’ve overcome?
58. four talents you’re proud of having?
59. if you were a video game character, what would your catchphrase be?
60. if you were a character in an anime, what kind of anime would you want it to be?
61. favorite line you heard from a book/movie/tv show/etc.?
62. seven characters you relate to?
63. five songs that would play in your club?
64. favorite website from your childhood?
65. any permanent scars?
66. favorite flower(s)?
67. good luck charms?
68. worst flavor of any food or drink you’ve ever tried?
69. a fun fact that you don’t know how you learned?
70. left or right handed?
71. least favorite pattern?
72. worst subject?
73. favorite weird flavor combo?
74. at what pain level out of ten (1 through 10) do you have to be at before you take an advil or ibuprofen?
75. when did you lose your first tooth?
76. what’s your favorite potato food (i.e. tater tots, baked potatoes, fries, chips, etc.)?
77. best plant to grow on a windowsill?
78. coffee from a gas station or sushi from a grocery store?
79. which looks better, your school id photo or your driver’s license photo?
80. earth tones or jewel tones?
81. fireflies or lightning bugs?
82. pc or console?
83. writing or drawing?
84. podcasts or talk radio?
84. barbie or polly pocket?
85. fairy tales or mythology?
86. cookies or cupcakes?
87. your greatest fear?
88. your greatest wish?
89. who would you put before everyone else?
90. luckiest mistake?
91. boxes or bags?
92. lamps, overhead lights, sunlight or fairy lights?
93. nicknames?
94. favorite season?
95. favorite app on your phone?
96. desktop background?
97. how many phone numbers do you have memorized?
98. favorite historical era?
ɴᴏᴍ ɴᴏᴍ 😋
The voices won't leave me alone,
Crawling out the shadows,
Like vines that have overgrown,
Blocking out the windows
To sanity, to reality
I'm not sure if I want them to leave me
Because atleast they stayed
Unlike the people with empty words and hollow promises
I feel like I'm digging my own grave.
Maybe I've always been desperate for some company even if it destroys me.
We live in a world, where people are influenced by others of their kind through mere words, the power of speech, as they call it, has an effect far greater than most physical,aggressive actions, but "the feelings perceived are not necessarily the feelings expressed", which in most cases, leads to an exaggeration of facts and in our very case led to the birth of the mother of numerous social evils, that we, as a species, face today. We call this glorified form of tribalism, Religion.
It is astounding that years of people just talking about the existence of a higher power can convince their sons and grandsons of firm, unquestionable and rather unreasonable faith, when the same generation, for centuries, would not even believe that oppressing half of their population i.e. womankind, would not do harm, if not better.
Let me present you with a hypothesis, What if, a group of early men witnessed a bolt of lightning? What if, they started to believe that there were people in the sky that caused them and frightened as they were, felt the need to please these gods through sacrifices and offerings? What if all this offerings made them expect a divine reward? And what if all this misconception spread around like an infection, calling for discrimination towards those who refused to concur?
This hypothesis has several conclusions. Humanity fears that which it doesn't understand, it worships that which it fears and expects rewards for it's actions . As for the spreading, I believe that "Religion is just a chinese whisper game stretched for too long".
And the final conclusion is that people aren't very accurate when it comes to first impressions, often judging too soon about the nature of something, even if that something does not exist beyond their three pounds of grey matter.
"Religion is a fool's answer to another fool's question." People look for meaning in the physical world, they seek their place in all that comprises the cosmos without realising that the answer to their question is subjective, it doesn't have to be out there in religious texts, written by delusional old men, it exists in the mind, created by people themselves.
Now the question arises, why did the need for such a misleading lie of a system exist?, the answer is a simple one, hope, every man is a hero in his own story, and when this hero is spat on, knocked down, he can't help but give in to vulnerability, depression. This man and every other man needs this, beautiful lie, as a drowning man needs a rock to cling to while he catches his breath and there's nothing wrong with a system that gives him that, and I know that I'm no one to deprive them of that . But there's a whole another way to look at it, the man may never learn to swim if he doesn't let go of the rock that gives him a false sense of hope, that he will survive without battling the waves. Now I ask you to what end, are we going to allow this false sense of hope to take control over our actions? , the sooner humanity figures that out, the better, and if not, well then, "May God help us all".
-Pranjal Yadav
“The moon is a loyal companion. It never leaves. It’s always there, watching, steadfast, knowing us in our light and dark moments, changing forever just as we do. Every day it’s a different version of itself. Sometimes weak and wan, sometimes strong and full of light. The moon understands what it means to be human. Uncertain. Alone. Cratered by imperfections.”
— Tahereh Mafi, Shatter Me
James Baldwin, If Beale Street Could Talk
02/27/2021
It feels warm inside.
Like a boiling well that makes you feel fuzzy;
Its water ascends so as to reach the furthest parts of the body.
Its heaviness is counteracted by how lightweight the body feels.
It reminds me of the aftereffects of getting drunk.
“I suggest that the only books that influence us are those for which we are ready, and which have gone a little farther down our particular path than we have yet got ourselves.”
—
E. M. Forster (1879-1970) English novelist, essayist, critic, librettist