Song of the Week:
Car Radio by: Twenty-One Pilots
Presenting TUT
Hear ye, hear ye presenting you today; The Unfinished Times, where we dive into new topics each week to have a little chat. If you are coming back, it is amazing to have you, and to those of you who are new, Iâm glad that youâre here with us today. Last week, I gave you all fun introduction to who I am, but today we will dive into a topic that excites me to my core. But first, you need to understand my core. Let me unpack with you all my reasonings and purpose for creating this blog.
Who am I?
Picture this, first generation kid living in a new city to pursue design, youâre just having fun away from your parents and siblings, but then the pandemic hits you like a train. At the same time, you are forced to go back home to live in your hometown, you get rehired at your high school job even though youâre doing university level work. You regress to a familiar, yet stagnant environment while at the same time advancing mentally, emotionally, spiritually.
Suddenly, the news that youâll be having in-person classes again makes you take all your shit back up North to attend an unfamiliar setting of sitting in lecture. The year goes by and before you know it, youâre a senior, the last year of college, only 10 months left, meaning youâre done, finito. You should be celebrating, over the moon, jumping for joy. Yet, the only thing on your mind is, âWhat the hell am I going to do after?â Youâve always been the type of person who plans, but you didnât think this far ahead since there are so many options, so many things, so many jobs, just so many possibilities. It is true what they say, time flies before you know it.
By the time I graduated, I just kept saying âthings take time to arrive, I just have to wait for itâ and now it being November, I am freaking out for not having my life together. Family members, friends, extended family members asking me the dreaded question, âHave you found a job yet?â or âHow is the job search going?â And honestly, I just shrug it off hoping theyâd leave it alone because, the truth is, I donât know and that is doubts best friend.
For the first time in my life, I donât have things planned out or a clue of what I want to do with my life. Which ultimately leads to an identity crisis at the ripping age of 22. Why? We live in a society in which the activities or job position you have is used to introduce yourself so that people can get an idea of who you are. The thing is, throughout my life I have used school as a way to identify myself, however since Iâve finished school and have no big girl job prospects. Iâve been left with a degree and no idea how to use it. This has made me feel stuck leaving me to wonder in which direction to go in. Where and how? These questions left all unanswered. I started questioning my own self-identity âWho am I? What do I bring to the world?â From all these big ideas, I grasp on to one thing: I wanted action, to own something, have it made entirely by me, so here I am launching my blog to the world.
Philosophy of Self
I question everything in my life, questioning society, events, science, art, hell, -even yourself is an important task to evolve as a person; Iâll call this segment Philosophy of Thyself. Back in the day, people used to just stand outside and start thinking out loud, eventually someone would disagree and proceed to have a full-on controversial conversation. This was a job! A philosopher – I need that job. Some famous people would be Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, sadly, many people find them boring or irrelevant. On the contrary, I think they bring beauty to life; maybe Iâm crazy or maybe we just need to start thinking more about thinking.
As I navigate through my own journey of self-discovery one famous French philosopher comes in my mind: Descartes. Who funny enough, basically invented the Mind-Body dualism. He is quoted for saying âCognito ergo sumâ in Latin which translates to âI think, therefore I existâ in English. Descartes declared the mind and body to be distinct separate entities that make a human. For example, the body with all its organs takes up space, there is countable volume and mass that can be measured, on the other hand, the mind has no space, it has no volume or mass, but we know that it exists. But how? It tells our body what to do like move your lips when we sing a song or even something natural like breathing. You may be thinking âwhat about the brain?â, in this case it is a part of the body and is what links our mind. The mystery is how this interaction can occur in the first place and if one can exist without the other.
Descartes emphasized the mind is consciousness while the body is a vessel that holds it. Therefore, I canât help but wonder why identity is solely defined by tangible achievements and societal expectations when there is something behind the curtain. Do I define myself through the activities I engage in, the jobs I undertake, the career I have or the deeper essences that pushes these external factors? My quest for identity has challenged my perspective on who I am which in turn helps me grow and adapt. The mind is a bizarre phenomenon and itâs one I love to talk about, read about, explore, and understand. Although, I have yet to be able to answer these âfood for thoughtsâ but I am hoping that others out there can help.
That leads to the song of the week Car Radio by Twenty-One Pilots, a track that holds a spot in my top five songs. In my emo phase, I missed the depth of the meaning but later in life, it turned out to describe my life and the rediscovery of was amazing. This song fits perfectly for this theme, expressing the idea of digesting your thoughts even if they are hard or confusing. This world is full of distractions and propaganda that it has become natural now, to feel awkward in silence. Further the juxtaposition to voice this using music adds a layer to the intricacy. As they say, âSilence is a strong weaponâ and, use the time to find clarity of thyself. But silenced I will not be, for I will be right here again on Wednesday to voice my inner thoughts. So, come back here for a new song of the week and a chat about getting physical.
Thank you for joining me on this journey at The Unfinished Times! Don’t forget to follow me for more insightful content, give a shout-out to spread the word, and consider signing up for our Co-Collective to be part of our vibrant community. And if you missed any posts from previous weeks, take a moment to catch up! Let’s continue exploring, sharing, and growing together! See you in the next post~ XOXO
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