Being awkward is one of the best things that you can do.
I took a class on philosophy recently which taught me a lot about life and the different perspectives one can have on it. I was struck by the philosopher Camus, an existentialist, who focuses on freedom. The main terminology or concepts that he used are related to the absurd and authenticity. He describes being free by being authentic; by being authentic he means to embrace absurdity. Authenticity is the acceptance of oneself, and absurdity is understanding that regardless of not getting the answers to the questions we ask, we continue to ask them.
In the past few weeks, I have been applying what I learnt in the class by understanding how one’s absurdity can define one’s authenticity. However, this is conflicting, as it makes us question if we are truly asking the right questions or if we allow ourselves to be absorbed into an ideology that we have come across and have simply accepted. If you want me to be honest with you, I think we have become a generation where we fear embarrassing ourselves. But not in the way that we don’t post enough on social media or upload silly videos, but by actually doing embarrassing things and laughing about them in reality; it can be difficult nowadays to embrace this aspect of ourselves because we forget to question how to enjoy life more, and instead begin to ask if we are being seen all the time. And I think because we are also so absorbed with social media, we forget the sense that there is life beyond a small screen that constantly makes us compare who we are with others rather than living our lives. The idea of being authentic is embracing the absurd, is in other words, be yourself regardless of who is watching and stop taking life too seriously.
Funny enough, this happened to me the other day, when I caught myself starting to question an embarrassing moment and thinking that it can alter who I am and how others see me. But then, I began to think about how we enjoy convincing ourselves that embarrassment is going to be the end of us when in reality, it is the comedic part of our life that allows us to laugh at ourselves and embrace the imperfections that we have that makes us human. We cannot assume that we have it all figured out, and those absurd moments, where things don’t go as planned, or when you ask a question and you don’t get the answers you're expecting, are going to define or alter your entire life (in some cases it might, but most definitely not all). But just like uncertainty can be seen as detrimental in never knowing what is going to happen, it can also be seen as the beautiful and spontaneous adventures one experiences. We feel like we have to become this character in our society so we stop asking questions that allow us to fit out. And as difficult as it might be, being in a situation you have no control over and making a fool out of yourself just becomes another story to tell to the person you meet spontaneously in this journey we call life.
So, let me ask you, or ask yourself, why do we get so absorbed in thinking what others think of us? Or why do we care to ask questions regarding other people’s perceptions of who we are when we all know we are on the same journey of self-discovery? Why do we expect that other people give us the answers when we know we have them? Why do we allow ourselves to be driven to become someone else’s definition of who we are when it is most likely that our purpose in life is to figure this out and become our most authentic selves?
Z.
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