SUNDAY, 17 JULY 2005
From the latest Sarie [a South African women’s magazine]: “[Women] work with traditional role descriptions that are often religiously sanctioned.” And, “Few people are ‘naturally’ self-sacrificing. Women are so because they think it is their only rightful claim to existence.” Also, “You get positive response if you fulfil the ‘typical role’. You already know what your role will be someday and therefore you never develop certain characteristics – woe to you if you move outside those tracks.”* (UNISA theologian Christina Landman)
* Own translation from the original Afrikaans text
MONDAY, 18 JULY 2005
The impending storm makes me anxious. During the storm itself, I am calm.
TUESDAY, 19 JULY 2005
The Ideal Self is not a foreign entity with whom you meet up at the end of a long journey, to then solemnly fuse with. The Ideal Self is contained within.
MONDAY, 25 JULY 2005
10:25
Eventually all questions about identity, religion, beliefs, integrated view of existence and philosophy come down to a practical matter: How should I function? How should I live from sleep to sleep? What should I do with an existence I cannot but recognise?
15:45
All those questions from the 10:25 text are about more than just functioning. It also comes down to the results you will leave of your existence.
* * *
I make a statement: My favourite colour is green. Someone else hears it and think, “What is my favourite colour?”
I say, “If I had NT$100,000, I will go to China for three months.”
The other person says, “Oh. What will I do with NT$100,000?”
I say, “The purpose of my life is to ___________.”
The other person hears this and reflects on his or her own life. “What is the purpose of my existence?” the person asks.
The point is not to only ask questions but to also say what you believe, what you do and how you see things. Another person hears what you say, or reads what you have written, and an inner voice also kicks in in the other person’s mind, asking some of the same questions you have contemplated over the years.
18:50
Question: What is life about? (One of several possible formulations of what is basically the same question.)
Answer: Functioning + End Results
SATURDAY, 30 JULY 2005
My four goals in life are as follows:
1. To be happy, and if I can be happy with someone, that will be outstanding.
2. Creative independence – to create and to produce what I find good and not as dictated by others.
3. Financial independence – to never have to look in anyone’s eyes for money; to have enough money to make possible the following: creative independence, in reality and not just as an ideal; to do things that make me happy; to create a home environment, or to co-create a home where I will be comfortable working, spending time with other people and resting; to afford a lifestyle I have been pursuing for many years.
4. To help other people in their struggle for survival, and/or to be of value in their own efforts to develop an understanding of their existence that will enable them to lead happy and productive lives; also to contribute to a healthier habitat for humans and animals.
______________________