Mae C. Jemison, connue comme première femme afro-américaine à visiter l'espace*, a exprimé : " Ne vous limitez jamais à cause de l'imagination limitée des autres ; ne limitez jamais les autres à cause de votre propre imagination limitée. " J'ajouterais : ne me dites pas ce qui est réel et ce qui ne l'est pas, ne vous dites pas à vous-même ce qui est réel et ce qui ne l'est pas - Ici et maintenant. Attentif.
Am I a societal concept?
I don't think I mentioned by what title I am distinguished in society.
Don't get excited.
By that term, I mean the roles that people have predefined for you before you woke up on this planet. Like, I'm a dad, a mom, a kid, an engineer, a salesman, an unemployed person, .... The list is long. This one shows our incredible collective imagination.
A collective agreement
Yes, collective.
For the most part, we have agreed on their veracity and relevance. I say "for the most part" because there must be communities in the world that do not define their reality in this way.
Their existence or past existence, or the very idea that it is possible, allows us to expand our fields of perception. We can, then, question what we believe to be possible and impossible, what is true and what is false, what is concrete and what is not, what is death and what is life,...
I am spreading out.
At the very beginning, I remember that these roles were attributed to the people who passed on their love to me, the parents. Besides, I don't think I considered them as people. It seems to me that things were not perceived as external to me. Because to be external, I would have had to be aware of my individuality. Presumed.
I am still spreading out.
"What do you do for a living?"
In this day and age, in order for someone to feel comfortable in our presence we have to define ourselves. I think of the famous questions: What do you do in life? What's happening to your son/daughter?
I don't know about you, but I have always suspected them to be empty.
First attempt at an answer
"I don't know. Are you sure I do things in life? Am I not life itself? I imagine the tree answering this question. Bars. It wouldn't answer per se. You would realize, then perhaps, that it is just and all things at once. There and not there. What's to do when everything is done?"
Deflection alert: I feel the "display" flow coming back in full force. As sub-captain of the ship (I'll explain in the podcasts the choice of the term sub-captain instead of captain) I declare I'm back in my pilot's seat.
Second (more standard) response
Student. I am categorized as a student. In the video "Help" ,on the Feelwolly channel, I talk a bit about my background. What you don't know is what I realized after I posted that video. (EXCEPT if you're paying attention and you found some clues on Piu_k_(my Instagram).
In summary, I have been focusing on understanding the main areas of economics (marketing, finance, accounting, statistical tools, international economics among others) since undergrad. I do not wish to dwell on this. The past is not a reliable source.
In any case, after my two years of college, I noticed changes in my mind set. I wanted to explore and live. I wanted to have the opportunity to touch the subjects that intrigued and attracted me such as art, nature, science and human technology, helping others...
I realized that specializing in one field was not enough to get a lucid, comprehensive (integrating various perspectives) approach to reality. How to study economics without looking at the nature of the human psyche, or its essence? How to act in conscience, via these economic models, without even understanding what they are based on, how they are maintained by each of us and why they are so?
I will live how and what I want in service of Life.
My choices and actions
With this in mind, I decided, with conviction, that I would do the internship that seemed relevant to me. Thus, I left for 2 months with a family whose project was the construction of an eco-place (they called it the Village of the Future) in the form of an incubator. I am trained in permaculture, leadership, and auditing. In an upcoming article, I will devote a full reading about this fascinating experience in reconnecting with nature.
A little aside: it's a shame your reading time is limited. I'll write you some fascinating long articles.
After this workshop, I am back in the family cocoon, in the known, the predictable, the defined and in my life projections.
Sometimes, everything is so perfect, materially (according to my expectations), that I feel like I am in a cage or in a static picture. I'm just walking around in the already painted and eternal scenery.
Anyway.
I have one last year left to complete the master's degree. In order to do so, I have to find another internship, from 3 to 6 months this time. I'm re-deploying my antennas to get to know everything that exists. Once again, I wish to live life to the fullest. Expressing life through my actions is something that resonates with me.
After months of research, interviews (I give myself a degree of expertise in this area) and applications I can't find anything that arouses my curiosity or in which my profile is considered. The deadline is approaching fast. Two internship proposals finally caught my attention. Which ones are they? Which one did I choose? These are the questions I will answer in a future article on the internship at the Eco-Place.
Thank you for your time.
Self-reflection proposal:
It amuses me that the question "what are you doing in life?" is asked, not "what are you doing with life". I'll leave this reflection in abeyance. (For your pleasure)
Questions I will ask myself this week:
Am I still, right now, okay with being vulnerable with others?
Am I connecting with others via social media? Am I honestly sharing what is?
*Quote from Mae C. Jemison: Source Wikipedia.
- Marie Mazeau Yoga teacher in Paris and online internationally. Beyond time and space. Guiding with gentleness, mindfulness and Joy.