Two poems by André Bjerke. Illustrated by Lise (Nemi). Click on to enlarge.

Existentialism

An existential philosophy and psychology school of thought is under the belief that human beings are alone in the world. This aloneness leads to feelings of meaninglessness which can be overcome only by creating ones own values and meanings. We have the power to create because we have the freedom to choose. In making our own choices we assume full responsibility for the results and blame no one but ourselves if the result is less than what was desired.

Existential anxiety has to do with the big questions of life, its meaning and which is our place in it; to the Doctors Good and Good, existential anxiety is about despair, alienation, and emptiness, and there are people who suffer from such feelings, it certainly can be a problem for some of them.

In the past the world was a relatively predictable place. People grew up in stable families, and they had a fairly clear sense of what their roles in the world and society would be. Now we live in a changing world, and a world in which every generation have less common principles to embrace, long have been gone the flower children, the excess of the 80's, and the already cynical "generation X" from the 90's. Is this sustained and rapid change in society plus the emergent and ever-growing consumerism that try to cope with the lack of certitude that have made difficult for people to know which is their place in the world, and understand how they fit in.

Existential anxiety can be triggered by abrupt life changes, like the death of someone close to us (persons who have made of being a parent the main reason and sense of their life and then suddenly lose a child), the loss of the self image (for example have made a very important part of our identity our job and suddenly lose it, being the best student and drop our grades, or build our sense of self worth around our physical beauty and see it diminish); in all of these cases besides the obvious pain and inherent difficulties implied in all of these losses, there is a sense of loss of our place in the world.

If you feel like existential angst is getting the best of you please by all means seek professional help, self-awareness, responsibility and contemplation are healthy and positive, endogenous or severe depression are not, and not every existentialist is depressive, but many depressive people lean towards a quite high score in existentialist anxiety, so take a good look at yourself, the only person who knows how much of this is because you are a highly intellectual and/or cynical but happy person, and how much of this is because you might be suffering of a condition that cause you suffering and can be treated quite effectively if you give yourself the chance of get help, is ultimately, you.

Bottom line: be yourself, live for yourself, be your own person and remember that the control over your own life is ultimately yours, sure being ultimately alone doesn´t sound as the most cheery thought, but looking at it the other way around, it also means that you are completely free for build for yourself the life that you want to live, and if you feel like somebody's puppet, is only because you are allowing it yourself.

Gotland

Going to Gotland (the most beautiful place on earth)
tomorrow morning, for the mideval fair
See you in a week or two
;-)