I knew I couldn't think. All I knew then was what I couldn't do. All I knew then was what I wasn't, and it took me some years to discover what I was.
As I read Joan Didion's "Why I Write" this line stood out to me.And even though it doesn't represent the reading I wanted to write about it anyway. It made me think about how many people seem to only be able to see themselves this way. Only knowing and focusing on the cant's of their life. I know that I have looked at my life this way and I can say from experience that this can be destructive to a persons self esteem. For example some one who focuses on things like not being able to do well in classes might drop out, when in reality they might be struggling in class but they are doing really well in sports. Instead of dropping out they focus on getting help with their work so they can participate in sports.
Another reason I think it stuck out to me is because it sort of talks about Identity. Because if your focused on the negative then you are going to view yourself in a negative way.Causing other people to also see you in that negative way. In the same way if you focuse on the positives ten so will everyone else.
Some of our can'ts are really more like don't wanna's - sometimes we can...but we simply won't.
ReplyDeleteYou do a nice job linking the piece to issues of identity. Sometimes, figuring out what we DON'T want is an integral step in determining what we want.