by Patrick Cruz
I really like writing Filipino poems, ranging from topics like science and technology up to various social and economic issues. For me, poetry is a medium for interaction with other people. Though indirectly, it helps me to express myself to other people and to communicate with them. But more than just a medium, poetry has actually occupied a special place in my heart. The way it uses well-selected words to evoke certain emotions or ideas is very appealing to me. The profound meaning that poetry unravels little by little, without totally revealing it to the reader, allows me to consistently strive to understand it more.
The statement “True life is elsewhere, but we are in this world” mentioned in our class is indeed poetic, at least for me. There are three observations that I want to make regarding the statement and these are the following:
(1) There is a restriction made through but though the first part is asserted, the second part gives a particular condition. Nevertheless, the two statements are not actually opposing each other.
(2) is and are, both in present tense, are used. Interestingly, these two might have been used in two completely different sense. While is is used to denote a general truth or fact, are is used to denote the present.
(3) elsewhere refers to another place in a non-isolating sense. However, in this world is immediately followed up to give more concrete boundaries.
With all the following observations, the statement “True life is elsewhere, but we are in this world” can be interpreted as that the first part allows us to explore possibilities, but the second part limits these possibilities that we have. The first part makes us realize that indeed it’s true—that life gives us a lot of opportunities with what we do. It does not only give us the capacity to be, but also the capacity to hope, to dream and to go beyond our being. And that can be understood only completely by looking deeper at the second part. This latter part clarifies that the opportunities must always be grounded with the present- that hope, for example, must be taken in the context of the desperate and the needy, that dream must be for every single person, etc. but nothing of otherworldliness. This statement, therefore, decentralizes every being from himself and includes any other being to himself.
In this sense, true life will only be realized as we extend our own boundaries to embrace more and more people, as we strive to be better not only for ourselves but also for other people and as we let ourselves be reflective more of who we want to be rather than who we are. This point is the same point that Levinas is trying to make when he says “What I must do for the other?” and the Bible repeatedly emphasizes with “Go and do likewise.”
That's a very interesting interpretation of the phrase. Honestly, "True life is elsewhere, but we are in this world" has yet to reveal itself to me. I have't quite wrapped my head around it yet. Reading it the first time, it seems as if it's a discouragement, that there is no chance that we'll live that true life.
ReplyDeleteHowever, from what you said, i think the one that strikes me most is "...as we strive to be better not only for ourselves but also for other people and we let ourselves be reflective more of who we want to be rather than who we are." This strikes me because I recently had a rude awakening in terms of my relationship with the people around me, especially my loved ones. I was brought to the attention of how much I demand, and how little I listen. I have lived my life too focused on what I want, what makes me happy, and if it doesn't make me happy, I say something about it without really thinking of how it affects others, just me, just me, just me. But that sucks, what kind of relationship is that if it's one sided--- if sacrifice only comes from one end, and I just receive and too comfortable in receiving that even if i say i sacrifice, it's not really for the other but more so I can make the other feel guilty that I sacrificed.
"True life is elsewhere, but we are in this world" gives me hope that I can learn to be that person who I want to be and not the person I am now. I won't change overnight. It's not going to be easy, but it's a change that is being demanded on me now and I do understand it and I am willing to submit to it. This doesn't mean I necessarily giving up my identity but rather, I am just improving myself-- changing those aspects that need improvement. I refuse to be defeated by my biological and psychological tendencies. I can be better.
"True life is elsewhere, but we are in this world"
ReplyDeleteYou've given me a better understanding of this phrase. I guess for me, "True life is elsewhere," also invokes a sense of hope for people who are lost in life or going through a rough time. It is as if it's trying to tell us that things aren't meant to be this way and we are meant for better things. The second part of the phrase, "but we are in this world," also gives a sense of limitation. It reminds us that despite we are meant for better things, we live in a world full of restrictions. Restrictions are from the outside, our neighbors and society, and restrictions from within, our dreams, outlooks, aspirations. I'm really fond of looking at this phrase in this manner, because it helps me realize that even in hard times it is still possible to get to our true life, a better life.
My understanding of "True life is elsewhere" is that other people have different encounters and experiences that we never encountered. True life is not just about you it is also from different people's perspective and that I can get a glimpse of that when reading texts to share those different experiences.
ReplyDelete-Diane Cheng (A)