What kind of Idea Are You?

What kind of idea are you?


I don't know what this question may mean to people outside of its context. When I first read this line, asked by the omnipotent narrator in Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses, I was exhilarated.

What kind of idea are you?

This phrase has a little-special-power to me. It's a simple enough question when we first read it. Very short, very direct. But then we actually ask ourselves the question. We, the general reader, become the personalized 'you,' sparking the fire within the phrase. For, upon actually asking ourselves the question (not just reading it) we realize the question feels invasive...and strange.... We are not being asked who we are, or what kind of person we are... 

What kind of idea are you?

Interestingly, the scope and originality of said idea (if one was to attempt to answer the question) is entirely limited to the reader's philosophical character--their understanding of identity.The answer could change by the year or by the day, or epiphany by epiphany, depending on the person in question. It is a powerful thing to ask yourself. It detaches you from what is tangible in this world. It asks you not to be You, but to be Nothing. It reminds you that next to water you are mostly concept. For ideas are of human invention--perhaps our first one. And this is a question I would genuinely like to ask everyone, and something I'd like to ask myself everyday.



Whatever you put energy into, grows.

Miranda July has crazy eyes.

And even though I tend to roll my eyes at her over-the-top, esoteric, pseudo-magical-realism yet mundane story-lines, I concede that she is a smart lady and has some nice thoughts:

Miranda makes a point and I don't roll my eyes.

Mantras shouldn't be cheesy. They should make sense and be easy to remember. And not make you want to vomit with narcissism. I like practical mantras. I like mantras that I don't mind saying to myself even when all I want to do is flip-off the obnoxious customer infront of me. I like Miranda's because:

1. It has nothing to do with God (and thank god....)

2. It makes quantifiable sense 

3. You can think of your life-choices as plants and weeds (ok... that's bordering on cheesy)

4. I guess what I'm saying with #3 is that this mantra lends itself well to metaphors

5. I don't know what else... but it's the main reason I decided I didn't need to be on Facebook

Fear is the Mind-Killer

I'm not going to quote Dune but I will say that this paragraph has been a personal mantra of mine for years now. And I can't say it has actually done me much good on a day-to-day basis. It's not gunna cure your depression, alright? But it is empowering to read every once in a while. It's very visual. And reminds you that out of Fear comes everything else that sucks in your life. Doubt, depression, anger, envy and on and on all stems from Fear--hence 'the mind-killer' yadda yadda. Good, we all get it now. 

So go out there and grow some things, people. And think about what kind of idea you are.

And Miranda's eyes...

Those eyes!