Why Do So Many of Us Continue to Outsource Our Life: ‘Goethe’ Figure?
“A person hears only what they understand.”
–Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
By Richard Cirulli
Life may seem to be a contraction at times. To quote Dickens, “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”
This seems to hold true in our current time as we attempt to find our essence and peace amidst the adversity and uncertainties of life, as we often feel helpless and threatened by life itself. This is evident by the number of self-help books that flood the market today.
We are living in contradictory times where wisdom and foolishness coexist as a cohort, along with hope and despair, and where spring and winter blend into a season of doubt and reflection.
To achieve our essence, we may need to ask ourself, who is our true self? And, to free ourselves from the herd mentality that expects us to be a reflection of who they are, along with their wants and needs. We outsource our life to the herd that often tramples upon our true self and essence. That denies one the strength to live and challenge life to find ourselves as we should be.
In troubled times, we often opt to find our strength in escapism, by projecting our insecurities and fantasies into movie superheroes, rock stars or uber athletes to make them an extension of ourselves to outsource our life. This wannabe syndrome is a quick and quiet denial of reality sought out as an imaginary sanctuary of sorts whose reverie is broken with the first thoughts of reality.
To place this in perspective, we can use Goethe’s old professor Faust as an example, who had come to the point of suicide as the result of creating an unlivable life. Faust sells his soul to Mephistopheles, appearing as his lordship, the devil, the personification of his own incomplete and doubting shadow.
Unlike Faust, we need not resort to selling our soul by outsourcing our life to surrogate or consolation life choices imposed on us. Quoting the philosopher Epictetus, who asks the question, “we would never allow anyone to own our body, though we easily hand over our minds to other people.”
This is a good example where philosophy can help to build one’s limits and measure oneself against our higher inner standards, as opposed to outsourcing it to the lower singular mind of the crowd.
“You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.”
–Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
For instance, it is one thing to root and cheer for your favorite pro quarterback when he throws the winning touchdown. It’s another when you outsource your own life’s touchdowns by projecting yourself into your hero, for reality is the realization that it’s the pro who receives the crowd’s applause in the arena, as the viewer is left unknown, sidelined from his or her true potential. To be clear, this is not a criticism of sports, but rather how we frame the sport to improve our lives.
Dickens’ view of humanity as just existing to toil may sound a bit incredulous. The thought of selling one’s soul just to outsource your achievements should scare the dickens out of you.
Be well. Be safe. Be happy. Be nice. Amor fati!
Dr. Richard Cirulli is a published author, playwright and retired professor. His body of works can be viewed at www.demitasseplayers.com. He looks forward to your comments, and can be reached at profcirulli@optonline.net.
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