Identify 3
Concluding this triad of metaphysical ramblings, I’ll begin with the lyrics to one of my favorite songs, Going to Georgia by The Mountain Goats,
The most remarkable thing about coming home to you is the feeling of being in motion again: its the most extraordinary thing in the world.
…
I have two big hands and a heart pumping blood and a 1967 Colt .45 with the busted safety catch.
…
The world shines as I cross the Macon county line going to Georgia.
…
The most remarkable thing about you standing in the doorway is that it’s you and that you are standing in the doorway and you smile as you ease the gun from my hand, I am frozen with joy right where I stand.
…
The world throws its light underneath your hair, forty miles from Atlanta, this is nowhere, going to Georgia.
…
The world shines as I cross the Macon county line going to Georgia.
***
Recalibration, no? I left off exploring the increasingly transformative effects that an unstable or unfamiliar environment can have upon a developing identity. Allow me to clarify that by no means do I believe a consistent environment hinders development of the identity. I merely posit that within a stable context it becomes easier for the internal to project the external reliably, and that the external may in turn reinforce the internal more often than not.
Finding one’s self in a new location, a new set of circumstances, amongst new peers, in a new context, and in a resulting new frame of mind encourages the development of identity. Beginning with the understanding that the interior identity may not be translated accurately through the new syntax, it becomes apparent that the external identity may no longer serve as a clear reflecting pool for the interior.
When neither the inherently biased mind’s eye view of the internal (by the internal) or the reflective view of the external (by the internal) can provide a reliable perspective of the internal identity, I dearly hope it leads to a reassessment of values.
One of the few pieces of advice I’ll attempt to live by comes from the inextinguishable Henry Rollins. (That’s point #2 towards my punk-rock-cliché merit badge, for those at home keeping score.) The quote follows as such,
“Go without a coat when it’s cold; find out what cold is. Go hungry; keep your existence lean. Wear away the fat, get down to the lean tissue and see what it’s all about. The only time you define your character is when you go without. In times of hardship, you find out what you’re made of and what you’re capable of. If you’re never tested, you’ll never define your character.
Where I may wax garrulously, Mr. Rollins drops some concise knowledge. I can get behind that.
So I’ve adjusted some.