Why Not? Blog Post 2

Ray Robertson’s essay “Individuality” from Why Not?  was meaningful to me because many of the themes he talks about resonate in my own life. Robertson defines individuality in a way that I can relate to; “a desperate, almost aggressive desire to separate oneself from everyone else – everyone else, that is, but those whom one is imitating” (82). I have been finding my true self throughout my life and especially in high school. The people who I interact with every day and influence me from afar have a great impact on what I do and how I carry out my actions each day. Individuality is trying to be different, and to separate oneself from the way that everyone else is doing it.

Robertson made me think of individuality in a different way and has helped me develop a better understanding of what it is.  He writes “…even the most earnestly eccentric personalities and the most unique works of art have their influences, however unrecognized at the time of impact of hazily perceived long after the fact” (83). This powerful statement shows how many aspects of your every day life are influenced by your past.  There are many things that I do each day without thinking that may have been influenced by something or someone that I interacted with a long time ago or even an hour ago. A conversation or an activity that happened at any date can impact the way you do something at a later date without you consciously thinking about it.  Robertson captured it perfectly when he quotes John Dos Passos, “Individuality is freedom lived” (83). The way Robertson outlines Individuality is well communicated, very clear and concise. This section speaks to me and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Ray Robertson starts each of his essays in Why Not? with a quote. The quote for “Home” is from the German writer, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, “He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home”(159). This quote is a great start to the essay because it is powerfully simple and most can relate to it. Robertson proceeds to talk about travel and its importance, and how it is interesting to be exposed to different cultures. I strongly believe that traveling is the greatest way to learn because you are exposed to so many new and interesting things. These travel experiences bring many fresh and motivating things to ones life and open you up to the rest of the world.  Robertson then says, “Because as Socrates observed, ‘See one promontory, one mountain, one sea, one river, and see all.’ And that was 2,500 years before the first McDonalds opened up in Prague”  (160). This is a great quote from a classical Greek philosopher, which really goes to show that the world really is becoming a global village and much more uniform.

Robertson observed, “…people may dress differently and eat different foods and drive on the other side of the road, they’re all identifiably a part of the same essentially boorish, selfish, clueless species” (159). We are all so different but at the same time we are all so alike. It makes the world seem like a very complicated small place with many different cultures, religions, languages, and personalities, but also captures the great infiniteness our planet consists of.  This is a very powerful statement of great importance to me because of the different cultures that I am exposed to in the culturally diverse city of Toronto. I have been exposed to many different people in Toronto of many different backgrounds who have helped shape many of the views I have today. 

I have been involved with art since I was very young.  I don’t remember the exact age but I believe I was between the ages of 4 and 7 when I had a great sense of humor (or so I thought).  I believed that drawing with Crayola markers and placing Scooby-doo stickers on the car window that didn’t go all the way down was one of the most entertaining things in the world. I also had a great desire to have a marker in my hand at all times.  I would create masterpieces with just my two index fingers and some watercolour paint. I loved to draw pictures and make up stories with just my hand and a piece of paper.  The problem though was that over the years I seemed to loose that feeling of entertainment from drawing on the car window or on my wall where no one could see. Pablo Picasso put it very well, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”  Although I myself am not an artist by trade, I have an immense love for art and am touched by many of the beautiful pieces that I see from day to day.

Art has inspired me in many ways and has even changed the way I view life. Sometimes there is much more to something than what you see on the surface. Meaning is not always given to you on a silver platter; sometimes you must dig for it. The American author Henry David Thoreau put it well, “It’s not what you look at that matters, its what you see.”  Art can be interpreted differently to different people. This is because everybody is different and nobody is the same. People all are unique in their own way and they will interpret things in their own way.  Aristotle captured the depth and immenseness of art very well, “The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.”  Art influences what I do and how I carry out my activities each day. We are the art that we love.