Knowledge
is nothing until it is reflected on. Figures and facts are nothing more than
information without the effort to draw upon past experiences to apply them to
future situations. You must experience the knowledge for it to become useful
and memorable. In classes, we are force fed information that we have to
memorize. We have learned to take mental not of any points the professor
prefaces with “know this for the test”, while tuning out anything that
accompanies “this is extra”. But that isn’t learning—that’s cultivating the
ability to fire particular synapses in the brain in response to particular
stimuli in order to regurgitate an answer. What we have experienced in this
class is the ability to forgo the cookie-cutter model for learning. We’ve had
the opportunity to reason, reflect, rant, and revive our learning attitudes by
having free reign for what we get from the material.
Where
does this reflection lead us? It takes us through a metamorphosis. Reflection
reveals the essence of who we are: layers and layers of mythological levels.
These levels are formed by our past experiences. But as we add more experiences
to our lives, we change into someone different. Wendell Berry puts it well as
he says, "The past is our definition. We may strive with good reason to
escape it, or to escape what is bad in it. But we will escape it only by adding
something better to it." Reflecting on what we have learned allows us to
become something new. The end goal of reflection is to become who we want to
be.
Persephone
experienced a lot of reflecting during her abduction. “The Pupil lost herself
when her pupil saw its own reflection in the pupil that reflected her looking
at a reflection of a reflection of a man who lost himself by looking at a
reflection.” This is broken down on page 209 of Calasso. In this dizzying
encounter with reflection, she reflected on two things. One, infinity was
revealed to her—the reflection gave her knowledge. Second, the reflection gave
her a new perspective—“she saw herself in the eyes of Hades—reflected to render
the perspective of the one filled with desire—and she realized she wanted to be
carried off to feel the gaze of passionate covet again.”
Reflection
is the basis for gaining knowledge and perspective. It prompted the fate of
where Persephone would go and who she would become
So what
does this reflection mean for us? Where do we start? We have to determine where
we came from. In studying the creation myths, it’s clear that each culture has
defined where they have come from as the basis for who they are and where they
are going. In every story, there was once conviviality where things were
excellent. Nearly every story contains the idea of some deity. I did an
extensive research project last year and concluded that a dependence on a
higher power is actually programmed into our very essence. So where did we come from? What is the etiology of us?
In order
to figure out where we are now, we need to figure out where we are going. What does the apocalypse look like? How does
what we do now affect what happens when the veil is lifted and what was unseen
becomes seen?
Where are
we now? We have been initiated into a state of conflict. How does our current state of conflict reflect on our future? How will
we use our conflict to become the person we want to be? We reside in a
state of indifference, where no one cares about what comes next except for the
next vacation days, the next promotion, and the next set of privileges. We need
to live in the now by reflecting on our past and looking to the future to become
who we want to be. And that starts now, pal.
Ultimately,
where we once were, where we are now, and where we are going encompasses our
worldview. It defines who we are and who we want to become. So the basis for
reflection and the goal of learning should be to discover ourselves and how we
fit into the bigger picture of existence. This class has given us the
opportunity to think outside what we are told to think—to reflect on what we want
to reflect on.
What else
can we get from reflection? We can reminisce. Reminiscence invokes powerful
emotions. Last Thursday, as Dr. Sexson was telling his story, a reflection was
invoked. It had nothing to do with the story, but rather the way it was told.
It brought me back, with such realism due to the emotions I experienced, to
when my mom would read to my brother and me when we were kids. It was an
emotion of memorable peace and enchantment.
Our
narrator in The Storyteller experienced
a reflective emotion such as this as he went from painting to painting in the
art display of the Peruvian jungle. It brought him back to all the
conversations he and Mascarita had together.
So
reflection, besides invoking the power of knowledge and perspective, brings
about strong emotions. These emotions define our memories which define where
our story has come from.
Our lives
need more reflection of experiences and less regurgitation of facts. This
reflection is what defines our story (past, present, and future), our legacy,
and our myth.
That
anyway, is what I have learned.
