Lari's Bookshelf

Existentialism One of the main themes of early to mid 20th century, is this theme of the existential crisis of the individual. While planes and cars and the radio connected societies, individuals who went off to war were stripped of their humanity. World War I and II offered technological horrors never before seen, and men and women were trained to live as cogs in a military machine that was indifferent to human interests. This caused a huge internal conflict within many. There is a fabulous speech by Charlie Chaplin in the film, "The Great Dictator." Someone uploaded this and matched it with a song from the Inception soundtrack, take a few minutes to watch this: The part of the speech I want to highlight, is the part where Chaplin depicts the general sentiments that I'm trying to illustrate regarding technological advancements vs. the isolation and brutality of humanity in the first half of the 20th century: "We have developed speed, but we have shut ...

There are many things I have wanted to say here, but haven't. I'm facing a struggle with authenticity. Sometimes I want to write what pops into my head. But I restrain myself. I hold back. I'm constantly censoring myself. I worry of what people will think of me. Worried that people will judge me. I frankly look up to people who can be so open on their blogs and just be so naturally authentic . So I'm drawing a line, right here and now. If you are on this blog, you are mine. I can't be worried about appealing to your sense of "decency," or "appropriateness." I'm going to be authentic with myself, my writing, and what interests me. It's not going to happen in one day, but it's a goal I'm working towards. "Old habits" as they say... Part of it is my background. I have a lot of friends and family who are conservative/religious and I know they might stumble upon here at any minute and question my use of the word "d...