Thursday, September 13, 2007

The Owl Has Flown

The article “The Owl Has Flown” by Sven Birkerts brought to my attention, that I cannot think of a single philosopher that is living today. That is very tragic. Of course I can think of philosophers before my time…but none today. Birkerts make some very valid points that I was able to catch right away, which I of course liked. (I did not feel stupid because of it). As he was talking about intensive and extensive reading, I automatically knew that he meant reading for a purpose and reading for information. I think along with that though, a lot of people today, read what they do because they either have to or want to be able to say, “oh yeah, I read that”, even if they cannot interpret it or give a deeper evaluation as to why it was important. As a student, I am able to confess that in the past, I have skimmed over a book for the sole purpose of being able to pass a test and not get anything out of what I read, let alone remember the title or author; within two days, I forgot everything. My generation has truly lost its value of tradition. Yes, we still practice traditions that have been going on for years, but do we ever really stop to think of what they really mean? June weddings, the point of the bouquet, why women wear white and men wear black. We don’t appreciate the values behind our traditions or the wisdom and knowledge that it brings. We are too busy in our lives today to take time out and reflect in our own silence. It is more about “going with the flow” or “doing as others are” rather than taking time to find out who we are and our purpose in life. Maybe we should all take some time and read the book about our purpose in life, and actually reflect upon it!

Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren for those of you who have no idea what I was talking about.

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