Photograph by Jane Ekizian
Is there moral goodness, what is goodness to you?
I believe we are innately good, with a few exceptions. I can’t define it, I just know that my heart has an internal sense of what I should and shouldn’t do. A moral compass, so to speak, and I do try to follow it.
How do you create meaningful experience in your life?
I accept and live with my feelings, for better or for worse. I take chances. I enjoy a good adrenaline rush.
How do you manage ennui?
Working on it…
Like Sartre, do you consider contemplation a luxury?
Absolutely.
Riff Raff is a tangible example of increased absurdity (aka entropy) in the universe, can you name other examples?
“It G Ma”, even though I like it. When I see the title I picture someone’s grandmother trying to text.
Are you afraid that everything will happen?
I already know it will.
Sartre posits that the existence of desire is the best proof that humans are basically in a state of “lacking”, if man were “what he is(a being-in-itself)”, he would not need anything to complete him. Is there anything that can make a human complete?
I don’t think so. As humans we have this almost survivalistic nature of just… wanting more. We eat when we’re not hungry just because a plate of food is in front of us. The more we have, the more aware we become of what we lack. We are then beings with multiple needs… not just immediate needs like food and water, but emotional, physical. Self-love sounds wonderful but the way people talk about it, like it occurs in one pivotal moment that changes everything… just seems unrealistic. I don’t think there is any one thing that can make a human complete. If there was I’d be on that shit.
How do you make earnest connection in a world of instant gratification?
I learned a lot when I made a conscious effort to remove myself from the need of instant gratification, and one thing I found is that some instances can, in fact, be earnest. I read a Friendzone interview where this was well-stated — “Being able to share your work instantly, immediately after a burst of creative inspiration, and invite the world to be part of that moment, and feel that fire inside you while it’s still ablaze, is, from an artistic standpoint, satisfying on an immense level. It feels honest and real.”
