Bookish Ramblings & My Latest Reads

As a student, it is not always easy to find a lot of time to read the books that are on my ever-growing to-be-read pile. If I’m not reading something out of choice, it will normally be something associated with an essay that I’m undergoing for my course at university. This often includes academic based books which I’ve scanned the library for and thereafter embellished with many a post-it note, enabling me to keep track of quotes and ideas to integrate into an essay. While this may seem a rather strenuous task, I have come to realise that academic books have been effective in enhancing my vocabulary in general and rewarded my ability to consolidate ideas more coherently. But this isn’t at all too discredit fiction’s ability to stimulate the mind and illuminate the imagination.

Anyway, as of late, I have read a few books which are;

J.K Rowling’s The Order of the Pheonix

This took me a little longer to read than usual, but it was enjoyable all the same. It was my first time reading it, although I am undeniably a big Harry Potter enthusiast, I had only ever read the first four books. I am more eager to read the next book- The Half-Blood Prince, as it one of my favourite films out of the franchise.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

I have for a few years now been a Sherlock fanatic, discovered through watching the popular BBC series, Sherlock. However, I would say that reading the original stories has certainly expedited my enthusiasm. The Memoirs is the fourth book in the series and is ever filled with short stories of murder, crime and political intrigue. It is also in this book that a certain infamous ‘Napoleon of crime’ appears. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is one of my most favoured writers of fiction, and I can’t recommend his work enough. I am currently reading The Hound of the Baskervilles, the next book in the series at the moment.

Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories

Originally, I was looking at some of the short stories from this book as part of my research for an essay I was writing on fairy tales during my most recent semester at university. Carter’s work is mainly gothic in nature, and she most notoriously takes centuries-old fairy tales and gives them a rather grotesque and some would argue post-feminist twist. I wasn’t too found on her style of writing so I probably won’t be rushing to read more of her work. Nonetheless, It was refreshing to read something of a different nature than what I usually would pursue.

Linwood Barclay’s Clouded Vision

My decision to read this short novel is definitely proportionate to my mother’s rather recurrent and arguably non-discreet suggestions. I think she would agree with me on this when I say that Barclay is one of her most admired authors. Now I can’t deny that I was somewhat curious to see what all of the fuss was about, so I read this short story of his to get a taster of his work. The story is basically about a woman who goes missing at the bottom of a lake, and I can’t really say anymore without giving it away. Clouded Vision was fast-paced in nature and was undeniably a gripping read, so I am definitely open to reading more of Barclay’s thrillers.

Thank you for reading!

I would love to hear any comments or recommendations!

🙂

Netflix Recommendations

A brief insight into what I’ve been watching;

Stranger Things

You’ve most probably heard of, if not watched Stranger Things. It’s arguably one of the most popular TV shows to not just come out of Netflix, but also generally in recent years. If you’re into science fiction and find the idea of an alternate universe existing that is like our own but not, then this one is for you. Complete with pop cultural references to the 80’s, need I encourage you more…

Gilmore Girls

A heart-warming series focusing on Lorelei and Rory Gilmore, who are not just mother and daughter, but also best friends. If you’re looking for characters to fall in love with and something light-hearted to watch, the Gilmore Girls are for you.

The Crown

Series one was good, but series two, even better. A telling series all about Queen Elizabeth II’s reign and the people around her through to modern-day times. A fascinating watch. And made all the better with Claire Foy playing Queen Elizabeth II, who I think takes on the role fabulously.

A- Typical

My curiosity drove me to start watching this series, as I find it interesting to see how things like autism are represented through the media. The series focuses on 18-year-old Sam, who is on the autistic spectrum and ready for romance. A heartfelt and thought-provoking watch.

Thank you for reading! 

Let me know your recommendations in the comments below!

The Back to University Round Up

So this is going to be more of a chatty post, which I haven’t really done yet on this blog, so here goes…

Moving Out (Again)

Come September the 12th and it was time for me to move back to my university city and into my new house in readiness to start my second year of university. I’m not going to lie, I was nervous about this whole process, even though the first time I’d ever moved out from home was last year, when I started my first year of university. My nerves were becoming more apparent the closer the date came, caused by overthinking (completely normal in the human mind, but that doesn’t make it any less annoying) my living situation, as I was moving into a new house with five other girls, and of only two I knew well, the others I’d briefly met over the previous year. ‘What if it doesn’t work out?’, ‘What if i don’t settle in?’, ‘What if I don’t feel comfortable enough to be myself, or in other words, will I have to constantly restrain my weird self?’ But as usual, I was worrying unnecessarily and creating imaginary situations. I’ve been here just over two weeks now and I am absolutely loving it! I settled in almost instantaneously. I’ve made my room super cosy, and have already started decorating it for my favourite season, Autumn (I will insert pictures). My housemates are all lovely, and I’m already making some great memories with them, one being our weekly Bake Off evenings! I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how nice the house is, it was newly decorated for us moving in and is furnished with canvases, giving it that extra homely feeling.

Here are a few snaps of some details in my room;

 

Back to the Grind

September 19th struck the start of my second year of my university course, beginning with a lecture which i’m actually pretty excited about. For those who don’t know, I’m doing a degree in Media Studies, which is possibly one of the most diverse courses, purely being that a lot of what we study is interdisciplinary, as we often cross over into other schools of thought. For example, Sociology, Psychology, Law, English Literature, and the two more obvious ones; Film Studies and Media Production. Because basically EVERYTHING is mediated in some way in today’s society, meaning most fathomable things you can think of can be, and are, consumed through some form of media. Anyway, getting back to my first lecture of the semester, it was for my module titled Popular Genres, which means we will be studying twelve weeks’ worth of stuff about different genres, including fairy tales, horror, science fiction and children’s literature to name a few. This will include studying these popular genres with reference to the historical and cultural context that they were produced in. I also get to the choice to focus on literature in this module which I am very happy about! I’m currently reading Northern Lights by Philip Pullman as suggested by my lecturer ahead of our session on children’s literature, and I have to say, it’s very good so far. As well as my module on Popular Genres, I am also doing two other modules this semester; Visual Cultures (all about the complicated relationship between and creative usage of words and images) and Issues of Taste (exploring ideas of freedom and taste in relation to society, and in reference to the ever-changing contexts, issues and circumstances that occur over time). It is still only early days of teaching for all of my modules, so I feel like I can’t fully judge them, but this far, they all seem very interesting and I’m certainly eager to learn more about them.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post, and I hope I haven’t made you fall asleep by talking about my university course.

If you have any questions about university, or anything else, I am happy to give you some advice!

Don’t hesitate to get in touch 🙂

 

If We Were Having Coffee I’d Say…

That it’s raining right now and we couldn’t have picked a cosier time to drink our coffee.

That I hope you’re well, and that I don’t know about you but i’m feeling super content right now, as coffee shops are one of my favourite places to be.

That you don’t have to do things purely for the sake of saying that you’ve done it.

That the future near and far makes you feel anxious, just like it does me too. But we’ll both be okay.

That we should always try and think of the future through a curious lense, because the world is full of unfathomable amounts of possibilities and we really shouldn’t disregard that.

That I hope you’re enjoying your coffee, and that i’m happy I went with my usual choice of an ordinary latte and not a Chai latte in my attempt at being autumnal, because that was way too sickly last time.

That we shouldn’t focus on things we simply can’t change, because it’s not time wisely spent.

That I hope you’ve had a great summer, because I’ve possibly had one of the best ones yet. Filled with adventure, valuable time spent with family and friends, fulfillment through writing blog posts, reading some really great novels and invaluable time spent on my own which has allowed me to learn more about myself.

And lastly, you really should make time for those you love.

 

 

 

Thank you for reading!

🙂

 

The Three Ws: Bookish Questions

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Taking On A World of Words.

And these three W’s that the title has so ambiguously referenced are three book related questions;

1. What are you currently reading?
2. What did you recently finish reading?
3. What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading:

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. I’m not sure how I feel about it thus far, as I only started reading it last night. But it seems pretty gripping. It’s something I’ve had on my TBR pile for a long time so at least i’ve finally got round to it! My mum reckons it is something you definitely have to concentrate on whilst reading it, so I guess no reading it when i’m half asleep!

Recently Finished:

One Day by David Nicholls. I absolutely loved this book! So much so, I’m going as far as to say it’s one of my favourites! I completely fell in love with the two characters, Emma and Dexter who the story is centered around. The book is basically separated into yearly accounts spanning across twenty years on the same day of 15th July. If you haven’t already, I highly recommend you give this one a read!

Next read:

So i’ve got three books that I know I want to read in the near future and these include;  The Order of the Pheonix by J.K Rowling, Step Back Into Time by Ali McNamara and Van Gogh’s Ear: The True Story by Bernadette Murphy.  So it’ll be one of them that I will be reading next.

 

 

Thank you for reading! I do enjoy doing these smaller, question and answer style posts but I’ll certainly be writing more in-depth posts like in the style of my Conceptions of Freedom post again soon!

🙂

 

The Game of Thrones Tag

So, I have yet again not actually been tagged in this but i’m a GOT enthusiast to say the least, so I thought I’d give it a go.

Here’s the tag which I found originally: http://www.taniamichele.com/2015/06/a-game-of-thrones-tag.html?m=1 

1.How did you discover the series?

I think it’s actually my Dad who first mentioned it to me. But that was few years ago when I was way to young to watch the series, (I was probably about 13/14 i’m guessing). But it’s actually my sister, and two of my close friends who got me into the show really.

2.Who is your favourite house, other than the Starks and Lannisters?

House Mormont. One reason being Lyanna Mormont who is an absolute badass and a gem for female representation. But also because of Jorah Mormont. I’ve loved him from the start.

3.Who is your favourite character from House Stark?

This is quite a tricky one, as Stark is actually my favourite house. But probably Arya, she’s another good one for female representation, and she’s just a badass let’s face it, yes she’s murdered quite a lot of people but this is Game of Thrones were talking about, not Downton Abbey.

4.Who is your favourite character from House Lannister?

Tyrion! My love for his character has grown throughout the seasons. He has many admirable characteristics; he’s quick-witted, humorous, clever, and unlike the rest of the Lannisters, he has a strong moral compass.

5.Who is your favourite character?

Okay i’m simply not even going to try and pick one favourite, that’s just not going to happen. So here are my favourites; Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen, Arya Stark, Ned Stark,  Jorah Mormont, Davos Seaworth,  Brienne of Tarth and of course, Tyrion Lannister.

6.Who is your least favourite character?

I’m going to go for the standard answer here and say Joffrey Baratheon. Of course Ramsey Bolton was a horrible person too, but Ramsey was more love to hate, whereas Joffrey it’s just full blown hate with me.

7.What are your thoughts on the series?

I freaking LOVE IT! A couple of years ago I wouldn’t have imagined myself calling Game of Thrones my favourite TV show, let alone watching it. But I can’t personally think of anything else out there that consumes my brain so much. It’s just top of the game in my eyes.

8. If you could be one of the characters, who you would you be and why?

I’m not quite sure specifically, but I think I’d like to be a wildling for a bit, you know just try it out for a couple of days or so. Speak all broad Northern and wear fluffy clothing.

9.What is your favourite episode/season?

I’m going to go with the latest season, season seven. It’s the first season I’ve watched as it’s aired, week by week, and I think that’s actually added to the enjoyment of it. Not to forget the fact that this season has been consecutively outstanding!

10.What House would you be in?

I feel like I resonate with House Stark more than any others, and I’ve said this from watching the first season. I love the sigil of the grey direwolf and the fact that Winterfell is in the North, as I’m actually Northern myself, which makes me love the house even more.

11.What are you most looking forward to in the upcoming season?

~Spoiler alert! Stop reading now if you haven’t watched the newest season!!

• Jon Snow / Aegon Targaryen finding out his true identity
• Finding out where this leaves the relationship between Jon & Daenerys
• Watching Cersei (hopefully) get her comeuppance
• Seeing the aftermath of the destruction caused in the last episode by the army of the dead, they’ve destroyed the wall, so what happens now?
• And actually seeing who sits on the IRON THRONE at the end of it all!!

Thank you for reading!

Feel free to do this tag yourself! I therefore tag anyone who wants to do it!

🙂

Growing Up

“… And these children that you spit on

as they try to change their worlds

are immune to your consultations.

They’re quite aware

of what they’re going through…” ~ David Bowie

Being a teenager is challenging. The number of subliminal messages and expectancies placed upon young people are countless. Even though most of these ‘so -called’ messages don’t appear to be harmful at first glance, speaking from individual experience, they certainly are.

One of these messages which causes a lot of problems during teenage years, is the need to fit in. Follow the trends, use the same words as everyone else, dress the same, refrain from speaking up in class to avoid being labelled a ‘nerd’, undergo underage drinking just because everyone else is doing it. Peer pressure is something that we can get so caught up in, and it can be distracting from the precious years we have to be young and experiment with who we are. It’s all a part of growing up, it should be fun filled with wonderful experiences, good and bad. But I do however think retrospectively, that learning how you want to spend your time, (including saying no, and sometimes saying yes to things out of your comfort zone) is integral to discovering things about yourself as a person. It’s important to be aware of your limits.

I sometimes feel as though there’s this predetermined path set to follow in society. Go to school, and then onto University, get a job and then what, eternal happiness? But, of course life isn’t as linear as that. Life is like being on a never-ending roller coaster, it has its ups, it has its downs, and you often don’t know what the hell is going on.

Furthermore, individual expression isn’t something that you should hide away inside of you where no one else can see it. Because we’re all unique in our own way, and I believe you’re given a voice and mind for a reason, and to hide away and try to be something you’re not, well you’re only cheating yourself really. Life is beautiful. So go out and chase whatever it is you want and express your personality whether it be through your quirky choice of clothes or the words you use. We need to make a change and encourage others to start embracing who they are, and work towards the world being a more accepting place. After all, as Sean McCabe said,”You will never influence the world by trying to be like it.”

One thing i’ve also come to realise is that a way to feel free, is to be undeniably yourself. Whilst this is probably one of the hardest things to do, because I don’t know about anyone else but as much as you may want to be yourself at times, there’s always that voice is your head talking you out of it, telling you to act a certain way, say a certain thing to adapt to the person or situation you are around/in. But with the right mindset and persistence, and keeping focused on doing things you enjoy as well as surrounding yourself with the right people, it does get easier.

Lastly, a little bit of advice from me for those hard times when things are getting on top of you;

Think of yourself as an individual, and know that it is okay to prioritise yourself over others. Allow yourself time on your own to work on feeling comfortable in your own skin.

During anxious times view yourself as a single star in an endless cosmos, acknowledge the immensity of the universe, and know that you are merely a speck of dust within it.

This way of thinking often reminds me that my problems are not as big as I think they are, and that they will pass, much like day passes into night and sapling turns into tree. Life keeps going.

 

 

As always, thank you for taking the time to read this post!

🙂

 

Twenty Questions Booktag!

So, I’ve not actually been tagged in this but I love books and fancied doing a tag post so I thought why not just go for it!

The link to the original tag is here https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/18219846-twenty-questions-booktag 

1.How many books is too many books in a book series? 

I’d say more than six or seven, I’ve not really read an entire book series though so I don’t quite know what I’m basing that on!
2. How do you feel about cliffhangers?

They normally result in me shouting at the book because I’m just begging to know what happens! So many unanswered questions just fly around in my head! But as long as the story is going to be continued at some point after said cliffhanger I’m okay with them!
3. Hardcopy or paperback?

Paperback. Simply because they’re lighter to hold.
4. Favourite book?

Can I have four? 1984 by George Orwell, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky and Reasons To Stay Alive by Matt Haig.
5. Least favourite book?

A Midsummer Nights Dream by William Shakespeare. Purely because I did it as part of my English Literature AS level coursework and I could not even force myself to like it, or understand it. I now only associate AMSND with bad memories…
6. Love triangles, yes or no? 

They annoy me at times I must admit, I used to think that I couldn’t read a book without there being a love triangle in it. But the more I’ve read as I’ve grown up, the less I’ve noticed them.
7. The most recent book you just couldn’t finish?

The Noise of Time by Julian Barnes. I however did finish it, because I hate giving up, but I had to keep re-reading bits of the book multiple times because I got confused and struggled to follow the plot. Interesting concept though all the same.
8. A book you’re currently reading?

A Game of Thrones by George R.R Martin. I’ve nearly finished, 96 pages to go!
9. Last book you recommended to someone?

The Diary of Anne Frank. I recommend it to my sister, as I believe it’s something everyone should read.
10. Oldest book you’ve read? (Publication date)

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, published in 1597. I read it at school so I’m not sure if that counts. But the oldest book I’ve read for enjoyment is The Sign of the Four by Arthur Conan Doyle, published in 1890.
11. Newest book you’ve read? (Publication date)

Girl Online: Going Solo, by Zoe Sugg, published in November 2016.
12. Favorite author?

I’m torn. Part of me wants to say John Green, firstly due to the fact that I love metaphors and secondly because he is the only author I can claim to say that I’ve read all of the books of. But I also adore F. Scott Fitzgerald’s writing style. I’m not sure, ask me again in a year.
13. Buying books or borrowing books?

Definitely buying books, but second-hand as there’s something wonderful that I can’t quite pin-point about pre-loved books.
14. A book you dislike that everyone else seems to love?

Hmm, I can’t actually think of one!
15. Bookmarks or dog-ears?

I had to google what is meant by dog-ears! But if it means folding pages, I definitely opt for the dog-ear approach when saving my page.
16. A book you can always reread?

I don’t tend to re-read much, as I’m all about finding new stuff, but I’d have to say The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. I absolutely love that book no matter how many times I’ve read it before, I re-read it a couple of months ago one afternoon actually.

17. Can you read while hearing music?

I can read to calming instrumental music, especially piano. I did this last week actually on the train to block out noisy passengers.
18. One POV or multiple POV’s? (POV’s = Point of views)

Multiple POV’s. A Game of Thrones, which I’m currently reading is told through alternating character viewpoints, and I love the way it works. As a series which has tons of characters, it can be easy to lose track on who’s who and what all the characters positioning’s are in the plot, so it’s great in this way.
19. Do you read a book in one sitting or over multiple days?

Multiple days normally. However, when I did English Literature at college and I got assigned books to read, I used to spend my Sunday mornings reading the books in one sitting.
20. Who do you tag? (You can invite them to the group to do the tag)

Anyone who wants to do this tag themselves!!

 

I hope you enjoyed this book tag, my mission for the next day is to finish reading A Game of Thrones! I’m really enjoying it but I’m pretty sure it’s the longest book I’ll have ever read!

🙂

 

Something to think about: The Danger of a Single Story

This post has been looming around in my draft folder for a while as i’ve been wondering what to do with it. Also partly because I feel I am trying to reach a medium between posting because I genuinely want to and not because I feel I have too. But that’s something i’m working on.

Anyhow,

I watched a TedTalk recently which I found through an online course on gender development I have been taking. The talk is titled ‘The danger of a Single Story’ and it’s by Nigerian novelist, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I found it very thought-provoking and couldn’t help but agree with more or less everything she was saying.

In short, she basically talks about how we often create and consume one single story about a particular thing, that could be an ethnic group or a particular age group for example, and she further explores how dangerous and I agree, small minded doing this can be.

Anyway, before I go any further here’s the video so you can see it for yourself:

In the course we were asked to consider the following points;

• what happens when we reduce complex societies to simple stereotypes, to a single narrative.
• her argument that this approach, where complexity is reduced to a simple narrative, distorts our perceptions of others

Watching the Ted Talk not only made me realize, but also reminded me of how prominent stereotypes actually are in not only our minds but also in society as a whole. I think humans are very judgmental in nature, and I don’t necessarily mean that we make these judgements with cruel intentions but that it is often a subconscious act. Our opinions on people are shaped by the media from a very early age. The media seems to create an idea of a place or a person, which might be in their vested interest, made for biased reasons, or just for an easy way to categorize. And then consequently the audiences consuming this media gain a single story of a much wider picture. Religious, ethnic groups and the variety of cultures in existence, are an example of the abundantly different ways that people live around the world, and instead of emphasis being placed on understanding and accepting these different societies, they are too often simplified to having one single meaning.

And this of course is very dangerous as Chimamanda said, as an unclear vision of the world is implemented into people’s heads. And these images are repeated again and again, through word of mouth, the socialisation of children, and are of course helped along through media consumption, literature and politics. They become the dominant story in our heads. And the truth remains under wraps and is known on a much smaller scale.

Stereotyping is a form of shorthand, an easier way of categorizing people. But does this mean stereotyping is used because the media is too lazy to paint the bigger picture? Or does the media enable the public to identify national identities on a much simpler scale because our brains cannot cope with retaining the biggest, and most realistic depiction of the truth?

How can we combat single stories?

There is part of me that thinks single stories may never be resolved. I think the media, authority, political parties etc. is/ and are continuously aiming to consolidate the public’s views on the world to the point that they may unfortunately never stop. It’s quite a tricky thing to think about really because how do we know that without these other factors, as humans we still wouldn’t create these ill-informed ideas about things? But then you can argue back and say that without the media’s ability to reach audiences in the first place, for example, we wouldn’t necessarily know about immigration problems etc.

But I do also think that with greater awareness on the issue of single stories and informing people on a wider level, especially from a young age, that not everything you read is true, along with encouragement to research further and learn about things for ourselves, would help prevent single single stories being created in the first place. As a media student I was taught from day one that not everything you read is true. The public is becoming more aware of so-called ‘fake news’ now though, so that is some progress.

Reducing societies to simple stereotypes creates divides and subsequently limits our understanding of the world around us. I hope for a time in the future when we can go beyond these close-minded mentalities and concentrate on making the world a better place, without unjust and ill-informed constraints.

As always, thank you for reading!

And please feel free to leave your thoughts below in the comments section!

 

Conceptions of Freedom

Freedom. What is it, and how can It be defined? The word freedom is problematic to singularly define. And in this way is much more subjective to the individual as opposed to a simple text book definition. One person’s definition of freedom could be highly conflicting to others. Whether someone feels free or not, could be due to an array of reasons, such as the individual’s state of mind, how strict (or not) the individual’s country allows them to be and so on. So many factors can be taken into account such as social, cultural, geographical, economical etc. when deciding whether one is truly free or not. But personally, freedom to me normally coincides with my state of mind. And more often than not is related to whether I feel content with things that are going on in my life at that time. Being free to me in this way, means being unrestrained from irrational thinking.

The Paradox of Choice

I also like to think about freedom with reference to consumption. Here’s a scenario; you’re at a supermarket, and you’re down the confectionery aisle. What chocolate bar will you choose? You think you have an abundance of choice, 20 to 30 brands are sat looking at you. Double Decker, Whisper, Morrisons own etc. The packaging of that one looks bright and appealing. But this one you always used to buy from the corner shop with your 50p weekly pocket money. But this one’s the cheapest! Ooo but Cadbury has just brought out a brand new recipe, I wonder what that one’s like! PICK ME! PICK ME!

There’s too much choice, an overwhelming amount. You’re now stood, frozen in a state of indecisiveness. You start to wish there was wasn’t so many choices available to you after all. It would be easier that way, you’d be able to make a quicker decision, and limit this pointless faffing in the supermarket. You finally make a decision. But why is something so simple so anxiety provoking?

And the looming question remains; did you really have freedom of choice?

In a capitalist society, due to its economic system, emphasis is placed on choice being available, however this can seem quite domineering. With so much emphasis on consumption, even though there appears to be a freedom of choice, do we really have a choice? Or do societal factors such as anxieties around making sure you choose the right product which will impress the most people, or the product that is the current trend, imprison us and prevent us from making a decision which is solely made on our own personal choice, with disregard to any other external factor?

When we make choices whilst consciously baring in mind what other people will think of us, we are invoking a need to be regarded in a certain way by others. And not so much acting of our own individual desires. Therefore when we make consumer choices it can be said that we aren’t  making straight-forward decisions with no outward consideration to society, it is not just us singularly who are making the choice. We sometimes like to choose what everyone else is choosing, and are obsessed with how others will regard us, in regards to our choice. Choice in this way is a very social thing. We also try to make an ideal choice. For example when choosing a mobile network provider, we’ll try and go for the one with the best value for money. Making ‘the ideal choice’ is something that will most likely play a part in determining our decisions on a regular basis. But this is another reason why choices can be anxiety provoking, and it’s met with the recurring question of ‘Do I really want this?’

Freedom as the achievement of self-realisation 

The idea of positive and negative liberty, made famous by Philosopher Isaiah Berlin, creates a divide between people’s ideas of freedom. Philosopher John Stuart Mill, for example, favoured a negative conception of liberty, and perceived freedom as allowing individuals to act as they wanted, without the interference of authority. So maybe, freedom in this way means to do things that may harm the individual, like smoking or drug abuse. This also perhaps is alluding to rebellion against the constraints of authority. Furthermore, Mill clarified that individuals under this conception of liberty would only be free as long as they were not using their freedom to harm others. So it seems, a moral compass is apparent in Mill’s ideas.

On the other hand, more positive conceptions of liberty, do not link the concept of freedom with having no interference of others and authority, but instead with doing the right and rational thing. This links with Mill’s idea of first-order desire and highest-order of desire. First-order meaning choices you make which are ruled by irrational thoughts, impulse or emotions. And highest-order on the other hand; choices which are made by thinking rationally, and are often reflective of reaching your full potential. To put this into a more simpler way to understand, i’ll apply it to a personal experience;

I have often tried to lessen my usage of social media due to it often making me feel dissatisfied with my life, its fueling of unhealthy comparisons and making me feel like a mindless robot whilst using it. Basically a mixture of negative feelings. As much as I tried to stop pointlessly checking my phone to see if I had any messages, or scrolling through Instagram repeatedly, I regularly gave in to my first-order of desire (checking my phone unnecessarily ) when in actual fact I knew I would feel more mentally free if I just stopped checking my phone so much (highest-order of desire). I more recently have lessened my phone usage by at least 50% and feel more free within myself from doing so.

So in this sense, I can say I have achieved my highest-order of desire (achieving what I most wanted), but it took me a lot of attempts and failings to my first-order of desire to do so. It was an annoying habit that I wanted to break, and the addictive nature of social media meant many failings to my first-order of desire, but I got there in the end.

Freedom is a very ambiguous term, with an abundance of definitions as a result of it being so highly subjective in nature. But freedom for me is probably what Berlin coined ‘positive freedom’, in being that it is internal barriers, that keep me from being what I define as being free.

What do you define ‘freedom’ as?

 

I would love to hear your opinions and ideas, so don’t hesitate to leave a comment below!

 

Thanks for reading! 🙂