Self-directed Exploration
Self-exploration is not a new topic by any means. In this day and age, you cannot throw a cat without hitting a self-help book or program. The effective ones require thorough self-examination. You cannot create solutions if you have not found the problems yet, “we must push against a door to know that it is closed to us” (Montaigne 187).
Although very dense, a lot of Montaigne’s writing is still applicable to the modern day. Truly, now more than ever, it feels like “It takes management to enjoy life” (Montaigne 194). Especially for those of us who do not fit the nigh impossible mold our society is designed for. Most of the coping mechanisms and strategies I use to get through my day were only learned because I found something I struggled with and pinpointed why it was an issue for me. I have always been naturally inclined towards self-examination. Without this inward focus my life would look radically different. Perhaps I would be happier to be less self-aware, blissful in my ignorance, but I do not know that version of myself. While I do not pretend to know every facet of my current being, I do believe that I know myself as I am.
Montaigne often returns to musing on a person’s relationship with their own mind and their relationship with nature. Many philosophers, a few of whom are quoted in the text, have turned their scrutiny on how a person must approach learning about and appreciating life. It is as natural as contemplating death, which Montaigne also touches on in different places. One phrase that resonated with me was: “We must run through the bad and settle on the good” (Montaigne 193). The mind is prone to centering itself on negative experiences in an attempt to avoid repeated unpleasantness in the future. However, that breeds neuroses and distracts from the good that is already present.
This selection was quite dense. It packed a lot of ideas into a fairly short excerpt and all of them intrigued me. I cannot dissect them all in this, but I have touched on a few of the most relevant ones in my mind.
