The tabula rasa theory proposes that human beings are born blank slates upon which they write their lives. True or not, by the time the little creatures we’re born become conscious of our existence, a fair amount has already been written on that slate.
As we grow, learn, and discover, though we give it little thought, again we are not solely responsible for what gets written upon that blank slate with which we were supposedly born. Our parents and other family members continue to teach us what they think is important and what they think we need to know. We are sent to school where we are educated and enculturated and taught what we should believe, think, and know. We’re exposed to social organizations like churches and clubs. Even our entertainment like movies, music, books, and our friends, etc. (none of which we personally create) continue to shape our world and how we see it.
But what about when we become legal adults at age 18 and leave our parents to go off out into the world to explore on our own? Has anything really changed? This is where I found myself several years back.
I was reading a wonderful book recommendation that a Facebook friend had posted. The book was by Brené Brown. As I was reading the post, some thoughts struck me — this is good stuff.. you’re chock full of knowledge… you should get that book — along with a plethora of other thoughts when immediately the thought struck me, every time I read something written by authors like Brené Brown, what I was being exposed to is how someone else sees it, how another sees life and the world, someone else’s ideas of the world. How do you see it I found myself asking. What thoughts can you claim as your own out of everything that’s been written on your tabula rasa, whether by you or by others? After all, there’s only so much one can learn in a lifetime. And if one can’t articulate the value one’s knowledge base has been to them during life, what can they do with it when they’re dead? Hence was born this site and this blog, “How I See It”.
Where does this leave you? I’ve just commented on how what others write and share is how they see the world and although they may have a lot of good shit to share, it’s still their shit, their thoughts, not yours. This is true here as well.
What I have to share of value is not so much how I see the world, otherwise, this blog would just be another addition to the compilation of the opinions you’ve already read regarding how others see the world. If I have anything of value to share it’s what I’ve found in myself and for myself, that’s allowed me to see just how deeply and where others have written upon the tabula rasa I was born so as to obfuscate me seeing the world through my own eyes rather than merely through the eyes of others. In reading what I share here it is my hope that something will be inspired in you such that you find in yourself those tools that allow you to discover what has been written on your tabula rasa by others that you have come to accept as written there by you and in so doing, come see your world anew. As Wittgenstein put it, see the world rightly.