26 September 2016
As seen throughout all of Spelman’s book, Repair, it is human nature for people to want to and try to repair objects in daily life. People try to mend everything that is tangible in life. What happens when we people try to fix something intangible in life though? ‘Intangible’ is not referring to relationships between humans as you can “touch” or “physically resonate” with another human being or create a connection or bond with another human being without actually touching them. What is meant by ‘intangible’ goes deeper. Something ‘intangible’ to a singular person is their mind and ability to think and remember. The mind is something different from all other things in the world. The mind has the ability to do things extraordinarily and the creativity of the mind is what causes people to want to and try to repair objects and relationships in the world. Sometimes people can have a difficult time repairing things in the world. Why is that? Well, what happens when a person’s own mind needs to be repaired? Can the mind repair itself? Spelman gives great insight into the mind and how it looks at repair and how it looks at ruin. From this, I can deduce my own insight on how the mind repairs when the mind itself is in ruins. What I see is that it is not beneficial to block change in the mind but to adapt to and harness the change in the mind.
All people seek to reform and to repair things in life, and they also seek to repair themselves when there is something that inhibits their path to a happy life. In life, people all throughout the world have to deal with their past and their memories. Memories can have a lasting effect on a person and this can have a positive outcome or a negative outcome on a person. The memories that people must repair are the ones that have a negative effect on people.
There is no pleasure or even the thin gruel of instruction in these ruins of memory, which continue to be the source of anguish over the inability to recover what one has lost, of humiliation over the sense of confusion and incompetence the memories reignite (Spelman 116).
Spelman uses the ruins of a pertinent site as the basis of memory. Ruins are extremely analogous to memories in the mind. When a tragedy occurs and there are ruins, people who are inflicted by the outcome are held in dismay. When a person’s city is in ruins, they want to preserve it so that they can move on without destroying their heritage. In a similar way, a person must hold onto the memories while still being able to move on. This does not always happen. For example, a soldier fighting in a war must be able to recover after they return. What happens to many is that they develop PTSD which makes them not be able to move on from the war. What must happen is for the soldiers to remember, but soldiers must not dwell on the past to the point where they can no longer function in society. Something that is always in the back of my mind is when my grandfather passed away. My grandfather lived with my family and was a mentor to me, like a second father to me. When I would come home from school everyday I would see him, but it was weird to have him not be there when I got back. This made a mental roadblock for me. The memory of him made me sad and made me unable to the proper work that I needed to. Eventually, I just had to learn to live with it. I never forget him, but I can’t be stuck in the past when it comes to things that remind me of him. Much like this, when my mom’s sister died, she had a hard time living with the fact that her role model passed away. She too worked through it and will never forget her, but will never let it hold her down again.
‘Humiliated memory thus forces us into an unnatural relation with the past, because the ‘knowledge’ it imparts crushes the spirit and frustrates the incentive to renewal’; memory becomes ‘a monument to ruin rather than reconstruction’ (Spelman 121).
Spelman’s statement supports my thought, that in order for people to live happy, they must move on from the past without forgetting it.
This is not only seen in memories, but also in the mind in general. There are many things which people can not control and the mind is wired to think and feel. A long time friend of mine has anxiety problems. This anxiety keeps her from being able to go through daily tasks without being overwhelmed or stressed. This mentality must be overcome. When she is at her happiest and when she is the most at ease, she uses her anxiety to her favor and prioritizes her life so that all areas which could cause anxiety, are completed. This way, she does not feel so stressed. A different way that this can be viewed is by the stereotypes that are perpetuated onto my friends who like people of the same-sex. Many people in society tells them that they are “weird” or that they are “sinners.” Though this has negative effects on my friends, they use it to their advantage. My friends analyze those who perpetuate the hate and are able to steer clear of those people. In doing this, my friends put themselves in a more comfortable and a hate free atmosphere. As with memories, the mind may have things which could hold it back, but the main goal is to overcome the adversity and to move on from it. Never forget those occurrences which have hurt a person, but that person must use it to their advantage to continue a healthy and happy life. Those who have intangible problems, should always work to harness their negative experiences and turn them into something positive.