"I am a separate state"
Fully illustrated lessons for modern people from Gombrowicz (1904-1969)
Monday morning. We used to say “Zipped and ready!”
Well, I hope you are!
Before you go (this isn’t a test of your attention span!), let me share some truly profound lessons from Witold Gombrowicz, one of Poland’s most prolific writers. I promise to keep them super-short and universal (and of course, if you are an artist, you are welcome to dive deep):
1. Be Authentic:
"My literature must remain that which it is. (…) I cultivate just one politics: my own. I am a separate state."
– Diary
Gombrowicz of course referred to staying true to his artistic vision and not compromising his work to serve political or external agendas. But think of “staying out of politics” and carrying on with what matters to you in terms of Dr. Seuss, who knew that overly caring about politics and trends would make him cease writing for children to become a political cartoonist.
Cultivate Full Presence:
"Isn't it true (I thought), that one is almost never present, or rather never fully present, and that's because we have only a halfhearted, chaotic and slipshod, disgraceful and vile relationship with our surroundings."
– Cosmos
It turns out that striving to be fully present in interactions and experiences is not only a stuggle of a social-media-wired generation!
3. Embrace Chaos and Absurdity:
"I, a child of chaos, son of darkness, blind coincidence, and absurdity."
– Diary
In other words, if you are not a type of an accountant and “have trouble drawing a straight line, you can enjoy the wiggly one” (a piece of advice for artists I’ve read somewhere).
If not exactly an artist but living a life that doesn’t exactly follow a straight line, reassure yourself (by reading a million of memories and biographies of anyone!) that life is unpredictable and often irrational, and find strength in this acceptance.
4. Recognise the Power of Self:
"Monday: Me Tuesday: Me Wednesday: Me Thursday: Me"
– Diary
Well, I am not exactly promoting egotism! But isn’t understanding and cultivating your own identity important and beneficial when balanced with empathy and consideration for others?
5. Artistic Selfishness and Universality:
"It is not without pleasure that I can tell my majestic colleagues who write for humanity, and in the name of humanity, that I have never written a single word other than for a selfish purpose; but at, each time, the work betrayed me and escaped from me."
– A Kind of Testament
Create for yourself first and foremost, but recognise that true art often transcends its creator's intentions and speaks to broader human experiences.
6. Wisdom Through Adversity:
"Intellectuals can be divided into two groups: those who have never got a kick in the backside, and those who have got a kick in the backside. The latter are more sensible.”
– Operetta
Accept that adversity and challenges often lead to greater wisdom and sensibility.
7. Pain as a Defining Reality:
"Reality is that which offers resistance, namely, that which hurts. And a real man is one who is in Pain. (…) No matter what we are told, there exists in the entire expanse of the Universe, throughout the whole space of Being, one and only one awful, impossible, unacceptable element, one and only one thing that is truly and absolutely against us and absolutely devastating: pain. It is on pain and on nothing else that the entire dynamic of existence depends. Remove pain and the world becomes a matter of complete indifference.
– Diary
As much as we don’t appreciate pain, it is a fundamental aspect of reality and existence. Pain shapes our experiences and gives meaning to our lives.
Let’s hope that today won’t be that painful! “Zipped and ready” for the day?
