Branding Yourself

When presented with my thoughts, feelings, and experience on the subject, I have come to a simple conclusion:

I love Leo Tolstoy.

Having had a class on Anna Karenina my freshman year, I was again ready to jump on the Russian bandwagon in order to take a class on War and Peace this semester.  It is an enormous book and I am filled with a conniving and nerdish pride when I tote it around campus.  There is an arrogance and vanity in it, to be sure, but there is such a depth to the book that I simply ask for forgiveness without a commitment to change my behavior.

One of the most intriguing parts of both of those books is the idea of habits.  Tolstoy shows us the very depths of his characters in order to ask why we create the habits that define our character.  Why do we act the way we do?

This last weekend, there were several occurrences and thoughts that caused me to consider how we go about defining who we are.  I got to see several of my friends in the context of their families.  There were reminders of the fragility of life and of the importance of considering the idea of a legacy.

Our culture seems to have missed these important questions altogether.  If an anthropologist from Mars showed up and watched a set of our commercials, he would think that we were a society that believed in magic.  If you use this product, you become the peak of physical attractiveness.  If you buy this other product, the opposite sex is irresistibly drawn to you.  If you buy this last product, your dreams of wealth, health, and happiness are within reach.

Life is more than what we are being incessantly told by pop culture at large.  Life is more than what we are being incessantly sold.  Life is more than what you look like, what bands you listen to, what classes you are in, what hobbies you spend time on, your current major, and what you watch. I think I would agree with Ayn Rand that it’s what we do that really defines us.  I think I would agree with Tolstoy, to come full circle, that it’s our everyday habits that truly demonstrate what we do.

These habits must be carefully considered and even, to the greatest extent possible, chosen.  If our habits are chosen for us, it looks a lot like consumption and acquiescence.  I guess my point is:

1.  Read Tolstoy.

2.  Perhaps more seriously, consider the question:  “What have I chosen?”