Basic Human Nature

In my essay, I am trying to show how Bartleby contrasts with Jenny Odell in his decision to retreat from society.  Bartleby is a scribe and copies documents for his employer who is a lawyer.  This takes place in the 19th century, so in fact, Bartleby is a human copy machine.  At first he is enthusiastic and diligent about his work, but gradually he feels dehumanized and discouraged.  When the lawyer asks him to do something, Bartleby consistently replies, “I would prefer not to.”  The scribe falls victim to his own depressed attitude and does nothing to find happiness in his life.  Eventually he is imprisoned and dies of starvation.  I used this example to contrast his pessimistic, passive, and joyless mindset with that of Odell.  While Odell finds fault with society and technology, she is also optimistic and an activist.  She finds beauty and meaning in nature and realizes that people must be determined in their search for meaning in life.  Instead of giving up and giving in, like Bartleby, Odell looks for opportunities to find a sense of purpose that will provide the satisfaction she is looking for.  

The quote from Bartleby, “I would prefer not to” has made me think carefully about its real meaning.  At first I cheered the scribe on, thinking that he was making a choice not to be dehumanized.  However, the more I researched, reflected, and compared this quote to the message of Jenny Odell, the less sympathetic I felt for Bartleby.  Life is made up of doing the things we do not like to do, as well as those we enjoy.  To accept responsibility, even if it is not always pleasant, is coming to grips with one’s maturity.  Growing up and becoming an adult involves work and assuming the consequences of one’s behavior.  The tone of Bartleby is not just dark, but immature.  By the time I finished writing this piece, I was almost annoyed with the scribe for his pessimistic views. Clearly, Melville’s character was depressed, and depression is a serious emotional illness.  However, I also think that it is crucial for people to have a more positive attitude.  This does not mean that I am not sympathetic, but I do feel that playing the role of a victim, saying “I prefer not to” cuts off a person’s options.  We have to TRY things and be willing to have new experiences in order to grow.  What if Babe Ruth had been lazy and uninspired when someone asked him to play baseball?  What if he had said, “ I prefer not to?”  To me, everyone should take a chance, maybe saying instead, “I may prefer not to right now, but I will do it anyway!”

https://ngs-4136.medium.com/basic-human-nature-944b1360aacc

Downshifting

Dear Classmates and Peer Reviewers,

Have you ever felt like doing nothing?  Absolutely nothing?   I know I have!   My essay, Downshifting, chronicles my upbringing in an uber competitive suburb of New York City where the apparent common ambition of the citizens was to be productive and useful.  I struggled to carve out time for myself, to decompress and relax in this environment where the focus was on achievement. Everyone was always rushing, always busy, always trying to improve themselves.  I was always exhausted.    After reading Jenny Odell’s book, I realized I may have found someone who understands exactly how I felt. 

In my essay, I wanted to show how this kind of lifestyle has its advantages:  good schools, motivated friends, physical comforts, and a large variety of athletic, cultural, and volunteer opportunities.  However, the constant stress and pressure to be doing instead of sometimes just being did take its toll on me. The essay opens on a Saturday morning with my dad urging me to “Wake up, hurry up. We have so much to do!” This quote probably foreshadows what the rest of the piece will describe. I feel that even writing it helped me clarify some of the conflicting feelings I had about growing up in this competitive area.  I hope you will enjoy reading my essay and maybe even identify with me at times!

By: Nicole Schlesinger

Link to my essay: https://medium.com/@ngs_4136/downshifting-f9bc9a19a7c

Writing 4: Forwarding or Countering Odell

Nicole Schlesinger

The idea of “forwarding” an idea, furthering it, deepening it, and somehow making it your own, as described in Rewriting, is personally relevant when applying it to Odell’s book.  I think an important part of any reading is to digest the writer’s project and see if it makes sense when considering one’s own life.  In the case of How to Do Nothing, this makes perfect sense. 

I grew up in an affluent suburb of New York City that often seemed to value achievement over almost everything.  While I realize how fortunate I am to have had a good education, excellent teachers, and a concerned and supportive community, too many adults and young people were obsessed with being busy, being involved in a million activities all supposedly for self-improvement.  If a student was not playing sports, participating in a club, or being tutored after school he or she was often looked down upon.  My classmates filled their calendar with all sorts of extracurricular activities that left them exhausted and overwhelmed.  When homework obligations were added onto these busy schedules, stress levels rose even higher.  

Adults were similarly focused on being “busy.”  Many came from families where both parents worked outside the home, but they also loaded extra activities into their own already busy days.  Being productive, being useful, improving oneself were goals that seemed to be driving forces for everyone.  There was no time, and no tolerance, for just being.  Being busy was prized and encouraged.  I get stressed out just thinking about it!

This attitude goes against so much of what Odell states in her book, and I think this would be my personal forwarding of her message. Odell urges people to resist, and this is also relevant to me because in high school I resisted this atmosphere of being constantly busy and productive. Although I did not watch the birds, I used this metaphor as a way to be more aware of the physical world around me. I love being outside just for no other reason than to feel the sun or see the flowers. I won’t pretend to say that I meditated in a rose garden, listened deeply, or paid real attention to the different kinds of bugs in a watershed, but I do think I was able to stay more focused on other things instead of intentionally being too busy to observe them.

Odell quotes Gilles Delueze in describing the abundance of pointless talk that seems to have little meaning. She points out the necessity for quiet, for the peacefulness to be alone and to be silent. This is also something I think is important to forward. I think the world seems full of noisy chatter and needless talk. Odell recalls how she started coming to the Rose Garden every day after the Presidential Election in 2016. Needing time to think, reflect and be alone with her thoughts, Odell also seems like she wanted to get away from the noisy world of political arguments, constant discord, and the angry accusations that seemed to flood the national scene. I can totally relate to this because I lose patience with people who feel some compulsion to fill the air with noise and empty words. This is not to say that I think my ideas are better, but like those who feel some need to stay busy, there are many people I know who feel they must always talk. Why are people so afraid of silence? When I ask this question to my friends, they often answer that being quiet is socially awkward and inappropriate. Again, as Odell states, silence is the way to obtain deep listening; to hear birdsong, and the message the birds want to communicate. In society’s need to feel useful and productive, people also seem to feel like it is necessary to fill any silence with useless words. “What if we spent less time shouting into the void and being washed over with shouting in return-and more time talking in rooms to those for whom our words are intended? If we have only so much attention to give, and only so much time on this earth, we might want to think about reinfusing our attention and our communication with the intention that both deserve.” Odell is trying to encourage us to “speak deeply” like she advocates “deep listening.” There is no sense to speak or hear words that just form noise.

Odell: Revision 1

Nicole Schlesinger

I think Jenny Odell’s aim is to get away from the idea, and limitations, of being productive. Our society seems to obtain validation from how much people accomplish in some measurable way.  Money or material productivity, is a measure that too many view as motivation.  Some amount of money is necessary for survival and independence, but  it shouldn’t become a driving force. In my opinion, earning enough money to maintain a person’s needs is definitely productivity as well as showing maturity and an accomplishment of personal objectives.  An individual should be able to sustain him or herself on his own after a certain age, without reliance on family or the government. I see this as demonstrations of positive personal development. I don’t think  being productive is as negative as Odell sometimes suggests. From infancy through adulthood, people are encouraged, taught, and advised to assume responsibility for themselves. Each stage of physical and psychological development promotes learning skills that can advance a person’s ability to be self-reliant.  This kind of being productive, to me, seems more like growing up, and accepting the necessary, inherent responsibilities. 

Other than the basic personal obligations of maturity, Odell’s ideas about always being productive definitely hit home. There is too much emphasis on always DOING something that shows results.  I liked her idea of even self-improvement as being a form of demonstrating something that can be measured.  Too often Americans seem to get caught up in over achievement.  There is too much emphasis on DOING rather than BEING.  Odell’s description of “observing” the birds instead of “watching” them made sense because it seems to involve raising an individual’s interaction with nature.  The birds are there; just pay attention to them.  Her personal story of observing birds as an easy, powerful,  way to reconnect with the world shows awareness of the world.  Listening to their sounds, instead of just hearing them, makes sense to me.  It seems like a call to understand their unique communication.  We need to go beyond what is just obvious, and everyday, to really understand how unique and amazing these things really are.  Too many people get caught up in social media and technology which do not have a real time or place.  We have forgotten the wonders of our physical world and tend to live in some kind of computer driven reality.  

Odell’s materials seem to be in her art and  words. She describes her time  studying and chronicling discarded objects, focusing on what was already in existence to redefine art.    In her Bureau of Suspended Objects, basically a recycling center, she examined discarded items, attempting to trace their origins to show artistic value in unwanted things.  There wasn’t a need to produce anything new, but to alter one’s perspective to see worth in what existed.   There is often too much materialism and consumerism, particularly in American culture.  Odell’s viewpoint is that art can be found in what is already present.  Creating more is unnecessary.  

 Odell is realistic, understanding  she is fortunate to see the world in her own way.   Working as a professor allows flexibility to observe and listen.  Her father took two years off from a job he disliked to live cheaply, ride his bike, and talk to people.  Time off made him realize his job was not so bad, and it helped him become an engineer and inventor.   There were lasting benefits, and her father maintains his best ideas still come after long bike rides.   Odell’s methods involve observation and careful attention.  

Odell’s “project” seems to be the value of broader, philosophical overviews of the world, rather than specific objectives. She encourages perspective taking over being goal driven.  Her materials are what is offered on any given day or any given moment;   observations of birds,  quiet meditation in the Rose Garden,  walking across  campus.  Odell promotes the idea of anything goes, as long as it brings the person to a new level of understanding.  Self-discovery and awareness of life are uniquely individual.  Odell says, “simple awareness is the seed of responsibility.”  

Odell is open minded; however an individual sees the world is appropriate. Instead of preaching,  she is tolerant. Describing the public display in 1973 of Eleanor Coppola composed  of landmarks, dates and a map of San Francisco, Odell sees art. Coppola maintains people can see art as it exists in its own context, not necessarily in exhibits, but art that is spontaneous and present in the moment. Odell also claims art can be auditory like the work of Oliveros, in her adoption of deep listening. Listening is different than hearing; it involves empathy and emotion. 

Odell is a realist.  She doesn’t want people just dropping out of their commitments, but rather seeing new ways to embrace them.  Her suggestions are simple and doable. We must abandon the idea that as humans we should be useful and productive.  It is important to DO, but it is also important to BE. I think this is Odell’s project.