If there were such things as cradle-Objectivists...

[Imogen]

I've been reading here for a short while, having only recently discovered that the way I think has been formally expressed and named. I came across an index of articles that answer FAQs about Objectivism and felt so much relief from reading thoughts that align with my own, with thoughts and convictions I have held, and for which I have been severely and unjustly punished, since I was a child.

Strange, really: my parents are addicts and text-book as far as that goes, and my personality was just the opposite of what might have allowed them to remain comfortably evasive and thereby behaving badly (I fit the INTj profile very well, but have developed much more emotional maturity than is typical for this type- and I'm a creative artist, which is also atypical, but otherwise, with even more caveats, I'm pretty much as described ). Can you imagine an eight year old child explaining to her parents why being on welfare is abominable, how being high and drunk every day is a sacrifice of the highest order and utterly immoral, how working for one's own life is ultimately the nature of the human, and on and on? My parents endured this... My school teachers endured my arguing against the validity of so-called 'children's and animals' rights', 'the greater good,' and 'busy work,' amongst other common ideas that I took issue with, and still do.

I was an insufferable child because I could never escape the realities before me, the easily deduced conclusions from observable evidence. My parents were incessant evaders and I was and am an incessant 'reasoner.' Not that I am always correct, of course, but I do my best to achieve excellence in my thinking and whatever I pursue. The idea of being on welfare, for instance, is so absurd as to be comical, not that the choice to remain in that condition is in any way humourous. I have been estranged from my birth family for six years and this by deliberation and decision. It may not be forever, but it has been one of the most liberating and personally beneficial choices I have made.

Please forgive my misappropriation of vocabulary terms as they pertain to Objectivist philosophy. I have used different words to describe some things and this will be a habit to break since it may cause confusion. Much of how I think now was solidified when I was 8-10 yrs old, which may seem to my discredit, but I don't mean by this that I have not matured- only that my modus operandi, or my manner of critical thought, was nearly and mostly formed at that time, so as I read Objectivist literature, I am making adjustments to those terms that are better understood by alignment with the terms used formally within Objectivism.

Sorry for the trip into childhood; I don't often think of that time in my life, but reading Objectivist writings has brought back many memories from that time when I was far more inclined to speak openly about my thoughts than I am now- at least publicly. I speak openly in my home, of course.

My partner and I have just purchased all of Ayn Rand's novels, ItOE, and The Virtue of Selfishness. The rest will come in time. I read Anthem in highschool and loved it, and my partner just read it and loved it too. I will be reading it again, along with the rest of AR's works. I am looking forward to it, but being in the land of the midnight sun, reading is mostly a cold-season activity, given that we will also have 24 hours of darkness too. During the warm months, and especially by the end of them, as in now, there is a big rush to finish outdoor things, and less time for reading. During the cold months, I regularly work on 5-6 books at a time in addition to whatever series I am reading to my children (my partner reads a separate series to them and we alternate, so they have two going at once, and they love it).

Anyway, I am 33 years old, married, and my present occupation is the education and up-bringing of five children- four boys ranging from ages 7 to 2, and one girl who is today, six weeks old. Mothering is my primary occupation, and providing the raw elemental materials and ideas toward raising children who love their life, think critically and live according to their nature and reasoned hierarchy of values is of utmost importance to me. To this end, I study subjects that pertain to meeting the needs of my children and family, exhaustively. We live on a farm in the rural far north, next to Alaska, where we are presently acclimating and learning the principles and skills involved in food production/preparation/preservation, land management, and animal husbandry, home building, business and finance, and everything else that presents its necessity as we learn.

I will be resuming making decorative craft-work in the next month, and after the winter celebrations are over, I will be resuming work on my fine art series begun this year and put on pause when I couldn't reasonably hold a pen or brush past my giant belly. Now the belly resident is in a baby-wrap and still, thereby, on the front of my body until she can either switch to my back, or play on the floor.

I also play ukulele (not well yet; I'm just learning), read voraciously (mostly academic and/or non-fiction informational texts), write, illustrate, renovate/rebuild my home (I looove working with tools), and a very long list of activities and ideas that stimulate my brain, thereby allowing me to occasionally rest (I have to be actively learning or I feel like I'm losing my bearings- though I do enjoy periods of relaxation; I'm not a 'work-a-holic' of any sort). I have been enjoying collecting wild edibles and navigating the omnivore's dilemma- outside the grocery store, that is.

That's probably enough for now. I look forward to jumping into discussions here and there.

Imogen

Edited August 22, 2010 by Imogen

[softwareNerd]

Thank you for the great intro-post.

Welcome to OO.net

[Mindy]

Fascinating to hear of your past and your present enterprises. Welcome.

Mindy

[Limelight]

It's refreshing to read such strong and virtuous convictions.

[Dante]

Agreed, your story of perseverance and rationality is quite inspiring. Welcome.

[Imogen]

Thank you all very much for the warm welcome.

I admit that I left out a middle section wherein I would have described my period of struggling with trying to figure out what normal is and whether or not I wanted to live it myself. I did strive to live with conviction and rationality, but I made some glaring and personally damaging mistakes against my better judgment (that I have since rectified). The good news is that I did come through it and I won't need to go through that again.

Edited August 27, 2010 by Imogen