We Must Plunge Into Experience and Then Reflect on the Meaning of It

Goethe said that. He was nothing if not a truth-talker. All reflection, and we go mad; all plunging and no reflection, we are mere brutes.

Lately, I've been seeing myself as more in the latter category. In a recent rare moment of reflection, I realized that I have lived in four cities in the past six years and I haven't been able to commit to a job for an all-too extended period. I've become somewhat of a gypsy, a rootless rolling stone. A brute chasing after experience without slowing for a moment to figure out what exactly it is I'm doing.

And I was cool with that until I found myself in need of a steady paycheck. There's nothing like a job interview to get me to consider how unstable and flighty I must seem to most, if not all, employers. I'd never been asked point-blank why I can't seem to connect to places, jobs, people, until today. I dodged the bullet by saying something about how I wanted to soak up experiences during my early twenties and now I'm ready to settle down. I felt uncomfortable as I heard the words coming out of my mouth. Not that I feel I was being disingenuous, because I really do think it's about time to consider the possibility of staying somewhere for a fucking second. I felt a little sad because I realized now is the time when I have to embark on the (probably painful) process of reflection, of letting things sink in, and of understanding what all these experiences could mean.

Of Cultural Differences and Electro-Pop

When people find out I spent some time in France, they almost always ask me the following:

"So what's the difference between Frenchies and Americans?"

This question irks me not only because I consider myself a "c'mon guys, everyone's pretty much the same on the inside" kinda gal. It also bothers me because I know full well there are differences, I've just never been able to adequately put them into words until now.

It all came together when I was jamming to some Yelle in my roommate's car on the way to Target to buy a vase. I never really reflected on how indefatigably positive that girl is. Mainly because I refused to listen to her until about a month ago because she had some beef with Cuizinier from TTC. And me, being ever so loyal to mysoginists, banned the spindly girl from my iPod. But, I digress...

What struck me was not her positivity in and of itself, but that said positivity was eminating from a French person. I realized I had just found the answer to the question that has plagued me for two years. Americans, despite our cut-throat, dog-eat-dog professional culture, are pretty much the most positive "can do" people on the planet (that I have come across thus far). French people, on the other hand, are not.

Obama's "Yes We Can!" slogan did not fall from the sky. It's an expression of latent (now active) aspects of our collective psychology. Americans have always believed that "everything will be alright" because "we can do anything we put our minds to"." Not so, in my opinion, for French people.

Simple test. Go to a bank, post office, grocery store, Metro station, restaurant or any other place where there are French people and ask them to do something that is both entirely within their power and entirely within their job description. You will most likely be met with the following phrase: "Ce n'est pas possible", or its cousin "C'est impossible."

I will bet you money on this. Why am I so sure? Because French people have a completely opposite disposition to that of Americans. While we are almost too happy to help you, French people are gleefully eager to deny you. This is because they are inherently contrarian. Why this is, I may never fully understand. But I certainly heard more non than oui during my time there. This includes personal, professional and daily anonymous interactions.

This is why I was so surprised when I actually took the time to listen to Yelle's lyrics. I don't mean to over-generalize and contend that because a French girl is capable of penning some happy lyrics that she has a more American temperament. What I want to say is that when it comes down to it, we may all very well be the same on the inside.

And so it begins...

..welcome to my blog. This may or may not be a short-lived foray into self-aggrandizement via the Internet.