706 Anne Stansfield

number 706
I am a collection of material with ‘potential’.  My base substance is formed from parental genetic material plus any congenital anomalies. Thereafter, social and environmental conditions (experiences, events, things witnessed) become inscribed on my psyche and determine my behaviours/psychological rules for living. One is not conscious of what the developing mind sublimates – which raises the question, how far are thoughts and actions one’s own or the product of structural influences?  I feel that I am largely shaped by the temporal context, which can be unnerving because it’s difficult to describe who you are, but it does enables me to be responsive and to develop. I acknowledge that there is no deep identity truth that I have to identify with but rather an unbearable truth that I have to learn to live with:- the ‘big Other’, a void (it is explained differently by various philosophers, psychologists, theoreticians).  Ethel Adnan said, “Your identity is your prison”.  Being human (having a conscience) comes with consequences.
inspired by Anne Stansfield