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Wednesday, December 02, 2009

Autobiographies

So, I actually got the idea for this blog post the other day while I was watching scenes in my acting class. In one of them, there are two people who are on a date on Valentine's Day, and the problem is that one person, who is an origami expert, and knows everything about the other person, an origami expert to a lesser degree, who has detailed his life in the written word and made it available to the public. Anyway the first origami expert knows all these personal things about the other origami expert because she read his book, so it is made increasingly clear that the man cannot hide anything from the person he's on a date with, and cannot swing anything bad that has happened to him in his own favor. This situation made me realize that by doing this, by writing an autobiography, you can't hide anything. People read your book. They know all about you. The only time this would do more good than harm would be in the case that you're a celebrity, be it a social or political celebrity, where your life is speculated about all the time anyway. Like Hillary Clinton, or Taylor Swift.

Writing an autobiography puts the author at a disadvantage to the rest of the world because in writing an autobiography, the author is bearing his or her soul to the rest of the world. After writing an autobiography, you have no secrets.

Aside from this blog, I don't think I would write and autobiography. A.) I don't think anyone would read it, and B.) if someone did read it, well, if it was a best seller (this is a blog, I can dream big), I would have to be dating someone that I really trusted and have friends that I really trusted (because people would judge me for the things I have to say), or publish under a pseudonym because the world would know all my secrets, and it would be impossible to spin anything the way I wanted it to be seen. Besides, if I wrote an autobiography, I would want it to be about something that mattered in my life, like Summit, but to a larger extent. I would want it to inspire people to do something bigger with their lives, even if they didn't believe in God the same way I do, even if they were Satanists, or Buddhists, or Hindi. The world needs more of selfless acts of kindness. I use selfless because random implies that the acts are done only every so often, and does not exclude that the acts could be done for one's own personal gain. There are so many people out there who give to charities to make themselves feel good, or so they can tell other people that they give to This Charity, and That Charity.

Obama says in his book,

"An autobiography promises feats worthy of record, conversations with famous people, a central role in important events. There is none of that here. At the very least, an autobiography implies a summing up, a certain closure, that hardly suits someone of my years, still busy charting his way through the world."

When Obama's autobiography was published, he was 34 years old. I am 20, starting my 22nd year in May. Not nearly old enough or having enough experience to write an autobiography. Besides, with all the shit that's happened to me (which is not nearly as much as could have happened, and not nearly nothing to complain about (meaning "a lot" is a relative phrase)), I think I would send my audience the wrong idea about myself. With all the things that have happened to me, it would make sense for me to be a very negative person, but I'm not. So I sit with Obama's quote: Nothing extraordinary has happened to me to merit an autobiography. I have not had a conversation with a famous person, I haven't held a central role in an important event, I have no feats worth recording. Just thoughts.

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